The Herne / O’Herne / Ahern Family Mystery

My great-great-great-grandfather, Martin Gentry Jr. (1789-1827) married Delphia Herne (1791-?) on 12 January 1807 in Garrard County, Kentucky.  Both Martin & Delphia were reported to be from Albemarle County, Virginia.  Martin had moved with his birth family to Madison County, Kentucky (adjacent to Garrard County) in the first decade of the 1800’s, originally to Fort Boonesborough.  Delphia’s family would likely have come to Kentucky about the same time.  According to the book, “The Gentry family in America, 1676 to 1909”, after having at least six children, Martin and Delphia separated and Martin was reported to have two more sons with a second wife in Indiana while Delphia supposedly took her underage children to Pike County, Missouri.

I have been looking for Delphia’s birth family for a long time.  The only clue I had was her marriage registration.  Despite the spelling, it gives the following information: “Martin Jentry was married to Delphy Hern on 12 January 1807 by Peter Bainbridge with the marriage bond provided by John Hern and, because the bride was underage at the time, consent of the father, Owen Hern, was obtained”.

That much of the story has long been known to the family and is pretty well documented on Ancestry.  I could find no documentation or information about Owen or the rest of his family. 

This past month I thought I had broken though that wall but it’s more like a gentle knocking on the door that is slowly getting louder.

While looking in Ancestry at my closest DNA matches who I had not yet identifed, I saw a few that were related to each other with a common ancestors coming from Warren and Edmonson counties, Kentucky.  As I always do with such groupings, I tried to find their common ancestors which, theoretically, should point towards my common ancestor with them.

Here is when I got excited.  I could trace the whole group to the common ancestors, William Thomas Grubbs (1720-1776) and his wife, Susanna Herne (1729-1817).  Thomas and Susanna were married in Albemarle County, Virginia around 1743 and moved with their ten children to Kentucky about 1775.  They managed to reach Bryan’s Station, near modern day Lexington, around 1776 but Thomas soon passed away.  Susanna then took her children southward to Madison County.  It wasn’t long before I found old books on Ancestry that mentioned Susanna’s parents… Owen and Catherine Herne.

That is when I shrieked.  I reckoned that I had found Dephia’s sister and mother.  I happily started documenting the first several generations of Grubbs as well as the lines down to my Ancestry DNA matches.  This expansion of the tree led to other likely descendants of the Grubbs that have had their DNA tested on Ancestry.  I was starting to get overwhelmed by the numbers of people when I finally saw the obvious elephant in the room.  Susanna was born in 1729.  Delphia was born in 1791.  The chance of them being sisters is zero.  Assuming Owen was at least 18 years older than Susanna, he would have been 96 years old when he granted Delphia permission to get married.  That’s even less likely than him fathering her when he was 80 years old.

It’s back to the drawing board with the Herne family.  I can’t, however, deny the DNA matches, nor the geographic connections and similar names.  I’m certain that I'm related to the Grubbs but I don’t know exactly how.  At the moment, I am going with the theory that when Susanna moved to Kentucky with her husband and children, the living members of her birth family stayed in Virginia.  I have seen one completely undocumented tree on the internet that Susanna had siblings named William, Mary and Owen Jr.  This second brother, Owen Jr., who was reportedly born in 1726, could possibly be Delphia’s father.  If that is the case, I have a lot of 6^th cousins who I share 24-29cM of DNA with which is actually more than I share with the 4^th cousins in the Martin Gentry & Delphia Herne branch. Perhaps Owen Jr. was the grandfather instead of the father of my Delphia.  I don’t know.  I'm still looking.

As of today, I have traced, documented and confirmed ten Ancestry DNA matches of mine who are descendants of Susanna Herne Grubbs through four different children of hers.  There are several more matches that I am still working on.  I have also found a transcription of the 1750 will of Catherine Steward (Owen Herne Sr.’s wife) who mentions her children as: Owen Ahern, William Ahern, Susanna Grubbs, Ann Pierson and Mary Hix.  She also mentioned her son-in-law Thomas Grubbs.

More Schmitts and More Generatioins

Proving family connections from 200 years ago isn't always easy with just documents.  Census, birth, death, marriage records and newspaper articles may not be available any longer and family letters were passed on to other descendants or thrown away a long time ago.  Sometimes DNA evidence is all I am able to use.  I guess if it is good enough to convict people of crimes and to identify the remains of distant relatives, it will have to do for me. 

