Sunday's Obituary - Jeremiah Coakley

The following obituary was published in the Wilmington Clinton County Democrat on January 5, 1887. Jerry Coakley was very active in establishing the Catholic Church in Wilmington, Ohio and was present at the first mass said there in 1852. I posted a shorter obituary for him from the Clinton County Republican earlier this month.

JERRY COAKLEY, one of the old residents of the place, died last Friday at his home on Locust street, after an illness of several months, of no especial disease, but a general wearing out. Mr. Coakley was nearly eighty-seven years old and was born in Ireland. He left County Cork thirty years ago and came directly to Wilmington, where he has since resided. He was a hard-working, peaceable man and a good citizen. Funeral services were held in the Catholic Church on Sunday, and deceased was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery.

It's interesting that the obituary states that Jerry came directly to Wilmington around 1857. I believe that my 3x great-grandfather Patrick Creedan arrived in Wilmington in 1849 and had been married to a Mary Coakley, so it's possible that they were related. Both Jerry and Patrick were present at the first mass in Wilmington in 1852, so they definitely knew each other. I'm still looking for that definite link between the families.

Sunday's Obituary - Sister Mary Felix/Julia Creedon

Sister Mary Felix was the sister of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. Her name was Julia Creedon before she took her religious vows with the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati in 1872. This article appeared in the Wilmington Clinton County Democrat on February 28, 1918.

Mr. and Mrs. John P. Georges, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kuebler and Miss Julia Haley were in Cincinnati Monday to attend the funeral of Sister Mary Felix, a sister of charity connected with a religious order in that city. Sister Mary's surname was Creedon and she was related to the Keefe, Haley, and Regan families of this county.

Sister Mary died on February 22, 1918 of pneumonia and is buried at the Sisters of Charity cemetery in Mount St. Joseph, Ohio. I'm wondering if she was still in touch with some of the Creeden family, but many of them had moved on or passed away before her. It's good to know that she was still in touch with family from Clinton County.

I found two more articles about Sister Mary in the Clinton County Democrat that provided more names. These articles were a great find since I finally have some proof of links between my Creeden family and other families in Clinton County. I had noticed before that there were quite a few Creedens in Clinton County and they were all from the same area around Macroom and Clondrohid in County Cork, Ireland.

The above article was in the Clinton County Democrat on July 27, 1899, a few months before Timothy Creeden's death. An article about Timothy's illness said Timothy was visited by his niece, Mrs. Isabelle Regan and from the July 1899 article, the Regan family was in touch with Sister Mary too. Rosa Belle Regan was the daughter of Timothy's sister-in-law Elizabeth Matson, although I'm wondering if there is a Creeden link to them too. Mamie Regan was the daughter of Rosa Belle and Thomas Regan.

There is a Kate Regan in the 1880 census living with her parents Bat. and Julia Regan in Clinton County. In later census records, Kate is living with her brother Patrick Regan and it doesn't appear that she ever married. She might be the Aunt Kate mentioned in the article.

Mrs. J. P. Georges is mentioned in both articles. From records on FindAGrave, she was Louise Catherine Kuebler Georges and was the wife of John Peter Georges. Louise was the daughter of  Francis Xavier Kuebler and Janie Eulia George. Francis was the brother of Joseph P. Kuebler who was married to Julia Keefe. According to the 1915 History of Clinton County, Julia Keefe's grandparents were John Keefe and Johanna Creedon, so there is at least one link between the Creedons and Keefes. Johanna Creedon would be about the right age to be an aunt of Sister Mary Felix, but that's just a guess.

I couldn't find any records for Samuel Creeden, so that one's a mystery for now. I think the Miss Julia Haley mentioned in the first article may be a granddaughter of John Haley and Catherine Creedon. John's parents were Dennis Haley and Julia Creedon. Catherine was the daughter of Timothy Creedon and Hanora Creedon and they were married in 1854 in Clondrohid Parish, County Cork, Ireland. This Timothy died in 1865 shortly after the family arrived from Ireland.

Clondrohid Parish is where Julia was baptized and it's interesting that a Honora Creeden was a sponsor at her baptism. Timothy and Hanora's marriage record and Sister Mary's baptism records were found on the RootsIreland site. The rest of the information on these Creedons is from trees available online, so I'll have to do more investigation to verify the information.

One more article about Sister Mary Felix appeared in the Clinton County Democrat on July 8, 1914.

Mrs. J. P. Georges is mentioned again along with Miss Leonie Regan. Leonie was another daughter of Rosa Belle and Thomas Regan. The Sisters of Charity told me that Sister Mary worked at St. Mary's Hospital in Pueblo, CO from 1888-1902 and St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe, NM starting in 1905. They didn't have any other information on her assignments, so it's possible that she was working in Fayetteville in 1914. That was only one county over from Clinton County.

