Church Record Sunday - Baptism of Patrick William Creedan

Patrick William Creedan was born on May 16, 1864 to parents Patrick and Hannah Hoover Creedan. The family lived in Clinton County, Ohio, but Patrick was baptized in St. Andrew's parish in Milford, Clermont County, Ohio. Construction of the Catholic church in Clinton County wasn't completed until 1868 so the family had children baptized in the nearby parishes before the new church opened.

Baptism record for Patrick William Creedan, May 29, 1864

The image above is the entry for the baptism of Patrick William Creedan. The baptism was recorded in Latin and the year 1864 was written on the top of this page. On the left of the record, the baptism date was given as May 29 and the date of birth as May 16. The entry roughly translates to "I baptized Patrick G. son Patrick Credin and Hannah Hoover, sponsors Timothy Kiefe and Margarita Calahan". The priest's name was abbreviated to J. B. OD.

Patrick's name is given as Patrick William in his father's will in 1883, so I believe the initial G in the baptism record stands for Gulielmus, the Latin version of William.

A transcription of the record was made for the diocese of Cincinnati. The name of the priest is spelled out as J. B. O'Donoghue. The number 23 on the left is the entry number for Patrick's record in the ledger. There are a couple of mistakes in this transcription. Patrick's mother is given as Anna instead of Hannah and Patrick's middle initial is given as J instead of G.

At some point, Patrick started using his middle name William instead of Patrick. Patrick was listed as Patrick in the 1870 census and Patrick W. in the 1880 census for Clinton County, Ohio. His father Patrick's will left a share of the estate to his son Patrick William in 1883. In the distributions from the estate in 1884, Patrick is named as Patrick W. Creeden, minor. In the final account of the estate in 1885, Patrick's name is given as Wm. P. Creeden.

Wm P Creeden named in final account of estate in 1885

In 1885, W. P. Creedan marries Mary C. Snyder in Clinton County, Ohio. Quaker records in Clinton County from 1887 and 1889 mention a John and William Creeden. John's wife and children are listed in the records and they are match for Patrick William's brother John. The William in the records is most likely Patrick William.

In 1886 or 1887, the birth of Minnie Creeden was registered in Greene County, Ohio to parents Wm. Creeden and Mary Snyder. They are living in Bowersville in Greene County. The date of the birth was given as May 11, 1886 and the location of the birth was Sabina, Clinton County, Ohio. Sabina was also the location in the 1870 census for Patrick and Hannah Creedan.

 

In 1900, John and William Creedan are listed next to each other in the census for Darke County, Ohio along with their wives and children. Note that Williams birth month and year are given as May 1864.

By 1905, William Patrick Creeden and his family were living in Kansas and appeared in the 1905 state census for Kansas. William's age was given as 42 and Mary's as 43. William died in 1909 and is buried in Kansas. His tombstone in Kansas gives his year of birth as 1862. I have a few cases in my family tree where the wrong year appears on a tombstone, so it's possible that a family member gave the wrong information.

My conclusion is that Patrick William and William P. or W. P. Creeden are most likely the same person. Most of the records indicate that he was born in 1864 with the exception of his tombstone. That discrepancy leaves some room for doubt, but all of the other records with a date seem to indicate that he was born after 1862. Mary's tombstone also gives her year of birth as 1862 and this is more consistent with the census records which indicated she was a year or two older than her husband.

A final note is that my sister and I have several DNA matches to descendants of William and Mary Creeden. They are similar in size to our matches from the other children of Patrick and Hannah Hoover Creedan. The matches form a cluster where we are all sharing the same matches, so that indicates there is a relation between the Kansas and Clinton County Creeden families.

Sources: The Roman Catholic baptism registers for the diocese of Cincinnati are available on FindMyPast.com. The Quaker index is available on Ancestry.com. The other images in this post are available from FamilySearch.org.

Sunday's Obituary - Opal Mary Creeden Wagner

Opal Mary Creeden Wagner was the daughter of W. P. Creeden and Mary Catherine Snyder. She was born in the Jackson township of Darke County, Ohio in late October or early November 1899. The entry for her birth in the Ohio County Births ledgers for Darke County appears below and gives her date of birth as November 8, 1899. The ledgers are available to browse by county on FamilySearch.org.

