The Moody Family of Pittsfield, Maine

William Henry Moody, Sr. (1842-1920), who went by "Henry," was a farmer born in Cornville Maine, and died in Pittsfield, Maine of "insanity" (according to his death record).  In that time period, "insanity" was a catch all term for the unknown mental ailments that we've well categorized today (dementia, exhaustion, bipolar, syphilis, pellagra).

William's father, Benjamin Moody (1813-1883) was originally from Salisbury, Massachusetts, but had moved to Somerset County prior to 1840, where in Hartland he married Elvira Winship Chase of the same county, and bought property in Cornville, where they raised their family.

In 1874, Henry married Mary S. Kittredge (1848-1883), and around that time he bought 50 acres of land in Pittsfield (just south of the Palmyra border).  

They had four children together:

1. Orra Elizabeth Moody (1875-1897), died of dysentery in Waterville at age 21.  The 1880 Census record and her death record misgendered her as male.  In the Somerset Independent Reporter, 8/27/1896, she appeared in the correspondence section thusly:  "Miss Orra Moody, of Cornville, is visiting at her uncle's, Mr. Oakman Moody's."

Orra Elizabeth Moody (about 1890)

2. William Henry Moody, Jr. (1879-1924), fought in WWI, worked as a carpenter, and moved to  Florida, Georgia, and then finally Alabama with his wife Nellie.  They had five children.

William Moody, Jr. (about 1900)

3. Aquila Emery Moody (1881-1967) also fought in WWI like his brother, and worked as a steam fitter and lived in Portland with his wife Lucinda and five children, one of whom he named after his dear sister, Orra, and another, Roscoe, who died while fighting the Japanese in the Pacific in WWII.

Aquila Emery Moody (about 1910)

4. Benjamin Earl Moody (1883-1884), died at five months of age. 

Mary died just a few months after Benjamin was born.  After Benjamin died an infant, William married Lydia Osborn Fuller, my 2nd great grandmother, who had been widowed from her first husband Charles Fuller in Ottumwa, Iowa in 1878.  Lydia had to wait quite a long time in Iowa, with five kids of her own, until Charles' Will was settled. The lawyer had lost the documents in a storm and it was necessary to get depositions from the original witnesses who were still in Maine. It took almost two years to do this.  Then she and her children returned to Fairfield, Maine. Lydia's father Timothy Osborn sent her the money to come home to Fairfield, as she was penniless, after waiting so long in Iowa with her children. 

Lydia & William Moody (after 1884)

In the 1880 Agricultural Census, Henry owned 16 acres tilled, 15 acres pasture, 19 acres unimproved of land in Pittsfield, and one horse.

An 1883 map of Pittsfield shows Henry's 50 acres to be located on what is now the northwest corner of Highway 95 and Madawaska Avenue, right at the Palmyra town line, right across the road from where the Self Storage facility (and the neighboring Northeastern Environmental Service) are today.

W.H. MOODY
50 ACRE PROPERTY
Pittsfield Map of 1883
(look in the center right side, at Palmyra border)

It's unclear how Lydia met William Moody.  They married in 1884 and joined households.  By this time, all but her youngest daughter, Edith, and William's three eldest children, were the only kids to move in together in Pittsfield.  

In Sept 1885, Henry sold the Pittsfield property to his former mother-in-law, Susie Pratt, and also that summer he sold the Cornville property to William Bigelow.  In November of that year Henry Woodbury sold Henry Moody property (215/384) in Hartland (on the Athens border), on Elm Street (later known as Athens Road, North Hartland Road, Highway 43 and Route 51), where he would live the remainder of his life.

Stepsiblings (1887)
Edith Fuller standing at top
then, clockwise: William Moody, Jr., Aquila Moody, and Orra Moody

Below is a picture I uncovered from Family Search, which was tagged with many wrong names.  It's clear to me that the boy at the far left is Aquila, and at his feet is his sister Orra.  I do not now who the other four children in the photo are, but they aren't their siblings or parents (as has been poorly tagged in Family Search).  Perhaps they are cousins, but looking at Henry Moody's direct family, he only had one niece around this age, named Gertrude (and her photo doesn't resemble any of these young ladies).  

I think this is from about 1897, just before Orra died.  William Jr. doesn't appear here, but he was 18 at the time, so he would likely have already been at college, is my guess.

Therefore the other four children must be cousins from Henry's wife Mary Kittredge's side.  Mary had five siblings, but I've only been able to find one sibling with kids (Susie Kittridge-Norcross), who had a daughter Edith and son Charles, who would have been 16 and 9 years old, respectively, in this photo.  My guess is that the two Norcross kids are on the far right.

When Henry died in 1920, Ida and Edith Fuller, his spinster stepdaughters, were living with him.  By the 1930 Census, Ida had moved into a home in Bangor as a live-in housekeeper, and Edith was then living with her sister Anna in Madison.  Henry's sons William and Aquila were living in Alabama and Portland, Maine, respectively.  

I wonder what happened to the property afterwards?  Searching online records, I found that Henry had mortgaged the property to Benjamin Flanders in 1903, who then sold it to Ida Chapman in 1907 (270/584).  In 1923, she sold it to Amelia Martin (371/573).  So, it appears that Henry and his stepdaughters were allowed to live at the house at least until 1920, despite the change in property ownership.

The Mazingo Family

The Mazingos of Mississippi and Alabama have been a southern family for hundreds of years.