These articles provide more evidence that Timothy Creeden and Sister Mary Felix were brother and sister and also provide some good clues on the links to other families in Clinton County, Ohio. I'd love to hear from anyone researching the Haley, Keefe, Regan, or Creeden families from Clinton County.

Travel Tuesday - Blarney Castle

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I took this picture in 1990 on the grounds of Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland. We were there in September and everything was really green! I've been lucky enough to visit Ireland three times and hope to go back now that I know my ancestors are from the Macroom and Clondrohid area. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

Sunday's Obituary - Timothy Creeden

The following article appeared in the Wilmington Clinton County Democrat on December 28, 1899.

  A telegram announcing the death of one of our old neighbors was received a few days ago. Timothy Creeden died at his home in Celina, Mercer county, on December 15, 1899. His death was looked for by the relatives for some time, he being a sufferer from consumption. He leaves a widow and large family to mourn their loss.

This is the first obituary I've found for my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. A volunteer from the Mercer County Genealogy Society searched the Celina newspapers for me several years ago, but was only able to find this card of thanks from the family. It's on my list to search them myself one day since it seems odd to me that there was no notice in the local paper. The Card of Thanks appeared in The Standard in Celina, Ohio on December 20, 1899.

Another article appeared in the Clinton County Democrat on November 16, 1899.

Mrs. Isabelle Reagan has returned from Mercer county and reports her uncle, Tim Creedan, formerly of this place, very low with consumption.

I think this is most likely Rosa Belle Regan. She was the daughter of Henry Clay Athey and Elizabeth Matson. Elizabeth was the sister of Timothy's wife, Mary Ann Matson, so Timothy would have been her uncle through marriage. I'll have to follow up on Rosa Belle since she later married Frank Jacob Fetzer and they lived in Celina for many years.

I've never been able to find a death record for Timothy in Mercer County and wondered if he died in another county. From the Clinton County obituary, it appears that he died at home, so the lack of a record is still a puzzle. Timothy was only 53 when he died and his wife Mary was left to raise their eight children on her own.

Wedding Wednesday - Robert Creeden and Anna Lee Pulskamp

This is the marriage license application and certificate for my grandparents Robert Creeden and Anna Lee Pulskamp.

The marriage license was granted on December 26, 1930 and they were married the next day by Rev. George Hindelang. Rev. Hindelang was the Catholic priest at the Immaculate Conception Church. My grandfather was 19 years old and my grandmother was 20. There is a note on the certificate that the consent of both minors was filed, so I'm wondering if there is another document.

Robert's parents were listed as Charles Creeden and Anna Niehaus. Anna Lee's parents were Mary Gast and Geo. Pulskamp. Robert was working as a filling station attendant, most likely at the filling station managed by his father. Anna Lee was working as an office secretary. In the 1930 census, Anna Lee was working as a secretary at the Farm Bureau, so that might have been her workplace when she was married.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of their wedding, but this picture was taken after the ceremony in front of their new home. It's dated December 27, 1930.

Source: "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2Q4Y-BHR : accessed 11 March 2015), Robert Creeden and Anna Lee Pulskamp, 27 Dec 1930; citing Mercer, Ohio, United States, reference ; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 2,366,955.

Sunday's Obituary - Jeremiah Coakley

This entry appeared in the Clinton Republican in Wilmington, Ohio on January 5, 1887:

Jeremiah (Jerry) Coakley died Friday, December 31, 1886, at almost 87 years of age. He was born in Ireland and was of the Catholic faith. He was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery.

In the 1880 census, Jerry was living with his wife Mary and their son Timothy and his family in Clinton County, Ohio.

According to FindAGrave, Jerry's wife Mary Ryan Coakley died almost a year later in December, 1887. There is a nice picture of their gravestone on FindAGrave with the following inscription:

Natives of County Cork Ireland.
Merciful God grant unto them eternal rest and may the perpetual light shine upon them,
Amen

The 1915 history of Clinton County, Ohio by Albert J. Brown states that Jerry Coakley was one of the attendees at the first Catholic mass in Clinton County in August 1852, along with Patrick Creedan. In 1864, Jerry was one of the organizers behind the effort to build a Catholic Church in Clinton County. I suspect there might be a link between Patrick Creedan's first wife Mary Coakley and Jerry's family, but haven't found anything definite yet.

Updating to add that I found a second obituary with more information on Jerry in the Clinton County Democrat. The second obituary is posted here.