Irish Immigration

Families that migrated from overseas to the United States in the mid 1800s, usually did so in groups of families. This was so up until about the year 1890. It is also particularly true of those immigrating from Ireland. The mid century Irish Immigrants were fleeing starvation. So, they moved from Ireland in a rather chaotic way. They just all wanted to get the heck out of there! This is as opposed to the 1890 and beyond immigrants who were able to choose a more calculated strategy where individuals were moving to America, getting jobs, and sending money home, thus allowing others to move to the U. S. later.

The Great Potato Famine of Ireland took place in the years 1847 to 1852 but its effects lasted for decades with near famine conditions lasting through the 1860s. This is why many more people were immigrating from Ireland than any other country at this time. Most of my Keating ancestors came to America in the time period from 1862 to 1865.

It is very difficult to track a family who sailed from Londonderry to Philadelphia, for instance.  This is so because so many people immigrating from Ireland shared thekir name with many others.  Thomas Keating, for instance was a very popular Irish Immigrant name.  If you found a Thomas Keating on a passenger’s list, all the information you probably would find would be his name.  If you stumbled across a family with names that were similar to a family you were looking for, it would be like finding a gold mine.  In my experience, passenger lists have never been a good source of genealogical information  The only thing I have ever found on one is a name and it is usually a very popular one.  I used to always look at passenger’s list and I still do from time to time in hope of finding some key information.  However, so far, I have had no luck doing so.  

You would think ships sailing from Londonderry to Philadelphia are of interest to those of us tracing our Keating ancestors because Londonderry is the port closest to County Clare, Ireland. Philadelphia, or, at least, Pennsylvania is where many of our Keating family members began their lives as Americans and County Clare is where our family members had been living, legend has it, for many generations. Still, I haven’t hit on a passenger list that has born any fruit.  Anyway, it wasn’t etched in stone that an Irish family starting out in County Claire and ending up in Pennsylvania would need to follow a direct path. 

Oh Susana

In the clipped out portion of the 1870 Brokenstraw, Warren County, Pennsylvania census below, if we can use our imagination and pretend the name “Kacty” or whatever it says, actually means to say “Keating,” we find a family that looks very much like my great grandfather Thomas Keating’s family would have looked like in 1870.

In 1870, my great grandparent’s were Thomas and Margaret Keating and they would have had a son Michael and a daughter Susana, which was actually spelled with 1 “n.” This name was most commonly spelled” Susanna” or “Susannah.”

In this census we see Michael was born in New York and Susana was born in Pennsylvania. The fact Michael was born in New York tells us our family’s ship may have docked in Ellis Island rather than Philadelphia. However, we don’t know this.  

I actually drove over to St Peter’s Cemetery and took a picture of Susana’s resting place. Here is the picture I took. It looks to me like the girl in the Keating family in 1870 in Brokenstraw might just be our Susana. 

The ages entered into censuses are often inaccurate. Sometimes, they are very inaccurate. For this family in the 1870 Brokenstraw census to be our family, they would have to be very inaccurate. Thomas’ death record says he was 54 when he died in 1903. This would mean in 1870, he would have been about 21 instead of 30. If he really was 21 and had a 6 year old son, you have a story! I say this because to many people, Michael Keating’s age looks like is was jotted down as 6. To me, it just looks like a 1 with an errant mark next to it. Though he would have turned 2 in march, 1 is close enough for an 1870 census.

The Keatings were consistently errant in their age assessments in 1870.   I say this because in the 1900 census, Margaret (Maggie) tells us she was born in June 1847, so in 1870, she would have been 22 or 23 instead of 32.

Poor Susana didn’t live long enough to fill out the 1900 census. Her cemetery records show us she died February 8, 1884 at the age of 15. She might not actually had been 15 yet. It was very common for people of that time to round their ages up to the next year if they were within a couple months of their coming age. It was also common for people to put the number of months a very young child was in the column marked age.

Age is just a Number

The instructions for the age column in the 1870 census were to write “age at last birthday. If under 1, enter in fraction like 5/12.” People in the early days of censuses, particularly immigrants, were not good at following these instructions. Moreover, no one really cared. If Susana was 3 months old, a “3” written down in the box would be good enough for the householder and census taker alike. She may well, by the way, have been 3 months old when the 1870 census was taken. We don’t know exactly when she was born.

Another thing that made ages so inaccurate in the censuses was that census takers had a big job to do and the sooner they finished this big job, the better! So, there was a lot of guessing and lot of friends and neighbors of families were giving the census takers the information. This means a lot of what you read in censuses is not first hand information. In short, an infant could end up being entered as a 3 year old in the census.  Stuff like this happened all the time.  

The beauty of the 1900 census, where the month and year of everyone’s birth was requested is that a little more time seemed to be taken to get everyone’s birthday correct. At least, in my opinion, the 1900 census seems to be the most reliable one.

Also notice that in the 1900 census Thomas and Margaret Keating’s children were said to have been born in Pennsylvania. Margaret was born in Connecticut.

The following is the 1900 Keating family census. The family was said to live in South Bey Limits, Danbury Township, Connecticut. This also shows the Collins household next door. In another decade or so, this would become the Stone’s house.

Notice my Grandmother’s name in this census was “Margarette.”

Mr. Keating’s Neighborhood

With the information we’ve seen so far I can see there could be reasonable doubt that this Keating family in 1870 Brokenstraw, Pennsylvania census, was my great grandfather Thomas Keating’s family. However, we will continue to build the case that they are the real deal!

The following is the 1870 Brokenstraw Census that includes the Keating family and one of the families that lived next door to them.

The next door neighbors are Edward and Bridget Crotty. Now lets look at the 1880 census from nearby Ralston, Pennsylvania and please excuse the fact it is crooked.

The Thomas Keating family has the same neighbors, namely the Edward Crotty family. It is interesting that Bridget Crotty only aged 3 years in the last 10 years but as we have discovered in recent paragraphs, other than clean living, there can be other reasons for these erratic age changes in the world of censuses. The Keatings have added a couple of more kids, Edward and Thomas and so, they really begin to look like the Keating family who moved to South Bey Limits.

Lets move on to the 1900 census.

Here we have Edward Crotty, now 56 years old. He was 27 in 1870, so that squares. Also, we see Bridget Keating now 50 years old. So, she got her 6 lost years back. Then, there’s Minnie, now 26. She was 7 in the last census 20 years ago. This very much looks like the family that was the Thomas Keating family’s neighbors for many years. In 1900, they weren’t exactly next door neighbors but they lived on Starr St. in Danbury, Connecticut which did (still does) connect South St to Triangle St. So, they lived about a 15 minute walk away from the Keatings who now lived in South Bey Limits on a road that would eventually become Manion’s Lane.

Kissin’ Cousins

We know Margaret Keating became Keating after she married Thomas Keating but knowledge originally passed down through family records is that her married name and her maiden name were both Keating. Thomas and Margaret were first cousins. I also have a confirming record about this.

The Sisters Four

This record is that Margaret Keating Keating’s sister, Johanna Keating, who would later become Johanna Naughton, was the daughter of Michael Keating and Hanor (usually an abbreviation of Hanora) Boland. Actually the “a” at the end of Hanor might have been written down in this ancient document but has simply faded away over the past 161 years. I have also seen the name Honor and Honora in these records but our great grandmother, Margaret Keating Keating’s mother, as well as Bridget Crotty’s mother and Johanna Naughton’s mother was Hanora Boland.

We can confirm this information from the newspaper articles below and Johanna Keating’s baptism record from County Clare, Ireland, which is also below and we even have Johanna’s marriage record from town hall in Danbury, to boot! Add to these things, Margaret’s obituary tells us she had another sister “Miss Mary Keating and we also have her baptism t=record from County Clare.  All of this put together show us Johanna Naughton, Margaret Keating and Bridget Crotty and Miss Mary Keating were sisters, for sure.

Just knowing Bridgett Crotty’s maiden name was Keating and that she lived in the same neighborhood as Margaret all her American life should be enough proof the two are sisters. We also know that Bridget’s son Thomas Crotty was THE Toddy Crotty who we all knew was a relative of some sort. We now know he was Margaret “Ma” Keating Lathrop’s first cousin. Bridget wasn’t mentioned in Margaret’s obituary because she died first.

Here are said newspaper articles, baptism record and a marriage notice that help tie this altogether. Margaret’s obituary tells us of another sister “Miss Marry Keating.  Her basptism record is below well.  

From April 23, 1918.

Bridget Keating Crotty’s daughter’s Obituary, September 27, 1951

Johanna Keating Baptism Dec 23, 1860

Mary Keating Baptism February 11, 1863

Joanna Keating’s marriage, August 8, 1883 – 

As you can see in both the baptism records above, the parents names are Michael Keating and Hanora or Honora Boland.  It is hard to distinguish an “a”  from an “o” in the style of writing at that time but the name Hanora and Honora seemed absolutely interchangeable.  In 1863, in Ireland, or just about anyplace for that matter, spelling was a subjective thing. In addition to this, and I mean it in the kindest way, very few people knew how to spell their names back then.  Still, I lean toward “Hanora” when talking about my great-great grandmother Hanora Boland Keating. 

