Leitrim-Roscommon

My Hubby and his sister are thinking of applying for Irish passports but first they need the birth or baptismal record for their Grandmother Mary KEEGAN nee HESLIN. Everything else we have but this is proving impossible to find.

We know that Mary's father was named Peter HESLIN.

And, that she was supposed to have had three sisters: Rose and Sara who stayed in Ireland and Aunt Bea - Mom says her name was Bertha but I tend to think Bridget is more likely - who came over and moved to CA; marrying first Peter SWEENEY (no children) and then John KELLEY of San Francisco - children? not known.

Mary's middle name was given on her DC as Agnes.

Townlands for any of Hubby's Irish ancestors are unknown. Thanks to an answer from Jim Irvine here to a post I made last Nov 04 we know the parish and church for our KEEGAN ancestors: St. Joseph's, Aughavas.

No one is is really sure what Mary HESLIN's mother's maiden name was. The only surviving child of Mary HESLIN and husband Bartholomew KEEGAN, my mother-in-law, is no help. If she did at one time know the name of her grandmother over in Ireland, she has long since forgotten it as she closes in on 90yrs of age.

I've gotten the civil record of Mary and Bart's marriage, 3 Oct 1912, here in RI. No luck; for mother's name, all Mary HESLIN gave was "Mary". I've called the Catholic Church here where we think Mary and Bart married but I'm waiting to hear back from them as to whether or not their record of the marriage contains a maiden name for Mary's mother.

Mary KEEGAN nee HESLIN's death certificate, the informant for which was a now deceased daughter, lists "Unknown JACKSON" for her mother.

I've considered trying to get the marriage certificates and death certificate for Mary's sister, Aunt Bea, hoping that maybe Aunt Bea had given her mother's maiden name. So far I've been unable to find Aunt Bea or her 2 husbands on the censuses on Ancestry.com in order to narrow down the range of years she married and died.

I've been destroying my eyesight trying to find a baptism entry for Mary HESLIN on LDS film 1279224 in the Aughavas Parish. Our KEEGANs came from Aughavas Parish so I started there first and found a couple, Peter HESLIN and Mary JACKSON.

I've only found baptisms for two children for the couple Peter HESLIN and Mary JACKSON, Aughavas Parish: 1884 Nov 9 Brididan & 1888 April 19 Sara.

On the GRO index film there is a Mary HESLIN, Mohill Reg. dist in the 1st Qtr, 1885 that might be her. We have 2 birth dates for her: 12 Oct 1884 from another deceased aunt and 28 Oct 1884 from the DC so a registration in the first quarter of 1885 would fit. There are only three other registrations in Mohill for Mary HESLINs, none of which come close to the birth date we have.

I can't prove from the baptismal records that the GRO Index entry is indeed the Mary HESLIN I'm looking for and I'd really like to be more certain this is the correct Mary HESLIN before mailing away my $$'s and waiting.

Help!!!

I'm open to suggestions as to how else to solve the mystery of Mary HESLIN's mother's name so that can be sure I'm looking for the correct parents on the baptismal records. And sending for the correct civil birth registration.

Does anyone have Mary's sisters Rose or Sara in their family tree? Can you tell me if I have their mother's name correct?

Does anyone know who this Mary HESLIN's mother was?

Does anyone have a Bertha/Bridget KELLY of San Francisco, CA in their family tree and know what her mother's name was?

Is there another couple, Peter HESLIN and Mary JACKSON in another parish neighboring Aughavas?

Would there ever be a reason or an occasion where an Irish Catholic family DIDN'T get a baby baptised??

I know this is a long post; I wanted to let everyone know what I've tried so far and I appreciate your taking the time to read it to the end.

Thanks in advance for all help.

Hi Linda - This is a longshot, but have you tried checking to see if Mary Keegan applied for a Social Security number? If she did, she may have listed a more specific birth location in Ireland, and also her parents' full names. If you haven't done that, give it a try through ancestry.com. And if you don't belong to ancestry, a membership may well be worth the expense. I was able to learn my grandfather's birthplace by doing such a search - actually got the final clue via the SS app. of one of his brothers. And PS - even if Mary never worked, if she lived into the years after Social Security started, she may have gotten a number. Many homemakers did and still received small settlements.
Good luck with this.

Evening Susan,

Thanks for the suggestion.

So obvious but because she was a woman of an era when married women didn't seem to work outside the home much, I never thought of it.

I've just pulled her death certificate and in the block for SSN it says "No" but just to be sure, I checked on Rootsweb ~not too many people seem to be aware that the SSDI is still FREE on Rootsweb~ and shes's not there either.

She did have two spinster daughters that lived with her so despite the fact that her husband died in 1933, I guess they supported the household.

One census entry for her does say that she was naturalized and gives a year of 1910 but that could be wrong. I've found a ton of errors in the US census, so I always doubt the accuracy until I find a primary source to back the data up.

Mary did however, not marry until 1912 so maybe I might luck out and find that she naturalized prior to marriage rather than it being an automatic natralization by virture of marriage to a US citizen. I hadn't considered that til I took another look at the census entry to see if she had an occupation other than housewife listed in connection with searching for an SSDI.

Thanks for giving me the idea!