It appears that the name comes from "MOZINGO" family of Virginia in the 1600s, and changed to Mazingo in the early 1800s.

Rosa Lou Mazingo was born in 1943 in Union, Mississippi to William Lee Henry Mazingo (1912-1991) and Mary Emma Rowell (1912-2007), of Union.  Rosa Lou married Willard Leon Wiley, son to James and Jessie Wiley of Alabama.

"Lee" was an Army Veteran of WWII, and below is his draft card, with signature.

Lee was born in Decatur, MS, and worked as a farmer, and later as an auto mechanic.  A man-made island Johnson's Island was where he was stationed out in the Pacific, and also got further education on this mechanic work from the GI Bill. He had black hair, blue eyes, and stood at 5'10".  His highest level of education was 4th grade.  In 1950 census, the family were living in the Sessums Hotel in Union, which eventually burned down in the 1980s.  It was reputed to have excellent food.

Lee's wife, Mary Emma Rowell, was born in Neshoba County, MS to Robert Rowell (1878-1940), a farmer, and Rosa May Masingo (1882-1927).  Robert was drafted into WWI, and on his draft card, he wrote that he should be exempted from service due to being "diseased", which may have been an attempt to avoid service so he could continue raising his large family of seven children.  

If the names are starting to sound familiar, it's because Lee Mazingo and Mary Rowell were actually first cousins.  Lee's father, Charley Mazingo (1879-1919), was elder brother to Mary's mother Rosa Mazingo (1882-1927).

Charley and Rosa were born in Chocktaw County, Alabama, but this whole family moved to Daleville, Lauderdale County, Mississippi by 1900.

Charley Mazingo and wife Ida Rowell, with daughter Mirtle Mazingo (1912)

In 1918, Charlie was drafted into WWI, about a couple weeks before the end of the War, so it's unlikely that he served, and he died a year later.  Charlie worked as a blacksmith and lived in Decatur, MS.  Ida Rowell was the youngest of six children born to James Rowell and Elizabeth Sturdivant of Newton County, MS.  They are somehow related to Mary Rowell, but I'm not sure yet just how. 

Elizabeth Sturdivant-Rowell

Back to the Mazingos...siblings Charley and Rosa Mazingo, each grandparents of Rosa Mazingo-Wiley-Clarke, were borh to Peyton Mazingo & Mary "Maggie" Tims of Choctaw Alabama.  Mary grew up in Mississppi, daughter to William Andrew Jackson Tims and Martha Allen, who were also originally from Choctaw.  William Tims fought in the Civil War in the 37th Mississippi Regiment and died in 1865 in Camp Douglas, at the end of the War.  He had been captured in 1863 in Chattanooga TN, and then held in various camps as a Prisoner of War for two years.  The Tims inherited a large Virginia plantation at one point, according to Rosa Clarke.

Peyton "Harley" Mazingo (1850-1916) was born in South Carolina to George "Gilliam" Mazingo (1805-1929?) and Anna Gordon (1820-1888).  He worked as a farmer and married three times.  Mary Tims was his second wife.  He died in Chunky, Mississippi in 1916.

Harley Mazingo with his third wife, Laura Williams, and child (abt 1915)

Harley's father George worked as an overseer, and lived all his life in South Carolina.  He appears to have fought in the Civil War.  George's parents were George Washington Mozingo (1787-1861) and Mary Skinner (1784-1852).  George lived in Darlington, South Carolina, and farmed.  He owned one slave in the 1820 Census.  In 1835, George received from the US a 40 acre tract of land in Alabama, in the SE Quarter of the NW Quarter of Section 30, Township 13, Range 11.  This is how the Mozingo family moved to Choctaw, AL, and it appears that the name changed to Mazingo during this time.  On the 40 acres George took to farming corn and cotton, and raising horses, cows, oxen, and pigs.

Mary Skinner grew up on a plantation in Darlington, South Carolina, which did have slaves.  Mary's father was Benjamin Skinner, a slave owner, and in his 1828 Will he gave Mary and George a negro boy named Nelson, one of ten such slaves he owned.  By the 1830 Census in Alabama for George and Mary, George appeared to then have two slaves.  This was the life as they knew it, and it carried forward to George Jr. and Harley.

GW Mazingo's parents were Pierce Booth Mozingo (1745-1819) and Sally Parrot (1750-1841) of Lenoir County, North Carolina.  They did own one slave in the 1810 Census as well.

Pierce's parents were George William Mozingo (1708-1772) and Carol Pearce (1710-1795).  George was originally from Richmond, Virginia, but moved to Lenoir, NC, where he married Carol.  It appears that Pierce was given some spelling of his mother's maiden name.

George William Mozingo's parents were Edward Mozingo Jr. (1685-1754) and Eliza Booth (1680-1754), from Virginia.  Eliza originally came from Cheshire England, but migrated in the early 1700s. 

Here is an excerpt from Edward Jr's will in 1753, where he provides for his sons George and Edward.

Edward's father, Edward Mozingo Sr., according to some record, came from Gloucester England, and was married to Margaret Pierce of Virginia. Edward and Margaret, along with their children, grew tobacco and raised livestock as tenant farmers on a creek called Pantico Run.

Now, according to the Book "The Fiddler on Pantico Run" by Joe Mozingo, Edward Sr. was actually brought into this country as a slave from Angola, Africa to work the tobacco fields near Jamestown Settlement in 1644, but won his freedom 28 years later.  Apparently, Joe's research brought him directly back to Africa, where he was able to generally verify this information.  If you simply Google search the name of this book online, there are many summaries of the information found within it.

