Letter from Vera Cole Williams (Granddaughter of Samuel Coon) to Dorothy Dailey

                            Osage, Iowa
September 3, 1964

Dear Dorothy,
It was so nice to have a long letter from you and to be brought up to date on some of your activities. I expected to answer it sooner but it did arrive during our busiest weekend of the summer. Keith and his family were here and Dorothy and her four children. When Keith’s went home they left their oldest boy and went Dorothy went her two oldest boys stayed—You know how three growing boys can disrupt a household of a grandma and a maiden aunt. We took Keith’s boy half way home on the 23rd and the Fagerberg  boys home on the 27th. We stayed until Sunday night and were present at the 75th anniversary observance of Frank’s church–All very nice. The first half of the summer we had Dean’s two boys, five and seven, while their mother was in summer school at Iowa City. With other company who came for shorter periods, Mary thinks we were by ourselves only one full week since the first of June. We do like it but it is a little wearing.

The weather was so oppressive much of the time, too. Think I minded that more than the children. We were weeks without rain and the corn and beans suffered, lawns were brown and pastures dried up. But now it’s raining again, it came too late to help some things but at least the lawns are green again and the cucumbers are bearing and I know we all feel better.

I did send your letter on to Uncle Dan, thinking he might be able to supply some of the information you asked for. But he seems to know even less than I do. I sent your addressed envelope to him and he returned it so I’m not sure if he planned to write you or not.

Of course Grandma Coon died before I was old enough to remember her. Believe I was less than 18 months old. People tell me she was a typical Irish lady with a real cute brogue. She was born in County Cork Ireland and her name was Ellen O’Connor. I don’t know where she married Mr. Dailey–whether over there or here–I don’t even know his first name. They were on their way west by covered wagon with a caravan of others, I think, when he died in Dubuque. I think my mother said he died of the cholera, but Uncle Dan is of the impression he was drowned.

Anyway, she came on with the group. She had a little boy–Uncle Jim, and was expecting your grandfather. She stayed at the home of friends by the name of Beecher–One time the daughter Mary Ann Beecher Bohach? told me that she and Uncle Will were born on the same bed–at the Beecher home and I think they were about the same age. Uncle Dan tells me he didn’t know that. She met my grandfather–Sam Coon and married him—and the Coon children were born. He had left Pennsylvania to make his fortune out west.

From a lady who is still living and 80 years old, I have a little information about the family for she visited there as a girl. She wrote a book about “My Yesterday” as yet unpublished and she pays the Coon family his tribute—says they were a remarkable family. Each Sunday they attended church—with horse and wagon—Mrs. Coon and her two boys going to the Catholic Church and Mr. Coon and his children going to the Methodist. I’ve often wondered if Catholics considered her a good Catholic but from old timers I’ve learned that they did. My mother once told me that she required only that the babies be baptized in the Catholic faith.

Back to the book, Mrs. Hudson also tells of visiting the Coon home and staying over night—Grandpa always said the table grace and during it Grandma crossed herself. After breakfast, Grandpa got his bible and read a selection, then all knelt as he prayed and she, using her rosary, prayed in the Catholic tradition.

She tells, too, how united the two families were, and how unselfish all were, each working for the common good of all—She ends by saying, “truly a remarkable family.”

(Might be missing a page. Doesn’t seem to follow.)
I’d find a rotten branch. Some folks here spend so much time researching, going east and touring cemeteries and taking pictures of tombstones, where they are buried. That I can’t see. I’d rather do something constructive.

Had a marvelous time at Uncle Dan’s birthday party. It was too short but it had to be that or nothing and so much better than nothing at all. he’s truly a remarkable man. Seems feeble & frail but mind is as keen as ever, it seems. His housekeeper takes wonderful care of him.

Is your mother with you? I thought perhaps from your letter, I haven’t heard from her for ages. We tried to get her to go to California with us but she thought she couldn’t.

Think I’ll quit and make a peach pie for dinner and finish up the crate I bought to eat raw.

Would love it it you’d write again and tell me more of your family.

