~ ~ All that Glitters~ ~

     The topic for week 8 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was 'Prosperity' and I knew as soon as I saw that word who I would be writing about.  The Devine brothers were miners of gold and quartz in Maricopa, Arizona at the beginning of the 1900s.
     My 2nd great-grandmother, Teresa Devine's older brothers, Martin, John, and Patrick from her father's first marriage had moved west before 1900.  I don't know what year their journey to a new adventurous life began.
     Martin Devine, the oldest of the Devine boys who moved west to seek their fortune in mining was born approx 1856 in Dutchess County, NY.  Martin died March 20 in 1911 and his death certificate states that he had been living in Arizona for 18 years which would make his arrival in Arizona territory to be about 1893.  His burial was March 22, 1911 in Pioneer Gravesite, La Paz county, Arizona.  I have tried and tried but have been unable to locate this cemetery.
     John J. Devine, Martin's younger brother, was born July 13, 1859 in NY.  I don't know when he moved to Arizona But I know it was before Martin because in 1887 he was working in Tucson as a deputy collector for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  At some point, John travelled further west to California where he settled in Ventura. John died Oct 19, 1944 in Ventura, California and is buried in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park.
     Patrick Devine,  the youngest of the Devine brothers to head west was born 6 July 1862 in New York.  I don't have any information other than what I saw on the 1900 federal census.
     The 1900 U.S. Federal Census shows Martin Devine along with his younger brothers, John and Patrick living in Sunset precint of Maricopa county which was in Arizona territory.  They were owners of a gold mine.  I don't know how successful the Devine brothers were with the gold but the older two, Martin and John relocated to Yuma according to voter registration records and I have no idea what became of Patrick.
     The 1910 federal census shows Martin and John living in Yuma and owners of a quartz mine.  What happened to the gold?  Were they any more successful with quartz?  Sadly, Martin died the following year in March of 1911 and John remained in Yuma for at least a few more years according to voter registration records.  I was not able to find John in any of the censuses after 1910 and actually didn't see his name again until a record of death in October of 1944.
     I don't know how prosperous the Devine brothers were but they say "all that glitters is not gold."

                                     

                                                             

I Found Emily!

     The topic for week 7 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was 'Favorite Discovery' and I didn't need to give this one a second thought. I knew who I was writing about.

                        

     I first learned of Emily when I was looking at my 2nd great-grandmother, Teresa's death certificate.  It listed her parents as Patrick Devine and Emily O'Leary.  I also had a copy of Teresa's baptismal certificate which listed her mother's maiden name as Sheridan.  So, was Emily's last name O'Leary or Sheridan?  I would be more inclined to believe it was Sheridan rather than O'Leary because that name on the baptismal certificate was supplied by Emily herself whereas the name on the death certificate was the informant who might not really know.  I had two last names for Emily and needed to confirm the correct one.  I contacted the church where she was baptized and ordered her certificate.  I was surprised to see this one had Emily's last name listed as Sheldon.  Both baptismal certificates I now had with names of Sheridan and Sheldon were handwritten/typed by someone in the office.  I didn't want to bother the church again but I needed to know the correct name.  The man I spoke with was very nice and made a photocopy of the page with the entry for Teresa's baptism.  I can see the handwriting with the name Sheldon.
     Emily J. Sheldon was born approx. 1846 in the beautiful Emerald Isle.  I do not know what county in Ireland my 3rd great-grandmother was born.  She immigrated to the United States in 1851 and by 1865 was married to Patrick and step-mother to his three children from his first wife.  I traced Emily and her family through the years using census records.  I believe this family fell off the face of the earth and were unavailable for the 1880 federal census.  The 1890 census was destroyed by a fire but Emily resurfaced again in 1900 living as a divorced lady with her youngest son, 18 year old William.  In 1905, Emily was living with her daughter, Emma and Emma's family according to the New York state census.  The next census taken would have been in 1910 and I have no idea where Emily was.
     I searched and stalked for years thinking I would never find Emily until one day I made a great discovery.  I have made many great discoveries over the years, some that would have me doing back flips if I were acrobatic like that but my "favorite discovery", which is actually the topic for week 7 is finding Emily.  I had a hint on Ancestry.com which was a Canadian death record for an Emily Devine who was born in Ireland near the year of birth for my Emily.  At the time I only had the U.S. subscription so even though I was able to see that there was a hint, I was unable to actually view the record.  I asked a friend who had the worldwide subscription to look up that record and email it to me.
     I finally found Emily!  I learned that she had been living in Ontario, Canada for the last ten years of her life.  The last five were with her daughter, Emma and son-in-law, Simon.  She died 12 March 1928 in Toronto, Ontario.  So, if she moved to Canada in 1918 then where was she in 1910?  I couldn't find her in the census.  The informant on this death record was Emily's son-in-law, Simon and I guess he didn't know her parents names because that was left blank.  I guess it would be a waste of time and money to order an actual death certificate.  Emily was buried in Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery three days after her death.