I posted the obituary for Opal's father last week. His name was given as W. P. Creeden in his obituary and Wm. Creeden in the birth entry for Opal. In Opal's obituary, his name is given as Patrick Creeden, so that might be a little more evidence that he was Patrick William, the son of Patrick Creedan and Hannah Hoover of Clinton County, Ohio. It's also possible that this was just an error by the newspaper or person that provided the obituary information.

Opal also went by her middle name. In the birth register, her name is given as Mary Opal and she appears in the 1900 census in Darke County as Mary O. After that, the records show her name as Opal or Opal Mary.

Opal's obituary was published in the Hutchinson News in Kansas on Friday, September 7, 1990. The cities referred to in the obituary are in Kansas with the exception of Greenville, Ohio.

Opal was married to James Maurice Wagner in 1947 when Opal was 46 years old. I haven't found any records of the couple having any children.

OBITUARY:

COLDWATER - Opal Mary Wagner. 90, died Thursday, Sept. 6, 1990, at Comanche County Hospital, Coldwater.

She was born Oct. 28, 1899, at Greenville, Ohio, the daughter of Patrick and Mary Catherine Snyder Creeden. She graduated from Fort Hays State Teachers College, Hays. A former resident of Stafford and Gravette, Ark, she was a homemaker and retired school teacher.

She was a member of the Baptist Church, Ye Olde Tyme Club, Vashti Chapter No. 64 Order of the Eastern Star and the Rebekah Lodge, all at Stafford.

On Aug. 17, 1947, she married James Maurice Wagner at Sublette, he died Jan. 3, 1983.

Survivors include: a sister-in-law and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was 2 p.m. Saturday at Peacock-Milton Funeral Chapel, Stafford, with the Rev. Glen O. Morford officiating. Burial was in the Stafford Cemetery.

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Sunday's Obituary - W. P. Creeden

The following obituary was published in The Pratt Republican in Kansas on September 30, 1909.

   W. P. Creeden died at his home in the second ward last Monday, of consumption. The remains were interred at Green Lawn Tuesday. Mr. Creeden has lived in Pratt but a short time, having come from Meade.

William P. Creeden is buried in Greenlawn cemetery in Pratt, Kansas. William was only in his 40s when he died. He was married to Mary Catherine Snyder in Clinton County, Ohio in 1885. The family was living in Darke County, Ohio when the 1900 census was taken. By 1905, William and his family had moved to Sedgwick, Kansas. Children listed in the 1905 census were Minnie, Elsie, Orval, Ralph, Ellsworth, William, Opal and Violet.

In the 1900 census, William and his family were living next to John Creedan and his family. John was the son of Patrick Creedan and Hannah Hoover of Clinton County, Ohio. I suspect that John and W. P. were brothers or cousins. Patrick and Hannah had a son named Patrick William that may have gone by William. I lose the trail of Patrick William around the time that W. P. married Mary Snyder. 

My sister and I have several DNA matches to descendants of John and William, so we're related to both of these families. The matches are similar in size which indicates our relationship to John and William could be the same. John was a half-brother of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden.

I've seen several Ancestry.com trees giving William's parents as Timothy and Ellen Creeden from Hamilton County, Ohio. An obituary for Timothy and Ellen's son William shows he died in 1901. This William was married to Margaret Nolan and some of their children were born in the same years as W. P. and Mary's children.

Related posts:

• Patrick William Creedan
• Which William is which? 
• Which William is which? - Part 2
• Obituary for Timothy and Ellen's son William 
  

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 11 - Flowers - Rose Creeden

The theme this week is "Flowers."  Spring isn't far off for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and with that comes thoughts of flowers — which, not coincidentally, is this week's theme! Any Roses, Daisys, or Petunias in the family?

 

Rose Creeden was the half sister of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. I've posted about Rose before, but have found a couple of new records for her since then. Timothy became her guardian after their father Patrick's death in 1883 and the guardianship papers showed that they moved from Clinton County to Mercer County, Ohio. These records helped to provide proof that Timothy was the son of Patrick Creedan of Clinton County.

