Genealogical Journey: A Few More Back Stories Before "The Story"

Brother Francis Sullivan, second from right, seven years old in  1925,  Easter Sunday, Staten Island, NY. Photo by his father, James J. Sullivan

It's not the destination but the journey along the way that makes the trip interesting.  And so it was with my genealogical journey.  Before I tell you Timothy O'Sullivan's story, I am going to tell you some other family members' stories. Some have passed on, others are still living.  It was because of my interest in Timothy O'Sullivan, that these other stories came to light.  Maybe that is what genealogy is really all about:  connecting with your living relatives.  At least it is for me anyway.

I am going to start with my father's first cousin Bill Sullivan.  No, not the Bill Sullivan featured throughout this blog; he is my second cousin.  Bill was named after his uncle Bill Sullivan, whom this blog post is about.

                                          Brother Francis Sullivan

The year was 1988.  "Dad, I am joining the Peace Corps.  I am going to Africa."  Among other things, Dad said, "I'll get my cousin's address from Aunt Peggy.  He is also in Africa."  Thus began my correspondence with Brother Francis Sullivan born Bill Sullivan.  Unfortunately, none of those letters between us survived, but in this case I have first-hand knowledge of their content.  We wrote to each other about our posts in Africa; mine in Togo, West Africa, his in Tanzania, East Africa.  Timothy O'Sullivan was never mentioned but somehow I felt his spirit of travel and interest in other cultures connected us.  Brother Francis, as I took to addressing him, wrote about the wildebeest migration and the schools he was helping to build.  He had been there for thirty-five years at that time.  I had arrived in Togo, West Africa only a few months earlier.  I felt I could learn a lot from him.  My two-year stint in the Peace Corps ended and somehow so did our correspondence.  I left Africa without ever meeting him.  The geographic distance between us was the comparable to the distance between California and New York.  He stayed.  Life went on.  Decades passed.  Then my addiction to genealogy took hold.

Brother Francis's address in my Grandmother's address book.  She was his Aunt. 

One of the genealogy envelopes my second cousin, the other Bill Sullivan, sent me, contained articles about Brother Francis.  He had passed in 2009 at the age of 90 and is buried in Tanzania.  Sad to say, I was sorry that I didn't keep up my correspondence with him. Let me honor his life here by including those two articles his namesake sent me.  Remember to scroll left and right, top and bottom to read the entire articles.

I noticed the first article was written by a Mark Sullivan.  Perusing the online family tree, I saw that  my second cousin Ed had a son named Mark. There was also a Mark Sullivan on my email list for the blog.  Was this his son?  No, it wasn't.  Ed too, wondered who this Mark Sullivan was as he also saw his email address on the blog list, but knew it was not his son Mark's.  So I emailed Mark to ask where his place was on the family tree and to see if we could talk about Brother Francis.  Mark and I spoke on the phone where he confirmed that he had written the article titled God's Truck Drivin' Man ( article above) and his place on the family tree.  (He was my second cousin Jim's son; Brother Francis was his Great-uncle.) Mark also wrote to Brother Francis and unlike me, saved all of his letters.  We learned that he did tend to write the same letter over and over; wildebeest migration patterns, weather, building projects, etc.  Mark said he had met his "Uncle Billy" a few times but he was a quiet man, not forthcoming with information or stories about his own life.  He did say that he was a devout Catholic, attending mass daily. He hated the commies ( Communists).  His flying experiences causing death and destruction in WWII ( he was a gunner in the Army Air Corps) impacted his life thereafter with the need to do only good; thus joining the Spiritan Missionaries.  My Dad said Brother Francis wanted to be a priest, but was too old at 31 after WWII,  so he became a Brother in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit instead.

Mark said that he will pull out his letters from "Uncle Billy".  He also has a mass card and was able to attend a mass given for Brother Francis by the Spiritans in Pittsburg at the time of his passing. Before we hung up, Mark added that "Uncle Billy" was also good at identifying people in family photos, correcting a few that were mislabeled.  I said I was planning a trip to the East Coast next summer to continue my genealogy research.  I added that I hoped we could meet.  He agreed saying he wold like to show his children some of the ancestral places on Staten Island.  The genealogical journey continues.

