Aggie Donahue

This picture is a tintype of Aggie Donahue. I received it from my aunt, in a photo envelope from the 1970s. The envelope is labeled "Aggie Donahue back pocket--Ma's friend." "Ma" was Jennie (Whelan) Brady of Chicago. I believe I have found Aggie Donahue in the 1880 census. She was most likely Agnes, age 4, daughter of Daniel Donnahue. Daniel, his wife Mary,and seven children lived at 161 Chestnut St. in Chicago, across the street from Tim Whelan's family, which included his 3 year old daughter Jane (aka Jennie.)

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871

This week is the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire.

This is a photo of my great-uncle, John Whelan, a survivor of the Chicago Fire. The family story is that as the fire was coming toward their house, they ran toward Lake Michigan for safety. But the father, Timothy Whelan, ran back to the house to lock the door against burglars, before joining the rest of the family. Their house was well within the burn district, on Chestnut near Franklin, so locking the door probably made little difference in the end.


This photo was labeled "John Whelann in his Johnny hat." As a young man, John (Jack) Whelan worked in a haberdashery as a model and then as a manager. Later he was with the steamfitters union, working off and on. He died in 1930, after being hit by an Illinois Central train at 27th street while shoveling the tracks.


Here are my favorite websites about the Chicago Fire:
The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory
This is a great website containing images, eyewitness accounts and essays about the fire.

Progress of the Chicago Fire of 1871
The Encyclopedia of Chicago is a very useful reference. This link is to a map which shows which sections of the city burned in the great fire.

Upcoming Genealogy Workshop

The 16th annual workshop of the Lake County Illinois Genealogical Society is on Saturday, November 8th. This year, the workshop has two excellent, nationally-known speakers: Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL and David McDonald, CG. Both are Certified Genealogists, and Tom is also a Certified Genealogical Lecturer.

Tom Jones is recognized as an expert on genealogical research methodology. He will be speaking on a variety of topics, including “How to Avoid Being Duped by the Internet” and “Organizing Evidence to Overcome Record Shortages.”

Dave’s talks include “A Flatlander’s Genealogical Guide to the South” and practical guides to researching in Madison, WI and Springfield, IL. Dave is an Illinois native who now lives near Madison. He has more than 30 years’ research experience, focusing mainly on the Upper Midwest, New England and the United Kingdom.

I have heard both speakers many times, speaking on a variety of topics, and I highly recommend both of them.

For additional information about the speakers, the topics, the location and the lunches, see the genealogy society’s website at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~illcgs/workshops.htm .

A registration brochure is available for download from the site. An early-registration discount applies to forms postmarked by October 15th. I hope you can attend!

Captain Garret Brady

This is a photo of my great-grandfather, Garret Brady. He is my favorite ancestor. I first became interested in genealogy due to Garret. When I was studying the Civil War in high school, my father mentioned that Garret had fought in the Civil War, and showed me copies of Garret’s service record and his widow’s pension file. I have been learning about Garret ever since.

Family tradition states that Garret Brady came from County Mayo, Ireland, but I have found no proof of that. Garret came to America at the age of 17 aboard the Isaac Webb. He arrived at the port of New York on 9 June 1854. Garret settled in Newark, New Jersey. He served an apprenticeship in the leather trade. In 1858, Garret joined the Erina Guard, a militia organization in Newark. In 1859, he became a U.S. citizen.

With the beginning of the Civil War, Garret’s militia unit volunteered as a whole. Garret mustered in on 27 May 1861, becoming a 1st lieutenant of Company C, 2nd New Jersey Volunteers.



During his military career, Garret reached the rank of captain. During one recruiting trip to Newark in 1862, Garret married Mary Ann Bestick. She was the daughter of Timothy and Ellen (McSorley) Bestick, at whose house in Newark Garret had been a boarder. Garret was wounded and captured at Spotsylvania Court House on 14 May 1864. The exact details of Garret’s injury and imprisonment are not known, due to conflicting data from various sources.

War took a heavy toll on Garret Brady. He returned to Newark from the war in significantly worse physical condition than when he enlisted. After the war, Garret continued to be associated with the leather manufacturing business. He and a partner, John Nugent, formed the business of Nugent & Brady, located in New York, New York.

Garret died on 18 July 1886 at his home at 143 Academy Street, Newark. The cause of his death was phthisis pulmonalis. His funeral was held at St. John’s Church. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey. Members of the Lincoln Post G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) and Morocco Dressers’ Association attended. (Additional details and sources available upon request.)

To see pictures of some of my other ancestors, follow this link to “Kathy’s Ancestors” photo album on Facebook:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3981&l=4ce0e&id=1388685177

Cook County Vital Records Update

Earlier this year, the Cook County Clerk launched a website that permits index searches for Cook County, Illinois vital records. The indexes are not yet complete. Additional data is being added regularly.

An update regarding the website appeared in the October issue of the Newsletter of the Chicago Genealogical Society (vol. 41, no. 3). The article reports that Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson of the Public Records Access Monitoring Committee, has spoken to both a supervisor and a senior public information officer in the Cook County Vital Records Department. Jan learned that it is expected to take more than six months for the remainder of the records to be added.

What is currently available? According to the article, the following records are available now: birth records for 1916-1933; marriage records for 1930-1937, 1940, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950-1958; and death records for 1915-1946, 1949-1957, 1960-1988.

The Cook County vital records website can be found at:
http://www.cookcountygenealogy.com/

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to Kathy’s Genealogy Blog. My blog will contain a potpourri of items related to genealogy in general, and mine in particular. My interests are many and varied. They include Irish, Lithuanian, and U.S. research. I am particularly interested in Chicago research, including pre-fire sources, since my ancestors arrived in Chicago around 1850.

My blog will include my discoveries, lessons I’ve learned which may help others, and new developments in my areas of interest.

I will be sharing photos of my ancestors, their friends and associates. I also have some mystery photos to share.

I hope you’ll enjoy my blog and find some useful information on it.

Good luck with your research and thanks for stopping by.