Bye now—-
Love,
Vera

The Lane Family in Iowa

What We Know About the Lane’s Trip to Iowa

Although Jane Lane’s obituary says the family spent time in Fulton, Illinois, it must not have been a very long time. I suspect they were in Fulton from 1853 to 1855, because the next documentation for the family is in 1855 when Daniel Lane and Ellen Connors Dailey buy land in the Dubuque land office in October of 1855.

Before that event, however, the Lanes were present at the sad death from cholera of their friend Patrick Dailey. In a letter to Will Dailey, Patrick’s son, written by Jane Lane Hyde in 1903, she describes the deathbed scene  in beautiful and poignant detail. (I suspect that Will had been hoping to locate his father’s grave site in Dubuque and erect a tombstone for him.) Jane responds that his grave is probably no longer there, but reassures him that his father had been well taken care of at the time of his death.

For the sake of space, I’ll copy my transcription of Jane’s letter here. The photocopy of the original is hard to read, but I’d be happy to share the photocopy if anyone would like to see it.

Jane Lane Hyde’s letter to her uncle Will Dailey from 1903:

Mitchell Iowa
Sept, 23, 1903

My dear cousin Will & family,
Your letter received yesterday and so I will write awhile now. I am very glad that Minnie is better & that all is well with all of you. I had met the girls one day at the fair & they said she was sick and we have been considerably worried about her, but I trust now that she will soon be in her usual health. Crop conditions and weather are about the same here as with you. We had our frost Thurs night after yours of Tues and the potatoes are badly rotting, but it won’t take a great quantity for our family but it’s bad for all, but we have to take things as they come in this world of ours. We are all as well as usual & things are about the same.

I was surprised at your wishes in regard to your father that you never saw or knew. It is certainly very kind & good of you but it can’t be done. I will tell you of his sickness & burial & auntie says he was buried just as well & respectably as you or anyone else will be. We came into Dubuque May 1855. I don’t know the date. We rented a couple of rooms in a widow woman’s house that year. If you look it up the cholera was raging and it was a regular panic there and all along the river people were dieing[sic] every hour of the day. A few days after Beecher & wife & little boy & Jasn[sic]Tobin, your father, mother & Jim came on the boat towards evening & we we met them & went to our rooms. The men all slept upstairs & of course I was with my father. In the night your father was taken with diaherea[sic] & vomiting. He kept getting up & going out until he fell on the floor. Then they were all up & the the owner of the house came in the room & as soon as she saw him she said “he has the cholera” & told where to go for a good doctor which he had immediately but he steadily failed. The next day the priest was sent for & came & prayed & prepared your father for death which he said would soon come & the Priest came a couple of times during the day but towards evening we were all there. Your mother & auntie were on each side of the bed & I stood at the foot with Jim in my arms. I remember it well how wistfully your father when he was beyond speech would look from auntie & your mother at Jim & I leaned over him & he kissed Jim & he very soon passed over to the other shore where I trust he is safe & better off.  With the panic there was,  the landlord wanted him buried that night as was the custom there then, but they objected so strongly & made such a fuss that she dropped it. He was made ready and the next morn was taken to the Catholic church. There were two Priests there & said Mass & he was buried up on the hill in the catholic cemetery near a big tree. I don’t think there was any plot bought, as I never hear of it. Your mother paid the Priest for his services and that was all. Then we expected to get right away, but Beecher’s little boy died & I expect was buried near your father but I am not sure of that. but I will ask Beecher when I see him, which is very seldom & the poor man is losing his sight. Grace sees he & Mary Ann once in a while at the depot. I got the cholera then and died but they did not bury me, so here I am yet.

I have rambled from your question but you can give up any thought of a monument & your father is just as well off, as several years ago when Johnny Reegan was attending school as Dubuque he was in here & your mother was here and she & auntie were inquiring about the cemetery there & telling him what part your father was buried & he said “Bless you that cemetery is not there at all now as the city grew that way & the cemetery was moved father out & where it was are fine residences now.” I suppose that many that were there were never removed but they will rest just as well. So my dear cousin, give  the thought of a monument up. Your father is just as well off as everything was done for him that could have been done. Your mother & auntie were satisfied as he had the attention & rites of the church from the Priest before & after his death. I hope this will be satisfactory to you. I may see Beecher some time & I will talk with him about it & if I learn anything new I will write & inform you.

With love from auntie & all to you all, I remain as always your loving cousin.