Mark Sullivan, standing far right.  Photo: Bill Sullivan

Genealogical Journey: The Last of the Search Stories...But Not the End of the Journey

At this point in the genealogical journey, I had found living descendants from three out of four of my great-grandfather's siblings.  Great-grandpa's youngest brother, Old Uncle George, had no descendants.  The last sibling left to research was Great-grandpa Charles' oldest brother, Timothy D. Sullivan (1849-1907).  Cousin Bill's wife, Paula, found his headstone in St. Peter's Cemetery not far from our family plot.  Actually, Timothy found her, as she almost tripped over the headstone. Unfortunately, the cemetery had no further information about the plot.

Grave stone of Timothy Sullivan in St. Peter's Cemetery.  Photo:  Bill Sullivan

Through research, I was able to learn that Timothy D. Sullivan had two sons.  One was named Charles and the other was named George, probably after their uncles, Charles, my great-grandfather and the aforementioned Old Uncle George.  The Sullivan brothers followed a pattern of naming their sons after each other.  This made my search both difficult and easy at the same time.  When Cousin Bill gave me Cousin Dorothy's interview notes from Great-aunt Margaret, I learned that this Charles Sullivan died of meningitis that "he brought back from the Spanish-American War."  I continued to search Staten Island directories and census schedules to find that Timothy's other son, George, had married a woman named Pauline.  He and Pauline had two sons, George Preston and Charles Trenchard.  The naming pattern for George and Charles continued.  George and Charles were first referred to as "Preston" and "Trenchard" on census forms and in Cousin Bill's Dad's family tree notes. It took me some time to figure this out as "Preston" and "Trenchard" disappeared from records and "George" and "Charles" reappeared.  So much for leveraging the name "Trenchard"!   Cousin Bill and I both wondered what kind of names Trenchard and Preston were; maybe from their mother Pauline's side of the family?  Did George or Charles had any living descendants?  The trail ran dry for a long
time.

Family history notes listing Preston and Trenchard.  Courtesy of Bill Sullivan

I found that Charles had married a woman named Marjorie Rice in 1936.  The 1940 census listed Charles and Marjory but no children.  I also learned that he worked in the fire department from this census.  Another firefighter in the family!  I was excited when I found his 1944 military record . Then the genealogy road block was put up.  The record said he was separated when he enlisted in the army. Divorce records are sealed for one hundred years in New York, so I wasn't going to get any more information about that.  Time to try another angle.  Through Cousin Bill's help, I was able to contact the New York City Fire Department's personnel office, Through pension records, I was able to learn that Charles Trenchard Sullivan had moved to New Jersey and died on February 3, 1980.  Unfortunately, his death record is not yet old enough to be considered a historical document and only "close relatives" were allowed to view a copy of it.  ( Four more years of waiting for me; of course I already have the form filled out.)  Three years of research and that was the result for Charles Trenchard Sullivan (1909-1980).  Final resting place and descendants unknown as no obituary has been found.

More time passed without finding any other information on George Preston Sullivan.  Then on one of my Thursday night visits to the Family History Library, I entered variations of his name into the Ancestry.com database.  A listing came up from Find A Grave.  I found myself looking at a photograph of a grave for a "George P. Sullivan" in Deerfield Beach, Florida.  The inscription indicated that he was from New York, served in the Navy and it gave his birth and death dates.  I used that information to locate an obituary where I learned this was indeed the George Sullivan I was looking for:  born in Staten Island, had a brother named Charles, a wife named Stephanie and a son named James T. Sullivan!  I didn't have any luck finding James T, Sullivan with this information, but I was able to find an obituary on his mother, Stephanie Sullivan, who died nine years later in 1979.  It said her son James was living in New Port Richie, Florida at the time of her death.  I had a feeling that James was living on the West Coast of Florida and this confirmed it.  It should be easy to find him now, right?  I started calling men named James Sullivan in the New Port Richie area.  One phone number was for a window washing business but the number was disconnected.  A flurry of other phone calls yielded the wrong James Sullivan.  In October of 2015, I was desperately phoning men named James Sullivan while waiting in a Florida airport, hoping to connect with him while still in the state.  I boarded the airplane home without that happening.  I was left with sending good old fashioned letters to men named James Sullivan without listed phone numbers.  I received no response from those letters when they weren't returned to me.  I even sent letters to his parents cemeteries to give to him in case he ever showed up there.   I called first cousins on his mother's side of the family whose names I had traced from her obituary.   Other than telling me that George was also a firefighter, they knew nothing of James' whereabouts.  My James T, Sullivan was off the grid.  Or I was losing my research skills.  Would this be yet another unfinished project in my life?  At this point,
it seemed so.

