We begin with web pages devoted to the ancestry of my father, George Thomas Kennedy Jr. They are ordered in terms of his great grandparents; Patrick Kennedy and Mary Thompson, Thomas Higgins and Elizabeth Payne, John Ferris and Mary Coyle, Daniel Earley and Hannah O'Leary.
Here is a pictorial representation of my father's ancestors.
The first page lists the known descendants of Patrick Kennedy, the father of the aforementioned Patrick Kennedy, down through all of my cousins over the age of 20. The second web page list the descendants of George Thompson, the father of Mary Thompson, and all descendants not listed on the previous page.
The next set of great grandparents are Higgins and Payne, each has a page devoted to them. The Higgins page lists the descendants of Thomas Higgins who is the grandfather of the Thomas Higgins listed above and the only relative known (documented) who was born in the 18th century. Charles Payne is the father of Elizabeth Payne and his descendants are listed next.
Next there are the pages of Ferris and Coyle, except we know so little of the Coyles that there isnt a page for them yet. John Ferris and Mary Coyle are as far back as we have been able to trace those lines. Their parents names are not known.
The last set of great grandparents are the Earley's and the O'Leary's. Francis Earley is the father of Daniel Earley and comes from County Leitrim, Ireland. Daniel O'Leary was the father of Hannah O'Leary. I suspect that he was born in County Cork, Ireland.
Finally, there is the Conway page, because they are related to us, just not sure how. Patrick Conway and Mary Flinn emigrated from Ireland and came to Newark, New Jersey about 1851. Additional information about other Conway families who resided in Newark will also be found on this page.
My paternal ancestors emigrated from England and Ireland and came to New York between 1845 and 1870. Some went directly to Hudson and Essex County, New Jersey, others settled in Brooklyn and New Haven but for reasons obscured by time, they all (more or less) finally settled around Newark, New Jersey by the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the comments below excerpted from the fine web site virtual newark.
Killarney RC Church in Kerry, Ireland is the church of my grandfather's grandfather Thomas Higgins. Baptism records from 1785 and marriage records from 1792. Selected extracts.
Saint Pius's Church in Harrison, New Jersey was the parish of Patrick Kennedy and Mary Thompson. Birth and Marriage records begin May 14, 1871. St. Pius was reconsecrated as Holy Cross Church in 1900. Selected birth and marriage records have been collected.
Saint Patrick's Pro Cathedral is the second oldest Catholic Church in Newark, New Jersey. The church was dedicated on March 17, 1850 by Bishop John Hughes of New York. In 1853, the Diocese of Newark was formed with St. Patrick's as its cathedral. Mary Thompson was baptized there in 1853. She married Patrick Kennedy there in 1878. Collected on this page are birth and marriage records of selected surnames, principally Kennedy, Thompson, and Conway.
Saint Joseph's Church in Newark, New Jersey is the parish church where my grandfather and his siblings were baptized as well as where my great grandfather and grandmother (kennedy-higgins) were married. A few birth and marriage records are listed here.
Social Security Death Index is a great resource for information about distant relations. Here is a listing of all relations of the author contained in the social security death index. There will also be alisting for information from the various state indexes that are popping up on the internet.
Obituaries are another source for information about distant relations. Gathered on this page are obituaries of my paternal ancestors, taken mostly from New Jersey newspapers.
Census Records were the first source for information about my immediate ancestors. Listed here are United States census records from 1850 to 1930 along with some New Jersey state census records.
Burial Records are a final source of information. Most of my New Jersey ancestors were buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre in East Orange, New Jersey. Here are some of the records that we have found. All pertain to the Thompson family.
Newspaper Articles: Here we have some newspaper articles that we have stumbled across.
Between 1847 and 1860 a number of families with the surname Earley emigrated from County Leitrim to New Haven, Connecticut. One such person was my great great grandfather Daniel Earley. He was but one of dozens of Earleys who came to New Haven. How are they related? I have culled city directories, marriage, birth and death records, and census information to try to piece together the web of kinship between the various families.
The genealogy of my mother Barbara Anne Entwistle is less difficult to unravel. My mother's father's ancestors are from Northern England, while my mother's mother's ancestors are from Finland. Emigration commenced in the early part of the 20th century, so immigration records tell from where my ancestors came. Also, I have recourse to my aunt's and uncle's remembrances.
Here is a pictoral representation of my mother's ancestors.
My great grand-father Albert Entwistle was born in Blackpool, England. This page traces the descendants of his grandfather John Entwistle, although we list his great-grandfather Hugh Entwistle, born in 1744! Albert Entwistle's grandmother was Emma Dearden. This page traces the descendants of Emma's father, John Dearden, who hailed from Bolton, Lancashire England.
Abigail Alice Haigh was the mother of Albert Entwistle and was my mother's great grandmother. Her parents hail from Yorkshire, England. John Haigh was the grandfather of Abigail and this page is dedicated to his descendants. Abigail's mother was Hannah Dyson. This page lists the descendants of Hannah's father William Dyson.
There is currently only one page devoted to my Finnish roots. Emil Kovanen was my great grandfather. This page lists his parents and their descendants. Thanks to Arto Varonen who heads the family society "Kovastem sukuseura", for information from Kymi, Finland on my great grand fathers' siblings and parents.
My brother, Joseph John Kennedy, maintains a wonderful web site of which many of the items that we have laboriously gathered have been scanned and are accessible from the web. These include baptismal and church records, census records, pictures and newspaper articles. Sometimes late breaking news is featured there first. So please give it a look.
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