                                                           Rest in Peace, Emily

                                                                                                      

* Eleanor Ferris *

     The topic for Week 6 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was 'Same Name.'  I thought I might write about my 2nd great-grandfather's name, Daniel until I found Eleanor Ferris who was my 5th great-grandmother.
     Eleanor Ferris was my 5th great-grandmother.  She was born about 1763 and died 4 May 1842.  I'm sure she had a large family with a ton of children like many women back then but I can only account for two of them.
     Eleanor's son, Charles, was my 4th great-grandfather who was born in 1800 and died 30 Dec 1851.  He is buried in Anning Smith Cemetery, the same cemetery as his parents.  Charles had a son named Ferris who I am guessing was named after Eleanor.  I've come across many ancestors whose first name was the maiden name of a parent or grandparent.  Charles had another son named William who was my 3rd great-grandfather.  William named one  of his sons Ferris and his youngest daughter was named Elnora.  William's son, Daniel was my 2nd great-grandfather.  Daniel was one of 13 children but he and his wife had only three children.  Their middle child was named Eleanor.  Daniel's oldest child, Samuel, was my great-grandfather.  He and my great-grandmother had five children.  The first born child was my grandmother, Eleanor, born in 1917.
     Eleanor Ferris, my 5th great-grandmother, is smiling down from Heaven seeing her name being passed down through the generations for almost half a century, from her birth in approximately 1763 to my grandmother, Eleanor's birth in 1917.
                                           Rest In Peace Eleanor    

                              


















Copyright 2020 by Annmarie Novick, Skipping Down Memory Lane. All Rights Reserved.

~ Long Ago & Far Away ~

The topic for Week 5 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was 'So Far Away' and I had planned on writing about my 3rd great-grandfather, Patrick and his life.  Instead of writing about a person this time, I choose to write about a place.
     Long ago and far away, in a land of rolling green hills, lived a boy named Patrick who dreamed of better days in a new country.
     I have always been fascinated with Ireland, the land of my ancestors.  I used to sit and watch the St Patrick's Day parade with my grandmother and wish I could visit someday.  My grandmother died many years before I became interested in genealogy so I never asked about our family or who exactly were the Irish family members.
     From my 2nd great-grandmother, Teresa's death certificate and baptismal certificate, I learned the names of her parents.  It took thorough research and patience to discover that my 3rd great-grandfather, Patrick Devine was born about 1838 in Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland.  He immigrated to the United States in 1853 and I think I have a date of death but haven't confirmed it yet.  I still have not found the county of birth for Patrick's 2nd wife, my 3rd great-grandmother, Emily but I haven't given up.
     My mother visited Ireland a few years ago with a tour group but didn't visit County Mayo.  I hope to visit soon.  I cannot wait to visit the land of my ancestors from long ago and far away.


                                                 

                                    


















Copyright 2020 by Annmarie Novick, Skipping Down Memory Lane. All Rights Reserved.