In researching our family tree, only four of the first generation siblings went on to raise families: Mary, Rosanna, John and Denis. To that point, I think we have exhausted those lines of descendants for my grandfather’s generation, and possibly even to my father’s generation. It is only the descendants of my current generation that still need to be rounded out.
Patrick and Catherine had six children in their seventeen year long marriage in the Westchester County area of New York City: Mary, Cornelius, James, Elizabeth, Rosanna, John and Dennis. Of that, only the four mentioned siblings ever got married and raised a family. Here is a recap of that research:
- Mary “Mae” got married in 1887 to William Haring and they had a total of six children. Only three of the girls would get married, while the only son would marry a woman with a son. The girls were (married name): Mary (Oliver), Laura (Reddan) and Ida (Lloyd). Mary and Oliver had no children. Laura and John Reddan had one son, John Roland Reddan. He married in Vermont and had a total of four children while settling in Michigan. Ida and Archibald Lloyd had one son, James Lawrence Lloyd. He married and had two children Patricia and James Jr. William James Haring married a woman with a son, but never fathered his own before his death. That brings this branch of the tree to the modern generation (which is my level).
- Rosanna had two children with different husbands: William Acker and Grace Dolores Denton. William ran into trouble with the law and spent most of his adult years in the California penal system. Grace married late in life and it does not appear she had any children. There are not present indications that William got married while he was not in prison. So this branch of the tree is probably completed.
- Denis had one son born after his death. We have pushed through the Raymond Hannigan family tree to my generation. Much research has been done on his wife’s family and it provides an interesting read. With that, this branch of the tree is probably completed.
- My great-grandfather had two children: John Jr and Dorothea. We have information on John Gary Peterson’s family (Dorothea’s son), but need to work through the issues of cleaning that up. However, I am quite satisfied that we have gotten through this and there is not much more work to be done. And, of course, my father is the only child of my grandfather and grandmother, making it easy to close up that branch.
From this standpoint, I think we have exhausted the children of Patrick and Catherine Hannigan and should be ready to finalize their story. There is still a limb in the family tree that cannot be explained as we consider Agnes Blanche Hannigan. She was born in 1887 (a month after Mary’s first daughter) and we don’t know who her birth parents were. We know for folklore that she was adopted into the William and Mary Haring family at some point as obituary notices indicate she was a ‘sister’ and not a ‘niece’ in the descriptions. From the standpoint of Agnes, I have followed her from marriage to her grandchildren which brings that line to my current generation. Where she fits into the tree is not known – although would think that she was a child with Elizabeth as the mother. There is no evidence to support it, but looking at age when Agnes was born and the description in the 1900 US Census as a ‘Niece’ in the William & Mary Haring household, it points in that direction.
Many of the ancestors seem to be buried in two major areas; first, at St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx; and second, around the Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey area. There are a couple of additional cemeteries that hold my ancestors, but for the most part, they are focused in those two areas.
This is where I stand related to unfinished business in research. I continue to collect first hand evidence (official records) that help to support my claims as I let the evidence move to the conclusion.