The word below Johanna in the baptism record, which I can’t read, tells us the dioceses where she was baptized. Her Marriage notice tells us she was 27 years old in 1883 but her baptism record form County Clare is dated December 23, 1860.

Though baptism and birth dates can be considerably different, they are not usually far different when the baptism took place in Ireland. Johanna’s 1910 census says she was 50 at that time and her 1920 census says she was 60. These censuses with the baptism record probably give us a more accurate indication of when she was born and this was probably 1860.

As you can see, Patrick and Johanna Naughton lived on Great Pasture road, even though it is badly spelled in the census. While Great Pasture road is not in the area now known as Manion’s Lane, it is clearly within the borders of South Bey Limits.

Patrick Naughton was also born in Ireland and, like a lot of Danburians of the time, he was a hat shop worker most of his life. Patrick and Johanna had two daughters, Mary and Catherine. I haven’t found very much information about Mary yet. Catherine married Thomas McCloskey.

Miss Mary Keating, the other other sister of Margaret, Bridget and Johanna is sort of hard to track down. Unfortunately, woman of the day were rarely known as Mary Keating or Catherine Jones, for instance. They mostly were known as Mrs. Thomas Keating or Mrs John Jones. So, if you were a single woman you didn’t have much of an identity. Remember that women didn’t have the right to vote until 1920.

To complicate matters, in the life span of Miss Mary Keating, there were probably 10’s of  Mary Keatings living in Danbury, Connecticut! (slight exaggeration) I found an 1880 census where a 23 year old, single Mary Keating lived on 159 Main St in Danbury and was a servant by trade. I also found a 1920 census where a 70 year old, single woman named Mary Keating was a servant and she was working for and living in a house on Farview Ave. Farview Ave in Danbury, CT in 1920 was truly an upper-class neighborhood! I’m pretty sure this is our girl! We know she was single in 1918 and I couldn’t find another single Mary Keating near her age still living in the 1920 census in Danbury! The fact she aged 47 years in only 40 years means nothing in the world of historical censuses.

I have no death record for her but I’m sure that in one of my treks through St Peter’s Cemetery in Danbury, I will stumble upon her. (Hopefully, only in a figurative sense!)

The bottom line is when you put all these records together, you have a rock solid case that Margaret Keating Keating, Bridget Keating Crotty , Johanna Keating Naughton and Miss Mary Keating were sisters.  

Michael J Keating – Chief of Police

As to how many brothers Margaret Keating Keating had, I am not really sure. The one brother I am pretty sure of is Michael J Keating, son of Michael and Hanora Boland Keating, I can only prove our relationship via DNA. In every record I have ever seen about him, the J is included in his name. This is good because throughout the 1880s and 1890s, a couple more Michael Keatings wandered into Danbury, Connecticut.  However, they never used a middle initial. This includes Michael J’s father, Michael Keating, who I believe lived in the area for a short while.

Michael J Keating is my Great Granduncle.  In other words, he was my father’s granduncle and my grandmother, Margaret Keating Lathrop’s uncle.  Generally speaking I say this so as not to confuse him with my father’s uncle Mike, brother of my grandmother, Margaret Keating Lathrop.

We have DNA proof which comes from sharing DNA with off spring of Michael J Keating. Several people share DNA with me who have Michael J Keating in their family tree.  The only problem I have with this is he married a girl whose last name was Haugh and we are related to people named Haugh from County Clare.  So, possibly, we only share some DNA with Michael J because one of our Haugh relatives from County Clare is closely related to his wife and this alone would make us relatives with Michael J Keating’s offspring.  I think we share too much DNA with Michael J’s offspring for this to be the case, but I did want to make this informal disclaimer.   

Also, I have heard  family folklore that tells us we were related to the Danbury Chief of Police even though this passed down family history didn’t explicitly tell us the name of this Chief,  I was lead to believe it was  my Grandmother Margaret’s father, Thomas or his father, Thomas.  As it turns out, it was neither one of those two men.   

Also, it makes sense Michael J was a relative of mine because he was a 4^th ward Keating. He lived very close to his sister Bridget Crotty for a few years and he even had the rather strange address, for a while, of “South Bey Coalpit Hill.”

I’m sure when those of you who are family members just saw the misspelled representation of the word “Policeman,” you thought, yes, I knew there was something about a policeman in this family. I had the same reaction. The policeman was Michael J Keating, brother of our great grandmother Margaret Keating and her sisters.

I imagine, if you were in South Bey Limits, in 1885 and you were on Coalpit Hill and you walked over the hill, you would eventually end up where Manion’s Lane would be in a few years.  So, actually, this might have been where the Michael J Keating family lived when they were said to be on “South Bey Coalpit Hill.”

A little historical note about why this area was called South Bey Limits:  The “Bey” in South Bey limits was short for Beyond. That was the problem.  Before consolidation occurred in Danbury, Connecticut, there was a town of Danbury and a city of Danbury. The town had it’s own first selectman and a complete government that was different from the City of Danbury. The mayor of the city had no jurisdiction over the town. This seems bad enough but the city was a circle which was surrounded by the town. South Bey Limits was not at all a part of the city of the City of Danbury and the bulk of the town of Danbury was way out in King St and Miry Brook and Pembroke.

However, the little strip of land between Wixted Ave and the Bethel town line and the area of Coalpit Hill between Roger’s park and the Bethel Town Line belonged to the Town of Danbury.  So, to most of the town of Danbury, it was way out of the way! They wanted to give it to Bethel. In the early history of Manion’s Lane, the mail being delivered to it was delivered by Bethel postmen.  If you wanted to send mail to Manion’s lane, you had to address it to Bethel. It was a strange setup for sure!  For reasons unknown to me, Manions’s Lane’s address changed back to Danbury even before consolidation, but on January 1, 1965, consolidation went into effect and that took care of it for once and for all.  (We think.)

As you can see by the Danbury directory summaries above, Michael J advanced through the ranks very quickly! At one time, Michael J Keating was the toast of the town. Throughout his tenure on the police force there were several articles, such as the one below from the Morning Journal Courier (New Haven), from June 26,1886 that were written about him. To say he was held in high regard by the local press and the people of Danbury, would be an understatement!

The governor of Connecticut at this time was Republican Henry Harrison. The governor of New York was Democrat David Bennett Hill. He just replace Grover Cleveland who was inaugurated president of the United States in March of 1886.

Though Michael J Keating tracked down a killer in June of 1886, legend has it his real forte was rounding up horse thieves. By the year 1888 things couldn’t have been going better for Michael! He was now the Chief of Police. However, things took a turn for the worse in 1891.  Since I am his great grandnephew, I believe I should have a chance to say what I think on the matter and what I think is that Michael J Keating was railroaded, BIG TIME!!! Every news paper, in the country, it seems, ran with the story below. Typical of this story was the following two pieces of journalistic malpractice; the first from The Danbury News Times on August 29, 1891 and the second from the Stamford Advocate, September 4, 1891.

.

I looked through every record, event or meeting that could have taken place between the middle of August to the early days of September. 1891. The only thing I found was a letter, a deposition actually, forwarded to the common council or some official body on August 19, 1891 to be read at a trial a couple of weeks latter. A key part of this letter declares that Michael J Keating no longer was affiliate with the Danbury Police Force as of July 13^th, 1891. The Newspapers never reported that fact.

There is a typewritten version of this below.

The above document, I assume is in Michael’s handwriting and he signed it. This is very impressive when you consider most people in 1891 would sign any legal document with an “X.”

Here is this document typewritten:

“I am a resident of said town of Danbury. I have been connected with the police force of Danbury almost continuously since 1877 up to July 13th, 1891 in various capacities, have been constable, policeman and head of the police department. I have known Mary A Waters who married Perry G Newton for about 3 years past. About 2 years ago, her parents contacted me and requested me to take her away from a negro man with whom she was living. I was unable to get her to leave the negro. Soon afterwards she was delivered of a child as she admitted to me afterwards. She told me the father of the child lived in Troy. She continued to live with the negro as his wife. On one occasion she applied to the police for protection from him for beating her. She confessed to me that she had been living in a house illforce in Troy and intended to return there. I believe she returned there sometime afterwards and has not been in Danbury recently to my knowledge. The name of the negro with whom she lived and cohabited was William Selleck and he is now a resident of Danbury. She kept house for him. I have no interest in the case in which this deposition is to be used. Dated in Danbury this 19^th day of August A.D. 1891.”

Michael J Keating

The bottom of this document states that Perry G Newton was the plaintiff and Mary A Newton, who I suppose was also Mary A Waters was the defendant. Michael J Keating was a witness who had no interest in the case according to his statement. Also he made the statement that the witness was not attending the trial because he lives more than 20 miles from the trial and is confined to home on account of illness.