So, it appears that the name "Mazingo" originally comes from Africa after all.  It just goes to show you that many of us, and our deep genetic ancestry, are more complex than we may think.  It's interesting to consider that Edward himself was an African slave, and his descendants themselves owned African slaves.

The Wileys of Alabama

While David Alan Wiley (1966-2001) was born in Union, Mississippi, his kin came from Alabama.

David's mother, Rosa Lou Mazingo, and her family, is discussed in a separate article here.  David's father, Willard Leon Wiley (1946-2001) served in the US Navy, and grew up in Morgan County, Alabama, to parents James Owen Wiley (1900-1973) and Jessie Swindell (1904-1995).

Jessie Swindell with brother, and parents (Alfred and Mollie Swindell)

James Owen Wiley served in World War I, and was also drafted into WWII ("Old Man's Draft").  On his enlistment records, it shows that he was 5'7", with blonde hair and blue eyes.

James worked as a millright in a sawmill in Selma Alabama in 1950, just 15 years prior to the famous March on Selma.  Did James witness this historical march first hand?  Is likely that they had already moved to Decatur by then.  James & Jessie are buried at Cedar Creek Cemetery, in Hartselle Alabama.

James' parents were Simeon Lee Wiley (1868-1937) and Mary Ida Owens (1872-1966) of Morgan County, Alabama.

Mary Owens-Wiley

Mary grew up on a farm tended to by her parents, Cornelius Malone Owens (1848-1900) and Sarah Elizabeth "Betty" George (1856-??) in Morgan County, Alabama.  Cornelius' father, Solomon Owens (also a farmer), was of the right age to have fought in the Civil War, but records don't appear to support this.  Solomon's father James came from South Carolina to Alabama at some point between 1800-1817, when it was still part of the Mississppi Territory.  James served in the Creek War.

Sim & Mary Wiley

Simeon Wiley (nicknamed "Sim") was a farmer all his life, and eventually was able to own title to his own property in Morgan County, after many years of renting.  He died at age 65 of pneumonia at his home on Falkville Route Two, a suburb of Decatur Alabama.

Simeon's parents were James C Wiley (1826-1891) and Catherine Gibson (1830-1910), also of Morgan County.

James Wiley (on the right), next to his son Robert.

Like the generations that followed him, James was also a farmer in Morgan County, Alabama..

James' parents were Elijah Wiley (1795-1879) and Sally Malone (1795-1881), of Kentucky and South Carolina, respectively.  Elijah was also a farmer in Morgan County, but came originally from Kentucky.  He fought in the Kentucky Militia during the War of 1812 for six months, and was therefore awarded a land grant of 80 acres in Morgan County, which was the likely reason for his relocating there to start his family.

The Wiley Land Grant was deeded in 1835 to Matthew C. Horton, so they didn't have the land very long.

Elijah's parents were Eli Wiley (1773-1853) of Redstone, PA and Elizabeth Seals (1780-1855).  It appears that the Wileys have only been southerners since the late 1700s.  Eli slso fought in the War of 1812, in the same Kentucky Mounted Militia as his son.

Eli's parents were Major John Willison Wiley (1732-1831) of the Revolutionary War, and his wife Hannah Elizabeth Vernon (1735-1831).  John served in Captain James Archer's Militia Company of Pennsylvania, and joined a migration to Mason County, Kentucky after the War.  History says he was a man of large frame, raw-boned, more than six feet tall, dark complexioned with heavy eyebrows, high cheek bones, and strong chin.  He lived to be a few days less than 100 years of age, and had ten children. (p 17-18 of The Tenmile Country and its Pioneer Families - Genealogical History of the Upper Monongahela Valley, By Howard L. Leckey, Volume VII).

It's unclear who Major John's parents were, but some family trees on Ancestry claim that he was son to Thomas Willey (1676-1760) from New London, CT, and was a Major General in the French and Indian War, who was married to Rebecca Ann Hough.  These same names appear in Pennsylvania Quaker Meeting Records.

From here, Ancestry trees point to Thomas' parents being Abraham Willey (1650-1692) and Elizabeth Mortimer (1655-1692) of New London and Haddam, CT,  and prior to that is listed an Allen Willey who arrived in 1633, with his father Isaac from Wiltshire, England.  Prior to that, several generations in England are included in these trees, but few records remain.

It's clear that the Wiley/Willey family goes way back through the entierty of American history, was involved in all the American Wars, and appear to have come from England just after the Mayflower.

Emily Morrill of Portland

 

EMILY N. MORRILL-MORGAN-HALL

(ca 1890)

Emily N. Morrill (1844 – 1900) was my 2nd great grandmother.  She was born in Portland, the youngest of nine children born to Jonathan & Sally Morrill, who were originally from Tuftonboro, NH, but had relocated to Portland to be closer to family (who were the namesake of Morrill's Corner).

Emily grew up in the East Bayside District of Portland, living most of her youth at 62 Washington Street.

At age 21 in 1865, she married William Sanford Morgan, ("Sanford") a Civil War veteran from Winterport, Maine, who had just finished a storied turn of service in the Navy, working on the famed USS Kearsarge.  Just after the wedding, they moved to Peaks Island, and had their first of three daughters, my great grandmother, Hattie Temm, pictured left.