Jane L. Hyde

(in pencil written at the top of the letter: “Your aunt Mary Conners also came to Dubuque when your people & Beechers came.”)

Side note: The Beecher, Sheehan and Tobin families also came from Ireland and seemed to be part of the group which traveled together.

Daniel Lane Buys Land

According to this document, Daniel Lane bought 160 acres of land located in Mitchell County, Iowa on October 15, 1855 and his land patent is number #30.485. Ellen Dailey, widow of Patrick, also bought land on the same date. She bought 40 acres in Mitchell County and hers is #30.486. The fact that the numbers are sequential leads me to believe that they stood in line together at the Dubuque land office and bought their land at the same time. It must have been bittersweet for them—to have gotten this far in their plan without Patrick.

Lanes in Mitchell County, Iowa

The next time we find the Lane family is the 1856 census for Mitchell County, Iowa. Living with them are Ellen Dailey, her son James and son Patrick (William’s middle initial was P., so perhaps his middle name was Patrick and they were calling him that.  That the families were living together in 1856 again confirms the Dailey family legend that Ellen and her children lived with the Lanes after Patrick died.

Here is a copy of the 1856 census:

The next time we find the Lane family is the 1860 census. By this time, Ellen Dailey has remarried and moved in with her new husband, Samuel Coon.

The Lanes in the 1860 census in Mitchell County, Iowa:

Daniel Lane in the Civil War

And finally, Daniel Lane, at age 44 enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War. I wonder why a man of his age did such a thing. Yet another question for which we may never have an answer.

Here is the information I have about his enlistment, service and death. I suspect his widow’s pension file would have more information, but I have yet to order that from NARA.

Daniel T. Lane  (Union)

Biographical data and notes:
- Born in Ireland

Enlistment:
- Residing in Mitchell County, IA at time of enlistment
- 44 years of age at time of enlistment
- Enlisted on Feb 25 1864 as Private

Mustering information:
- Enlisted into A Company, 21st Infantry (Iowa) on Mar 23 1864
- Drowned while serving in 21st Infantry (Iowa) on Jun 16 1864 at New Orleans, LA

Sources for the above information:
- Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion, (English, 1910)

Sadly, Daniel drowned in Louisiana, leaving Ellen a widow with a farm to maintain. More later about Ellen and her family after Daniel’s death.

The Lane Family from Boherbue to Warren Co, New York

One of my most favorite things about doing genealogy in this digital age, is making contact with distant cousins and family researchers I would have never met otherwise. Yesterday, after returning from St. Paul where I had attended a beautiful memorial service for Denis Dailey, a research partner extraordinaire, I was contacted by Sandy who is a GGG Granddaughter of Daniel and Ellen nee Dailey Lane. She had just discovered Daniel’s name and wanted to learn more. This was the motivation I needed to finally organize and write down what I have learned about the Lane family, who traveled from Co. Cork to Iowa with the Daileys.

I started with what I knew, Daniel and Ellen Lane and their daughter Jane, who according to the censuses, were all born in Ireland and probably Cork. In June of 2009, just weeks before traveling to Ireland, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht of Ireland, posted transcribed church records from the area of Co. Cork where the Lanes were thought to originate. (http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/)

After playing with spelling variations  of the surname and townlands, I found a record of Jane’s baptism in the townland of Glounreagh. A Discovery Map of the region helped me learn that although the family did live in Co. Cork, they were in the Diocese of Kerry, very close to the border of Cork and Kerry counties.  Here is a link of a Google map of this area:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212503289972461183682.00048694c1d6274751829&msa=0

This is a copy of the page showing a transcription of Jane Lane’s baptism:

Area – KERRY (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation – BOHERBUE

Name   JANE LEANE

Date of Birth            10 April 1844 (BASED ON OTHER DATE INFORMATION)

Address            GLOUNREAGH

Father            DANIEL NR

Mother             ELLEN DALY

Further details in the record

Father Occupation            NR

Sponsor 1            TIMOTHY LEANE

Sponsor 2            HONORA KEEFE

Priest   D H B

About the record

Book Number            Page            Entry Number            Record_Identifier

N/R     207             N/R             KY-RC-BA-88542

 

The church register page containing this record has not yet been imaged. 

