When I think of it, I do a few searches on Ebay, mostly using the names of towns I know my ancestors lived in or near, and I've had a fair amount of luck finding pictures and memorabilia of my family. Today after looking at Shortsville, New York, home to my great-great-grandpa James O'Hora and his wife Maria McGarr, I checked Palmyra, New York where another great-great-grandfather, James White from Tipperary lived for a time. I didn't find James, but I did find a name I knew.
I recently started researching the Driscoll family whose matriarch was Mary White who I'm sure was a sister or cousin of my James. One her Driscoll boys married a young woman named Ellen Hannigan, the youngest child of Irish immigrants whose family photo another researcher posted at Ancestry.com. The picture I came across today on Ebay is labeled, "Maggie Hammaajen", yes, Hammaajen. Looking at the back of the photo, I don't see that at all, what I see written across the top is Maggie Hannigan. Go ahead, click on it and tell me what you think.
I can't make sense of the next four words, but after that it says-- to Palmyra, NY 1890 17 years. Taking a peek at the 1880 Palmyra census of Ellen Hannigan's family we can see her sister Maggie age seven years right above Ellen age two. That would make Maggie's birth year 1873 or thereabout. Meaning that in 1890, Maggie Hannigan would have been...17 years. Below is the Ancestry photograph taken around the time of the 1880 census. Deducing that the girl standing on the far left with her older sister is Maggie, since she was the next oldest after Ellen, we get a good look at her features.
Now, the photograph currently for sale on Ebay compared with a closeup of Maggie Hannigan from the picture above.
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| Ebay Photo |
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| Ancestry.com Photo |
I would say we have a match. What a lovely young Irish girl! If I was a relative of hers I would definitely purchase the photo, but $14 is a bit much to spend on an in-law so a screen shot will suffice. Still, it gives me hope a great treasure is out there just waiting to be found.