My great-great-grandfather was definitely Joseph Schmitt (b. 8 Mar 1838, Bavaria – d. 25 Nov 1915, Baltimore, Md.).  I recently found six DNA relatives on Ancestry who all descend from three different children of George Schmitt (b. 19 Jul 1844, Baunach, Bavaria – d. 7 Nov. 1900, Baltimore, Md.) and his wife Eugenia Mary Sorg.  The six DNA relatives all share between 17 and 27cM with me.  This much DNA suggests that the Ancestry members are almost certainly my 4^th cousins or 4^th cousins once removed.  If true, that would mean that George and Joseph were brothers – but this is still just assumed as I have no documentation for it.  The only supporting information is that they were both from Bavaria, both were Catholic rather than Lutheran and both reported on the 1900 census that they immigrated in the early 1850’s.  There is also some evidence that they both arrived and settled in New York at first before coming down to Baltimore just before and after the Civil War.

That is enough evidence for me to justify including George & his descendants on my tree in Ancestry but I really would love to find documents to back that up.

If George and Joseph really were brothers, then it was likely that Joseph was also born in Baunach.  Another reasonable assumption is that George and Joseph likely emigrated together, with their parents and any other siblings.  George would have been less than eleven years old when he came to America, too young to emigrate alone or with another minor brother.  Both of these educated guesses are useful to me.

Two other DNA relatives that I have in Ancestry can trace their ancestors to different children of Franz Otto Schmitt (b. 6 Sep 1841, Bamberg, Bavaria – d. 17 Jul 1877, Louisville, Ky.).  Bamberg is the nearest city to the small village of Baunach, only about 12km (7 miles) away.  Franz was documented to be the son of Johann Oswald Schmitt (b. 16 Sep 1818, Baunach, Bavaria – d. 22 Dec 1893 Louisville, Ky.).  At first, I hoped that Franz and Johann were the brother and father, respectively, of the brothers in my tree, Joseph and George.  This does not look to be correct though. 

Johann, Franz and Franz’s wife and children only emigrated in 1882 and, although they landed in Baltimore, they quickly pressed on to Louisville, Ky. Also, Johann is also reported to have had a son named George who was born only a month before the George in my tree was born.  Johann’s George is also reported to have died in infancy in 1845.

I am now working on the educated guess that Johann was the uncle of my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Schmitt as well as the assumed brother of Joseph, George.  The two DNA relatives who descended from Johann and Franz share 17 and 8cM with me.  I believe that they are 5^th cousins and 4^th cousins once removed, respectively.

Even though I don’t have definitive proof of the relationship of all these Schmitts from Baunach, The DNA points to this conclusion.  I am putting them in my tree to help me find further DNA relatives who descended from Johann.

Maybe, just maybe, there is a new Gisriel in the family

Since childhood, I always heard that two Gisriel brothers, Jacob and Frederick, came to America from the German speaking area Alsace, France and started the two branches of the family.  

We have since learned that Jacob and Frederick had an older sister named Magdalen with them in Baltimore.  She started a third branch of the family.  Their mother, Sophia, was also in Baltimore, at least at the time of the 1850 census.  It looks likely that she brought the children to America in the early 1830s and there is some evidence that their father, Georg, was with them too.  There is a Georg buried in the Jacob Gisriel family plot in Baltimore’s New Cathedral Cemetery but he was a reburial from another cemetery.  There is no other information to identify when Georg died or what the relationship is. He doesn’t appear to be a child of Jacob though.

Uncle Carroll, the genealogist for our branch of the family, was the one that told me that Gisriel wasn’t the real family name.  The name they were born with – Gießenregen – was a little too hard on the ears of Americans.  In the decades after they arrived, most of the family changed the name to Gisriel. 

It wasn’t quite that simple though.  The families obviously tried out other options, such as Giesrehn, but the misspellings of the various names were too numerous to count.  A few that I have seen include Geisenrick, Griswold, Gissell, Grieviel, Gilirel, Gieswell, Giserile, etc.

All this “what’s our name?” leads to the current find.  I have been able to identify and tie together almost all of the Gisriel descendants who have had their DNA tested on Ancestry.  There is one small cluster though that I could not figure out.  A woman from Hagerstown, “Bonnie” who died in 2020 was tested on Ancestry and we share 23cM of DNA which points her to be about a 3rd or 4th cousin of mine. All of our shared DNA relatives were descendants of Georg and Sophia Gießenregen so I was pretty sure that this woman was a descendant or theirs too.  Two of her grandchildren are also DNA matches to me but that makes obvious sense.  I thought I had pretty well figured out most of the descendants of Jacob, Frederick and Magdalen so I tried to match my information to the family trees that was put together for Bonnie and her relatives.

If Bonnie was my 3rd cousin, we would share a pair of great-great-grandparents.  If she was a 4th cousin, one of each of our great-great-grandparents would be siblings and share a last birth-name.  That’s why I started looking at Bonnie’s 16 great-great-grandparents.  All of them were born between 1797 and 1844 with the mean year of birth being 1817.  Since Magdalen was born in 1820, Frederick about 1826, and Jacob in 1827, I fully expected to see one of them among Bonnie’s 16 great-great-grandparents.  Just to be sure, I double checked the parents of the only one of the 16 who was born after 1835 and she wasn’t the child of one of the three siblings either.