Linda

Linda -

Have you looked at the Ellis Island site? There is a Mary Heslin listed there from Aughmore, Mohill, Leitrim arriving NY in 1905. The age is off a bit. But could be her. Also other M Heslins you might check out if you haven't done this already.

Susan

Hi again,

I've not been on the Ellis site recently to see what new information they have added to their databases.

We don't know where Mary came into the US; Ellis seems likely. I don't know the laws pertaining to entry into the US at that time so I've wondered if Ellis would be the only place in the Northeast she would enter the country or not.

I've been told that at one time b4 Ellis, when Castle Garden was still the big NYC entry point that some folks were apparently also coming in up in MA through Boston & New Bedford and also in RI through Providence.

I've wondered if those ports might still have been in use post-Ellis. I haven't checked that thought out since looking for those manifests would mean a trip up to NARA, Waltham, MA ~Oh joy, crazy Boston traffic~ or dukeing it out with a Brown or RISD student over one of the scarce Eastside parking spots so I could research at the RI Historic Soc. I thought I'd wait til semester break when they mostly all go home. The meter maids won't be as voracious then either ~ I swear sometimes they sit with a stop watch so they can start scribbling up a ticket the instant you go overtime; I think they set their watches to a secret clock as well.

I've a bit of time b4 dinner duties so I think I will act on your suggestion and have a go at Ellis Island for a bit.

Thanks again,

Linda in cold, snowy RI

Mary arriving in 1905 is almost certainly the daughter of William heslin of Aghamore as seen in the 1901 census.

Hi Jim,

Saw your email earlier, will get back to you on that.

Got on Ellis site after dinner and snow removal. I don't think the 1905 Mary Heslin is mine. The manifest said she was going to stay with her sister Kate.

In so far as I know from what Hubby's late Aunt told him, there were only 4 sisters: Mary & Bertha/Bridget(Mom says Bertha for Aunt Bea but I think Bridget is more likely) who came to the US and Rose & Sarah who stayed in Ireland.

I did find a possibility in Mary A. Heslin of Leitrim age 18y arriving in 1898. The "A" would fit with the middle name of Agnes on her DC. The manifest said that she was staying with a cousin in NY at 300 E 43rd or 73rd - writing *GRR* could be eigther.

There is a cousin, Bernie Mc Cabe, mentioned in Hubby's notes from his late Aunt who went from RI to NYC. Unfortunately, there is no indication if he is a Keegan cousin, a Heslin cousin, Harrahan cousin, or some other branch farther back.

If the Ellis entry is Mary, nothing says she stayed with the cousin or came to RI right away:

1900 Census, Manhattan dist. 600 Manhattan Ave - I did find a possibility here Mary Heslin, servant in the household of a judge. Says b. Feb 1880, IRE, arrived 1898.

Also, found a good Bernard Mc Cabe possibility in Manhattan Dist. 709, on E. 73rd St Bernard Mc Cabe b. Nov 1869, 30y old, b. NY/parents also, bricklayer; wife - Rosina b. Jun 1871, 28y old, b. IRE as were her parents, came here 1869.

I think I'll order up the 1905 NY state census, that could give some more info.

Also the possibility exists, if Mary was here for some time, that she naturalized before marriage, a long shot. I will need to look NYC and RI. 1930 census says she arrived 1910 but I can't find her on the census or a match on Ellis. It also says she was a naturalized citizen. Too bad it doesen't say if she did this on her own or if it was by virtue of marrying a US citizen. Somewhere in the fuzzy recesses of my mind, I recall something about NYC naturalization declarations;a web site somewhere or the NYC Muni Archives. I'll have to check my bookmarks and see if I was on the ball enough to enter it since I will also need it for my British 2g-grandfather on Staten Island.

Ah well, lot of "Might be's" but now to prove them somehow.

Thanks for the input on 1905 Mary.

Linda

Hello Ed,

Merry Christmas! Sorry to take so long to reply. Things get nutty around here in Dec and I haven't been on line but a few times.

This wouldn't be my Mary but I sure wish she was. We do know from our Mary's marriage certificate, for which she supplied the information, that her father's name was Peter Heslin.

Unfortunately she only gave her mother's given name of Mary. We think that her mother's full name was Mary Jackson. "Unknown Jackson" is shown on Mary Heslin's death certificate as her mother. This information came from one of Mary's daughters.

I have also found on the microfilm "Parochial Records of Aughavas, Leitrim 1845-1968" two baptisms for children of a couple, Peter Heslin and Mary Jackson. Unfortunately, neighter child was Mary. One was Bridget and the other Sarah. This would fit with what we know from the family. The other two known children were Rose and our Mary.

Only Mary and Bridget came to the US with Bridget moving to CA and marries 1st. Peter Sweeney, he dies; marries 2nd. John Kelley and they live in San Francisco. I don't have more on them but I'm looking with the thought that IF I could find Bridget and possibly a obtain a marriage certificate from one of the marriages, that hopefully she might have given her mother's full name.

Jim Irvine contacted me off board to instruct me further. One of the things he told me is that it wasn't uncommon for a child to eighter not be baptised or if the baptism did happen, for it not to get recorded. He also told me that it was not uncommon for a woman to return to her mother's house for the first early births and for the births to be recorded there. Eigther of these would explain why I can find only two out of the four known children of Peter Heslin and Mary Jackson.

Thanks for sending me the information. These may not be my Heslin"s but maybe they will be someone else's.