In 1869, Emily & Sanford moved back to East Bayside, settling in next door to Emily's family on Washington Avenue.  There they had their second daughter, Adelaide (pictured left, who married George Simpson and later Presbury Dennison, and had one daughter, Emily Simpson-Pease).

From 1873-1877, they owned a house on 8 Madison Street, around the corner from the previous house.  There they had their youngest daughter, Abigail, pictured left, who never married.

6-8 Madison Street
Portland, ME
(1924)
(Property was razed for newer residential development)

From 1877-1880, William owned property in Scarborough on West Beech Ridge Road.  Their daughter Hattie later moved to that area when she started her family with John Henry Temm of that area.  I wonder if this three year period is when Hattie met John.

In 1880, they lived at 22 Greenleaf Street.  The building is now a housing project (likely since Urban Renewal).

22 GREENLEAF STREET (2022)

In 1881, they didn't appear in Portland directories.  It's possible they moved back to Scarborough for the year or two, since they sold the property in 1883.  From 1883 to 1885, they lived at 26 Lowell Street and 49 Green Street in Portland.

By 1886, Emily and William appear to have separated.  City Directories have her living at 46 Hanover Street, with William living at 69 Danforth Street.

In 1887, William & Emily divorced (due to his constant drinking) and Emily moved Addie & Abbie to 27 Everett Street.  Hattie had already moved out a couple years prior, having married her first husband, James Downey, and they were living on 5 Vine Street at the time (now Pearl Street).  Upon divorce, William moved in with Hattie & James for a while.

27 Everett Street
(1924)

27 Everett Street
(2022)

Both William and she remarried at the end of the 19th Century.  Emily's 2nd husband was neighbor and childhood friend Joseph G. Hall, a carriage painter (and brother to her niece Naomi's husband Edward Hall from the East Bayside neighborhood).  They married in 1891, and moved on 123 Cumberland Avenue, right around the corner from where her mother (then widowed) was living on 21 Cleeve Street.  

123 Cumberland Avenue
(2022)

Emily's husband Joseph died in 1895, and then Emily died in 1900 of hemiplegia.  Her first husband William lived until 1920.  Everyone is buried at Forest City Cemetery in South Portland.

PEASE / HALL LOT
Forest City Cemetery
Left to Right:
Unknown Baby Grave
Abigail and Adelaide
Emily N. Morrill Hall
Joseph G. Hall

Below is a pedigree for Emily.

Unfortunately, due to New Hampshire's lack of records, I've yet to go back three generations for her.  She appears to be fully English.

The Hewlets of New London Connecticut

This post will cover collected research on the Hewlet family of Groton and Stonington, Connecticut.  This family name has also been written as Hewlett and Hewitt.

NORTH STONINGTON CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
NORTH STONINGTON, CT

Nathaniel Hewitt (1721-1784) was born and raised in North Stonington Connecticut.  He and his family were members of the North Stonington Congregational Church.

According to official Mayflower Society research volumes (the Silver Books), Nathaniel was a 4th generation descendant of John Alden of the Mayflower.

Nathaniel and his wife, Rebecca Grant, had two sons of note (there may have been as many as 8 children):

1. Josiah Grant Hewitt (1742-1824), married Mercy Williams in 1763, and had at least one son, Josiah, Jr..

2. Nathaniel Hewitt Jr. (1746-1823) fought as a Private in the Army during the Revolutionary War, while in his 50s.  He was badly injured in the War, in his leg, thigh and breast, on Butt's Hill, during the Battle of Rhode Island, of 1788.  He received pension and moved to Vermont for the rest of his years.

For a while, I was under the impression that the Josiah above (of Stonington) is the same as the Josiah (of Groton) that was father to my ancestor, Stephen Hewlett/Hewitt (1771-1812), who was a Corporal in the War of 1812.  I learned from the Mayflower Society that they cannot be the same person, because they were having children at the same time in these two different towns.  Perhaps they were cousins?

Anyhow, according to the Providence Gazette, Josiah of Groton had 27 children by one wife.  Not sure how accurate that is!

Anyhow, Josiah's son, Stephen, my ancestor, was married to Mary Anna Daniels, of Groton, CT.

MARY ANNA DANIELS-HEWLETT-GOODALE
(1775-1879)

Stephen and Mary had five children:

1.  Phebe (1795-1875), married Henry Bunnell around 1835, and had at least two children, and lived in Groton.  She may have married an Amos Benham earlier, in 1828.

2.  Abby (1802-1876) married fisherman William Bogue, and had at least ten children, and also lived in Groton.

3.  Comfort (1803-1873) married a woman named Abigail Andrews, and had one daughter, Myra.  They settled in nearby New Britain, CT.

4.  Sarah ("Sally") (1805-1895), potentially first married someone named William Mott, and may have had one daughter, Francina.  She later married Harvey Hall of nearby Colchester, and settled in Lyme, CT.  They had at least seven children, including my Great Great Grandmother, Nancy Hall-Tooker.

5.  Edwin (1811-1890) married Francina Mott, who was 14 years his junior, and they had at least nine kids together.  Francina was the daughter of William Mott and, potentially, Edwin's own sister Sally, based on comparing various records.  But, Francina's death certificate does show William as her father, and the mother's maiden name is rather illegible (but doesn't appear to say Hewlett).  What is also interesting is that in 1825, there is a Groton marriage record between William Mott and Sarah "Hulet".  Francina was born in 1825.  So, it's very possible that Edwin had nine children with his own niece.  This kind of thing did happen occasionally back in the day.