It’s possible that Bonnie and I are 5th or 6th cousins but that is less than a 10% chance.  I looked closer at the group of 16.  Could one of them be a sibling of Magdalen, Frederick and Jacob?  I only had a little bit of work to do but one of the 16 looked like it had the best chance of being in our family.  In Baltimore, on 27 June 1850, a 23 year-old Alfred Borgealt married an 18 year-old Catherine M Crishrile.  Actually, one marriage record had the name spelled as Crishrile and another had it as Krisrile.  Is this another misspelling of Gisriel or one of the attempted Anglicizations of the name?  Could Catherine be a younger sister to Magdalen, Frederick and Jacob?

The problems I have with this theory are that census records show that Catherine reported to having been born in New York State.  Wouldn’t she be born in Alsace like the three Gisriel siblings?  In the 1880 census, she said her father was born in France and her mother in Prussia.  Those locations might actually be expected but by the 1900 and 1910 censuses, Catherine was quite old and in the care of a daughter.  The daughter reported that Catherine was born in New York but Catherine’s parents were from Maryland.  That would be odd if true but unexplainable other than the daughter didn’t know or didn’t care what she reported.

How is it possible that Catherine could be a Gisriel born in New York?  We have never found the immigrant ship that the family came to America on.  Jacob’s death certificate says that he was a resident of Baltimore since about 1834.  Magdalen’s said she was a Baltimore resident since about 1833. I had assumed that was when the family emigrated.  Was it possible that the Gisriel family came to New York first, around 1830, added Catherine there in 1831 and then moved to Baltimore in 1833 or 1834?  That would change where I looked for a port of arrival and a possible death location of Georg.  It would also show that George likely made it to America.

So, what is next?  How do I prove or disprove this theory?  Here is what I have to do next.  I still haven’t figured out Catherine’s date of death.  It turns out that Borgealt has as many spelling variations as Gisriel.  Once I find that, I should be able to find a death certificate which should show her parents’ names.  That would be the best proof.  It’s also possible that there is a birth or baptism record for Catherine in New York.  It’s unlikely but possible to include her parents’ names.  Alfred and Catherine also had five children.  The death certificate of their son mentions “unknown” for the names of his parents but by the time he died, he was in Spring Grove Sanitorium.  I know the death certificate numbers for two of their daughters but I’ll have to check their death certificates when I next visit Maryland and the state archives.  Hopefully I find a mother’s maiden name there that looks more like Gießenregen or Gisriel.  I have not been able yet to find out who the other two daughters married or when they died but I will soon have access to a database to help me find that information and improve my chances of finding their mother’s maiden name.

In summary….. there is more work to be done.  … to be continued.

Update #1 - I found Catherine's death certificate.  Her son-in-law who helped care for her in his house in her old age was the informant on the certificate.  He reported that Catherine was born in New York and both her parents were from Germany but, alas, he did not know Catherine's parents' names.  The German ancestry supports the theory that Catherine was a Gisriel but the lack of names doesn't help either way.  

Update #2 - With the help of Bonnie's daughter, I determined that I was a DNA match to a second cousin of hers who is a grandson of Bonnie's father's sister.  That means that I only have to be looking at Bonnie's father side of the family and half of Bonnie's 16 great-great-grandparents.  Catherine is still in the correct half to support the theory.

Update #3 - On my visit to the Maryland State Archives in June, I was able to find the death certificates of Mary Virginia Borgealt Mentzel and Emma C Borgealt Hill.  Both certificates clearly name their mother as Catherine Gisriel.  That's concrete documentation to back up the DNA evidence.  Catherine was a younger, American-born sister to Magdalen, Frederick and Jacob.

The PROOF!! And two new brothers join the Mooney family!!

 The PROOF!! And two new bothers join the Mooney family!! But that’s not all…

While trying to find documentary evidence that Laurence Mooney and Ellen Frances Mooney Clooney were brother & sister, I relooked at every detail of every document that I already had for the family and I searched for more documents too. 

The clue that I had previously overlooked was in the wedding announcement of Laurence’s daughter, Hannah.  As noted previously, I speculated that Hannah was named for Laurence’s mother.  On 6 September 1899, young Hannah married John Carroll Watts.  Her sister, Elizabeth, was the maid of honor.  Her brother, John, was the best man.  The ushers were J. Linn Watts, Raymond Watts (cousins of the groom), Joseph R. Wering and Francis I. Mooney.

