08.15.08
Posted in Genealogy at 2:46 am by CMJ Office
What I would give to taste my paternal grandmother’s peanut butter cookies again!
She died when I was just 11 years old but I remember them. They were the very best. It was a very special treat to get one of these famous cookies.
Why?
I believe my uncle would always eat them up before we got to them. He loved anything peanut butter.
I have discovered quite a bit about my grandma Degnan since her death. There is still a lot to be discovered. For instance, I did not know that her mom was from Ireland and her dad was from England. My father, her second born son, was named after her father. This was a complete shock to my family. What made it more special was that I had continued that link. I had named my second born son after my father not knowing that there was also a connection to my great grandfather. It was very special to this history buff to discover that gem.
Through my research I also uncovered that my grandmother was named after her paternal grandmother, Julia Sherwood Bench. Also uncovered was the disease that plagued her, diabetes. It runs back through the years in the Bench family from England and now plagues my father. It’s amazing the light records can shine on your family history.
Now, if that light could shine on my grandma Degnan’s peanut butter cookie recipe, I would be soooooo happy. I’ll keep searching.
Colleen
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07.24.08
Posted in Genealogy at 2:50 am by CMJ Office
There is some exciting news to announce for Canadian family history researchers. Ancestry.com has the 1891 Canadian Census Records available now.
This is great news for my family research. Why?
Within the 1891 Census Form, it states where the individuals’ parents were born. Because of this fact, I have finally found that the Taylor line in my family came from England. Unfortunately for me, it appears that my great-great grandparents must have come over to America in between 1881 and 1891.
Hopefully, I am onto something bigger and better with the aid of these new records.
Colleen
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06.15.08
Posted in Genealogy at 9:06 pm by CMJ Office
When I first began to research my husband’s family, his maternal grandmother was still alive. I phoned her to discuss her family and her deceased husband’s family. One thing that she was completely adamant about was the spelling of her late husband’s family name. She kept repeating, “It’s Gragg not Gregg.”
My husband later explained to me that there were Gregg’s in the area he grew up in that were not related to his family. I’m not sure why she was such a stickler with this point.
My research has taught me to always keep an open mind even when you are presented with stories that people claim to be factual. Always keep an open mind.
Through my research, it came to pass that the family name flip-flopped through the years and census records between ‘Gragg’ and ‘Gregg’. I will never know why the name kept flip-flopping but it did. This is why researchers always check different name spellings. Things are not always what they seem to be.
Colleen
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05.22.08
Posted in Genealogy at 3:50 am by CMJ Office
FYI – Search all military records for free on Ancestry.com between May 20-31, 2008.
Colleen
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05.01.08
Posted in Genealogy at 1:16 pm by CMJ Office
Farmland as far as the eye can see. An Irish farm is where my maternal grandmother was born and raised before being sent to America. The family is from two townlands in County Clare, Ireland. The first townland is Teerleheen and the second is Russa. They are both beautiful and typical with green pastures surrounded by stone walls.
These two townlands (a townland being the smallest rural division of a Parish) are situated in the Old Civil Parish of Clooney. Teerleheen comprises of 196 acres and Russa is approximately 80 acres and just east of Teerleheen. Teerleheen is just over 3 miles east of the town of Ennistymon which is 2 miles east of Lahinch and the Atlantic Ocean (Cliffs of Moher). When translated from Gaelic, Teerleheen reads, “the little field or land near at hand”. “Woody” is the translation for Russa. The general area for both of these townlands was referred to as Clooney.
My grandmother, Anna Clune, was born on the 10th of July, 1910, in Teerleheen. Thomas Clune and the Clune family were from Russa. When Thomas Clune married Mary O’Loughlin, he gained her family farm in Teerleheen, as she was an only child. Thomas and Mary are Anna’s parents.
The earliest land/property records available for the area were the Tithe Applotment Books of the mid 1820s. Tithe is a tax on all agricultural land. The tithe records for this area are dated 1827 with mentions of my family within them. In the 1911 Census of Teerleheen, the family home is described as having stone walls, a thatched roof, 3 windows to the front and 3 rooms. Thomas Clune’s occupation was given as a farmer. The Catholic Chapel, St. Columba est. 1846, still stands beside the Clune family home. It used to serve as the local school as well as the town church.
Anna Clune’s environment shaped her in many ways. She was a farmer’s daughter and loved the outdoors. She always had a green thumb. As a farming family, the Clune’s were poor and sent Anna to America where she worked and sent money home to Ireland. The “Troubles” which transpired in Ennistymon and the surrounding area of Clooney Parish also filled my grandmother with memories she never shook. I remember my grandmother telling me about this terrible time in her life and during the fight for Ireland’s independence. The English attacked the area in retaliation for the Rineen Ambush of September 22, 1920. There were many of these ambushes during this time period. The Monreal Ambush took place in December of 1920 on the road my grandmother grew up on. My grandmother and her siblings hid under the table while soldiers were at the door.
I don’t think they ever forgot. How could they? I was visiting my grandmother’s sister, Bridget O’Looney, during the summer when Prince Charles and Lady Di were getting married. I was not allowed to watch this on the TV. If I remember correctly, after a long rant, we took a day trip to Galway. Of course, I could not understand this being an eleven year old American wanting to see a real royal wedding.
The area is booming now with tourism and the computer industry. I have spent several summers with my relatives through my youth. It has been awhile. I intend on passing these memories down to my children. I’m lucky. I still have connections to my family members in Ireland. In fact, my grandmother’s nephew, Paddy Clune, still lives in the family home where she was born. If you’d like to read more about the area, here is an article that was written in the Ennistymon Parish Magazine, 2002. Everyone in this area is a relation of mine. I hope everyone enjoys the story. It was written for the Genealogy Carnival.
Colleen M. Johnson, CMJ Office
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