(http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/)

 

It was helpful that Jane is a relatively uncommon name in this part of Ireland. I had no luck finding a marriage record for Daniel and Ellen until I looked once again in Ancestry.com and found this record. (Despite the spelling inconsistencies, it’s surely our couple.):

Ireland, Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns, 1742-1884

Name:              Daniel Leon

Event Type:             Marriage

Event Date:             28 Feb 1843

Spouse’s Name: Ellen Doly

Parish:             Newmarket

Diocese:             Cloyne

County:             Cork

First Witness:             James Doly

Second Witness:             Lorin Leon

(This record provided clues for more family members to research: James Daly and Lorin–Lawrence? Lane.)

Next to find the ship on which Daniel, Ellen and Jane immigrated. Ancestry.com made this pretty easy and included an image of the actual passenger list of the vessel on which they traveled, the Sardinia. According to this, the Lanes arrived in New York on Sept. 20, 1850. They were just three of the tens of thousands of Irish immigrants who were leaving Ireland for the promise of America. I would love to know what they thought and felt as they stepped on American soil for the first time with their 5 year old daughter Jane. What hopes and fears they might have had in those early days. Here is a link to them on the passenger list of the Sardinia:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1QmDaFauc0MOdWOuiOFpVIUOfYMcY1_jlSF3IqFujp_8/edit

Next, the Lanes can be found in Glens Falls, Warren County, New York where they stopped for several years, most likely to earn money for the next leg of their trip. Why Warren County? Another question for which we’ll probably never have an answer, however, this article gives a brief glimpse into the lives of the hard-working Irish immigrants from Warren County, New York in the mid-19th century:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n8GVSqtG8WumKRfIRrD5qy-6_5NDGIoa8h_M2ti-RrY/edit

The pieces of evidence of the Lanes in Warren County, New York are church documents and Daniel’s  Declaration of Intent to become a US citizen.

It is an unexpected thrill to find any church in the US that not only has records from the 1800s, but who also has a church secretary willing to look up information in those records and send it right away. (Genealogists are by nature, quite impatient.) I got lucky on both counts when I found Robin Mattes from St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Glens Falls, NY, a church that was built in 1848 to serve the increasing numbers of Irish immigrants in that area. When I called and asked if she had access to any church records from the early 1850′s she sent an email with the information and followed up by sending official copies of the most important information I had requested. I had been looking for records about my Dailey family, but was thrilled to discover that the Lanes were witnesses at the wedding of Patrick Dailey and Ellen Connors (my 4G grandparents), confirming the family legend that the Daileys and Lanes were close. Here is a copy of the document sent from St. Mary’s.So we know that Daniel and Ellen Lane were still in New York in 1853. When the Dailey’s first son was born the following year, neither of the Lanes were listed as sponsors, which suggests that they might have traveled West before the Daileys.

One more piece of information about the Lanes came from the Warren County Records Storage and Archives which has Naturalization Papers from 1803. A letter requesting information about the Daileys and Lanes resulted in these papers coming via email within days:

So, this is about all I know for sure about the Daniel Lane family who traveled from Co. Cork to Warren County, New York in 1850 and stayed there until at least 1853. The next post will be about their time in Iowa.

Patrick Daly and Ellen Connor in New York State

Although we cannot yet prove for sure that Patrick Daly and Ellen Connor both sailed together on the Barque Gipsey, we do know for sure that they lived for a few years in Warren County, New York before traveling west to Iowa. Family legend has it that their first son James was born in New York state and another clue suggested he might have been born in Warren County, New York. Luckily, St. Mary’s Church in Glens Falls managed to survive the big fire which burned down the rest of Glens Falls in 1864 and their church secretary has been very helpful in looking up church records for me.

Finding this record was very exciting! Finally we knew when and where Ellen and Patrick were married. Plus, their witnesses were Daniel and Ellen Lane and family legend has it that the Daileys traveled to Iowa with the Lanes. In my search for information about the Daileys and Connors, I also researched the Lane family and will tell their story in another blog entry.