Obituary of George P. Sullivan where I discovered he had a son.

Obituary of Stephanie Sullivan mentioning James again and her family members.  

The year on the calendar changed to 2016.  Several months in, I received a call from an unknown number in Florida.  I answered it.  It was James T. Sullivan!  He had received one of the letters I sent out to men named James Sullivan without listed phone numbers.  I asked a few more qualifying questions like his mother's middle name and his father's occupation.  He was the James T, Sullivan I was looking for!  After apologizing for not calling sooner, he said, "You know I am adopted right?"  I did not.

We had many phone conversations during the year.  He still speaks with a trace of his Staten Island accent.  Like many people today, he had disconnected his home phone and only used a cellular phone. He did have a window washing business in New Port Richie when he lived there.  He now resides in Hernando County Florida where I sent one of my letters.  He had photos of his father and his uncle in their firefighter uniforms as well as his father's fire department ring.  He promised to mail me copies of the photos. He never did.  In September of 2016, while visiting my parents in Florida, my dad and I met him for lunch where he gave me the photos in person.  I finally had faces for George Preston Sullivan and Charles Trenchard Sullivan...and the pleasure of meeting my third cousin James T. Sullivan.

George Sullivan at Ladder Company 21 in Manhattan, late 1940's.  Courtesy of James T. Sullivan

George Preston (l) and Charles Trenchard (r) Sullivan.  1940's. From the private collection of James T. Sullivan

Left to Right:  James T. Sullivan, me and  Dad. Florida, September 2016

Genealogical Journey: Timothy and Mary Sullivan

The exasperating part of this genealogical journey was knowing that records exist but not having access to them.  Contrary to popular belief, not everything is available online, free of charge.  Such was the case with some pre-1850 Catholic Church records in Ireland.  They were free, on microfilm, but located in Dublin.  So I was frustrated about not being able to "look in that box."  In essence, I was back where I started: stuck at the name of my great-great-grandfather, Denis Sullivan without being able to obtain a generation beyond him.  (Surprisingly, I had previously learned the names of his wife's parents from her death certificate.  Irish, maternal, pre-1850 names are harder to find as explained in the previous blog post titled Charles and Helena O'Regan.)  I could not definitively locate a death certificate for Denis.  According to the records at St. Peter's Cemetery in Staten Island, he is not buried in the plot along with his wife or son's family.  I am still at a loss as to when and where he died.  This all could have been solved long ago if only Denis' parents were listed on his marriage record in Ireland!  But it was left blank, just like his wife's.  Denis' brother Jeremiah's death certificate has also not been located. Cousin Ed has a theory that Denis is buried along with Jeremiah and his family. Exact location unknown but probably in St. Peter's Cemetery in Staten Island, NY.  

Then another genealogy miracle happened!  The Catholic Parish Registers of the National Library of Ireland were put online--for free.  I danced an Irish jig.  They were not indexed so I had hours of happiness in front of me.  My strategy was to look through baptismal records in the Parish of Schull East in County Cork, Ireland.  I knew that Denis and Jeremiah Sullivan were brothers. 

Cousin Dorothy's interview notes with Great Aunt Margaret where we deduce Jeremiah and Denis were brothers.   

Because of Irish naming traditions, I felt that their father was named Timothy.  Both Denis and Jeremiah named their first sons Timothy, possibly after their father.  I looked for records for both of those names hoping to find a matching set of parents between 1800 and 1816.  I was never sure of Jeremiah's age because of the differences listed on census forms.  Records on Denis had him being born within a span of five years ( 1813-1818) so it was hard to determine his exact age as well.