It seems there must have been something going on more than this to have the press run with the story that Michael was canned for drunkenness and extortion. There is simply no record of anything like this happening. Remember, by the date stated as his termination date, Michael had been out of the police force for 6 weeks.  So, there is something very fishy about the whole episode. I think, if that delivered child was Michael’s you would have have something significant but if that was the case, Michael would have had to have been a defendant, not a witness, I would think. Also, the father of the child lived in Troy. Michael did not. The only other thing I can think of was that the common council thought it was time to send Selleck to the slammer for maybe beating a woman for which there is no proof, or rape? I can’t see that either but unfortunately, stuff like that used to happen.  

Taking into consideration all of the facts I have been able to gather,  I see Danbury and probably almost every other town in the country in 1891 was operating under the fractured premise that all men are not created equal.  The only one who saw  it from a different point of view was Michael J Keating.  He had no interest in enforcing laws that didn’t exist and it cost him his livelihood and his reputation.

Anyway, if I saw one complaint about Michael drinking too much, I would change my mind but instead, the stories the public was getting was stuff like this from the Stamford advocate on September 4, 1891.

After this sorrowful episode, Michael landed on his feet. He was no longer the toast of the town but he was hired by a hat factory at job with which he had experience, very quickly. He probably had to absorb a cut in pay and sadly, he still had to read inaccurate reporting like this article from The (New Haven) Morning Courier Journal on 12, 1,1895.

The names of Michael J Keating’s children were:
Arthur E. who received a doctorate, Michael, Joseph, Jennie, Mary, Margaret, Katherine, Loretta, Robert, and William. He had no child named named James.

I can’t say with any certainty the birth record of the James Keating below is the James Keating referenced in the article above.  However, this is only James Keating I could find in the birth records in Danbury who would have been around the same age as one of Michael J Keating’s children.

This record above refers to the birth of Keating, James, born  March 26, 1880, Father: Michael Keating, Mother: Margaret Rooney.  As we know, Michael J Keating was married to Bridget Haugh.  The Michael Keating who was the father of James Keating had several children with Margaret Rooney.

I don’t know if any of Michael and Bridget’s kids were actually “bad.” I know that their daughter Mary was married to John Fay who was a big wig real estate guy. I know Robert J Keating’s obituary said he was the proprietor of a billiard parlor, which is interesting. I also know that Margaret Keating was married to John Francis Moran and one of their sons was Joseph Moran but not the Joseph Moran who lived on the corner of Manion’s Lane. He lived on Houseman St (off Mountainville Ave) for many years. 

Still, it seems there were no bad kids amongst Michael J and Bridget’s children. There was, however, really bad journalism surrounding Michael J Keating and he truly was victimized by it!

The following is Margaret Keating Moran’s obituary.

Michael J’s oldest son was Arthur E Keating. He was born in 1869 and died in 1958. He lived most of his life in Queens New York. Though he was an M.D., his claim to fame was that of of Democrat Party Leader.  I guess you could say he was a party boss. Arthur’s Obituary was quite mundane as he had no offspring, but when his dad, Michael J died, Arthur’s New York City friends wrote a real humdinger of an obit for him. I wouldn’t say it was 100% true but it’s really worth reading, that’s for sure, and really does put a positive light on Michael J Keating, this is for certain!  It is from The Brooklyn Daily Times and shows us how loose with thew facts the press used to be.  (I had to have a shot of whiskey before I could type the phrase “used to be!”)

Because it was so difficult to determine Michael J Keating was part of my family tree, I have to wonder if all his bad press caused him to be ostracized by his family.  If so, this would be a sad side note to what should have been a very happy story!  In any event, now we know the about Michael J Keating, Danbury Chief of Police, a man whose honesty wasn’t appreciated or even tolerated by the elders of his day.  

Cousin Martin E Keating

At one time I thought there was another brother in this family brother named Martin E Keating. I had lots of reasons to think so!  Martin E Keating who was born in County Clare, Ireland in 1853 or possibly 1852. He lived, like the Naughton family, on Great Pasture Rd. He lived there from the mid 1880s until his death in 1926. Great grandmother Margaret could see his house by looking out one of her windows. After she was buried in St. Peter’s cemetery in 1918, about 8 years later, he was buried in a plot about 100 feet from hers.

The Martin Keating grave is pictured above.

I also have shared DNA with someone who Ancestry says is my 3rd cousin. Ancestry makes this assessment based on how many centimorgans we share with each other. It is my assessment that the only person she has in her family tree that could possibly be the reason she is my 3rd cousin is her great-great grandfather, Martin E Keating who lived in Danbury.  If the young woman who Ancestry says is my 3rd cousin, is, indeed, my 3rd cousin, Martin would have to be my great grandmother Margaret’s brother.

However, I can’t find any genealogical records that show Margaret and Martin to be siblings. The baptism records for Kilballeyowen (The diocese our Keating family was from) County Clare in the years 1853 through until 1872.  I find no baptism record for Martin E Keating.  Then again, he might have been born before 1853.  While searching his genealogical records however, we find Martin very probably had a brother John and a brother Daniel, who were both hatters in Danbury.  They were both younger than Martin and I can find no baptism records for them, either.  So, probably they were born in another diocese. 

There are several of my 3rd cousins who have had their DNA taken. Some of these people I know and I know they are my 3rd cousins. The number of centimorgans I share with them varies between 25 and 38. The person with whom I share Martin E Keating as a common relative, I share only 20 centimorgans with. So, while it is possible she is my 3rd cousin once removed, I believe she is my 4th cousin once removed. Still, this would make Margaret Keating Keating and Martin E Keating 1st cousins and so, they were closely related and I would think, knew one another quite well.  They just weren’t from the same diocese in County Clare and they had different parents.  That;’s the way I see it for now, at least.  

BUT!!! I hear you say! Couldn’t Martin had been great grandfather Thomas Keating’s brother??? Yes, Theoretically. However, Thomas had a brother Martin Keating who died in Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1890. We’ll talk more about Thomas’ brothers a little later.  

However, there is more to say about Martin E Keating. He was a solid guy.  Martin was married to Mary Halpine. She was the daughter of Michael Hapline. The name Mary Hapline is a tricky one because she has a cousin also named Mary, actually this cousins name is Mary Jane and she married Richard Meaney. Mary, daughter of Michael Hapline grew up with the name Roseana. I went through her family genealogy and found no other member of her family married to a Keating. Therefor, her father’s will, below, is strong indicator that Mary Roseana or Roseana Mary Hapline was the person from the Hapline family who was married to Martin Keating.

In any event, both Mary Haplines are buried in joining plots in St. Peter’s Cemetery. Next to the Martin Keating plot is the Thomas Hapline plot. Thomas Hapline is Mary Jane Hapline Meaney’s father and Mary Roseana Hapline Keating’s uncle.

The following will of Michael Hapline will explain why he, and to some extent, his son-in-law Martin Keating are important to this story about South Bey Limits. The reason this is true is because Martin Keating’s in-laws owned a great big part or it!

I have a type written version of this will below it.

Land 1 – 18 acres more or less

Bounded north by land of Michael Wixted and Timothy Manion

East by land of Michael Collins and heirs of John Delury
South by land of Edward Manion and heirs of John Curtin

West by land of Michael Wixted and land of Patrick Lynch

Appraised at $1,000.00

One other piece of land with buildings thereon standing. Contains 6 acres land is bounded:

north by land of heirs of John Delury,

east by highway

south of land by John Kane

west by land of Edward Manion

Appraised at $1,400.00

To see another perspective of land 2’s location, we can look at where many of the members of the Michael Hapline family lived after Michael passed away in 1884.

As you can see, it looks like Michael Hapline’s property 2 was right on the main roads (South St or Grassy Plain St) on the Danbury/Bethel town line.

Land 1 seems to be what we knew as the Bernie Dolan property which extended behind the Collins property to Fairfeld Ridge on the west and Wixted Ave on the north.

Neither property was said to have bordered any land owned by a person named Crow or Keating. I make this observation because of this article below from The Danbury Evening Farmer on August 30th (that’s a familiar date) 1871.

‘

Before the one above, the published a little blip on May 5, 1970.

Though the Keating property on Manion’s lane was close to 2 acres of land, in 1800s, if land was between 1 and 2 acres, it was a 1 acre plot.

In any event, this property didn’t actually border any of Michael Hapline’s property or Michael Keating sold it to one of the people mentioned as land owners in Michael Hapline’s will. Or, maybe the records of some of the land Michael Hapline’s land bordered on never got updated.

Actually, we can’t prove my great-great grandfather Michael Keating ever lived on South Bey Limits but some Michael Keating bought land there. I guess, it could have been Michael J Keating but this would have been the only time I know of he didn’t use the “J” in his name.  