Rose was born on 02 May 1861 in Clinton County, Ohio to Patrick Creedan and Hannah Hoover. She was baptized in St. Brigid's parish in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio. I've only recently become aware that a lot of my family's church records are in Greene County probably due to that being the closest Catholic church during the 1850s and 1860s. The baptismal record from St. Brigid's is shown below. The full record is available on FindMyPast.com.

Patrick's will of 1883 left two shares of his estate to be used for the care of Rose. According to the will and guardianship probate records, Rose was unable to care for herself. Timothy served as her guardian until at least 10 December 1895 when Rose was admitted to the Mercer County Infirmary. I don't know if she was admitted to the home because Timothy could no longer care for her financially or if her condition became worse. The money set aside for her care in Patrick's will may have run out by then. Timothy died in 1899 and there was no mention of Rose in his will.

In 1914, the infirmary underwent renovations and an inspection according to a newspaper article in The Coldwater Chronicle, published on 05 May 1914. The article states: "The women that were not too feeble to be about greeted the visitors warmly... Rose Creeden was busy with her day’s round of cleaning, in which she takes extraordinary pride.". Rose was also listed as a housekeeper in the 1880 census, so it does seem like she was able to do some tasks. The paragraph of the article the mentions Rose is shown below. The full article is available at The Coldwater Chronicle archives.

 

Rose lived out the rest of her life in the Mercer County Infirmary and died on 30 June 1922. 

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

Sunday's Obituary - William Creeden of Cincinnati, Ohio

The following obituary was published in The Cincinnati Post on 11/21/1901.

William Creeden, 37, a carpenter living at 3554 Haven Avenue, Avondale, died late Wednesday at the City Hospital from injuries received by being struck Monday night by a Zoo-Mt. Auburn car at Vine and Shields Streets. His skull was fractured, and he never regained consciousness. He leaves a wife and three children. Coroner Schwab is investigating. Creeden will be buried Saturday morning at Reading, O., near which place he was born.

A death notice was also published on the same day:
CREEDEN -- William, beloved husband of Margaret Creeden, suddenly,
Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 9:30p.m. Funeral from residence, 3554 Haven Avenue, Avondale, Saturday, Nov. 23. Requiem high mass at St. Andrew's Church at 8 a.m.

This is one of the William Creedens that I've been researching in the hopes of identifying the correct families for each of them. This is a quick tree I've done for this William on Ancestry.com:

 

A baptism record shows that William was born on 22 Feb 1863 and baptized on 15 Mar 1863 at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Reading, Hamilton County, Ohio. The parents were given in Latin as Timotheus Creeden and Helena Callaghan. One of the sponsors was John Creeden. 

William married Margaret Nolan on 31 May 1883. There is a note on the marriage license where his father Timothy gives his consent for the marriage. The civil record is shown below. A church record shows that the marriage was at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Reading, Ohio and one of the witnesses was Daniel Creeden.

 

 

William and Margaret had 3 sons: Thomas W. born in 1886, Michael J. born in 1888 and Lawrence born in 1892.

After William's death in 1901, Margaret appears in several Cincinnati city directories and is named as his widow.

Margaret and Thomas Creeden, 1903 Cincinnati City Directory

Margaret and Michael Creeden, 1913 Cincinnati City Directory

Margaret eventually moved to California where her son Lawrence and other relatives lived. She lived there until her death in 1930.

Updating to add that none of the records I have show the middle name or initial for this William. I think I can rule him out as being my Patrick William or the William Patrick Creeden that went to Kansas.

Related posts:

• Patrick William Creedan
• Which William is which? 
• Which William is which? - Part 2
  

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021 - Week 8 - Power

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is Power.

This is a new prompt in the 52 Ancestors series this year and it reminded me of an article I came across about the power of Mother Nature. The article tells the story of a young girl who was struck by lightning in her home in Clinton County, Ohio. My Creeden family also lived in Clinton County, but had moved to Mercer County, Ohio by the time of this story.

The following article was published in The Journal Republican in Wilmington, Ohio on March 26, 1913. Mary Creeden was dressing for school when a lightning bolt struck the house and knocked her unconscious. The article mentions that she was in the house of Mrs. John Creeden.and that Mary was the fourteen year old daughter.

