DNA and Direct Evidence

Last month I decided to tackle another clients' brick wall. In 1870 his great grandmother Katherine Marie Cluny was living in a Catholic orphan asylum in Manchester, Passaic County, New Jersey. She was just seven years old.

1870 U.S. census, Passaic, New Jersey, population schedule, Manchester, p.176, dwelling 150, family 197, Catherine Clunney; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 3 April 2013); citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 884, imaged from FHL microfilm 552383.

By 1880 17-year old Kate was in service in a private home in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. She (or her employers) indicated that her parents were born in Ireland.

1880 U.S. census, Mercer, New Jersey, population schedule, Trenton, enumeration district (ED) 101, p.232C, dwelling 208, family 229, Kate Cluney; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 3 April 2013); citing NARA microfilm T9, roll 788, imaged from FHL microfilm 1254788.

She married John Gallavan, presumably in Trenton. In 1900 she (or someone in the household) indicated that she was born in August 1862 and was 37 years old, and that both her parents were born in Ireland. Katherine and John would have thirteen children: John Jr., Mary Katherine, Margaret Ida, Joseph, Katherine, Elizabeth, Agnes Cecelia, Alice Beatrice, Ida, Helen, Grace, Richard, and Madeline.

1900 U.S. census, Mercer, New Jersey, population schedule, Trenton, enumeration district (ED) 0096, sheet 3A, p.259 (stamped), dwelling 60, family 65, John A. Gallavan; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Dec 2012); citing NARA microfilm T623, roll 983, imaged from FHL microfilm 1240983.

Katherine Cluny Gallavan died 23 March 1953 in Long Branch, Monmouth, New Jersey. Her death certificate (informant unknown) indicated that her mother's name was Catherine Burns; her father's name was left blank.In 1918 her married daughter Elizabeth Gallavan Hackethal died of influenza in Cuyahoga County, Ohio; her husband was the informant and said that Elizabeth's mother's maiden name was Clooney.

New Jersey State Dept. of Health, death certificate 12261 (1953) for Catherine M. Gallavan.

Ohio Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 88238 for Elizabeth G. Hackethal (1918); digital image, "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 6 Oct 2014).

So, in re-visiting this puzzle (who were Katherine's parents?) I came upon another puzzle. Figuring that her parent's surnames were some variation of Cluney/Clooney and Burns, I took a look at the collection of New Jersey marriage records for 1678-1985 in Family Search. And I found a marriage record that looked promising. On 11 December 1853, James Clouny married Margaret Byrnes in Patterson, Passaic County, New Jersey.

"New Jersey Marriages, 1678-1985," database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 3 Oct. 2014), James Clouny and Margaret Byrnes (1853).

In 1860 James and Margaret were living in Paterson with their three children, John (5), Anna (3) and Dennis (6 months). James Clooney died 21 October 1866 in Paterson.

"New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720-1988," database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 3 Oct 2014), James Clooey (1866).

By 1870 Margaret Cluny was nowhere to be found, but her children John, Anna, Dennis and 3-year old James were living in the household of Ellen McLaughlin there in Paterson, with Ellen's children, John, Kate, Margaret and Dennis, all born in Ireland.

The 1880 census of Paterson made it clear that Ellen McLaughlin was the Cluny children's aunt.

At this point, I was cautiously excited, building my theory that Katherine Cluny was the daughter of James and Margaret, and the sibling of John, Anna, Dennis and James. But there were still questions: why would Katherine, alone of all the children, be placed in an orphanage? A look at the 1870 census provided a possible answer - Ellen McLaughlin had her hands full, with four children of her own, ages 10 to 16, and her niece and nephews. 3-year-old James was probably the only one left at home, since the other children were at work or at school during the day. There may have been no room for Katherine. Then there is the fact that the 1870 census is a snapshot in time - she could have been there for just a couple of months, waiting for one of the older children to move out.


As I wrote the report for my client, I was thinking that this would make a good case study for publication - there was plenty of conflicting evidence, and no real direct evidence linking Katherine to her parents or siblings. And just because I want to know everything about everyone, I started doing descendant research on the Clooney children. The oldest, John Cluny, married Mary McCarthy about 1882, and they had six children: Mary, Margaret, James, Catherine, Helen, and John. Anna Cluny died unmarried in 1892. Dennis Cluny married Mary Skelly in 1887, and they had Helen (b.1888), Margaret (b. 1891) and James (b.1897). There were several names in common with Katherine's children (Margaret, John, Helen...) but perhaps not surprising in an Irish Catholic family.


Then I got an email from my client. He had had DNA testing done with both Ancestry and FamilyTreeDNA, and gave me the username and password so I could go take a look. And lo and behold, one of his top matches in Ancestry had this family tree:
 

I was so excited to receive this confirmation that my theory was correct! I immediately emailed my client's match, to explain their connection, and give them the information I had about James Cluny and Margaret Byrnes. Further research in Irish records online revealed the baptismal dates of John, Kate, Margaret and Dennis McLaughlin, children of Patrick McLaughlin and Ellen Clooney.


Much more research lies ahead, but DNA has provided the direct evidence I needed to let me know I'm on the right track.