Because of his connection to the south side of Danbury and because of the lack of a “J” for his middle initial, I believe this Michael Keating was Michael J Keating’s father, my great-great grandfather, husband of Hanora Boland.  

The records are from sparse to nonexistent for both Michael Keating and Hanora Boland Keating. However, we did find a Michael Keating meandering around looking for property on the south side of Danbury and, lo and behold! we found a Hanora Keating living right there in South Bey Limits. Unfortunately, it looks like her husband wasn’t with her in 1880 when we found her.

The picture above is of a blown up piece of the 1880 census. In it, you will see the name Keating and maybe the first name will look like Hanora if you have a good imagination. However, in the cloud that appears when you hover your mouse over this written name, you see the name typewritten as Hanora Keating. The people who transcribe these ancient hand written documents into typed words are wonderful. It’s a hard job they have and they do it very well. I believe this transcriber got this one 100% correct when he or she typed it out as “Hanora Keating!”

For full disclosure; there was a woman named Hanora (actually Honora) Keating who lived in Newtown. Her husband’s name was Bernard. She died in 1896 and is buried in St Rose cemetery. It doesn’t seem logical this Hanora/Honora Keating would have been boarding in the Collins household in Danbury. Then again, this part of the story is more like mystery novel than a genealogical story. What is logical though is my great-great grandparents names were Michael and Hanora Keating and we did find people with these names having a presence in the south side of Danbury. The fact a different woman named “Honora Keating” had a life in Newtown makes me comfortable that this Hanora Keating who was living with the Collins family was my great-great grandmother. If so, the Michael Keating who bought the $200 land was probably my great-great grandfather and it’s pretty much even odds the the land he bought was where I grew up!

Now let’s un-closeup the 1880 census and see what else is on it.

The list of the families from top to bottom are:
Carney
Crow
McDaniel
Hasset
Lynch
Mabie
Collins (Michael)
Barry
Delury
Collins (Andrew M)
Keating (Hanora) lived with the Andrew M Collins family’s
Lynch

Right off the bat, we see a family named Crow, though not Crowe, living in the neighborhood.  It’s also interesting the wife of Michael Keating and mother of Margaret Keating Keating was living with the Andrew M Collins family. She was listed as a boarder. So she wasn’t Andrew’s mother-in-law, or aunt or anything like that.  Actually, I am convinced there was a family connection between the Collins and the Keatings going way back to County Clare.  There is a bit of DNA shared between the families.  I share DNA with some people named Collins, and though it is a small amount, it might explain what Hanora was doing living with the Collins family.

In one of the columns in the Hanora Keating row in the 1880 census we see “22” followed by what looks like mcl. Though I don’t know what the mcl stands for, I am told the 22 means she was suffering from a mental disturbance. Perhaps the fact her husband died unexpectedly was disturbing her or perhaps she had some senility or another type of mental problem. In those days, you didn’t need to have much of a problem for people to write you off as insane.

I believe Michael Keating bought land and was going to put up a house in South Bey Limits. The problem is it seems, he died before he had a chance to build it or maybe he did build it and live there but not for very long.

The first I saw of my great grandfather Thomas Keating, father of Margaret Keating Lathrop,  living in South Bey Limits was in 1890. I did see a Thomas Keating in 1889 but he was a hatter and he lived on Wooster St. It seems our Thomas was always a railroad worker. Sometimes he was said to be a “laborer.” Anyway, I couldn’t imagine him living on Wooster St, but maybe? he did for a while??

We have to remember though, my grandmother Margaret Keating Lathrop was born in 1885, in Connecticut. With Johanna and Mary Keating arriving in Danbury in the early 1880s, it is like they did so by design.  It is also likely Margaret Keating Keating, with her family, and Bridget Keating Crotty, with her family, did so by design too. 

Andrew M Collins, whose household Hanora Keating was a part of, was not Andrew J Collins, son of Michael Collins. In 1880, that Andrew Collins was 2 years old in 1880. Andrew M and Michael Collins were almost next door neighbors. There was two houses between them in 1880. In 1900, there were many houses between them. To my knowledge, neither of the families moved to a different house but many houses were build between them and in South Bey Limits in general.

Andrew M Collins lived in his house for many years. All the records I have of him are from 1880 to 1930 and it looks like he always lived in the same house, but surely, he lived in the same neighborhood. He was born in 1844 and died in 1839. His obituary said he was 97 when he passed. When he was born, his life expectancy was 40. Whether he lived until he was 97 or only 95, it is kind of like if I live to be 165! 

Andrew M Collins and Michael Collins both had sons named Andrew J Collins. Michael’s son Andrew was a South Bey Limits Lifer and Danbury hatter through and through. Andrew, son of Andrew was a businessman in Norwalk. He ran a furniture store and later combined it with a funeral parlor. This was similar to the business his South Bey Limits neighbor, Nellie Delury ran next door to St. Peter’s Church in Danbury.

Andrew M Collins and Michael Collins were not brothers, relatives I surely believe, but not brothers. This is according to another genealogist, probably someone in the family. I will not question their genealogy. It seems well researched.

So, what about Johanna Keating Naughton and Miss Mary Keating? Their immigration year was 1880. This is unlike the rest of the family who came to the states in 1863, 1864 and 1865. It seems, Johanna and Mary headed directly to Danbury from Ireland. It also seems like the rest of the family knew it. I don’t know how they coordinated all of this but they did so. They were amazing people!

There was a tailor named Patrick Keating. He and his family lived on Cottage St. He was born in 1828. When I first discovered him, I thought he was Martin E Keating’s father. However, it didn’t turn out that way. Martin was a County Clare boy. From the little we know about Patrick, it looks like he was born in Tipperary. Tipperary and Clare border one another. So, even though in this case it isn’t a long, long way to Tipperary, we can conclude Patrick is not immediate family. He was a really cool guy, for sure, but not a great-granduncle or anything like that!

The Keating family connection to Danbury seems to have been on the Margaret Keating side of the family. Even her parents Michael and Hanora were in Danbury until their assumed deaths. Margaret had her 3 sisters, Bridget, Johanna and Mary, living pretty much in the neighborhood. Her brother Michael J Keating practically owned the town until he did the wrong thing by doing the right thing.  Margaret even had a first cousin, Martin E Keating, who she seemed to be close to, living just a stone’s throw away. Without a doubt, they all met every Sunday morning at St. Peter’s Church, and if they were anything like any Irish family I ever knew, they got together right after mass to have a few beers. BUT… What about my great grandfather Thomas Keating? Was he an only child??? No Emphatically! He was not!

End of Part 1

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

Skipper

Lathrop Genealogy

Part 2

Let’s look at the 1870 Brokenstraw, Pennsylvania census again.

Notice there is a 50 year old Johanna Keating (top row) living with an 18 year old Bridget (2^nd row). It kind of makes you think this that this could well be a mother daughter thing. Therefore, it would probably be wise to learn a little bit more about this Bridget Keating. Well, we’re in luck because we just happen to have her baptism record from Kilballeyowen diocese in County Clare.

Like all these records, it is very hard to see clearly but we have the makings of a name that says “Bridget on the left. There were so many Bridgets in County Clare they used to abbreviate this name in the strangest of ways. My favorite wax “Biddy.” Sometimes they would use the abbreviation “Briet.” This looks like one of those times.

I don’t know what parish it says she was in but in the center column it says Thomas Keating at the top. I know it looks like it has an “e” at the end but that’s the writing style lot’s of the Irish used in in County Clare. Below Thomas, I see Joanna, though not Johanna which was her name sometimes. I know it’s a weird looking “Joanna,” but when I magnify it, I can see every letter. It’s kind of a tight “o” with very faint ink on the right side of it and it connects to the “a.” It took a little time to reconstruct the “J” in mind, but I saw it after a while, now I can’t un-see it.

Lastly, we see her last name was Haugh. It looks a lot like Huugh but Haugh, unlike Huugh, was a very common name in County Clare at that time.

This Bridget Keating, as opposed to Bridget Keating Crotty, was baptized on April 17, 1853. So, 18 years old?? That’s close enough! Through all her records throughout her lifetime, this Bridget Keating, who would become Bridget Keating Brennan, used 1853 as her birth year.

Thomas “Kacty” Keating, who was a railroad worker and said he was 30 years old but he was really 20 is the 5^th row down. Though this incorrect information tells us he is not my great grandfather, we know he is living next door to his wife’s sister Bridget (4^th row), so this is a strong indicator he is my great grandfather, Thomas Keating. Below is his death record from Danbury, Connecticut.

The key to it is right below the Thomas J. This is where it tells us the names of deceased’s parents. Here it says Thomas Keating and Johanna Haugh. For what it’s worth, Haugh is pronounced like Hoff.

While we’re on the subject of his death, he died from a cerebral Hemorrhage that occurred when his foot was being amputated and it had to be amputated because he had gangrene! WOW!!!

