Genealogist and Great Grandmother all in one

Last week I posted about the birth of my first great grandchild. I spent yesterday afternoon with the latest addition to our family, itty bitty Lucas. He is under 6 lbs and is so light to hold. My granddaughter commented recently that being a young great grandmother is neat since I get to spend many years with him.

That made me think about my children and their great grandparents.

My oldest son had 4 great grandparents living when he was born. One, my Grandpa Mike died when my son was 4 1/2 months old and never got to meet his first great grandchild as we were living in California and Grandpa was back in Minnesota. However, my son did spend time with three other great grandparents. He was 6 when two of them died.

My daughter also got to know those two grandparents as she was 4 when they died.

Then there was my Grandma Gert who lived until she was almost 99. My oldest son was 31 when his GGG

Happy St. Patrick's Day -- Yes, I am Irish

I may be a mutt as far as my ancestral origins, but the Irish far outweighs the others. My Irish blood is on on my maternal side. I know that some of my Irish lines may turn out to have some English -- but I need that trip to Ireland to work on that.

My maternal grandfather, Maurice Michael Hanley (100% Irish), was born 1893 in Winona, Minnesota to Michael Hanley and Johanna Welch. Michael was born in Ireland (county history says Tipperary) around 1840, came to Hamilton, Ontario,Canada in the 1840s where his parents supposedly died. He and his brother Martin ended up in Winona, Minnesota. There is supposed to be a sister Mary, but I have not found evidence of her to date.

Grandpa Mike's (Maurice Michael) mother was Johanna Walsh, born 1859 in County Kerry (Welch/Walsh, Fitzgerald and Bowler). Johanna followed several other family members to Winona County. Others were in Boston. I have a picture of the old family homestead in Kerry (Catholic parish of Ballyferriter) that was in the family until recently. That was a treasured gift from cousins who were born and raised in Ireland. Johanna Walsh was Michael Hanley's second wife. His first wife was Margaret Carney/Kearney who died in 1888 in Winona.

Some of the Walsh/Welch's remained in Winona but after Michael died in 1905 in Winona, his widow Johanna eventually moved to St. Paul with her children to be with other relatives. Maurice Michael met and married my Grandmother Gertrude Catherine Cook. Grandma Gert's father was John Thomas Cook and her mother was Violet Dow/Daoust (born 1875 in Montreal to a French-Canadian father and a mother who had English, German, and Irish blood.)

The Cooks are from the civil parish of Dromcolliher, Catholic parish Drumcollagher, County Limerick, Ireland where some children of James Cook and Mary Green were baptized. Their son Andrew, born 1842, came to Faribault, Minnesota. Andrew was followed by my great great grandfather, James Cook (born 1837) and wife Catherine (Kate) Moriarity. James and Catherine settled in Faribault with Kate's mother Ellen (Nellie). Eventually James and Kate and children moved to St. Paul. My great grandaunt used to tell us about connections to County Cork.

The bottom line is that I am almost 1/2 Irish. My youngest three grandchildren add a large dose of Irish blood from their Dad. Dougherty is just a bit Irish!

My Mother's Passing

I haven't posted anything to this blog since January 1st. I left for Salt Lake City on January 3d to teach at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy for one week, for meetings of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and for research at the Family History Library. When I am there, the hours go by quickly. On January 8, 2008 I received word that my mother, Patricia Margaret Ann (Hanley) Stuart had passed away. Five years ago on the same date, January 8th, I was in Salt Lake City when her sister Jeanine died.

Mom died peacefully. One of her caregivers called me shortly after and tearfully told me how he tried to save her. She had suffered over many years with Alzheimer's, emphysema, severe osteoporosis, and was a cancer survivor. On Christmas Day she appeared to be enjoying the activities, the meal, and watching her five great grandchildren run around.

I didn't return to Minnesota for the funeral. My Dad wanted the funeral immediately. He called me and told me that I needed to stay in SLC. I was so torn, but that generous call and the cost of the bereavement air fare helped with my decision. I completed my teaching at SLIG, attended meetings, and felt so much love from friends that I had lots of help in my grieving. Telling them stories about Mom helped immensely and the laughs were helpful.

In the next few days, I will post about the meaningful and beautiful memorial service that friends who were with me in SLC had for Mom. I had 50 people to grieve and smile with. Some of them needed that service for their own healing after loss of parents, in-laws, and friends. I love my special genealogy family.

I also learned that at the service back in Minnesota, some of my family and friends talked with each other -- some of them might not have had those connections if I had been there and had talked with them separately. I had emails and cell phone text messages immediately after that told me how beautiful Mom looked and that the funeral was beautiful.

Just a few hours till 2008

Where did 2007 go? I definitely did not accomplish all that I planned for 2007. Genealogical items are pretty high on the list. I did not sort through all my old genealogy information files. These are the files that tell me the 1920 census is about to be released to the public (done in 1992), that there is no index to the 1910 census for most of my states (now indexed at Ancestry) and many other tidbits that I excitedly copied for my subject files. At this point I either know the details or know where to find them more easily. The files I have already sorted take up much less space than they formerly did. I challenge you to organize your genealogy files. Toss what you no longer need. Make duplicate working copies of vital pieces of paper and put the originals in a safety deposit box or house a copy at a relative or friend’s home. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. These would either be forgotten or more important things would arise.

2008 will bring a new place to live. I dread the looking stage – where do I want to live? What is affordable? Then there is the challenge of a self-employed woman starting over in life. Not all lending institutions are thrilled with those pieces of the mortgage puzzle! I will stay in the Twin Cities area for now. The majority of my family resides in Minnesota and is great factor in my decision.

Best wishes for a peaceful, healthy, and happy New Year. Several family members and friends are going through some tough times personally and healthwise -- I wish for a less painful 2008 for them.

Holiday Travel

Not me. Last year I spent Christmas in northern Minnesota with my daughter, her husband, and their three grandchildren. This year it is their turn to come to the Twin Cities.

Our family began our holiday season today with a birthday dinner for my oldest granddaughter, Kaylene, who turned 14. As if having a granddaughter who is already 14 wasn't traumatic enough, she has now surpassed me in height. Not by much, but she is elated.

For many years, an extended business trip has kept me away on her birthday. We began a tradition of what she calls her "fake birthday." It is celebrated either before or after my business trip. I recently told her I would be in town on her birthday so we could celebrate on time. She said she still wanted the "fake birthday." It is special Granddaughter and Grandma time, and I was thrilled that she wanted our tradition to continue. This year we are going out to dinner and then jewelry shopping for her gift.