   During the hard thunder shower that prevailed for several hours Tuesday morning, the house of Mrs. John Creeden in south-east Wilmington was struck by lightning and the fourteen-year-old daughter, Mary, was very seriously injured. The sharp dash of lightning came at about twenty minutes of 8 o'clock as many people about town remember. Mary was in her room dressing for school when the bolt struck the house. She was rendered unconscious and for a time it was believed that she had been killed. Others of the family in other parts of the house did not feel the effects of the lightning to any serious extent. It seems that the full force of the bolt was directed upon the room in which Mary was dressing and she alone of the family felt its deadly power. Some members of the family were at the church and they, with Rev. Father Higgins, hastened to the home. Dr. Austin was summoned and rendered medical aid to relieve her sufferings. Though she was badly burned about the face and the right side of the body, it is believed that she will recover. The fright and great pain have produced a nervous condition that augments the gravity of the danger.

Given how severe Mary's injuries were, I wondered what became of her. From census records for Clinton County, Ohio, Mary was the daughter of John Creeden and Margaret Ann Dooley. Mary's father died in 1909 in Clinton County according to Ohio death records. In the 1920 census, Mary is living with her sister Sarah in Washington DC and both are working as clerks for the government. Mary is working for the Department of the Treasury. In the 1930 census, Mary is living in Alexandria, VA with her mother and has a government job as a clerk. Her brother Joseph is also living with them and is a fireman. 

In the 1940 census, Mary is again living with Sarah and still working as a government clerk. She owns her home and is making a salary of $2000 a year. The census shows that she completed 4 years of high school and that Sarah completed 4 years of college.

A short obituary for Mary appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer on March 8, 1976. It appears that she moved back to Ohio maybe to be closer to family after retiring.

 

 #52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow. Newspaper articles are available on Newspapers.com.

 

Sunday's Obituary - Jeremiah Creeden (1841 - 25 Nov 1916)

Jeremiah Creeden came from Ireland and settled in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife Mary Toomey. I have a DNA match to a descendant of Jeremiah, but don't know for sure if they connect to my Creeden family. I don't recognize any of the other surnames in the trees I've seen for Jeremiah, so he seems like a possible connection for this match.

This funeral notice for Jeremiah was published in 1916 in The Indianapolis News. From the notice, Jeremiah died on November 25, 1916 and was buried at the Holy Cross cemetery.

I did a little digging in other newspaper articles and found that Jeremiah and Mary had a large family including the following children: Daniel G., John B., Catherine, Jeremiah M., Nora Gertrude Mosher, Rev. Leo Francis, Hannah R., Mary, Margaret A. Finn and William Henry Creeden. Most of them also lived in Indianapolis and were buried at Holy Cross.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 - Week 2 - Favorite Photo

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is Favorite Photo.

This was one of the first photos I saw in my dad's collection and it's always been one of my favorites. It's one of the few photos I have of my great-grandfather Charles Creeden when he was younger. I love the clothes and hats in the picture. The back of the photo is labeled with "Charles and brothers". I know that Charles is the one in the middle, but I'm not sure which of his brothers are in the picture.

Charles Creeden (middle) and brothers

Charles was born in 1886 and was married in 1907. The family picture in the header of my blog shows Charles and his young family around 1911. I think he looks a little older in the family picture, so maybe the picture of the brothers was taken before then. The clothes in the picture are consistent with being in that time period and may provide some clues.

My guess is that Charles' younger brother Joshua is on the left and his brother Edward is on the right. Joshua was born in 1894 and Edward in 1884. Just for fun, I uploaded the photo to Microsoft's how-old.net site. This site is not known for being accurate and I do think it's quite a bit off in this case! It did suggest that Charles was the older brother in the picture and I agree with that.

Age guesses from how-old.net

The other possibilities for brothers would be Daniel, born in 1879 and Dennis, born in 1878. Since they were both a few years older than Charles, I don't think they are in the picture. I don't have any other photos of Edward and the ones of Joshua were taken when he was quite a bit older. The brother on the right doesn't look like Joshua, so I'm going with the theory that he is Edward for now. And of course, one other possibility is that the picture was labeled wrong and those aren't Charles' brothers after all!

