Those Land Records Again

     

     Almost exactly four years ago I wrote a blog titled, "The Things You Come Across In Land Records" .  That piece was about my Galloway family, in particular my fourth-great-grandmother Armina, wife of George Galloway.  I have yet to find her maiden name though it may be Russell, the name she chose for her second son.  In the blog, I share the deed I came across which granted Armina the use of part of her wealthy employer's property for the rent of one kernel of grain per year.  A really great deal.

     Today I noticed I had never checked the New York land records at Family Search for Galloway real estate transactions in Ontario County, New York.  I don't know how I missed doing that. I knew that my third-great-grandfather the above mentioned Russell lived in Phelps, Ontario County for a time, but miss it I did.  I should mention I'm always looking for proof of Russell being the brother of Milo Galloway since New York records for the early 1800's are rather scarce, and while I've amassed quite a bit of circumstantial evidence of a relationship between the two men, more never hurts.

     As I perused the land records today I came across a deed dated 14 May 1853 that noted Russell selling five acres in Phelps to Stephen Aldrich for $2,300.  Nothing too exciting there though it did give Russell's address as Arcadia, New York indicating he had left Phelps by that time.  No, the really interesting part was when I got to where the sellers, Russell Galloway and his wife Harriet B. [Moore], promised to warrant and defend against any claims on the property EXCEPT for a mortgage of $1,700 with $365 remaining unpaid, executed by Russell and Harriet to...Milo!  That was a jaw dropper, and another bit of evidence of a relationship.

     So to reiterate, even though slogging through the sometimes often boring, damaged or hard to read old deed books may seem of not much use I can honestly say I've made some wonderful discoveries within.

The Missing Nun

     

Mother Mary Camillus AKA Elizabeth McGarr 1842-1911

     I continue to study the lives of all the McGarrs who came to Auburn, New York in the 1800's, and as usually happens when enough attention to detail is paid, events and names collected over time take on new significance as it becomes clearer how all the pieces fit together.  Which of course is the point of researching friends and relatives of our ancestors in the first place. 

     Today I stumbled upon the story of Elizabeth McGarr, daughter of Daniel McGarr and Anastasia Lyons, and my second cousin 4 times removed.  I believe her father and my 3rd great-grandfather, who was also named Daniel McGarr, were cousins, their fathers being brothers.

     While reading through the McGarr notes compiled by Evelyn Twining of Auburn, New York back in 1979, I was reminded that Elizabeth, like her sisters Mary Ann and Bridget, belonged to the Order of the Sisters of Mercy.  Even more interesting, after several Google searches I found a book online containing a photograph of Elizabeth and some unknown, (to me), details of her life.  Elizabeth, known in religious life as Mother Mary Camillus, was head of a boarding school for girls in far away Rio Vista, California, nearly 3,000 miles from Auburn!  The book read in part--

It was Archbishop Patrick Riordon who invited Mercy Sisters Mother Mary Camillus McGarr to send three sisters to Rio Vista to operate the recently constructed St. Gertrude Academy.  The sisters arrived in Rio Vista in 1876 and started preparations for the first term.  Mother Camillus filled the position of mother superior until her death in 1911 and was buried in the convent cemetery.

     By 1880 the school had grown to sixty students from all over California and some from out of state.  It's thirty five acres sat atop a small hill surrounded by beautiful landscaping.  What a perfectly lovely story of my cousin's life's work.

     But... trying a few different search terms brought up this disturbing news article that appeared in the Daily Republic in March of 2010--

   When St. Gertrude's Academy for Girls was torn down, it left behind a mystery.  What happened to the bodies buried at the sister's cemetery? Gertrude and Joseph Brunning who started the academy were buried there...a sixteen year old named Jennie McLaughlin who came to live with the sisters when she was one was buried there in 1921; and the final resting place of Sister Mary Camillus McGarr, the founding sister of St. Gertrude's, is said to be located in the cemetery as well.
   But where is the cemetery?  Where are the bodies?  There are now houses where the cemetery used to be.  The mortuary has records of  them being buried at St. Gertrude's, but there is no record of them being exhumed.