I began searching the Catholic Parish Records. I took notes and indicated where I left off so as not to repeat the tedious task of reading 19th century handwriting. While my Mom watched TV, hour after hour I scoured the newly released records during my visit to Florida.  When yet another TV show was about to begin, my mother turned to me and said," Michele, you are probably related to everyone in West Cork."

I found baptismal records for both Denis and Jeremiah with matching parents.  Jeremiah was older and Denis was within that five year time frame of the other records.  These were baptismal records, not birth, so there could have been a delay in having that sacrament recorded.  Reasons included: health, weather, and holidays.  I believe the names of my great-great-great-grandparents on the Sullivan side were Timothy Sullivan and Mary Jones.  Another brick wall down!

Top record for the baptism of Jeremiah Sullivan., Bottom record for Denis Sullivan.  Both show the parents listed as Timothy Sullivan and Mary Jones

Relationship Summary
Lagoy, Michele Ann's great great great grandfather is Sullivan, Timothy?

Sullivan, Timothy? Sullivan, Denis 1815 - 1880 Sullivan, Charles Joseph 1856 - 1902 Sullivan, Mary Bernadette 1896 - 1964 Lagoy, William Paul, Jr Lagoy, Michele Ann

Genealogical Journey: Charles and Helena O'Regan

Relationship Summary
Lagoy, Michele Ann's great great grandmother is Sullivan, Elizabeth Regan 

Sullivan, Elizabeth Regan 1830 - 1899 Sullivan, Charles Joseph 1856 - 1902 Sullivan, Mary Bernadette 1896 - 1964 Lagoy, William Paul, Jr Lagoy, Michele Ann

Details:

Lagoy, Michele Ann's father's mother's father's mother is Sullivan, Elizabeth Regan

Names:

Lagoy, Michele Ann father Lagoy, William Paul, Jr mother Sullivan, Mary Bernadettefather Sullivan, Charles Joseph mother Sullivan, Elizabeth Regan

A presenter of an Academy Award could not have had as much anticipation as I did when I opened the envelope from the New York City Municipal Archives.  It contained my great-great-grandmother's death certificate.  I suspected that names for Elizabeth Sullivan's parents would be listed and accurate.  She, her husband Denis, and their children, including my great-grandfather, Charles, returned to Ireland for eleven years (1857-1868).  During that time,  I believed they learned the names of their grandparents, or even met them.   That information was provided on their mother's death certificate.  Elizabeth's father was listed as Charles O'Reagan.  It would seem that my great-grandfather Charles, was named after his maternal grandfather.  That made sense.  Elizabeth's mother's name was listed as Lena Cornwall.  And shock of shocks, it said she was born in Nova Scotia!  It would seem that Drew's grandmother, Helena, was named after her maternal grandmother. Again, that made sense.  It seemed that I had found the names of my three times great-grandparents--on an Irish maternal line, most difficult to research but I did break through the brick wall.

The envelope please!  Envelope containing the death certificate of my great-great-grandmother.

Death certificate for Elizabeth O'Sullivan listing her parents.  

The name Charles O'Regan gave me too many hits on the Ancestry and Family Search websites.  I couldn't definitively say which one was my ancestor.  The name Lena Cornwall was another matter.  I received one hit immediately on Ancestry.  It was for an Anglican church transcript in Acadie, Nova Scotia, Canada.  Helena Sophia Cornwall was baptized in 1792.  I went through great pains to find the rare book cited as the source, Gravestones of Acadie , written in 1929.  The online booksellers at the time of my discovery had it listed for hundreds of dollars.  For that price, I would rather go to Canada myself.  Luckily, I was able to borrow the book from the World Catalog System which accesses universities as well as public libraries.  There was only one copy available in all of San Diego County.  It was a short term loan with a HUGE penalty for returning it late.  I also had to leave the note attached to the book that said I had to hand it to a librarian, not leave it in a drop box.  I guarded that book with my life.  Unfortunately, the book gave no further information about Helena Sophia Cornwall.  I was sure her story was an interesting one; how did someone born in Canada end up in Ireland?  I set out to connect her to Charles O'Regan in Ireland.