Even though the writing of the word “Joanna” in Bridget’s baptism record is fractured, we have all already determined this Thomas Keating is my great grandfather and it is also my belief we have established Thomas Keating and the 18 year-old Bridget in this census are brother – sister.

Now, let’s go ahead a few years and take a look at this Bridget Keating’s obituary. At the time of her death she was Bridget Brennan and she lived in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

This doesn’t really add more information to that we already have but it does, at least confirm her father was someone named Thomas Keating.

Looking back, once again, to the 1870 Brokenstraw census. In the row where the head of the last household on the page is John Keating. The census infers he was born in 1835 but he was actually born in 1838 and died in 1894. He, too, lived in Oil City.

Here is his obituary.

Bernard from Salamanca, NY, who was mentioned in John’s Obituary, seems to be known by many as Bernard but I thought his name was Barnard because he often was referred to as Barney. Nonetheless, his life span was from 1852 to 1920. Also his wife’s name was Mary Stapleton. I know of a person who Ancestry says is my 3^rd cousin because,, Ancestry says we share a 3^rd cousin amount of DNA. I have posted his family tree below. I have cut off the lower branches of his family tree in the picture below just to avoid using his name without his permission. Keating is the only name that matches my tree to his. Take a look at whose at the top of this 3^rd cousin’s tree. 

As you can see, the person who owns this tree and I are are 3^rd cousins because this 3^rd cousin’s great grandfather Bernard or Barnard) is my great grandfather (Thomas’) brother.

Here is Barney’s obituary. Below that obituary is the obituary of his wife, Mary Stapleton Keating. Notice that her Mass was said by Barney’s brother Jame’s son, Father Joseph Keating

This brings us to James Keating, (1843 – 1919) who was mentioned as a brother in Bernard’s obituary. He was from from the town of New Kensington, which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. In 1870, he was living in one of the apartments in the tenement building where his sister Bridget Keating Brennan, brothers Thomas and John and mother Johanna, were also living. James was also a Railroad worker. He had a great Irish family! His wife was Mary and she was 10 years younger than he was. His children are below.

John W. Keating

1871–1904

Anna Matilda Keating Allen

1873–1933

Margaret L. Keating Meyer

1875–1946

Thomas P Keating

1877–1905

James M Keating

1879–1953

Mary E Keating

1881–1961

Edward H Keating

1883–1889
Fr Joseph Bernard Keating

1885–1942

Frances Keating

1887–1970

Charles Keating

1890–1971

Jane B. Keating Brown

1891–1957

Here is James’ picture.

Also, one of his offspring posted the picture below on Ancestry. He is the second from the left. He was the foreman. I wonder if he looked a lot like Thomas because we have no pictures of James brother sand my great grandfather, Thomas.  .

We positively know James Keating is the brother of Thomas because James is the brother of Bridget Brennan and Bridget and Thomas have the same parents. Still, we have lots of DNA that tie us to James.

According to our DNA, the late Roger Morgan and his brother, the late Dr. Peter Morgan are my 3^rd cousins. Their family tree show us their great grandfather is James Keating (1843 – 1919) and that their great great grandmother was Johanna Haugh. It also goes a step further to her father James Haugh. Johanna also had a bother James, a brother, Connor and a sister Mary though these three are not entered in this tree. Like with all Irish families, there were probably a lot more members of it.

The following tree belongs to a 4^th cousin of mine. She is a 4^th cousin because we don’t have a mutual ancestor until we reach our great -great-great grandfather, James Haugh.

Note that the owner of the tree has been cut off the bottom because she is still alive. Also, note we had previously determined Johanna Haugh not only had father named James but also a brother James.

We have also determined Johanna’s mother was Mary Keane. Another version of the O’Rourke tree below, helps illustrate it. 

Another brother of the brothers of Thomas Keating was Martin Keating. His obituary is below. In it Mrs M Brennan is mentioned. This, of course, is Bridget Keating Brennan. Also J Keating is mentioned. This is James Keating and Barney
Keating is of course, Bernard or Barnard Keating and his wife Mary Stapleton Keating.

Who Was Abraham Foote?

Abraham Foote, also known as Captain Abraham Foote, was a Captain in the Connecticut militia during the Revolutionary War. Captain Foote fought in Colonel Andrew Ward’s regiment. He was a Connecticut Minuteman and commanded the local minutemen throughout the state. Connecticut was heavily targeted by the British and Captain Foote kept local Militias all over the state prepared.

One of the many battles Captain Foote fought in was The Raid on Danbury. This was the raid that Sybil Ludington made her famous country side ride alerting the troops throughout Putnam County of the British incursion when they were burning the town. In this battle, Captain Foote worked with Sybil Ludington’s uncle, Colonel Henry Ludington. Colonel Ludington ran a spy ring in New York States and was closely affiliated with General George Washington.

There is no doubt Captain Foote worked tirelessly to help win American Independence and he is widely recognized as a Revolutionary War hero. He is recognized by both The Sons of The American Revolution and The Daughters of The American Revolution.

Abraham Foote’s great-great grandfather, Nathaniel Foote (1593-1644), originally from Shalford, Braintree District, Essex, England, was one of the founders of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Overall, the Foote family is one of the most prominate of the early American families.

To my cousins and I, Captain Abraham Foote is our great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He was married to Abigail Rogers. He was born in Branford, CT in 1725 and died in Woodbury, CT in 1823. Yes he lived well into his 99th year!

While studying the Foote family, I found we were related to some very famous people. Below is a relationship chart showing our relationship to one of them.

That’s right, it’s cousin Walt Disney. He was my 9^th cousin twice removed, so actually, he was my grandfather Starr Lathrop’s 9^th cousin. “It’s a small world after all!”

Skipper

On February 20th, 1907, my great, great grandmother Mary Lillis Keenan passed away.  The Keenan’s, Mary and Michael and their offspring were known as a wealthy family.  Other than the Hawley family, who owned most of Hawleyville, the Keenans were thought to be the second richest family in Newtown.  Little did anyone know, until Mary’s death, the entire family, in actuality, might not have been wealthy at all.  It looks like it was Mary, herself, that owned all the goods! This included the land, the house, which sounds like a real mansion, the horses, cows, chairs, tables, and everything else.  Everything was in her name.  So, when she died, she left it to whomever she pleased.  this “whomever” turned out to be her eldest daughter Catherine and her husband, the already opulent Michael Delohery.  Michael Delohery was a lawyer and the proprietor of M Delohery and Sons Hat Factory on Liberty Ave, Danbury.  Still, little did he know, or perhaps he did know, when his mother-in-law died, he would become even wealthier.

Here is Mary Keenan’s will:

“To the Probate Court of the district of Newtown, estate of Mary Keenan, late of Newtown in said district deceased. The subscriber represents that Mary Keenan last dwelt in the Town of Newtown, in said District, and died on the 20th day of Feb. A.D. 1907 possessed of goods and estate remaining to be administered leaving a husband whose name is Michael Keenan, and as her only heirs – at – law and next of kin, the persons whose names, residences, and relationship to the deceased are as follow, viz:

Names, Residences, Relationship

Catherine Delohery, Danbury, Conn, Daughter

Edward Keenan, Danbury, Conn, Son

Thomas Keenan. Danbury, Conn, Son

Michael Keenan, Danbury, Conn, Son

Mrs. Anna Lathrop, Bethel, Conn, Daughter

Julia Fanning, Newtown, Conn, Granddaughter

and that said deceased left a will herewith presented for probate wherein Michael Delohery of Danbury, Conn, is named as Executor. Wherefore your petitioner prays that said will may be proved, approved, allowed and admitted to probate and letters testamentary may be granted to the executor therein named Michael Delohery, Executor to the Probate Court for the District of Newtown. The subscriber make return that pursuant to the order of said Court he gave public notice of the pendency of the foregoing application, and the time and place of hearing thereon by publishing the same and said order in the Newtown Bee, a newspaper having a circulation in said District , and by posting a copy thereof on the public sign – post in the Town of Newtown six days before said time assigned.
Michael Delohery Executor Subscribed and sworn to this 6th day of April A.D. 1907 ,

before me William J. Beecher Judge

I, Mary Keenan of Newtown, County of Fairfield and State of Connecticut do make, publish and declare this to be my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other wills by me at any time hereto before made.

First, after all my lawful debts and funeral expenses are paid, I give, devise and bequeath to my daughter Catherine Delohery, wife of Michael Delohery of Danbury, in said Fairfield County the Homestead where I now live in said Newtown, being a tract of land containing thirty two acres more or less with a dwelling house and two barns thereon, and being land purchased from James Lake and bounded on the East by land of Homer Hawley on the West by land of Amos Hawley and on the and South by my other land, to her my said Daughter Catherine and her heirs absolutely and in fee simple, subject however, to the life use of my husband and Michael Keenan if he survive me so long as he may live.