     Unexpectedly, the uplifting story had taken a sinister turn.  The academy closed in 1930 and the sisters were sent to different posts. What happened then?  In 1932 the headstones were removed, though years later a resident found marble corner markers in his backyard, in a spot not shown on any cemetery map.  I would imagine the developers and their bulldozers soon arrived and building commenced.  

     It's quite sad that no one knows what became of the remains. Surely if they had been moved they would have been re-interred in a nearby Catholic cemetery.  And surely there would have been a record of that?  It's hard to believe they could still be there under the homes, unnoticed even as construction progressed, but then again perhaps not.  Out of curiosity I checked on the prevalence of basements in California.  Here in the northeast where I live we have basements due to the cold winters.  A home's footings need to be below the frost line which could be three or four feet down.  California's bay area where Rio Vista is located doesn't have that problem so there was no need to dig down very far at all.

      Unfortunately this disturbing tale doesn't have an ending.  I hope my cousin and the others rest in another Catholic cemetery and not under some bungalow, but who knows?  It was the 1930's and there was money to be made...

More Adventures With The McGarr Clan

     Two days of snow.  In April.  While annoying, it does give me the perfect excuse to hibernate some more and continue my study of the McGarr family.  As time goes by I become more convinced that I've correctly identified the parents of my 3rd great-grandfather Daniel McGarr, who raised his family in Ballyraggan, County Kildare, as John McGarr and Catherine Murphy.  I've spent these two days concentrating on proving it.

     The first clue was the marriage of a John McGarr in Auburn, New York, the record of which named his parents as John McGarr and Catherine Murphy.  His burial record names those same parents.  John Jr. of the marriage record is exactly the right age to be my Daniel's brother but unfortunately the baptismal registers for their home parish of Rathvilly, while they exist for the late 1700's, are illegible so I was unable to find a baptism for Daniel or John Jr.  However, several other children of John and Catherine, namely Richard and Elizabeth, can be seen in the registers from the very early 1800's.  The family address was Garretstown in County Carlow.

     Looking at my Daniel's children we see his first child, a daughter, was named Catherine and the second of two sons was named John.  We're all familiar with the naming pattern, this choice of names is significant.  One of the other children born to John Sr. and Catherine Murphy, the above mentioned Elizabeth, immigrated to Auburn, New York, (like her brother John Jr.), with her husband Lawrence Burns and their children, who were all born at Raheen, County Carlow.  I was disappointed to find no child named John in Elizabeth's family in Auburn censuses but then I noticed a four year gap between her first two children.  I took a look at the Irish Parish Registers on Ancestry and found John "Byrnes" baptized 2 September 1832, parents Lawrence and Elizabeth McGa-- the address was Raheen.  So Elizabeth's second child was named John and her only daughter was Catherine.

     Another McGarr of John Jr., Daniel and Elizabeth's generation who appears in Auburn is Michael McGarr.  He was a sponsor at several baptisms in the 1840's, most interestingly, including the 1844 baptism of John Jr.'s son Daniel. Michael can be seen in the 1850 census of Auburn, New York with his wife Mary and children Margaret age 10 and Richard age 6, all born in Ireland.  I was unable to find Michael's baptism or any for his children, nor a marriage record.  A partial entry for Michael, son of John appears in the records of Rathvilly Parish in 1801 but it's impossible to read more of the record.  The address appears to be Ricketstown, a short distance from Garretstown but there's no way to tell if this is a McGarr baptism or not.

     I'm including a map of the area my McGarr ancestors called home with the pertinent townlands marked by a red X.  Keep in mind, while the map makes it look otherwise, these places are only a few miles apart.  Some even closer.

     And what of John Jr. with whom all this speculation began?  His first child, a daughter, was named Catherine and his third son was John.  Also worth noting, John McGarr Sr. and Catherine Murphy named a son Richard as did all of their children mentioned here including the possible child of theirs Michael McGarr.  Perhaps Richard was the name of John Sr.'s father and his children passed the name down to their children?  And just maybe, that name ties them all together.

     One last but important clue was the DNA match on Ancestry between my father and a descendant of Elizabeth McGarr Burns, daughter of John and Catherine Murphy.  None of this proves beyond doubt that my theory is right but it seems to point in that direction and sometimes, when the needed records don't exist a preponderance of evidence will have to do.  Along with that naming pattern.