Hannah’s only brother was John, not Francis.  Francis was likely either a friend, who coincidentally had the same last name, or a cousin.  I assumed and hoped that he was a cousin and I looked for his details.  Because of his rare middle initial, I found him on the 1900 census in Baltimore, living with his mother and two siblings.  Francis was a lawyer and very active in Baltimore politics.  His mother, Sarah A. Cunningham Mooney, was the widow of Michael E. Mooney, a grocer, wood-carver and a Baltimore City Councilman representing the 15^th and 16^th Wards.

While trying to find any newspaper article about Michael, the first thing I stumbled on was an obituary for his widow, Sarah.  It read: “MOONEY – On September 29, 1919. SARAH A., beloved wife of the late Michael A. [sic] Mooney.  R.I.P. [Washington (D.C.) and Phoebus (Va.) papers please copy.”. 

That’s not the perfect documentation but it’s good enough for me.  Laurence, Michael and Ellen Frances must be siblings.  Phoebus, Virginia was a historic but small and obscure town in 1919.  It was the same town where Ellen Francis passed away in 1914 and most of her children still lived.  Why else would the Mooney’s ask that Phoebus papers copy the death notice, other than to notify family?

Regarding the different middle initials for Michael, I checked the records of the New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore.  Sarah A. Mooney was buried in lot L14 on 3 October 1919.  I also checked to see if there was a Michael Mooney in the same plot.  I found a “Michael E. Mooney” also buried in lot L14 on 18 May 1883, a long but believable month after the councilman’s death on 13 April 1883.  The newspaper got the initial wrong in Sarah’s obituary.  Michael’s delayed burial was mentioned in the German language newspaper but not The Baltimore Sun.

Now, here is the surprise…

In the newspaper article reporting Michael E. Mooney’s death, it contains the following passage: “Mr. Mooney was born in county Kildare, Ireland, in 1838. When five years old, he came to this country and to Baltimore.  Though raised in East Baltimore, where his father still lives, he resided in South Baltimore for over sixteen years.”

(note: the article was wrong about one point… I have now learned that half the family arrived in Baltimore aboard the Flora Macdonald 5 February 1852.  I am still looking for when the other half arrived.  It wasn’t unusual that large families would take separate ships to America because the immigration ships were not known for safety and hygiene.  Many people died or got seriously ill on them).

It took me a while longer to find and document the right Patrick and Hanna Mooney.  I still have to find death certificates, talk to the staff at the cemetery, review old newspapers and street directories, and get other details that confirm the relationship.  Things got confusing because there was another couple named Patrick and Hanora Mooney living in Baltimore at the same time and the Mooneys were very shy when the census-takers knocked on the door every ten years.

Here is what I found:

Patrick Mooney died in Baltimore at the Baltimore home of his son, John T. Mooney (another sibling!) on 29 May 1886 when it was reported he was 85 years old.  His death notice in the papers confirmed that he was a native of County Kildare, where all his children were born.  He was buried St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Baltimore and when that closed, his remains were transferred for reburial in the New Cathedral Cemetery.

My great-great-great-grandmother, Hannah Timmins Mooney, was born around 1807 in Monstreven, Co. Kildare.  She died on 6 May 1863 in Baltimore but I have not found where she was buried.  I learned her maiden name (possibly misspelled) from the Irish baptism records of some of her children.  Hannah was the parent who took half the family on the Flora Macdonald to escape the Great Hunger.

Regarding the children of Patrick and Hannah, I count eleven likely children although it’s possible some are nieces, nephews or much younger siblings of Patrick.  The eleven were either registered as a group on the manifest of the Flora Macdonald when it landed in Baltimore or in the same household in the 1860 census, the only census that the Mooneys didn’t hide from or, from Irish records.  So far, I have only been able to document and confirm four of the children with two other likely dying in childhood before the family immigrated to America.