Stephen died during the War of 1812, on board a man-of-war (type of battleship).  Mary remarried to Austin Goodale, and lived to be 104.  Mary's obituary appears below:

***

SOURCES:

U.S. Federal Censuses

Barbour Collection, Connecticut

Find a Grave

Charles & Thomas Leonard (18th Century Migrants to the Burrow)

By 1788, brothers Charles and Thomas Leonard were the first of my Leonard family to have migrated to the Burrow Townland (then called the "Warren," due to the large number of rabbits on the land prior to human settlement).

Their lease for the Leonard lands, the farming of the lands, and the initial building of the Leonard houses (Century Cottage and Rose Cottage), was all held in ownership by Charles, on land leased to them by the local Evans Family of Portrane Demesne (just south of the Burrow).  The original landowner was Eyre Evans (1682-1750), who had relocated from Cork.  Such land was granted to him by the Archbishop of Dublin around 1722, and was kept in the Evans family until 1946, when it finally was conveyed to Frank Leonard's widow Maggie.

According to various parish registers, Charles Leonard (born approximately 1765) appears to have been married three times, and had four children:

• With first wife Elizabeth, Charles had two boys Thomas (1788-) and Richard (1792-).
• With second wife, Eleanor Tallon, Charles had Mathew (1795-) and Mary (1797-).
• June 1800 marriage record shows Charles marrying an Anne West.  No subsequent children.

See below 1804 map of the Burrow lots.  The land that on the right side of Burrow Road is labeled Charles Leonard (that's the house lot), as well as across the street (that's the farm lot).  These farmlots were called "Burrow Gardens".  These were narrow stretches of gardens which locals leased and grew vegetables for their own use. It was probably because of this that there were few deaths if any during the Great Famine of the mid-19th Century. You can see that Charles Leonard possessed over 3 acres in the area.

1804 Map of the Burrow of Portrane
(formerly known as the Warren)

Charles' brother, Thomas (1773-1865) (my 5th Great Grandfather), was, according to oral tradition, has married to a woman by the last name of Byrne.  Thomas had three children in the Burrow:

1.  Patrick Leonard, my ancestor (1795-1865), who took over the house lot and farming from his uncle Charles.

2.  Mary Leonard (1804-_____) married Thomas Finegan, and had six children in the Burrow.

3.  Thomas Leonard, Jr., who drowned (according to Patrick's great grandson, Thomas).

Thomas died of dysentery, a widower, at age 92, at home in the Portrane Cottages.

***

Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers

Ireland, Civil Registrations (Deaths)

Patrick Mullarney of Glencullen

Patrick Mullarney (1844-1906) was brother to my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Mullarney-Howlett.  He was born in Ballymanus, County Wicklow to Thomas Mullarney and Elizabeth Ellis, on land rented from Daniel Tighe, a prominent local landlord.

Patrick had ambitions to become a national schoolteacher, and I believe that he idolized and was mentored by Thomas Howlett, who ended up marrying his sister Sarah.

In 1863, Patrick worked at Rathnew National School in Wicklow, not too far up the road from Ballymanus.

In 1867, Patrick started working in County Dublin (where the money and opportunity may have been better) at Lucan National School as well as Raheny School.

In 1873, he married dressmaker Ellen Flyght at St. Patrick's Parish in Wicklow, and they ended up having seven daughters together.

ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL
WICKLOW, IRELAND

By 1874, Patrick had officially left Wicklow, to begin work as a national schoolteacher in Glencullen, Dublin.  By 1881, he ended up being promoted to schoolmaster, a position he kept until at least 1894.

GLENCULLEN NATIONAL SCHOOL
COUNTY DUBLIN

In 1882, Patrick was charged by the Rathdown Union with failure to vaccinate his children.  It's unclear which vaccine was available at this time.  There weren't many, only the ones for cholera and smallpox, to my understanding.  

In 1884, a dog bit one of his daughters, and Patrick pressed charges against Dr. Mackay for failing to treat her.

In 1892, a few months after his mother Elizabeth died, Patrick accused John Cullen of Glencullen of kicking his dog, causing a broken leg and shoulder, but the case was dismissed.  In 1895, he was arrested for public drunkenness, and in 1897, he lost his two youngest daughters to diphtheria (they were only ten and twelve years old).  To add insult to injury, his house was inspected by the local doctor (Mackay), and he was ordered to clean up and sanitize the room, to prevent the spread of the disease.

Late in 1905, Patrick contracted tuberculosis.  He checked into the Rathdown Union Workhouse for treatment for his sore eye in December of that year, a complication of his TB.  He was released a month later, in January of 1906.  He was dead by March of 1906.

PATRICK & ELLEN MULLARNEY'S HOUSE
ELMWOOD AVENUE
RANELAGH, RATHMINES
COUNTY DUBLIN

His wife Ellen remained at their house until her own death in 1932.

Of his seven daughters, only four appear to have lived to adulthood, but I don't believe any of them had any children of their own.  His eldest daughter Elizabeth ended up in Mountjoy Prison for a week in the summer of 1915 for stealing a box of polish.  She married a few years later, and I think she was the only child of Patrick's to do so.

***

SOURCES:

Dog License Registers (Dublin)
Petty Court Sessions (Wicklow and Dublin)
National School Teacher Salary Books (Dublin)
Slater's Royal National Directory Of Ireland (Dublin)
Catholic Parish Registers (Wicklow and Dublin)
Civil Birth, Marriage and Death Records (Wicklow and Dublin)

Thomas Howlett of Dublin

This is a post about my third great grandfather, Thomas Howlett (1828-1878).  Thomas was a National School Teacher in Wicklow and Dublin counties.