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

Sunday's Obituary - John Creedan

The Coldwater Library of Mercer County, Ohio provides online access to several local newspapers from the early 1900s to 2018. This obituary of John Creedan was published in the Coldwater Chronicle on December 21, 1923. 

I was excited to find this since it's the first time I've seen anything in print that clearly states the connection between my Creeden family and Patrick and Hannah Hoover Creedan of Clinton County, Ohio. According to the obituary, my great-grandfather Sheriff Chas. Creeden was a nephew of John Creedan.

Charles' father Timothy Creeden was the son of Patrick and his previous wife Mary Coakley and was a half-brother to John. Patrick married Hannah Hoover in Clinton County, Ohio and had several children with her including John.

The obituary states that John was married to Ida Phillips, but doesn't mention a previous wife or children. In the 1900 census, John is living with Ida and his two daughters Flora and Stella. Flora married John Norris and Stella (Estella Catherine) married Issac Pyle. John also had a son named Hiram H. Creeden. The three children were from John's earlier marriage to Minerva McFarland.

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Wedding Wednesday - Mary Elizabeth Creeden to George J. Fisher

The Ft. Recovery library of Mercer County, Ohio has digitized several local newspapers, including some hard to find issues from the 1890s. This marriage notice for Mary Elizabeth Creeden and George Fisher (usually spelled Fischer) was published in the Mercer County Observer on January 23, 1896.

Married. On Wednesday morning by Rev. Hartman at the St. Marys Catholic church, Geo. J. Fisher, the popular young butcher of Logan street, and Miss Mary Creeden, both of Celina. The young couple left on the afternoon train for Wellington, Ohio, where they will visit relatives for a few days and then return to Celina. May success ever be your lot.

The notice places their wedding date at January 22, 1896. Mary was the daughter of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. Mary and George lived in Pueblo, CO for a few years and later settled in Los Angeles, CA. They had three children: Hilda, Beatrice, and Godfrey. Beatrice was married to Paul Kenneth Weddell.

Wedding Wednesday is a Geneabloggers daily blogging prompt.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 38 - Unusual Source - Sisters of Charity Email

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is "Unusual Source". The prompt had the following questions:

What is the most unusual source you've ever used? An email from a nun working at the Sisters of Charity Archives in Mount St. Joseph, Ohio.

What did it tell you? The email told me that Julia Creedan entered the Sisters of Charity convent in Cincinnati in 1870. She took her vows in 1872 and received the name of Sister Mary Felix. The email also gave some of Julia's work history with the Sisters and gave her date of death as February 18, 1918. A big surprise was that the email included a picture of Julia. It's the only picture of her that I've seen and she showed a resemblance to her brother Timothy, my 2x great-grandfather.

What question were you trying to answer when you found it? I was trying to find the names of Timothy and Julia Creedan's parents and where they came from in Ireland. Timothy was one of my biggest brick walls and I'd been unable to find any records for him that showed his parents' nsmes or his place of birth in Ireland.

With Julia's new name, I was able to find Julia's Ohio death certificate which named her parents as Patrick Creedon and Mary Coakley. That led to her baptism record in Ireland which gave her address as Carrigapooka in Clondrohid, County Cork, Ireland. Since Patrick Creedan's will stated Timothy was her full brother, I finally had names for my 2x great-grandfather Timothy's parents and a specific location in Ireland!

Timeline for Julia Creedan/Sister Mary Felix

Before receiving the information from the Sister, my only information on Julia was from the 1860 census and a clue in her father Patrick's will stating that she was a "religious" in the Sisters of Charity. With the Sister's information, I was able to fill in the timeline above. (Click on the image for a larger picture.) Since then, I've located Timothy's obituary which told the story of their mother dying in Ireland and their immigration to the Port of New Orleans sometime between 1849-1850.

I thought this was a long shot when I sent the email to the Sisters requesting information on Julia and I'm still amazed that it unlocked so much information!

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 28 - Travel

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is "Travel". Travel is a part of many of our ancestors' lives. Traveling across an ocean or a continent for life in a new land. Traveling to a different state to elope. Traveling for work, either as a salesman or working the railroads or canals. Traveling for vacation. What ancestral travel tales have you found?