1. Richard Mooney (b. ~ Jan 1830, Monasterevan, Co. Kildare), there was a baptism record for Rick in Monasterevan on 24 January 1830 noting that he was the son of Patt Mooney and Hanna Temnons".  He also appears in the 1860 census at the family home in Baltimore and was mentioned with Patrick in an 1855 newspaper article however, it is also possible that he remained in Ireland or returned there as a Richard Mooney born about 1832 raised a family there and died in 1902.
2. Laurence Mooney (b. ~ June 1831, Monasterevan, Co. Kildare), there was a baptism record for Laurence in Monasterevan on 4 June 1831 noting that he was the son of (according to the transcription of the very poor handwriting), Patt Mooney and “Anna Jemmins”.  He likely died in infancy before 1837 as another Laurence was later named in the family.
3. Patrick Mooney (b. ~ July 1835, Monasterevan, Co. Kildare), there was a baptism record for Patrick in Monasterevan on 2 August 1835 noting that he was the son of "Pat Mooney and Dannagh Tonnin”.  He likely died in childhood before 1847 as another Patrick was later named in the family.
4. Laurence / Lawrence Mooney (b. 10 November 1837, Kildangan, Co. Kildare – d. 6 June 1900, Baltimore, Md.) was my great-great-grandfather and is well documented in my tree.  He was on the Flora Macdonald’s manifest with the family.  The article about his daughter’s wedding mentioned the usher who was the son of Michael E. Mooney, noted below.
5. Michael E. Mooney (b. 1838 in Co. Kildare – d. 13 April 1883, Baltimore, Md.) was on the Flora Macdonald manifest and, most importantly, he had an obituary written about him that mentions his father.  His family is well documented in my Ancestry tree.  Only one of his seven children had children of their own and of that son’s three children, only on married and gave two grandchildren to Michael.  There are not very many descendants of Michael alive today so I am not surprised that I haven't found any DNA matches with this branch on Ancestry.  It was Michael’s wife’s death notice that connected Michael to his sister, Ellen Frances.
6. Mary Mooney (b. Feb 1840, Monasterevan, Co. Kildare) was on the Flora Macdonald manifest.  There was also a baptism record for Mary in Monasterevan on 23 February 1840 noting that she was the daughter of “Patt Mooney and Nanna Timmins”.  Finally, she was also on the 1860 census with the family.
7. Ann Mooney (b. ~October 1842, Monasterevan, Co. Kildare) was on the Flora Macdonald manifest and the 1860 census at the family home in Baltimore.  She also had a baptism record in Monasterevan on 23 October 1842 noting that she was the daughter of “Pat Mooney and Hannagh Mooney”.
8. Ellen Frances Mooney (b. 27 April 1844, Co. Kildare – d. 22 April 1914, Phoebus, Va.).  On Mary’s 1910 census, she reported that she immigrated around 1850.  She married in Baltimore on 21 December 1854 so she wasn’t on the 1860 census with the family and I haven’t found the ship she immigrated on but I am a close DNA relative on Ancestry with at least three of her great-great-grandchildren through two different children of hers.  Ellen had a very large family that is now documented in my tree on Ancestry.
9. Elizabeth Mooney (b. ~1845, Ireland) appears in the 1860 census at the family home in Baltimore.
10. Patrick Mooney (b. ~1847, Ireland) was on the Flora Macdonald manifest and the 1860 census at the family home in Baltimore.
11. John T. Mooney (b. 5 November 1848, Co. Kildare – d. 12 April 1912, Baltimore Md.) was on the Flora Macdonald manifest and the 1860 census at the family home in Baltimore.  His father died in John’s home.  John married but didn’t have children.  He is buried with his wife in New Cathedral Cemetery in the plot right next to his brother, Laurence Mooney.  I had long wondered if they were related.  I really should have followed up on that clue many years ago.

So, what is left to do with this family?  I have recently discovered a source for the Maryland State archives for marriages indexed on the name of the bride, rather than the husband.  When I have access to that, I have to try to find who, if anyone, Mary, Ann and Elizabeth married.  I also have to find what happened to the two sons who likely died in Monasterevan.  I want to find the immigrant ship that brought Patrick Sr., Richard, Ellen and Elizabeth to America.  Finally, I also plan to reach out to Mooney cousins to help fill in missing relatives or correct errors in the tree for their nearer cousins.  Maybe I could convince some of them to be DNA tested on Ancestry.  Someday, God willing, I also hope to travel to Monasterevan and Kildangan to research Irish records.

All the index cards in the National Archives had the same misspelling on Mooney, not just for this family but also for another Mooney family on board.  I figured out our family grouping based on the "Accompanied by:" designation.  The other family was smaller and the names were listed on the front of their card.  The spellings on the transcriptions of the first names in our family were "Laurence, Mich, Mary Ann, Pat and John".

Did I find my Mooney great-great-great-grandparents?

I think my great-great-great-grandparents were named Patrick and Hannah Mooney.  Where did those names come from?  DNA and a Virginian death certificate! 

"Kathleen", one of my DNA relatives on Ancestry.com who I share 15cM of DNA on two segments, had built a tree showing all her parents, grandparents and some of her great-grandparents.  Her mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants and I have no Italian ancestry at all so I could concentrate on her father's branch.  We also shared common DNA matches to another woman, "Ann Marie" who, in turn, shares DNA with two of my second cousins.  The common ancestors I have with those male second cousins are Joseph F. Gisriel (1868-1940) and his wife, Frances Desales Mooney (1868-1926).  Joseph was the son of two German immigrants and Frances was the daughter of two Irish immigrants.  Since neither Kathleen nor Ann Marie have any German ancestry, they must have descended from one of Frances Mooney's ancestors. Frances' parents were Laurence Mooney (b. 10 Nov 1837 • Kildangan, Kildare, Ireland - d. 6 Jun 1900 • Baltimore, Maryland, USA) and Julia Quinn (b. Nov 1843 • Monasterevin, Kildare, Ireland - d. 29 Mar 1910 • Baltimore, Maryland, USA).