A National School was, and still is, a secular elementary school, or public primary school, fully financed by the government.  It was set up in the 1830s to accommodate the need for a non-religious schooling, an alternative to parochial schools administered by the Roman Catholic Church or the protestant Church of Ireland.

Thomas appears in the salary books ("pay books"), which I was able to locate at the National Archives in Dublin, October of 2019.  I learned that from 1860-1862, Thomas was employed at Glenealy National School in Wicklow.

Patrick Mullarney, Thomas' brother-in-law, was also a National School Teacher in Wicklow and Dublin during the same time as Thomas.  I suspect that this might be how Thomas met his wife Sarah, Patrick's older sister, in Wicklow.

From a variety of records, it's clear that his parents were Jacobi (aka James) and Elizabeth Howlett of Wexford.  The one baptismal record that seems to match is from Ballyculane, Wexford, dated 1840, with parents Jacobi Howlett and Margarita Commins.  However, his marriage and death records declare him to have been born in 1828.

ST. MARY'S PRO CATHEDRAL
Dublin City

It's interesting that Thomas and Sarah were married in January 1863, at St. Mary's Pro in Dublin City, and that they baptized their daughter there in August of the same year.  It's quite possible that this was a shotgun wedding, with Sarah being two months pregnant at her wedding, and also being 11 years younger than her groom.  This might have invited a variety of scandals.

Sadly, though, in 1865, about a year and a half after the birth of their daughter Lizzie, young Sarah died of tuberculosis, back at her home in Ballymanus.  Her death record states she had the disease for ten months before dying.  That must mean that she contracted it when her daughter was exactly one year old.  At the time of her death, she was under the care of her brother Patrick, who was the informant on her death record (and not Thomas).  It isn't very clear to me that Thomas and Sarah had any kind of strong relationship.  They likely met through the School connection, had an evening of intimacy and were forced to be married because of it, probably only knowing each other 2 or 3 years total.  Given that Sarah was highly contagious, it's also quite possible that she left Dublin City to go back home to Ballymanus, leaving her daughter and husband behind, so she wouldn't infect them.

KINSEALY NATIONAL SCHOOL
NORTH COUNTY DUBLIN

After Sarah's death, Thomas worked briefly at St. Peter's National School in Dublin in 1867, but soon afterward was working as a school teacher at Kinsealy School, and there he met a farmer's daughter by the name of Bridget Campbell.  They were married at Baldoyle Chapel in 1870.

BALDOYLE PARISH
NORTH COUNTY DUBLIN

Thomas had been promoted to schoolmaster at Kinsealy by 1877.  He died of accidental drowning in Artaine, North County Dublin, on 2 Jan 1878.

In 1889, his daughter Sarah had sailed to New England, and in the same year married my 2nd great grandfather, Mathew John Leonard of Portland Maine (originally of Dublin).  I wonder if they knew each other in Ireland.  Her father had spent many years working in Kinsealy, about five miles south of Portrane, where Mathew John grew up...

***

SOURCES:

National School Teacher Salary Books (1868-1890)
Civil Birth, Marriage and Death Records
Catholic Parish Records (Marriage and Baptism)
Maine Death Record of Elizabeth Howlett-Leonard

Thomas Mullarney of Wicklow

My 4th great grandfather was Thomas Mullarney of Ballymanus Upper Townland, in the Glenealy Parish of County Wicklow.  He was born around 1808 and died around 1877. 

In 1835, in Old St. Michael's of Rathdrum (church is no longer there), he was married to Elizabeth Ellis, and they were both living in Garrymore, Ballinacor, Wicklow at the time. 

It's unclear when they moved to Ballymanus, and became caretakers of one of Daniel Tighe's properties there, but it was certainly between 1835 and 1841.

I learned of this ancestor upon a trip to Ireland in October 2019, by procuring the death record of known ancestor Sarah Mullarney-Howlett, who was mother to my 2nd great grandmother, Lizzie Howlett-Leonard.  On Sarah's death certificate, it stated she died in Ballymanus Townland, and was wife of schoolteacher (Thomas Howlett).  This was a revelation to me, as all my Irish ancestral research had, up to that point, been confined to North County Dublin.

Once I studied a bit more about Sarah, I learned that her parents were Thomas Mullarney and Elizabeth Ellis, also of Wicklow.  The 1852 Griffith's Valuation matched up the name Thomas Mullarney, at House Lot 3 of Ballymanus Upper:

I paid a visit to the Valuation Office in Dublin, and managed to get a nice copy of the Valuation Map for Glenealy Parish, which was used for the above valuation document:

Griffith's Valuation Map
1852
Thomas Mullarney Lot (See Arrow at the bottom)
Click to Enlarge

Ballymanus Upper/Glenealy
2019 Aerial
(See Yellow Pin for Mullarney Lot)
Is an old house still there?

I was also able to look through the old cancellation books, to run the full chain of title from 1842-1978.  The landlord for the Mullarney House was Daniel Tighe, who was also a neighboring landowner/tenant (as you can see from the above roster).  The Mullarney lot was measured at 9 acres, 3 roods, and 0 perches (about the size of ten football fields).  The 9 acre land was long valued at 5 pounds sterling (inclusive of house).  The house situated on it was always known as the "Woodranger's House" in these cancellation books.  I would be very curious to learn which house this is, and if it's still there.  As of 1978, the house lot had been subdivided onto a smaller land, and was then owned by a Bernard Kelly.

