Emilija Skrabulyte, 1916-1979

This is a photo of Emilija Skrabulyte (aka Emily Skrobul). Emily was born in Kapciamiestis, Lithuania, the daughter of Stanislovas Skrabulis and Ona Jauciulyte. Emily came to the United States and married Ballis Steponis. They lived in Cleveland, and Emily died there in 1979.

Emily was a first cousin of my mom, Ann (Skrobul) Brady. This photo of Emily helped to reconnect 2 branches of the Skrobul family who had lost touch with each other. A cousin brought this photo, and others, to Lithuania on a visit. A cousin he met there recognized the photos.

Vernie, Bob and Ann

Here is a photo of my mom, her sister and a friend of theirs. From left to right: Veronica (Skrobul) Mensing (aka Aunt Vernie), Bob Kahroff (a friend) and Ann (Skrobul) Brady (my mom). I believe the photo was taken in Beckemeyer, Illinois in the early 1940s.

Bob appears to be wearing a uniform of some type, but I do not recognize it. I'd like to hear from anybody who knew Bob or recognizes his uniform.

My Newest Quest: Patrick Whelan

I am searching for two Patrick Whelans of Chicago who served in the Civil War and were both born in Kilkenny. Here is the information I've gathered from the Illinois Secretary of State's website.

Patrick Whalen, Rank Private, Company G, 23rd Illinois Infantry. He was 35 years old, 5' 8", brown hair, gray eyes, unmarried. He was a moulder.

Patrick Whalan, Rank Private, Company G, 90th Illinois Infantry. He was 26 years old, 5' 4", brown hair, blue eyes, unmarried. He was a drayman.

The reason I am so interested in these 2 soldiers, is that my ancestor, Timothy Whelan, was also from Kilkenny. And I found Timothy and a Patrick Whelan together in Chicago in 1857. The city directory listing for them from the 1857 Gager’s Chicago City Directory was:

Whaling Patrick, drayman, Hinsdale bet Franklin and N Market Ire 7 y
Whaling Timothy laborer, Hinsdale bet Franklin and N Market Ire 7 y

The "Ire 7 y" indicated they both came to Chicago from Ireland 7 years earlier.

Bailey’s 1864-5 Chicago City Directory listed the following:
Whelan Patrick, soldier, h. 36 Hinsdale

My ancestor Timothy lived at 34 W. Hinsdale for many years. So I believe that my Timothy may have been related to at least one of these Patrick Whelans. I hope that the pension files and service records for these 2 soldiers will provide information that will help me determine how (and if) they were related to Timothy, and where in County Kilkenny they came from.

The Joseph Brady Family

This is a photograph of some of my Newark, New Jersey relatives. The photo is labeled in the handwriting of my aunt Rita Brady as "Lizzie's sister, Aunt Lizzie, Cousin Joe, Uncle Joe Brady, New Jersey." "Uncle Joe" was the son of my great grandparents, Garret Brady and Mary Ann Bestick.

In the 1900 census, Joseph Sr, his wife Elizabeth and son Joseph were living with Elizabeth's mother Margaret Hampson, a widow, and Margaret's daughters Emma and Maggie at 145 Academy St. in Newark, New Jersey.

My Keys to Ireland

I am participating in the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. The focus of this edition is "My key to Ireland." It is dedicated to the stories of genealogists tracing their Irish family trees.

My ancestors came from several different counties in Ireland: Kilkenny, Longford, Meath, Tyrone and possibly Mayo. I learned of these places of origin from a variety of sources. And I am still gathering evidence on some of them.

I found the birthplaces of my 2nd great grandparents, Timothy Bestick and Ellen McSorley in their 1833 church marriage record from Newark, New Jersey. I've written about that discovery here. I have found additional records of Timothy and his parents in Longford church records. I haven't been as successful with Ellen. McSorley is a common name in Tyrone, and it will take more digging in U.S. records of Ellen and her siblings in order to find their place of origin in County Tyrone.

I was told by my aunt, Rita Brady, that her grandfather Timothy Whelan was from Kilkenny. Since then I have found some evidence supporting that. The Whelan surname and the surname of Timothy Whelan's first wife, Mary Sinnott, are both common in Kilkenny. I am still gathering information about other Whelans from Kilkenny who settled in Chicago, to see if any of them are related to Timothy.

Aunt Rita also told me that Timothy Whelan's second wife, Catherine Markey, was from County Meath. According to Rita, Catherine and her mother came to the U.S. from "County Meath near the River Boyne, 5 miles from the sea." This exact wording was also used by a distant cousin who was descended from Catherine's aunt Bridget Ratty Crawley. The wording was so specific that it sounded like a quote from a travel brochure. I later found that wording in a gazeteer of Ireland.

My Aunt Rita told me that her grandfather, Garret Brady, was from County Mayo. I haven't found any supporting evidence of this in obituaries or other sources. And Brady is not a common name in County Mayo. But Aunt Rita's information has been pretty reliable about our other ancestors, so for now I am taking her word for it and hoping to find records of Garret that will lead me to his place of origin in Ireland.

Frances Whelan, 1874-1960

This is a copy of an obituary that has been handed down in my family. It is for Sister Delphine, previously known as Frances Whelan. She was the daughter of Timothy Whelan and Catherine Markey, and was my dad's favorite aunt.

Frances was born 20 October 1874, and was baptized at Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, on 1 November 1874. Her godfather was James Whelan. His relationship to the family is not known, but I hope to find that out someday.

According to the 1902 Chicago city directory, Frances was a teacher who lived at 1140 Jackson. I've been told that she delayed joining the convent in order to help her widowed mother.

Information from the Sinsinawa Dominican's archives indicates that Frances taught Latin. She also served as a superior of a convent on two occasions. The archives also provided a copy of Frances' grades from her days as a student at Saint Clara Academy. Her lowest grade was a 75 in Bookkeeping, and her highest was a 96 in Latin 2.

I don't remember Sister Delphine, who died when I was very young. I have heard from family members that she was alot of fun. Once her relatives, including Tim Furey, were visiting and Tim asked what he could bring her besides stationery. She told him beer would be good. He had some delivered from the Pabst brewery.

Here is a photo of Sister Delphine labeled "Sr Delphine Summer 1949 Oak Park."

Ann Scrobel, Jackie and Binsky

This is a picture of 2 of my relatives from Gary, Indiana and a family friend. On the left is Joe Slavinski, who was also known as Binsky. (Why, I don't know.) Joe was a friend of my grandfather Anton Skrobul (aka Antanas Skrabulis.) Next to Joe is Ann (Waxner) Scrobel, the wife of Anton's brother William. Standing in front of Ann is her granddaughter Jackie Buyse.

The Scrobels and Waxners were "double cousins." Ann Waxner's brother Walter married William Scrobel's sister Antanina. So their children were cousins on both their mother's side and their father's side.