Because of the difficulty in researching Irish ancestors prior to 1850, I was left with seeking private family trees. ( For a complete explanation, go to  http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com by Claire Santry.)  I had to join as many online genealogy groups that I could in hopes of finding out more. One of my Facebook genealogy groups yielded assistance.  Once again, the kindness of strangers prevailed. Frank started a genealogy group that meets once a month in West County Cork, Ireland.  I obviously couldn't attend the meetings living in San Diego, but my questions and information were presented to the group whose goal is to help each other with West Cork genealogy.    Here is an edited email exchange between Frank and me that put Charles and Helena O'Regan together:

Hi Michele,

There is a listing and photos of known graves at Aughadown Upper and Lower Graveyards at http://www.graveyards.skibbheritage.com/Search.aspx

This graveyard is located approx half way to Ballydehob and is immediately beside the Ilen River. I hope this of use to you but I fear not.

Le chéile, is féidir linn (Together, We Can)

Kind regards,

Frank 

Mayor, Skibbereen Town Council 2011 -  2012

Strategic Policy. Environment & Emergency Dept Cork Co. Council 2009 - 2014

Founding Chairman, WestCork SOS Ambulance Campaign

Founding Chairman, RIPPLE Skibbereen. (Retd)

Hi Frank,

Thank you so much for the list of grave yards in West Cork.  No need to fear not, because I think I might have found my great-great-great-grandparents' grave at the Caheragh Old Grave Yard per your link!  I made a memorial for Charles O'Regan at my find a grave account and requested a photo of the stone.  I appreciate the efforts of the Skibbereen Heritage Center for surveying the burial ground, but I need a clearer photo of the headstone to see if I can decipher the engraving.  I copied and pasted the inscription here: 

Inscription: 

ERECTED BY 
CHA. O'REGAN
TO THE MEMORY OF 
HIS WIFE ?
CHA. O'REGAN ESQ
?
WHO DIED JUNE 20 ?
AGED 52 YEARS
AND ALSO
TO HIS BROTHER
REVEREND JAMES O'REGAN
WHO DIED ?
?
?
IN LOVING MEMORY OF 
MRS HELEN S O'REGAN
COULAGH COTTAGE
WHO DIED FEB 12 1871
AGED 73 YEARS
CHARLES O'REGAN
COULAGH COTTAGE
DIED JANY 26th 1871 aged 77 years
AND
DENIS Mc CARTHY ESQ J.P.
DIED JANY 21st 1881
AGED 50 YEARS
R. I. P. 

I am wondering if "MRS HELEN S O'REGAN"  is actually "HELENA".  Also if the death of CHARLES O'REGAN is in 1873, not 1871.  The Civil Registration records have a Charles O'Regan in 1873 but none in 1871.  Also puzzling, if it is talking about the same two people, the first part of the inscription reads "TO THE MEMORY OF HIS WIFE" but the dates listed below have the husband dying first so it makes no sense.  I have no idea how or if Denis MCarthy is related to the others on the inscription.  If he was Helen's brother, this is not my family because my Helena's maiden name was Cornwall.  

  

Michele

descendant of the O'Sullivans and O'Regans

Hi Michele,

Attached above are two photos of the Tombstone inscription at Caheragh.

I must say that your quest for Charles and Helena has become mine over the past weeks and I have spent a great deal of time chasing information and have finally come up with positive information from the grave stone at Caheragh.

I visited there in the past days and photographed the inscription and have gleaned a lot of positive information from it. According to the version of the inscription in the Graveyard website the inscription reads:

ERECTED BY 
CHA. O'REGAN
TO THE MEMORY OF 
HIS WIFE ?
CHA. O'REGAN ESQ
?
WHO DIED JUNE 20 ?
AGED 52 YEARS
AND ALSO
TO HIS BROTHER
REVEREND JAMES O'REGAN
WHO DIED ?
?
?
IN LOVING MEMORY OF 
MRS HELENA S O'REGAN
COULAGH COTTAGE
WHO DIED FEB 12 1871
AGED 73 YEARS
CHARLES O'REGAN
COULAGH COTTAGE
DIED JANY 26th 1873 aged 77 years
AND
DENIS Mc CARTHY ESQ J.P.
DIED JANY 21st 1881
AGED 50 YEARS
R. I. P.