When I first started researching my 2x great-uncle Edward Creeden, I found military records from several places in the US, Canada, Europe and the Philippines. The records were from the US Army, US Marines, and the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. At first, I didn't think they could all be for the same person, but I was able to find Edward's birthplace of Celina, OH in most of the records. 

I volunteered to do some beta testing for HistoryLines.com when it first came online and I entered Edward's data in their story format to try out their map features.  The map below from HistoryLines indicates Edward's destinations with a red dot and I've bolded each of his destinations in the text that follows.

Edward was thought to have been born in April 1884 in Celina, OH. His military records support this date and place, but I haven't located a birth record for him. Edward joined his sisters Mary Elizabeth and Julia in Pueblo, CO around 1903. In 1904, he enlisted in the US Army in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Edward was discharged from the 12th Infantry Company D in 1907 in Fort Porter, NY with this note in the return from service record: Service honest, faithful Character Excellent. He next enlisted in Columbus, OH on January 18, 1907. His description was given as: Born in Celina, OH, 24yrs, 9mths, Soldier, Blue eyes, Drk Brn hair, Fair complexion. This time he was in the 30th Infantry, Company L.

Edward served as a Corporal in Regiment 30, Company L in the Philippines. His date of arrival at the post was 7/1/1908 and the location was given as Camp Gregg, Pangasinan, Philippine Islands. He was on "topographical duty", and returned to his company on Aug 14, 1908. He was discharged from the Army on 1/17/1910.

After his discharge from the Army, Edward enlisted in the US Marines from San Francisco, CA. His rank was Private and his enlistment date was 1/27/1910. Edward transferred from the Cal Recruiting District to the Navy Yard in Puget Sound, Washington.according to Marine Muster Rolls for 1910.

In October 1911, Edward mysteriously disappeared from his post at the Navy Yard in Puget Sound, Washington. A reward was put out for his return, but no further paperwork was in his file. The next place he shows up is at Vancouver Barracks, Washington where he reenlisted in the Army! He seemed to have an uneventful stint in the Army and was honorably discharged on January 15, 1915.

Edward enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in 1917 and gave his current residence as Minneapolis,MN. In September 1917 he was transferred to the #1 British American Division and traveled via ship from Halifax to Liverpool, England. He arrived in France on February, 8, 1918.

On April 9, 1918, Edward was wounded in battle in Arras, France and spent 10 days in Etaples at a French War Hospital where his right leg was amputated. He spent two months recovering at the Horton War Hospital in Epsom, Surrey, England and was then sent back to the Granville Canadian Special Hospital. He also spent time at the
Whitby Military Hospital in Ontario, Canada. 

A letter to his brother Joshua published in the Celina Democrat on July 26, 1918 says that Edward also was stationed in Honolulu and the Mexican border.

Edward was dismissed from the Canadian Forces in Toronto, Ontario, Canada due to being medically unfit. His proposed residence was St. Louis, MO. I haven't found any definite records for him there, but in 1920, a census record matching Edward shows he was possibly living in Sedgwick, KS. 

A 1930 census record shows that Edward might have been living near Detroit, MI where his brother Joshua was living. Edward died when he was 52 years old in Newport, Campbell, Kentucky, United States. He is by far the most well traveled person I've found in my family tree!

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 10 - Strong Woman

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is "Strong Woman". What female in your family tree has shown remarkable strength (either physical or emotional)? Tell her story. 

My great-great-grandmother Mary Ann Matson was born in Clinton County, Ohio on Sept. 11, 1851. She was the youngest of the 13 children of Asa Matson and Dorothy “Dolly” Clevenger. Mary's parents were born in Virginia and migrated to Clinton County, Ohio in the early 1800's. Four of Mary's brothers served in the Civil War and two died in the war while another was wounded.

On December 10, 1868, Mary was married to Timothy Creeden in Clinton County. She was 17 and Timothy was 22. Timothy was an Irish immigrant, born in 1846 in County Cork. Mary and Timothy had ten children, but two of them died young. Their first child Patrick died in Clinton County in 1872 at the age of 3. Their next son James died in Mercer County at the age of 17.