In researching the other small number of Mullarneys living in Glenealy Parish during this time, I've come to believe that Thomas had brother named James (1823), and a daughter or niece named Eliza (1845).  Eliza had her own child in the Rathdrum Workhouse, named William in 1868 - no father listed, and Mullarney was listed as Eliza's maiden name.

Thomas was listed as caretaker of this particular property of Tighe's, and he appears in many petty court sessions in Ballymanus/Glenealy, where he complained of trespassers and thieves:

• In March of 1841, Thomas witnessed Francis and Dennis Toole trespassing on his tenant property, breaking a fence, and apparently stealing holly crops.
• Also in March of 1841, Thomas witnessed Phillip Doolin breaking a fence and stealing oak crops.
• In January of 1842, Thomas witnessed Mary Toole and Elizabeth Dowdall breaking the fence and stealing oak plants.
• In June of 1842, Thomas witnessed Luke Cullen stealing sod and a horse from his tenant property.
• October 1842, Thomas witnessed John Fitzpatrick stealing oak trees from his tenant property.
• In 1851, Thomas witnessed Keven Develin stealing heath from his tenant property.
• March of 1854, John Beety stole oak trees
• Sept 1857 and in June of 1862, Thomas was charged for allowing his mare to wander out into the street.
• October 1857, Thomas was accused by a local tailor Richard Byrne of threatening his life.
• April of 1860, Thomas witnessed the trespass of cattle onto his tenant lands, said cattle owned by James Bradshaw
• In January of 1865, Thomas owed Joseph Cowley for goods.
• June of 1866, Thomas stood up as witness for his son William Mullarney, who was accused of assaulting Mary Kerwin.  William served a week of hard labor.  William was also charged with assaulting George Booth in March of that year, and George Byrne in October of that year.  This may be the same William who died in Rathdrum 1871.
• August of 1867, Thomas was charged with public drunkenness, and had to pay a fine of one shilling.
• July 1868, Thomas was charged with having an unlicensed dog.  He licensed a male greyhound two days later
• March 1869, licensed a slate mongrel.
• July 1871, licensed a black sheepdog.
• June 1873, public drunkenness again.
• March 1874, licensed a brown mastiff.
• March 1876, licensed a black sheepdog

Whom I believe to be Thomas' brother or father, James Mullarney of Ballymanus, had a few run-ins with the law:

• In May of 1842, James trespassed onto Daniel Tighe's woods property in Ballymanus, and was convicted.  He had to stay in prison for a fortnight and pay a fine.
• In July of 1864, he struck Martin Cullen on the public road in Glenealy, and had to stay in jail for a week and pay a fine.
• In 1866, he landed in prison (unknown charge)

William Mullarney, mentioned above, who had spent a week in jail for assault, and who might be little brother or nephew to Thomas, also had a record:

• One Eliza Mullarney had a child named William in the Rathdrum Workhouse on 19 Feb 1868.  No father listed.  Was this a child of William's?  Or was this Eliza the same who was wife to Thomas?
• April and May of 1869, William was arrested twice for assaulting George Loftus Booth, although the cases were dismissed.

By 1877, Daniel Tighe's son, James, acquired title to the land, and most all other land in the Parish,  and at that point, Thomas Mullarney drifts off of title.  He had clearly lost the lease by then.  What is not so clear is what happened to him after that, or when he died.

Thomas Mullarney and his wife Elizabeth had five known children:

• My ancestor Sarah Mullarney-Howlett (1836-1865).  Sarah died quite young, of tuberculosis, about two years after giving birth to my 2nd great grandmother, Lizzie Howlett-Leonard (pictured below).
• Patrick Mullarney (1844-1906).  Patrick was a national schoolteacher, just like Sarah's husband, Thomas Howlett.  Patrick was also schoolmaster of Glencullen National School in South Dublin from 1881-1894.
• William Mullarney (1850-1871).  William was a troublemaker, and often accused of assaulting people.  He died quite young at Rathdrum, after one year of decline, and the informant on the death record was his brother Patrick.
• John Mullarney (1852-1901).  John had a large family and lived in Georges Quay of Dublin City.
• Thomas Mullarney (1854-1873).  Died as a teenager.

LIZZIE HOWLETT
(ABOUT 1883)
GRANDDAUGHTER TO THOMAS MULLARNEY

Given that his wife Elizabeth died in 1892, a widow, at aged 82, it seems reasonable to believe that Thomas Mullarney was born around 1808 (Wicklow parish baptismal records from that period are hard to find online), and could have died around 1877, some point after he lost the lease to the Tighe family.

Thomas was born about ten years after the execution of Billy Byrne of Ballymanus, who put this townland into history.  I wonder if his parents knew Billy (or were somehow related to him)?

Patrick and his family lived in Glencullen, Rathdown, South County Dublin (just a bit north of Wicklow), so perhaps Thomas died in that area too.

***
SOURCES:

1901 and 1911 Irish Censuses
Wicklow Cancellation/Revision Books
Griffith's Valuation
Catholic Parish Registers (Wicklow and Dublin)
Civil Birth, Marriage and Death Records
Petty Court Sessions (Wicklow)
Dog License Registers (Wicklow)
National School Salary Books (Wicklow and Dublin)

Francis Leonard (1859-1945)

Francis Leonard (1859-1945) was baptized in April of 1859 at Donabate Parish.  He was son to Mathew Leonard and Anne Brien, of the Portrane Cottages, Burrow Road, Portrane, Donabate, Dublin.