With that knowledge, I started to expand Kathleen's tree, looking for a Mooney or a Quinn ancestor from Co. Kildare, Ireland. I looked at both her paternal grandparent’s families.  Her grandfather’s family was interesting to document but I could trace all of the family back to the 1810’s and there was no link to any Quinn, Mooney or Co. Kildare.  Every single relative in that branch was traceable to Dublin City from birth until death.  Kathleen's grandmother’s family, however, did lead to a Mooney.  I was thrilled to learn that her great-great-grandmother's maiden name was Ellen Frances Mooney (b. 27 Apr 1844 • Ireland - d. 22 Apr 1914 Phoebus, Elizabeth City, Virginia, USA). Since she died in Virginia, her death certificate was available, and it showed her parents' names as Patrick and Hannah Mooney!

I believe – but I am still trying to document it – that Patrick and Hannah are my great-great-great-grandparents.

Here is way I think my Laurence Mooney and her Ellen Frances Mooney were brother and sister:

• With 15cM over two segments of DNA shared, Ancestry says 79% of people with that much shared are fourth cousins or closer.
• I already know all my third cousins in the Mooney family so it's highly likely we are 4th cousins.
• If Laurence and Ellen Frances really were siblings, I would be fourth cousins with Kathleen as they were both, respectively, one of our great-great-grandparents.
• Laurence was born only seven years before Ellen Frances. They almost certainly from the same generation, if not siblings, at least first cousins.
• Both Laurence and Ellen Frances came to America at about the same time, reported by them on later census records as 1851 and 1850.  Remembering exact dates fifty years later is a challenge.
• Both Laurence (in 1864) and Ellen Frances (in 1854) were married in Baltimore.
• Laurence's first daughter was named Frances (maybe for his sister?) and his third daughter was named Hannah (maybe for his mother?)

 Some possible issues with my theory:

• There is still a 21% chance that Kathleen and I are fifth cousins or more distant.  Maybe I only found a cousin or second cousin of my great-great-grandfather.
• Ellen Frances Mooney only shows that she was from “Ireland” on her census forms and death certificate.  Her obituary was silent about what country, county or townland she came from.   

The Schmitt family grows

Joseph Schmitt (1838-1915) was my great-great-grandfather.  We "knew" from census records and other sources that he was a “Hucksker” in Baltimore’s markets and he later had a small grocery store.  He had emigrated from Bavaria around 1852 and on 3 July 1859, in Baltimore’s St. John Roman Catholic Church, he married a young lady from New York, Mary Emma Hanson.  Mary Emma appears to have had ancestors who came to America on the Mayflower so she was likely a good catch for a poor immigrant like Joseph.

Joseph and Mary Emma only had one child, who used the Anglicized name as an adult, Joseph Andrew Smith (1860-1902).  This small family likely caused some heartache for Joseph Sr. later in his life.  Mary Emma passed away in 1897 and Joseph Andrew died young in 1902 so Joseph Sr. spent more than a decade at the end of his life with only five grandchildren as blood relations, all of whom were starting their own way in life.  We know that Joseph Sr. took in a boarder after his wife passed away and Joseph was buried from what appears to be a friend’s house (John C Bauer).  Other than the fact that he was buried in Baltimore’s Loudon Park Cemetery with his wife and one namesake grandchild who died in infancy, we know little about him and nothing about his birth family…

Until now.

Thanks to DNA, I have found a brother of Joseph who started his own large family in Baltimore.  The brother’s history is a little better documented and will hopefully lead to some more clues about Joseph.  It already has provided some valuable information though.

First, how did I find the brother?  When I first had my DNA tested, it was with 23&me.  It was more of a way to get medical information and to help my sister.  That said, the results caused me to start trying to identify my DNA relatives.  One close relative on 23&me was Eric Teschemacher.  There are no trees on that website to help me identify him but I thought I would have recognized a name like that if he was a close relative.  That’s when I joined Ancestry.com and built a tree for Eric.  It turned out to be pretty easy to do since most of his ancestors’ names were rather unique.  In addition to Teschemacher, family names included Eyring, Lochboehler and Halbert on Eric’s father’s side.  His mother’s grandparents were all born in Italy so I knew there was no connection to me there. Eric’s father’s great-great-grandparents included several Irish family names that are or could be in my tree but there was also one ancestor that I was intrigued by but could never prove I was related to…

Until now.

