Grass: It's Whats For Dinner

William Flynn was born in 1822 in Tipparey Ireland. He worked as a laborer until he left for the US in 1849. He sailed across the ocean in a ship called "Princeton" that left from Liverpool. He met and married Mary Fleming of New York. They has 4 surviving children; Annie , James , John J. and Edward. William applied for citizenship in 1853. His brother Thomas witnessed his naturaliztion papers. At some point before 1873, William and his brothers purchased property in Hudson County, NJ. He worked as a carpenter until he was at least 68 and stayed in the same home for at least 10 years , which is a miracle for my family.

Having left Ireland in 1849, I'm sure the potato blight had something to do with it. Seeing neighbors vomiting up the grass they has eaten must have been disconcerting. Seeing your family do it must have been like taking a bullet to your head. Today's economy is awful. Somedays, we have eggs for dinner. That's the worst it gets. I cant imagine eating grass. Can you?

Bully!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a strong suspiscion that Violet's father was a Rough Rider. As I was looking through newspaper clippings for information on something or other, I ran across an obituary for Catherine Bunker from Merrick. You may be thinking at this point "so what". I know I would be thinking that. Catherine Bunker lived around the corner from the house I grew up in , long before I was born. The story goes , before the land was developed , her house was broken into. The thieves , teenage boys , stole a sword and an urn with her ashes. They ran into the woods where my house now is and started fighting over the sword. They urn with the ashes went flying into the stream and that is now where Catherine lies. Ok , so you are still thinking "so what". Mr. Bunker was a Rough Rider. That sword was his Rough Rider sword < ok thats not the name of it>. Here is the "what"...while Merrick and Brooklyn are quite a bit aways from each other and quite overpopulated now at the time they were both  rural. My great great  grandfather John J. Flynn , assuming he was a Rough Rider  , probably knew Mr. Bunker. And while I know the story of Catherine's ashes I did not know Mr. Bunker was a Rough Rider until my father told me a few days ago. It seems lately everywhere I turn it leads me to the Rough Riders.

Here is a record I found of John J. Flynn's service:

Flynn , John J. - Age 28 years. Enlisted , May 2, 1898 at New York city , to serve two years; mustered in as private, Co. A , May 17 , 1898; mustered out with company , November 15, 1898, at New York city.

Who Inspires You?

Someone asked me who inspires me. There are lots of them. Lots of people who keep me going on days I want to stay in bed. Lately , though, it is Violet. I only remember meeting her once and of  course there is that sad little picture . but Violet starts and ends most of my days . She was the third of seven children. As far as I can tell , she was closest to her sister Lillian. In fact, she named her first daughter after her. She married Joseph Craig in about 1916. I don't know how long the marriage lasted , but they did have three daughters. By the time my father was born she was divorced , at least in spirit. She took my father on many dates with her.The only 5 year old in the neighborhood  having lobster dinners. She died in 1972 , but not before going blind from diabetes. I'm  pretty sure she is buried in the Evergreen Cemetary in Brooklyn. For me , genealogy gives me certain satisfication I cannot explain . In a way , it bring my relatives back to life , if only for a moment or two. I hope when I'm one of those relatives someone brings me back to life.

Happy Valentine's Day to those who inspire me who are still living.

Nanny Violet

After playing around with my computer last night , my  husband got my family tree softrware to work. I breathed a sigh of relief while rifling through my relatives. All in all it was a pretty eventful evening. I ordered prints from shutterfly . Pictures I  mostly stole off a cousin's facebook page <thank you Geri>. I ordered a marriage certifcate for Violet Flynn and Joseph Craig. I hoping to find out where Joseph came from. I , also worked on my ancestry book. I have no big plans for this weekend other than hitting  craft store to get some adhesive.  The picture is of Violet and my father. It is ,sadly, the only picture I have of her.

My computer ate my family

Ok , not really. However , my family tree software seems to be corrupted. All over a little teeny tiny ged file.Which ,  incidentaly , I still don't know how to use. My scrapbooking day was cancelled due to the passing of a good friend's father and my free trial at ancestry.com is over. On a brighter note , I did get the scrapping supplies and started putting together an ancestor book <just a touch too late> , i've totally gotten a good friend into genealogy and I made a kick-butt cake.

Today , is Superbowl Sunday. I'm going to be forced to watch football but I'll be dreaming about dead ancestors .