Frank (known by his loved ones as Fransheen), was a great believer in Irish fairy culture, according to old Paddy Lynders who lived in the Burrow near Frank.

As mentioned in his father's blog post, the Leonards, although they didn't suffer as much as other families in Dublin during the Famine, they were certainly hit hard enough that many of the family sought employment overseas.  Thomas D. Leonard was the first to leave the Burrow of Portrane, in 1850, and started a successful florist business in Portland Maine.  After a couple decades there, Thomas had purchased an entire block of the West End of Portland (Briggs Street), built houses there, and summoned his family over.  His nieces and nephews heeded the call, and Frank sailed to Maine with his brother Mathew John in 1881, along with other siblings.  Frank lived in Portland for three years, having worked at JB Brown's sugar mill in Portland.  But, he missed Portrane, and moved back in 1884, living at the old family homestead at House 15 in the Burrow, eventually taking over the lease upon the death of his father Mathew in 1904.

According to Paedar Bates' Donabate and Portrane, a History, Frank was a member of the Gaelic Football Club of Donabate at some point.

Frank first married to a Catherine Kent of Rush, in 1898, and she died in Portrane of tuberculosis at age 27, in 1901.  They had no children.

ST. PATRICK'S RC CHURCH
DONABATE, DUBLIN
(courtesy of Peadar Bates)

On August 11, 1904, he married 17 year old Margaret Byrne (1887-1961), by pastor Anthony Murphy, at the newly erected St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Donabate (which had replaced the older and smaller one just across the street).  Margaret was born in Dublin, daughter of Joseph Byrne and Margaret Reilly of Balcunnin.

Frank and Margaret had eight children:

1.  Thomas Leonard (1905-1993) married Alice Cowley of Swords, and had three children, and at least 16 grandchildren.

TOMMIE LEONARD
(ABT 1980)

2.  Maria (1907-1909), died as a toddler.

3.  Margaret Mary Leonard (1910-2001), who married Michael Hoey (1900-1986) from Meath.  They had seven children.  Margaret and her family moved into the Rose Cottage owned by the Leonards.

4.  Elizabeth Agnes Leonard (1911-___), likely died young.

5.  Ellen (Nelly) Leonard (1914-____), who married Edward Willett.  Ellen is pictured above, second row, last girl on the right in this 1927 picture.

6.  Catharine (Kathleen) Leonard (1914-_____), never married.  She was a twin to Nelly.  Kathleen is pictured above, front row, first girl on the left in this 1927 picture.

7.  Agnes Leonard (1916-____),  who married a Daniel O'Rourke, and had two sons

8.  Alice Rosaline Leonard (1917-2004) (named after Frank's sister).  She married William McLoughlin in 1939, and had a daughter Ann.  She made a visit in 1964 to the Portland family, and she hosted her brother Mathew's and Elizabeth's children when they visited her in Donabate, Dublin.

Petty Court

On December 15, 1877, when he was 18, Frank filed a complaint against Charles Teeling, for failure to pay him his due wages (£13).

On March 1, 1913, the School Committee brought Frank to court because his son Tommy failed to attend school.

On June 19, 1915, Frank brought his sister-in-law (and neighbor) Mary into court because she hit him in the face with a shovel.  But she also brought a counterclaim against him for grabbing her by the back of the neck and throwing her violently against the hedge.  The case was adjourned until August, where neither of them appeared in court.

On November 4, 1916, neighbor Margaret Kelly assaulted Frank's wife Margaret, by pulling her by the hair across the floor.  Mrs. Kelly failed to appear in court.

On June 15, 1918, Frank brought his neighbor, Joseph Fulham, into court for hitting his son Tommy (aged 12).

Dog Licenses

Frank applied at least twice for dog licenses, in 1896 and 1898.  He owned red terriers (his father Mathew owned terriers as well, so Frank had grown up with them).

Based on the fact that Frank had marked "X" as informant of his father's death certificate (1904), his marriage license (1904), and also on his son Thomas' birth certificate (1905), it stands to reason he wasn't able to write - either during that time period, or permanently.

Frank farmed the land for most of his adult life.  At some point, the land was deemed unsuitable, though, and his son Thomas had to find other work.

In 1922, Frank and his family likely celebrated the liberation of the Irish Free State from the United Kingdom.  In the 1940s, about a year or two before he died, Frank acquired title to the Portrane Cottage that had been so long in the hands of the Estate of George Evans.  Upon his death in 1945, the fee land passed to his son Tommie, and is still in the hands of this family today.

Frank and Margaret are both buried at Old Donabate Parish Cemetery, next to an old limestone gravesite that may in fact be where his father Mathew is buried, and surrounded by grass (also potential other Leonard burial sites).

GRAVE OF FRANK & MAGGIE LEONARD
OLD DONABATE CEMETERY

MYSTERY GRAVE NEXT TO FRANK'S
(POSSIBLY HIS FATHER MATHEW'S)

***
SOURCES:

• Donabate and Portrane, a History, by Peadar Bates
• 1901 Census of Ireland
• 1911 Census of Ireland
• Baptisms, Parish Registers, Donabate
• Civil Birth Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Civil Marriage Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Civil Death Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Memorials of the Dead, by Brian Cantwell
• Petty Sessions Dog Licenses
• Interment.net