Eric’s great-great-great-grandfather was George Schmitt who was born in Germany in 1844 and died in Baltimore in 1900.  Again, at the time, I could not connect George to the Joseph Schmitt that I descended from.  Now that Ancestry started to split my DNA relatives into “father’s side” and “mother’s side”, I looked at the long list of DNA relatives on my father’s side.  Most of the closer relatives I have either already figured out how we were related or I had grouped them into descendants of the Bunce, Avery or West families who were ancestors of Mary Emma Hanson and early colonizers of the US.  There were a handful of other close DNA relatives though that didn’t fit in elsewhere and they were all related to each other as well as to some of my second cousins, all descendants of my great-granddad, Joseph Andrew Smith (1860-1902).  One of these DNA matches, John Gossman, only had a tree showing that his father, John Gossman Sr. was born in Baltimore sometime in 1932 and died in 2014.  He also gave the name of his paternal grandparents as John Gossman and Emma Bisch with no other information.  With that as a start, I built a tree for John and found out two key things.  First, his grandmother’s maiden name was Meekins, not Bisch, (that’s key for John but useless for me).  Second, John’s great-great-grandfather was George Schmitt (1844-1900)!  I know that guy!

After this, I started to chart the descendants of George Schmitt.  One of the first names to pop up was a son-in-law named George J. Lochboehler.  I’ve seen that name before too!  Of my DNA relatives on Ancestry.com, I was able to trace down from George to Christopher Bostic, Sarah Gossman, Christopher Rice and Donna Kropp in addition to John Gossman and Eric Teschemacher (on 23&me).  For all of them, I share enough DNA that it is almost certain that they would be 4^th cousins of mine or closer (according to Ancestry.com).  George just has to be a brother of our Joseph Schmitt.

So, what do we know about George?  According to his census records, death certificate and obituary, George started his working life as a shoemaker but quickly change over to being a sewing machine agent.  The 1870 census record and George’s 1867 marriage certificate from the Maryland Archives show that George had started his family in Baltimore.   His death certificate, however, says that he had been a resident of Baltimore since 1862.  His obituary noted that he came to America as “a lad” but he reported that he immigrated in 1855 on the 1900 census.  Incidentally, Joseph had reported that he had immigrated in 1852 on the 1900 census but exact dates can’t always be trusted to old memories. 

Between about 1855 and at least 1862, George appears to have been in New York.  He enlisted in the Union Forces with the 94^th New York Infantry in Goshen, New York on 31 January 1865.  After seeing action in White Oak Road, Five Forks, Petersburg and the pursuit of Lee to Appomattox, George was sent back to guard Washington DC and then mustered out on 18 July 1865 in DC.   

I believe that this is most likely when George really settled in Baltimore, near his brother, Joseph, who appears to have been living there before the war (according to Joseph’s 1859 marriage record).  This makes me rethink though, how Joseph came to marry a woman from New York.  Did he know Mary Emma from New York and just meet and marry her after coming to Baltimore?

The most useful information I have from George is that both his gravestone in Baltimore’s Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery and his obituary say that he was born in Baunach, Bayern (Bavaria).  That would most likely be where Joseph was born about six years earlier.

This information leads me to believe that both Joseph and George came to America with their parents and likely started life in this country in New York.  Joseph may have been old enough to come on his own but George certainly wasn’t.  That means that I need to look closer for a family coming over, not just an individual.  Also, I should be looking in New York and Maryland for their parents, not Germany.  It also means I have to visit Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery as that is where most of George’s family is buried.  Finally, it also makes me reconsider who Joseph M. Smith was, other than just another Joe Smith in the family. On the 1880 census, Joseph and Mary Emma lived at their 237 Preston Street home with two minors, 1) their 20 year-old son listed as Andrew J. Smith, a blacksmith apprentice, and 2) a 14 year-old boy named Joseph M Smith, who had no listed relationship to Joseph Schmitt but was working as a huckster.  It also said he was born in Bavaria just like both of his parents.  Since Mary Emma was born in New York and Joseph Sr. had already immigrated, they were not the parents of this Joseph.  I had always assumed that Joseph M. was a nephew of Joseph Sr. from a brother left behind in Germany but I am not as sure now.  It’s just another mystery to solve.

 

The Lelands of Woodfield and Derryherk, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

My great-great-grandmother was Mary Ellen Leland (b. 16 Dec 1838, County Roscommon, Ireland – d. 5 Sep 1910, Baltimore, Md. USA).  Of this, I am certain.  This birthdate was engraved on her gravestone and may have fudged by a year or two on the birth but in the 1900 census said she was born in December, 1837.  It’s close.

According to great-Uncle’s Herbert’s biography “The Inevitable Success”, his grandmother, Mary Ellen, was a native of Co. Roscommon who was sent to Mt. Savage, Maryland to live with an uncle around 1854. 

