Update On Oliver Hennessey Or, We Could All Use A Genealogical Fairy Godmother

 

     This post will make a lot more sense if you read my first blog about Oliver before this one, so here it is.  If not, here is the synopsis-- while pondering how my cousin Cornelius Ryan Jr. and his wife Anna Hennessey, two Irish immigrants, came up with the name Oliver for their son born in 1870, I chanced upon the badly misspelled name Oliver "Hnnisee" in the 1860 census.  Using previously copied church records, I was able to deduce Oliver Hnnisee and Anna Hennessey were siblings, children of Kieran and Bridget Gorman Hennessey.  Oliver passed away in 1868 according to church burial records, not long before his sister Anna's son was born, clearly Oliver Ryan was named for his uncle.

     It was my belief Oliver Hennessey married just a few years before his death,  a young woman named Joanna Quinlan, also known as Jane Quinlan.  Their daughter, and only child, Anna Belle was born in 1866.  I had no solid proof Oliver was Anna Belle's father, just a feeling.  The widow Jane Quinlan Hennessey married again in early 1870 and she and her daughter Anna Belle can be found living with her new husband Martin Rigger in the census that same year.  It made sense that Jane's late husband was Oliver.  The thing was, a memorial on Find A Grave claimed Jane Quinlan had married a man named Thomas Hennessey and that he was Anna Belle's father.  The memorial had no photos or any proof, though photos would have been useless in this case anyway because all the stone in question says is "Father" and the dates.  Church records did show a Thomas Hennessey being buried in 1868.  He wasn't anyone's father though, he was only one year old.  Also, the 1860 census did record a Thomas Hennessey of the right age to be Jane's husband.

     I still believed I was right about Oliver being Anna Belle's father, but a tiny shadow of doubt had crept in.  Maybe the person who created the memorial had more informaton than I did, a family bible?  A copy of Anna Belle's baptism that I did not have?  You never know.  But the individuals posting on Find A Grave are after all, just researchers like you and I and they can be mistaken at times.  I was sticking with Oliver.

     With the Family History Centers still shut due to the pandemic I had about given up on finding the answer to this question any time soon until, while browsing the net to see if there were any updates on reopenings, I found an offer from the manager of one such center volunteering to do look ups!  While I have quite a few I could have requested, this is the one that really nagged at me, so I sent an email asking for a look up of Anna Belle's baptism.  Just a few days later I had an answer from this wonderful lady, complete with an image. Thank you Ms. Volunteer! 

    Anna Belle was born the 16th of January in 1866 and baptized on the 24th.  Her Godparents were Daniel Walsh and Catherine Gorman.  Her mother was Joanna Quinlan and her father...OLIVER Hennessey!   I'll come out and say it, I love it when I get it right.