 

Mary Ann Matson Creeden (left) at her boarding house in Celina, OH

Mary was widowed in 1899 at the age of 48 and still had six children at home. She mortgaged part of the family farmland and bought a house in town in Celina, OH to run as a boarding house. The 1900 census showed that 2 of the grown children worked while the younger ones went to school. Mary made money by renting out rooms in the house. Renters were provided room and board including meals and laundry. The sign on the house above Mary's head says Ice, 7c a day, so it looks like she was resourceful on finding ways to make extra money.

From 1910 US Census for Mercer County, Ohio

In 1910, Mary was still running the boarding house. In the 1910 census, she had three boarders and three of her children were living at home. By that time, the three children were old enough to work, although her youngest son Joshua was only 16. Joshua and the three boarders all worked at the Mersman furniture factory. Her daughter Julia worked as a servant in a private home and her daughter Ida Belle was a dressmaker. By 1920, Mary had retired and was still living with her son Joshua in the same house.

Mary died at her home in 1925 at the age of 74. Her obituary contained this line: "Mrs. Creeden has been suffering with a complication of diseases for the past year, but bearing her suffering with great fortitude, never wishing to alarm her family at any time." While I don't know too much about her personality, she must have been a strong woman to run a business and raise six children on her own.

 #52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 9 - Where There's a Will

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is "Where There's a Will". Use this prompt however you are inspired to. Maybe you've come across an interesting will. Explain it like you would to a non-genealogist. What story does it reveal? You could write about an ancestor who was determined to do something. (Or maybe you have an ancestor named Will!) 

Wills often contain valuable clues for tracing your ancestors. If you're lucky, they'll list the children's names and sometimes even grandchildren. If the inheritance involves land, they may give details on the name and location of the property. You may find additional probate records with the will that pinpoint the date of death and other details about the estate.

I'm choosing Patrick Creedan's will for this prompt for the unique clues it provided. I originally transcribed the will in 2012 when I found it in the Clinton County, Ohio Probate Records on FamilySearch.org.  It's really important to note a lot of the probate records on FamilySearch are not indexed and don't show up when you search their records! I have a post here with tips on finding these records. In this case, the record has since been indexed at Ancestry.com, but there are still many records that are not searchable.

Patrick Creedan's Will, Clinton County, Ohio, 1883

Patrick Creedan's will was executed after Patrick's death in June 1883 in Clinton County, Ohio. The will designates $200 for funeral expenses and masses for Patrick and his daughter Phoebe Catherine. After the funeral expenses were paid, the estate was to be divided into eight equal portions with the recipients as follows:

1. Patrick's son Timothy
2. Patrick's daughter Julia - This share actually goes to Timothy on account of Julia being a "religious" in the Sisters of Charity. Timothy is named as Julia's "full brother".
3. Patrick's son John
4. Patrick's daughter Hanna Jane
5. Patrick's son Patrick William
6 and 7. Patrick's daughter Rosanna receives two shares due to her "feeble mental condition"
8. Patrick's grandson Elija Bernard the son Patrick's deceased daughter Johanna

The witnesses to the will were Bridget Keefe and Michael O'Donaghue. The executor was Timothy Keefe.

So, what story does it reveal without looking at any other records?

Patrick Creedan, a resident of Clinton County, Ohio, died in June 1883. His daughters Phoebe and Johanna preceded him in death. Masses were to be held for him and his deceased family members.

Patrick was survived by his children Timothy, Julia, John, Hanna Jane, Patrick William, Rosanna, and a grandson Elija Bernard. Elija was the son of Patrick's daughter Johanna. Timothy and Julia are called out as "full" siblings, so the other children probably had a different mother and Patrick probably had at least two wives. The wives aren't mentioned in the will, so probably died before 1883.

Patrick's daughter Rosanna needs additional care to be provided for by receiving an extra share of his estate. Patrick was most likely a Catholic since he designates some of his estate to be used to pay for masses for him and his deceased family and his daughter Julia is in the Sisters of Charity. Patrick is acquainted with the Keefe family and Michael O'Donaghue.