I am reproducing this same inscription below with verified corrections made:

ERECTED BY 
CHA. O'REGAN
TO THE MEMORY OF 
HIS affectionate Father
CHA. O'REGAN ESQOf Butlersgift
WHO DIED JUNE 30 1811
AGED 52 YEARS
AND ALSO
HIS much esteemed BROTHER
REVEREND JAMES O'REGAN
WHO DIED  Oct 22 1854
Aged 81 years

Requiescat in Pace

IN LOVING MEMORY OF 
                                                           MRS HELENA S O'REGAN   (confirmed to be Helena S O’Regan)( no “rs” after the “M”
                                                      COULAGH COTTAGE     Clearly spelled Coulagh Cottage
WHO DIED FEB 12 1871
AGED 73 YEARS
CHARLES O'REGAN
COULAGH COTTAGE
DIED JANY 26th 1873 aged 77 years
AND
DENIS Mc CARTHY ESQ J.P.
DIED JANY 21st 1881
AGED 50 YEARS
R. I. P.

I don’t know the reason for the M before Helena’s name but there is no trace of the “rs” of Mrs as quoted on original interpretation. Just to reiterate, Helena is Latin for Helen or Ellen and is the official name used in Baptismal Registers of the era. I don’t know who the Denis McCarthy is but I will keep an eye open for his name in  the future. The JP after his name is for Justice of the Peace and may help to trace him and his relationship to the O’Regan’s later. If you think it would be any advantage for us to talk, if you want to let me have a phone number, I can give you a call some time as I have free calls to the States.

For the moment, that all and I hope it helps clarify things for you. It seems you have gained the name of your G.G.G.G Grandfather as he is the Charles at the top of the Inscription. Enjoy the new knowledge.

Inscription of the grave stone for Charles and Helena O'Regan, possibly my ancestors.  Photo credit:  Frank Fahy

Wow! I hoped the Helena and Charles O'Regan Frank found were my ancestors but after googling Coolagh Cottage, I doubted it.  Also, there is no way to know Helena's maiden name by the inscription, but at the same time, I could not rule this out.  

Coolagh Cottage near Ballydehob, West County Cork, Ireland. Source:  http://www.buildingsofireland.ie

  

Genealogical Journey: Surprises Kept Me Searching

The ancestors are always teasing me:  pack of napkins I found in a grocery store parking lot.  Photo credit:  Michele Lagoy

Great-great-grandma Elizabeth Sullivan was buried in her son James' ( 1853-1907) family plot.  James was my great-grandfather Charles' brother.  The strategy of researching my ancestor's siblings was paying off in spades.  Not only was I meeting more relatives, I was finding ancestors.  St. Peter's Cemetery in Staten Island, NY had my great-great-grandmother listed as Elizabeth O'Sullivan in their records.  Via the Emigrant Savings Bank records, I had previously learned that her maiden name was O'Regan.  Our ancestors had a bank account but I haven't found the money yet, so calm down family. With the date of the burial information from the cemetery, I could narrow down a search for her death record in the New York City death certificate database.  One result came up for an Elizabeth O'Sullivan who died in November of 1899. The luck of the Irish struck again!  I ordered a copy of her death certificate and impatiently waited for it to arrive.

Relationship Summary Lagoy, Michele Ann's grandmother's uncle is Sullivan, James S. Sullivan, Denis 1815 - 1880 Elizabeth Sullivan (1826-1899) was married to Denis Sullivan  and is my great-great-grandmother Sullivan, Charles Joseph 1856 - 1902 Sullivan, James S. b.1853 Sullivan, Mary Bernadette 1896 - 1964 Lagoy, William Paul, Jr Lagoy, Michele Ann Details: Lagoy, Michele Ann's father's mother's father's brother is Sullivan, James S. Names:  Lagoy, Michele Ann father Lagoy, William Paul, Jr mother Sullivan, Mary Bernadettefather Sullivan, Charles Joseph brother Sullivan, James S.