Second, all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate both real and personal subject to the life use of the real Estate by my said husband Michael Keenan if he survives me, I give devise and bequeath to my sons, Thomas, Michael and Edward, my daughters Catherine and Annie, and my granddaughter Julie Fanning, share and share alike, to them and their respective heirs.

Third, I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my son in law Michael
Delohery of said  Danbury, Executor of this Will, and that he be required to furnish no bond In Witness.

Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal the 15th day of May, in the  year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and fore (yes, it was spelled ”fore!”)
Mary Keenan Seal Signed, sealed,  published and declared by the said Mary Keenan as and for her last will and testament in the  presence of us , who in her presence in the presence of each other and at her request have subscribed our names as witnesses hereto:
Henry M. Robinson of Danbury Conn
Chas W. Murphy
William H. Cable

State of Connecticut, County of Fairfield

 ss Danbury March 13 1907.

and William H. Cable witnesses to the foregoing last will and testament of Mary Keenan who  being duly sworn , depose and say that they subscribed said will as witnesses thereto in the  presence of said testatrix and the said testatrix signed said will in their presence and  acknowledged that she had signed said will and declared the same to be her last will and  testament, and deponents further say that at the time of the execution of said will they  believed the said testatrix to be of lawful age and of sound mind and memory and do make this affidavit at her request.

Henry M. Robinson

Chas W. Murphy

Subscribed and sworn to William H. Cable before me this 13th day of March A.D. 1907
Eber A. Hodge Notary Public

A true copy of the original on file — To the Probate Court for the District of Newtown Estate of Mary Keenan, late of Newtown, in said District deceased. The subscribers appointed Appraisers on
said Estate having been legally  sworn, have appraised all of said Estate, both real and personal, according to its value, and have assisted in making a true and perfect inventory thereof as follows, viz

(The Following is a Sample of what She Left)

INVENTORY

One House $ 1,200 and
Lake land 32 acres $ 1,000 &
Hawley Land 40 acres $ 1000
Blackman Land 6 acres $180
2 barns 300
1 horse 25. 1 horse 150. 2 cows 50. 4 heifers $ 100, to cast 3. 1 Buck board 10. 1 sleigh S. Lumber wagon .50. Household Goods Range and pipe 15. 1 Tea Kettle, .25 1 tea pot .25, 1 table 1 Lounge 25 kitchen Chairs 1.50, 2 spiders 20 large pots .50 2 small pots .25 10 4 cake pans 1.10 3 bread pans ┃ clock 1. 3 lamps .30 4 water pails & dipper 2 shovel & dust pan .10 20 Broom ..15 Ironing board 15 4 sadirons 40 3 window shades Lantern Pantry 25 plates 25 4 sugar Bowls 20 1 spoon holder 1 Butter dish .10, 2 front dishes large .10 preserve dishes small pitchers $1 glass pitchers .25, 3 platters .10, 5 glasses .23, vegetable dishes .21, cups and 23 saucers .45 3 Bowls .10 small boxes .20 4 Washing machine 25 1 small stand .25 20 Molding board & rolling pen , I preserving kettles .10 pans 2 flour service Work basket Dishpan Bread pant Wash dish towels & 1 window shade 15, 1 feather bed 3 . Bed springs mattress & feather tick 23d 1 sheet. I feather pillows 2 pillow covers bolster & cover white spread .50”

This is a very truncated list. The original one seems to go on and on and on. After everything is totaled up, it amounts to $6,699.55, or about $200,000 in today’s money. Still, even this healthy sum is very misleading when it comes to accessing her wealth because she had a total of 78 acres of land, a house, which sounded extraordinary and also 2 barns, and, I ask, the whole shebang adds up to less than 7 thousand bucks? I’m not a real-estate appraiser but I have to think the property she was sitting on would be sold today for some figure in the multiple of millions.

In one of the other documents I read about this will, it mentioned that one of these properties was bordered by “the highway.” This highway is now RT 25 in Hawleyville. So, what would be the price tag now on an extravagant home on 78 acres of prime real estate bordering Rt 25 in Hawleyville?  3 million? … 5 million? … maybe more? I truly don’t know.  It is amazing Michael and Mary had separate accounts and one way to look at is that in a financial sense, they weren’t really married.

Seeing it in a more positive light, it was a tradition that the women always got shafted in financial affairs. The sons were always the ones who got the big inheritances while the daughters were left looking to marry a man who got one of his own inheritances. In fact, it wasn’t until more than 13 years after Mary Keenan’s death woman were allowed to vote.  So, in a way, we could consider her a ground-breaker, woman’s lib in 1907!

Of course, there were some expenses to be taken from Mary Keenan’s Estate.  Money could not be distributed until her just debts were paid. A copy of the original court document regarding this is below:

Still, Catherine Delohery and family made out well as the probated property was distributed in the manner the will had ordered.

Michael Keenan passed away on October 2, 1917 in Danbury, Ct. I am not sure if he was living in Danbury in spite of his being allowed to live in his own home for the rest of his life, or if the only reason he died in Danbury was that he had been sick in Danbury hospital. The latter is possible because he was 85 years old and we do have proof he was living in Newtown several years after his wife’s death.

In any event, even though it seems like everything was stolen from my great, great grandpa Michael, it seems he did have a bit of a nest egg of his own. Though I have yet to find the actual will, the document below shows he actually did have one and he actually did have something to leave to somebody. The “F” on the card bellow means finalized and “testate” means he had a will. As to the amount he willed to someone; that was $150,000 in year 2025 money.

Though I have no documented proof of whom pocketed this windfall, family folklore tells us it also went to his eldest daughter, Catherine Delohery.

In the final analysis, I can’t see where Michael Delohery did anything wrong. Certainly, he executed the will as his Mother-in-Law had wished and she truly trusted him to do so. Things just don’t always get divided up equally in every will and there are many reasons why this is so. For the lopsidedness of this will, I can in no way assign thievery as the reason. I believe Mary and Michael Keenan simply thought the Delohery family would best carry on their homestead in the way they wanted it to be carried on after they left it.

Skipper

In the name of God, Amen

I Barnabas Lathrop of New Milford in Litchfield County, being infirm in body but of sound mind & memory – blessed be God – calling to mind my own mortality, do make and ordain, this my last will and testament, in manner following: vis

Principally & first of all, I give, and humbly recommend my soul to God who gave it – through Jesus Christ our Lord – my body I leave to be buried in a quiet Christian burial – at the direction of my executer herein after named, nothing doubting but the same will be reunited to my soul at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God.

And as sounding such word by extol with which it hath pleased God to bless me in this life. I will and dispose thereof as follows- vis Imprimis.

I will that my just debt of funeral charges be fully paid.

Item – I give and bequeath to my well-beloved wife Sarah the use and improvement of all my land and my dwelling home during the time she shall remain my widow and also my riding mare and all my household furniture, to be her own forever.

Item – I give and bequeath to my eldest and well-beloved son Joseph Lathrop the one half of my wearing apparel to be his own forever.

Item – I give and bequeath to my well-beloved son Daniel Lathrop half an acre of land at the northernest corner of my homestead and the north half of my dwelling home by a line through the center of the chimney – after my said widow rights therein shall cease, to be his own forever.

I give and bequeath to my well-beloved son Rufus Lathrop the remainder of my land and the other half of my dwelling house – after my said widow’s right shall cease, to be his own forever.

Item – I give and bequeath to my well-beloved daughter Sarah ten shillings lawful money to be paid to her by my son Daniel after end of one year next after my death –

Item – I give and bequeath to my well-beloved daughter Elizabeth Beardsley eighteen shillings lawful money to be paid to her by my son Rufus at the end of one year next after my death.

• Lastly – I do constitute and appoint my afore said Wife Sarah and my afore said son Daniel executioners of this, my last will and testament, declaring this and only this to be my last will and testament.
• Where writing I have hereinto set my hand and seal this 19^th day of July, 1792.
• Signed sealed and pronounced by the executor to be his last will and testament in perennial.
• Of
• Litchfield County 19^th day of July 1792. Personally appeared Ephraim Beardsley, Salley Baldwin & Uvania Everitt above named and on solemn oath declare that they & each of them said above named executor sign and seal above will heard him declare therefore to be his last will and testament and that each of them signed said they will witness in presence of the executor and in the presence of each other, and that the executor in their opinion is of sound mind and memory.Before me –
• Dan Luenill, Justice of the Peace

Skipper

Joseph Lathrop Sr – A Very Important Lathrop Family Ancestor

Though Joseph Lathrop Sr. is in my family tree 9 generations before me, he is one of our most significant ancestors. When I say “our,” I am referring to those of us whom are his offspring. To my sisters, my Lathrop cousins and I, he is our 7th Great-grandfather. Of course, 7th Great-grandfather doesn’t seem very significant, but this 7^th Great-grandfather is quite significant and it has nothing to do with wealth or fame. I’m talking strictly significant from a genealogical standpoint.