Further research on the clues in the will led to the following discoveries:

Patrick's son Timothy became guardian of Rosanna. Guardianship bonds showed that Rosanna moved with Timothy's family to Mercer County, Ohio. This was important in helping to establish that the Timothy Creeden in Mercer County was the same person as the one in Clinton County.

The Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati, Ohio had records for Julia that showed she entered their convent in Cincinnati in 1870. She took her vows in 1872 and received the name of Sister Mary Felix. With that information, I was able to find her death certificate which named her parents as Patrick Creedon and Mary Coakley. That led to her baptism record in Ireland which gave her address as Carrigapooka in Clondrohid, County Cork, Ireland. Since the will stated Timothy was her full brother, I finally had names for my 2x great-grandfather Timothy's parents and a specific location in Ireland!

Timothy Keefe's mother was Johanna Creedon. The Keefes were from the same area of County Cork and an article about Julia Creedon states that she was related to the Keefe family of Clinton County. I haven't found any records showing the relationship of Johanna to Patrick, but it does look like they were related.

Michael  O'Donaghue was the priest at St. Columbkill church in Clinton County from 1882-1905/1906. According to a newspaper article Patrick Creedan was at the first mass held in Clinton County in 1852, along with members of the Keefe and Coakley families.

This will really helped me break down my brick wall on Timothy Creeden! For the full transcription, see my original post on Patrick Creedan's will.

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 4 - Invite to Dinner

This week's 52 Ancestors prompt is "Invite to Dinner." Which ancestor would you most want to invite to dinner? Do you have a story of a memorable dinner with an ancestor? Is there a special recipe that's been handed down? 

I remembered doing a similar prompt back in 2011 for the Fearless Females series, so I took a look back to see what I said then: "While we're fantasizing, the special guest of honor would be my gg-grandfather's mother from Ireland so that she could tell us where she comes from, her and her husband's names and if Timothy had any siblings!"

I still think my 3x great-grandmother would be an interesting dinner guest since I know so little about her and her family. She's not the complete mystery that she was in 2011 though. I know now that she was Mary Coakley and she was married to my 3x great-grandfather Patrick Creedan. She had at least three children with Patrick: Julia, born in 1842, my 2x great-grandfather Timothy, born in 1846, and Hanora, born in 1848.

From Timothy's obituary, Mary died when Timothy was only 3 years old, so sometime between March 1849 and March 1850. Patrick had already come to Ohio and was working on a farm. He sent for Timothy and Julia, but there was no mention of Hanora.

Julia and Hanora were both baptized in Clondrohid, County Cork, Ireland and their address was given as Carrigapooka. So, I can answer most of the questions from my 2011 post, but now of course I'd like the same questions answered for Mary and Patrick!

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1 - Start

This is my first post for the 2018 edition of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and the prompt for this week is simply "Start". Each week I'll be sharing a bit about an ancestor based on the weekly prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

"Start" makes me think of how I got my start in genealogy. I remember doing a homework assignment in the ninth grade to draw a family tree chart for one of my ancestors. My parents didn't know too much about any of our ancestors' origins, but we knew that my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden had come from County Cork. When I say we knew this, there was no proof, but just the family legend passed down from my great-grandfather Charles Creeden. I wish I had still had that homework assignment, but I'm guessing it looked a bit like this chart my Dad drew for me around 1999. Full details on my Dad's initial guesses on our Creeden family are here: Initial Creeden Chart.

With this start from my Dad, I was able to quickly find more information about Timothy's family and add a lot of descendants to the chart. Finding information about Timothy's parents and siblings took much longer. A census record that had the wrong birthplace and date of birth for Timothy threw me off the track for years.

I was finally able to connect Timothy to his family through his father Patrick Creedan's will, court records in Clinton County and Mercer County, Ohio, and his sister Julia's service as a nun in the Sisters of Charity. Julia's death certificate gave her parents' names as Patrick Creedon and Mary Coakley and her baptism record gave the location as Clondrohid, County Cork, Ireland.

When I finally found Timothy's obituary, it helped confirm I had the right family and provided details on his immigration through New Orleans. He was only three when he came over, so no wonder we didn't know too much!

I recently posted my latest Creeden tree here: Creeden tree. There are still some mysteries, but I've come a long way since that ninth grade homework assignment!

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.