In the meantime, I put in a request on the Find A Grave website to have the headstone photographed. I was not impatient about getting this photograph because I knew I would eventually get back to Staten Island myself, or ask my cousins to photograph it during one of their visits to the cemetery.  
( By that time, my second cousin Charles, who goes by Tim, had moved from across the street from the cemetery or I would have asked him to photograph it.)  Find A Grave had an event that they called Community Days. It consisted of asking people to fulfill photo requests made to the site by going to cemeteries and photographing headstones with the information provided by the requester. Christine answered the request that I had posted.  Once again, the kindness of strangers prevailed. Christine lived in the vicinity of the cemetery and regularly walked her dog there.  This was her fist time fulfilling a photo request on Find A Grave and I was glad that she chose mine.  ( The ancestors must like Christine and her dog. )  She initially had some trouble locating the headstone as each section of the cemetery was not clearly marked and the cemetery office that might have been able to help, was closed on the weekend.  A flurry of email exchanges between us finally got her there.  I figured the grave was near Section XX where my great-grandparents were buried, so I advised her to use the Clove Road entrance where the words "Saint Peter's Cemetery 1848" were written on a stone pillar.  I suggested she check near the lake for Section 33, for which there was no signage.  Arliene Sullivan, Jack's wife, was interred there four months earlier so I suggested she look for grass that was not as grown in as much as on the other plots.  That did the trick!  Racing to get back to the cemetery before night fall, Christine took several photographs of the main headstone and the two adjoining ones.  I emailed the photos to Cousin Bill and he sent her a thank you email as well.  I had found a great-great-grandparent's grave that led me to a death certificate that I hoped would provide me with the names of yet another generation of ancestors.

Grave stone of my Great-great-grandmother Elizabeth O'Sullivan and her son James' descendants and their spouses.  Photo credit:  Christine B. as part of Find A Grave's Community Day

Genealogical Journey: Staten Island, Sullivan's and Saint Peter's

Relationship Summary
Lagoy, Michele Ann's father's second cousin is Sullivan, Carolyn

Sullivan, Denis 1815 - 1880   Sullivan, Charles Joseph 1856 - 1902   Sullivan, James S. b.1853   Sullivan, Mary Bernadette 1896 - 1964   Sullivan, Joseph Francis 1897 - 1971   Lagoy, William Paul, Jr   Sullivan, Carolyn 1937 - 2011     Lagoy, Michele Ann

The above relationship chart shows Michele's relationship to Carolyn Sullivan.  Our common ancestor is Denis Sullivan.

Details:

Lagoy, Michele Ann's father's mother's father's brother's son's daughter is Sullivan, Carolyn

Thanks to Beatrice Sullivan's obituary, I had eleven living relatives to contact on the James S. Sullivan line of the family.  Eleven!  All I needed was for one of them to be willing to talk to me.  I started looking up names and phone numbers in the white pages online.  Some of the names didn't have phone numbers listed.  One person didn't return my call, but I had many names to contact.  I was drawn to the name Angelique Phyllis Sullivan.  ( It was on a public record I had found; see previous blog post.)  Her mother Beatrice's obituary gave Angelique's married name and the New Jersey township where she currently lived.  That information led me to her phone number.  I called it leaving the message I had honed stating who I was, that I was seeking genealogy information as I believed we were related.  After several rounds of phone tag, we spoke.  I believe she left me two messages before I could get back to her.  She seemed eager to talk to me and I soon learned why.  She was a foster child of the Sullivan's who came into their home when she was 18 months old.  At some point, she started using "Sullivan" as her last name until she married.  She was eager to contact me because she heard that a biological sister lived out West and her name started with an "M."  So a "Michele" calling out of the blue from California saying we were related, piqued her interest.  I was sorry to inform her that I was not a close biological relative but she confirmed that my research had yielded the right Sullivan family.

Relationship chart showing Annie and I are third cousins.  Our ancestor in common is Denis Sullivan.