First, let’s get a little technical housekeeping done: When I refer to a great-grandmother or great-grandfather, I will just say great-grandmother or great-grandfather. When I refer to a great-great-grandmother or great-great-grandfather, I will just say great-great-grandmother or great-great-grandfather. However, if there are more than 2 greats, I will say 3^rd great-grandfather or 5th great-grandmother, etc. This isn’t a hard-set rule across the world of genealogy, it’s just something I do.

Lathrop Lothrop Lathrope

Also, it is noteworthy that the name Lathrop and Lothrop are the same exact name. Somehow, the name I use, which is “Lathrop” has metamorphosized into a name that is pronounced lay-thrup. It’s my belief that some generations ago, both the names L-a-t-h-r-o-p and L-o-t-h-r-o-p were pronounced exactly the same and that pronunciation was “La”-“throp,” where the “La” sounded like the “la” in do-re-mi-fa-sol-la, and Lothrop was pronounced the same way. If you think about the way you pronounce “lot” or “log” or “lock” or “lob”, you have to conclude you would pronounce “loth” in the same manner. So, you can easily understand the confusion with the spelling, especially in a time where a lot of people didn’t read or write. We have several instances in the family tree where one person was Mr. Lathrop and his brother was Mr. Lothrop. Still, I believe, when Mr. Lathrop said his name, he pronounced it “La” “throp” and when Mr. Lothrop said his name, he pronounced it “Loth” “rop,” which is exactly the same.

Lathrope, on the other hand seems to be an entirely different family. It is tempting to see the name “Lathrope” without the “e” on the end and assume the person wearing the name tag with “Lathrope” on it is a relative of the person wearing the nametag with Lathrop or Lothrop on it. However, as far as I can see, this is not the case.

I’ve seen thousands of names in the family tree started by Rev. John Lathrop (1584-1653) of Barnstable, MA and none of them has an “e” at the end of the name. It is true the Reverend John had ancestor several generations back whose name was Lowthroppe, but in the American family tree starting in 1634, all of his offspring are either Lathrop or Lothrop.

I have done some genealogy of a few families with the name Lathrope and found one the families had immigrated from Germany in 1801. I found another of these families had immigrated from Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands in 1907 and a third family I traced back to 1857 when they sailed to Ellis Island from Southampton, UK. In all three cases, it looks like the name is English in its origin, but from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t appear there is a Lathrope who is a descendant of Rev. John Lathrop.

Lineage to Joseph Lathrop Sr.

Now for technical housekeeping project number 3, here is the genealogy from us to Joseph Lathrop Sr. using only the Lathrop side of our family. This is a small part of our family tree, I realize but right now, we’re only interested in get back to Joseph Lathrop Sr.

For my sisters and cousins and I, our grandfather is Edward Starr Lathrop. Our great-grandfather is Charles Ozias Lathrop. Our great-great-grandfather is Frederick Lathrop. Our 3^rd great-grandfather is Daniel Lathrop Jr. Our 4^th great-grandfather is Daniel Lathrop Sr. Our 5^th great-grandfather is Barnabas Lathrop. Our 6th great-grandfather is Joseph Lathrop Jr., and our 7^th great-grandfather is Joseph Lathrop Sr. Now, that the house is clean, we will continue:

Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s Marriages

The details of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s marriages are out of the norm for 21st century, the 20th century and even 19th century marriages, but in the 1600’s, people marrying who were already related was very normal. However, I can promise that in the Lathrop family tree, there were no sister/brother marriages. With this out of the way, here is the story of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and his wives.

Joseph Lathrop Sr, was born in 1661 in Norwich, Connecticut and died in 1740, in the same town. His first wife was Mercy Scudder. Her name is sometimes seen as “Mary” but it has been “Mercy” for many years in the family tree. I believe “Mercy” is actually her correct name. The following is taken from the book “New England Marriages before 1700.” I have included some names other than Joseph and Mercy Scudder Lathrop Sr. just to show how people living in same towns and are certainly related to one another spell the name “Lathrop” different.

Mercy was Joseph’s mother’s niece. So, she was his wife and 1st cousin. They had 11 children together. This cousin/wife was our 7th Great-grandmother and 1st cousin 8 times removed. After she died, Joseph married Elizabeth Waterhouse. They had 6 children together. Only 5 survived past the age of 2 years old.

Elizabeth Waterhouse Lathrop died before Joseph, and so he then married Martha Perkins. She was the Mother-in-Law of one of his sons, Solomon Lathrop (1706 – 1733). As you can see, Solomon died very young. He had his will made out and since he died at 26 years of age, it would seem he had some sort of illness as opposed to having died by way of accident. With that aside, it seems fortunate that by the time Joseph Lathrop Sr. married his son’s mother-in-law, his fathering days were behind him. If this had not been the case, I would guess the genealogy of this part of the tree would have been kind of messy.

The following article that talks about “Lathrop Bridge,” which was suspended across the Shetucket River, makes me think Solomon Lathrop might not have an illness of some kind after all. By the way, I haven’t found a Lathrop Bridge still standing in Norwich but there is a Lathrop Lane.

Still, despite “hair-breadth escapes” by his family members and all the anomalies of the husband-wife relationships of Joseph Lathrop Sr., he had and therefore, we have an absolute powerhouse of famous relatives!

President Ulysses S Grant

Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s sister, Abigail Lathrop (1665-1745) married John Huntington (1665-1696). Their daughter Martha Huntington married Noah Grant I. Noah Grant I and Martha Huntington were the great-great grandparents of General and President Ulysses S Grant. To put this another way, Joseph’s sister Abigail was President Grant’s 3rd great-grandmother.

The following is taken from as book titled “Lathrop Family Memoirs”

It is interesting that “Lathrop Family Memoir” was written in the mid to late 1800s and since Ulysses S Grant was President from 1869 to 1877, he may actually had been “President Ulysses S Grant” when it was written.

President Rutherford Birchard Hayes

Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s son, Joseph Lathrop Jr., married Mary Hartshorn (1701-1757), daughter of Johnathon Hartshorn and Mary Birchard. Mary Birchard’s parents were John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson. They were the 4^th great grandparents of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes. In other words, Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s grandchildren, since they were the children of Joseph Lathrop Jr. and Mary Hartshorn, were the great grandchildren of John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson who were the 4th great grandparents of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes. One of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s grandchildren was Barnabas Lathrop late of New Milford, CT and he is our 5^th great-grandfather, This means President Hayes’s 4^th great grandparents are our 8^th great grandparents since Barnabas is our 5^th great-grandfather and John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson are in his direct lineage 3 generations before him.

President James A Garfield

One of the daughters of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Elizabeth Waterhouse was Elizabeth Lathrop. She married Dr. Daniel Davis. Their daughter was Sarah Davis who married Barnabas Lathrop. Barnabas Lathrop was the son of Joseph Lathrop Jr. and Mary Hartshorn and the grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Mercy Scudder. So, Sarah and Barnabas were cousins. Actually, since first cousins have one set of grandparents in common, Sarah and Barnabas were actually half-first cousins since they only shared a grandfather, Joseph Lathrop Sr. in common. Another way to look at this is Mercy Scudder is our 7^th great-grandmother because she is the grandmother of our 5^th great-grandfather, Barnabas Lathrop, and Elizabeth Waterhouse is our 7^th great-grandmother because she is the grandmother of our 5^th great-grandmother, Sarah Davis, and this means Joseph Lathrop Sr. is our 7^th great-grandfather twice. Therefore, I see him as a very significant ancestor. The bigger issue here though is that Dr. Daniel Davis’s great-grandfather was William Allen (1611-1686) and he was the 6^th great-grandfather of President James A Garfield. It is noteworthy that William Allen is also the 6^th great-grandfather of Frederick Lathrop who is our great-great-grandfather.

Franklin D Roosevelt

Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s father was Samuel Lathrop (1623-1700). Samuel Lathrop is the 7th great-grandfather of Franklin Deleno Roosevelt. Like President Franklin Roosevelt, our great-grandfather, Charles O. Lathrop was the 7^th great grandson of Samuel Lathrop (1623-1700).

Oliver Wendell Holmes

One of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s daughters, Temperance Lathrop, married Rev. John Bishop. One of Temperance and John’s sons was Abiel Bishop who married Sara Wendell. One of Sara and Abiel’s sons was Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894). Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was a physician. He was also a poet of great renown. He was one of the fireside poets. He was thought to be one of the best writers of his time! In spite of all of this, he is probably more famous for being the father of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935). Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, is the 3rd great grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Joseph Lathrop Sr. is the grandson of the Rev. John Lathrop, who, himself, was a famous person. One of the many famous people the Rev. Lathrop is an ancestor of is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He is the 4^th great grandson of the Rev. John Lathrop. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is the great grandson of Elizabeth Lathrop, who is daughter of Thomas Lathrop, who is the son of Rev. Joseph Lathrop (1624-1702) who was the uncle of our 7^th great-grandfather Joseph Lathrop Sr. So, even though ancestry dot com shows Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to be only our 5^th cousin 4 times removed, he did have a lot of Lathrop genes in him. A couple of Longfellow’s greatest works are “The Village Blacksmith” and “Paul Rev.eres’ Ride.” Another is a poem tittle “Evangeline.” Without any knowledge at the time that they were related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, my daughter and son-in-law named their daughter “Evangeline.” This, it would seem, was very much a coincidence! Or was it???

Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD

Another Joseph Lathrop in the family tree is Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD (1731-1820). His sermons are still being preached today. There are books written about him and books filled with his sermons. Many are available in bookstores and even on Amazon. The Rev.erend Doctor Lathrop had degrees from both Harvard and Yale. If you google him, you will find him.

Dr. Lathrop was born in Norwich, CT on 10-20-1731 and died in West Springfield, MA on 12-31-1820. The following is an excerpt from “Lathrop Memoirs.”

The Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD was the grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr.

William Bradford

One of the daughters of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Elizabeth Waterhouse was Zeruiah Lathrop. Like many in our family tree, she is also said to be Zeruiah Lothrop, or Lothropp (1718-1740). Her first name is often said to be Zerviah. Though this seems like a beautiful name I believe it is a misprint because Zeruiah is truly a Biblical name whereas Zerviah is not. The name Zeruiah is pronounced Ze-ru-ya. Zeruiah Lathrop married William Bradford (1718-1799) who was the great-great grandson of William Bradford (1590-1657), who came over on the Mayflower and was the 2^nd Governor of Plymouth Colony. William and Zeruiah’s daughter, Zeruiah Bradford, never had any children and died at the age of 30.

The marriage of Zeruiah Lathrop to Gov. William Bradford in no way makes us decedents of a Mayflower passenger, however, the fact Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s daughter was married to one, shows us one more genealogical celebrity who was member of his extended family.

The following is from “Mayflower Descendants.”

Samuel Fuller

Jane Lathrop was an aunt of Joseph Lathrop Sr. To put this another way, Jane Lathrop was the sister of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s father, Samuel Lathrop. Jane married Samuel Fuller who at the age of 8 years old came to the new world with his father Edward Fuller on the Mayflower. Again, this doesn’t make us the descendants of a Mayflower passenger but it does point out that there were Pilgrims in the Lathrop family tree. Jane Lathrop Fuller was our 8^th great-grandaunt. All of the children of Samuel and Jane Lathrop Fuller were first cousins of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and they are our 1^st cousins 8 times removed.

The following is from “Mayflower Descendants.”

Benedict Arnold

This relative comes in the interest of full disclosure.

Benedict Arnold was actually Benedict Arnold V. He was born in Norwich, CT in 1741. Oddly enough, he was the son of Benedict Arnold III. This is so because he had an older brother who was named Benedict Arnold IV. He died at the age of 1 year old and so, his parents simply named their next son, Benedict Arnold V.

During the earlier stages of the American Rev.olution, Benedict Arnold was a hero. He was a superb strategist and because of this he was promoted to Major General. His role in defeating the British in the battle of Saratoga earned praise from George Washington. He was said to be the Colonists’ greatest tactician! It is widely believed if he died in this battle, he would have been one of the most decorated war heroes of all time!

Instead, as the war went on, he felt he was being overlooked as generals were being assigned to lead battles. A complicating factor was that as his frustration grew, his wife, Peggy Shippen, a well-connected loyalist, was able to put him in touch with the British command. Since he was the commander of West Point at that time, they made a deal with him to turn it over to them. If this plot had been successful, it certainly would have greatly hurt the Colonists’ chances of gaining their independence. Whether or not he didn’t have the stomach to do this or he was just unable to, West Point never became the property of Great Britian.

Still, Benedict Arnold had switched sides and even though this is the case, he was never very highly celebrated by his new countrymen. He died on the streets of England in 1801, at the age of 60 without any fanfare whatsoever. In America, his name has become synonymous with the word “traitor.”

Genealogically speaking, Benedict Arnold V’s mother was Hannah Waterman. Her parents were John Waterman and Elizabeth Lathrop (1679 – 1708). Though this is a familiar name, this Elizabeth Lathrop was the daughter of Samuel Lathrop Jr, (1650 – 1738) who was the brother of Joseph Lathrop Sr. Joseph Lathrop Sr. was the great granduncle of Benedict Arnold V and Joseph’s father Samuel Lathrop Sr. was benedict Arnold’s great-great-grandfather. One more way to look at it is that our 4^th great-grandfather, Damiel Lathrop Sr. of New Milford, CT, who also fought in the American Rev.olution was the 3^rd cousin of Benedict Arnold.

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple (1928-2014) was the daughter of George Fransis Temple Sr. and Gertrude Amelia Krieger. George’s parents were Fransis M Temple and Cynthia Fell. Fransis’ parents were Reuben Smith Brown Temple and Jane Durham. Reuben was the son of Robert Temple and Eliza Allen. Eliza was the daughter of Hezikiah Allen and Elizabeth “Polly” Lathrop. Elizabeth was the daughter of Zacheriah Lathrop and Mehetable Cleveland. Zacheriah was the son of Wiliam Lathrop and William Lathrop was the son of Israel Lathrop (1659-1733) who was the brother of Joseph Lathrop Sr. So, Shirley Temple was the 6^th great-granddaughter of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s brother and therefore, the 7^th great-granddaughter of Joseph’s father, Samuel Lathrop Sr., who is also our 8^th great-grandfather. This means Shirley Temple and my father were 8^th cousins and my sisters and cousins and I are Shiley Temple’s 8^th cousin 1 time removed.

Tuesday Weld

We start off Tuesday Weld’s genealogy by recapping Shiley Temple’s genealogy. Shirley Temple’s 7^th great-grandfather was or 8^th great-grandfather, Samiel Lathrop Sr. Her 6^th great-grandfather was Israel Lathrop, her 5^th great-grandfather was William Lathrop and her 4^th great-grandfather was Zachariah Lathrop.

Tuesday Weld’s genealogy from our perspective, starts with Zachariah Lathrop’s brother, whose name was, believe it or not, Rev. John Lothrop (1740-1816). This is not a Rev. John Lothrop we are familiar with, but another Rev. John. Also, he is a Lothrop, who has a brother who is a Lathrop. Rev. John Lothrop has a daughter, Anna Lothrop who married Thomas Motley and had a daughter Anna L Motley who married Alfred Rodman. A daughter of theirs was Eloise Rodman who married Stephen Weld. They had a son Edward Motley Weld who married Sarah King. They had a son who was Lothrop Motley Weld. With his wife, Yosene Ker, they gave birth to Susan Ker Weld. We all know her better as Tuesday Weld.

Like Shirley Temple, our 8^th great-grandfather, Samuel Lathrop Sr. is her 7^th great-grandfather. So, she is our 8^th cousin 1 time removed and she is my father’s 8^th cousin.

What’s interesting is, since Zachariah Lathrop and Rev. John Lothrop are brothers, their father, William Lathrop (1688 – 1778) is the 5^th great-grandfather of both Tuesday Weld and Shirley Temple. This makes them each other’s 6^th cousin.

Tuesday Weld was born August 27, 1943. Her father, Lothrop Weld, died when she was 4 years old.

The Rev. John Lathrop

Joseph Lathrop Sr. is in the direct lineage of Rev. John Lathrop (1584-1653). Of course, sometimes you’ll see The Rev. John Lathrop as Rev. John Lothrop.

The Rev. Lathrop was born in Elton, Yorkshire, England. Instead of preaching what was dictated by the church of England, his calling was to read the Bible and preach the Gospel. For this, he was thrown in prison on more than one occasion. These prisons weren’t beneath using cruel and unusual punishment. His first wife died while he was in prison. Many of Rev. Lathrop’s followers were jailed just for listening to him. For many years he was harassed for preaching from the Bible. One of his jail terms lasted for more than 2 years. Then, one day he was given the chance to leave the country for a world unknown on a prison ship. He took the opportunity and landed in New England in 1634. While there, he built a massive following! His church was in Barnstable, Massachusetts. History writes that the Rev. John Lathrop was part of the reason America was founded on the principle of “freedom of Religion” and we must thank him for as long as we have it.

Many books, and even children’s books have been written about the Rev. John Lathrop of Barnstable. One such book is “Exiled: The Story of John Lathrop 1584-1653.” It is available on Amazon and all bookstores, though bookstores are dwindling away. Interestingly, the description of the book on Amazon mentions John Lathrop as a direct ancestor of George W. Bush. Indeed, he is. The Rev. John is an ancestor of hundreds of famous people. However, in this short story, we cover some of the more closely related famous people in our branch of the Lathrop Family Tree.

The Rev. John Lathrop was the grandfather of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and he is our 9^th great-grandfather.