According to my mother’s research back in the 1970’s when she could speak to her mother, aunts and uncles, Mary Ellen’s father in Roscommon was Thomas Leland.  Unfortunately, that was based on memory only, as far as I know.  Mary Ellen was said to have three brothers who also come to Baltimore.  Those were supposedly Patrick, Thomas and Michael.

Mary Ellen’s death certificate said that she was 73 years old when she died and that her parents were Thomas Leland and Mary Martin.  In full disclosure, one of her obituaries said that she died at 72 years old, was a native of County Roscommon and came to America at 16 years old (around 1854) with her parents “Mr. & Mrs. William Leland”.  Ugh!  I’m trusting the death certificate.

Mary Ellen married William Galvin in Baltimore on 24 December 1863.  From that date until at least the time of the 1870 census, Mary Ellen and William had someone living with them named Thomas Leland.

This Thomas Leland (b. abt 1842, Co. Roscommon, Ireland – b. 31 August 1920, Baltimore, Md. USA) had the notation on his death certificate that he was the son of Thomas Leland and Mary “Norton”.  Genealogy is a messy business!

In Baltimore, living around the corner from the Leland / Galvin family was the family of Michael Leland (b. September, 1846, Roscommon, Ireland – d. 15 September 1907, Baltimore, Maryland, USA).  His death certificate noted that his parents were Thomas Leland and “Bridget” Martin!  His certificate also noted that he and both parents were all born in Co. Roscommon.

Until today, I could find no information of Patrick, the other brother of Mary Ellen.  I did, however, find a Bridget Leland whose death certificate in Baltimore said her maiden name was O’Connor.  It did not say whether she was married or widowed but it did say that she was only a resident of Baltimore for two years.  She is buried in Baltimore with three of her children (Annie, Thomas and Michael).  On the death certificates of two of the children whose certificates are available, they mention that their parents were “Patrick Leland and Bridget O’Connor”.  One of them also had in his death notice that he was a native of Co. Roscommon and the son of Patrick and Bridget Leland.  All three children had reported on census records that they were born in Ireland.  This was different because Mary Ellen, Thomas and Michael all married and had children in the US.

Here is where it gets interesting.

I looked to see if I could find the Irish birth records of Patrick and Bridget’s children. 

•  Annie was born about 1864 according to her death certificate which is when Irish birth records started to be kept. I could not find any government records of her birth and the only possible church record showed a “Joannes Layland born on 11 February 1862 to Patrick and Bridget Layland in Elphin, Cootehall, Roscommon”.  I doubt this is Annie’s record. 
• Thomas reported on his marriage license to be born about 1873.  The closest match I could find in the Irish birth records was one for a Thomas Leland, born 8 July 1868 to Pat Leland and Bridget Connor in Dereenabrone, Boyle, Roscommon.
• Michael said on his 1900 census return that he was born in 1874.  I could only find a Michael Leland born on 14 July 1870 to Patrick Leland and Bridget Connor in Derryherk, Boyle, Roscommon.
• A further search found a Catherine Leland born to Patrick Leland and Bridget Connor on 20 June1872 in Derryherk, Boyle, Roscommon.  There is also a death record for her, reported by Bridget, on 8 August 1888, also in Derryherk.
• Still searching, I found a Patrick Leland born to Patrick Leland and Bridget Connor on 20 August 1874 in Derryherk, Boyle, Roscommon.  He later appears on the 1901 census in Derryherk with his parents.

That got me thinking….

I looked for a death for a Patrick Leland in Derryherk.  Sure enough, there it was on 6 July 1905 and he was reported to be 65 years old when he died.  Obviously Bridget immigrated to Baltimore shortly after her husband’s death which explains why she only lived in Baltimore for two years.

While looking for this Catherine’s and Patrick’s records, I found another death record for a Leland in Derryherk.  There was a Thomas Leland who died at 84 years old as a farmer and widower on 4 June 1888.  That just has to be my great-great-great-grandfather.  Bridget Leland reported the death to the authorities.  How many Lelands lived in tiny Derryherk?  How many Bridget Lelands lived in Derrtherk??

I was feeling lucky so I kept going.  I looked for a Mary or Bridget or Mary Bridget Leland who died before 1888 in Derryherk.  I didn’t find that but I did find a Bridget Leland who died at 72 years old on 26 December 1873 in Woodfield, Boyle, Roscommon, an adjacent townland to Derryherk.  This was interesting too because according to the Griffith’s Valuation, there was only one Thomas Leland faming land in Roscommon in the 1850-60’s and he was working the land in Woodfield, next door to a Patrick Leland.  I reckon that this Bridget is Thomas’ wife and my great-great-great-grandmother.  For now, I will call her Mary Bridget Martin.

The documentation all this is in my Ancestry.com tree.