Sullivan, Denis 1815 - 1880   Sullivan, Charles Joseph 1856 - 1902   Sullivan, James S. b.1853   Sullivan, Mary Bernadette 1896 - 1964   Sullivan, Joseph Francis 1897 - 1971   Lagoy, William Paul, Jr   Sullivan, Joseph James, Jr. 1925 - 1990   Lagoy, Michele Ann   Reedy, Angelique

Details:

Lagoy, Michele Ann's father's mother's father's brother's son's son's daughter is Reedy, Angelique

Names:

Lagoy, Michele Ann father Lagoy, William Paul, Jr mother Sullivan, Mary Bernadettefather Sullivan, Charles Joseph brother Sullivan, James S. son Sullivan, Joseph Francisson Sullivan, Joseph James, Jr. daughter Reedy, Angelique

We talked about Staten Island.  She grew up there and having already located me on Facebook, saw the photos I had of the Lyons' pool.  She and her siblings swam there as children but never knew the pool was named after a mutual relative, Joseph H. Lyons.

We discussed her Aunt Carolyn and her Uncle Jack's family.  Annie, as Angelique is called, told me that her late Uncle Jack had two married daughters whose names she gave me.  That was another reason I had trouble tracing this family branch; Jack only had daughters whose last names changed upon marriage.  According to Facebook photos, they are fair skinned with blue eyes like many of the Sullivan descendants.  They look more like my Dad than I do!  They reside on Staten Island to this day.  Annie told me that her Cousin Karen might have some of their Aunt Carolyn's family history notes as Carolyn knew a lot about the family.  Contacting her is on my genealogy to do list.

Here is what I do know about their Aunt Carolyn strictly through genealogy research.  Carolyn Sullivan (1937-2011) was the Carol Ann Sullivan listed on the 1940 census I located.  Note to self: learn about Soundex.  That would have saved me hours of fruitless research time looking for a Carol Ann Sullivan.  I discounted all records of Carolyn Sullivan because of that mistake on the census!
Carolyn never married so there was no record of marriage for her.   I even paid the City of New York to conduct a record search hoping to find a married surname that I could trace.  I missed her in the Social Security Death Index because I insisted on looking for a Carol Ann Sullivan and stopped searching each time the records showed a Carolyn.  (Ironically, Carolyn spent decades working at the Social Security Administration.)  For some reason, I kept looking for her even though female relatives are harder to trace.  It turned out she had something to tell me about the ancestors.  Eerily, I pictured her in a wheelchair talking about her knowledge of the family.  Annie told me at the end of her life, Carolyn fell on some icy steps and was wheelchair bound after that.   I searched for her obituary online where I found what she wanted me to know.  Carolyn was buried in the family plot located in St. Peter's Cemetery in Staten Island, NY.  A light bulb went off in my head and I called the cemetery to inquire about the location of the plot.  I was told there were ten other people in that plot besides Carolyn!  The list of names included Carolyn's parents, grandparents, a child named George who died as an infant, and my ancestor:  Elizabeth O'Sullivan who I learned died in November of 1899.  My great-great-grandmother was buried with my great-grandfather's brother's family, a few rows from our family plot.  Thanks Carolyn!

1940 US Census showing Carol Ann ( Carolyn)  Sullivan living with her family on Markham Place in Staten Island.  Notice the family paid $40 a month in rent and Joseph made $2100 a year as a letter carrier for the Post Office.  

Obituary for Carolyn A. Sullivan

AGE: 74 • Wall, New Jersey

Carolyn A. Sullivan, 74, of Wall, passed away on Thursday, July 7, 2011, at Care One, Wall. Born in Staten Island, N.Y., she lived in Plainfield and Brick prior to moving to Wall five years ago. She was a case worker for the Social Security Administration in Plainfield for 30 years before retiring in 1998. She was a parishioner of St. Dominic Church, Brick.

Carolyn was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Alma Sullivan; and two brothers, Joseph Sullivan and John Sullivan. She is survived by several nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews; two sisters-in-law, Arliene Sullivan of Staten Island, and Beatrice Sullivan of Lakewood. Also survived by great-grandnieces and nephews.

Visiting hours are from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, July 10 at Colonial Funeral Home, 2170 Highway 88, Brick. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9 a.m. Monday, July 11 at St. Dominic Church, Brick, followed by interment at St. Peter Cemetery, Staten Island.

Published in Asbury Park Press on July 8, 2011 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/app/obituary.aspx?n=Carolyn-A-Sullivan&pid=152419742#sthash.E9drYtPy.dpuf