Next, the good people at St. Mary’s Church in Glens Falls also found a baptism certificate for James Dailey:

The fact that the Lanes weren’t sponsors suggests that they might have already left Glens Falls, which another piece of evidence, Jane Lane Hyde’s letter of 1904, confirmed. Mary Connors, one of James’s baptismal sponsors, was probably Ellen’s sister and is someone who later traveled with the group from New York to Iowa in May of 1855.

Dailey, Connors, Coon, and Lane Families of Iowa and South Dakota: From Ireland to the US

Before I begin, I want to be clear, that I follow in the footsteps of many dedicated Dailey genealogists who left amazing records, notes, and a website which I have used to start and guide my own research. Most especially, I wish I could have thanked Dorothy Dailey Anderson for her amazing work. She cast her net far and wide, doing much research before the internet made it so much easier. She left amazing notes, pictures, letters and notebooks which Denis has generously shared with me. Bill Phillips and Denis Dailey have been my muses and my inspiration and our emails and trips together have been truly unforgettable. Much of what I will put down here is based on their work, generosity and kindness. My goal is to just continue in their footsteps and put it all together in a narrative form. I couldn’t have done any of this without their love and support.

The Connor Family

According to family tradition and her obituary, Ellen Connor was born in County Cork, Ireland on Nov. 13, 1834. Many Irish vital records have been destroyed which could have helped document the Connor and Dailey families in Ireland, however in June of 2010 some transcriptions of Catholic Church records for Cork were released online. Based on Dorothy Dailey’s notes from her research at Dublin Castle and the closeness of the dates, I believe this is the baptismal information for Ellen and Mary Connors. If it is correct, then there are other family members to research!

Below are four children born to John and Ellen Connor from  Knockmanagh townland and baptized at St. Mary’s Church in Boherbue, Cork, Ireland in the Diocese of Kerry.

On 2/11/1835,  Ellen Connor was baptized.  Fr. O’Sullivan Edmond presided and the sponsor was (?) Connor and Catherine (Casey?)

On 2/28/1837,   Mary Connor  was baptized and John Foley and Mary Connor  were sponsors.

On 3/25/1839 John Connor was baptized and  Dan Connor and  Mary Connor were sponsors. (We know nothing about this John yet.)

On 10/1/1841,  Cornelius Connor was baptized. The priest was  J. Shanahan  and the sponsor was Ann Connor. (We know nothing about this Cornelius yet.)

That so far is the only possible Irish documentation I have found for Ellen Connor who later married Patrick Dailey. I hope at some time to be able to verify this.

Immigration to the U.S.

Also according to family stories, Ellen Connor immigrated to the US in 1852, at the age of 17. According to a letter written by Jane Lane Hyde in 1904 to her cousin Will Dailey, we know Ellen also traveled with her sister Mary Connor. So far, we’ve found little about Mary Connor once they got to Iowa.

Although I cannot prove it yet, we believe that Ellen, Mary and Patrick Dailey sailed from Tralee, Kerry, Ireland on the barque Gipsey. There is a 17 yo Ellen Connors on the passenger list for the Br. Gipsey which departed from Tralee, Ireland and arrived in New York on June  23, 1852. Ellen is #59 on the passenger list. There is a 19 yo Patrick Daly on the same ship, listed as passenger #57. I do not know if these people are ours or not, but it’s so tempting to believe that they are. There are other Dalys and Connors on the same ship, but those are common names, so I cannot draw any conclusions yet. We do know from Jane Lane’s letter, that Mary had come to the US and had traveled as far as Dubuque with Ellen & Patrick.

Here is the second page of the manifest for the Gipsey which arrived in New York on June 23, 1852 (well before Ellis Island started keeping records):

Dailey/Connors/Coon/Lane Families of Iowa and South Dakota, Intro.

Okay, since one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 was to start a genealogy blog, I’ve been puzzling over how to begin. After receiving an email from Denis Dailey last week telling me that his cancer has returned, it struck me that it’s time to get going and his sad news has given me a starting point and a deadline. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put together a notebook with this story and include the research we’ve done in the intervening years. As of right now, we’re planning to get together sometime in April and I want to give him and Bill copies of what I’ve learned about the Daileys.

Front: Myrtle Dailey Shackleford, Denis Dailey. Back: Bill Phillips, Ellen Jennings

Since I’ve known Denis and cousin Bill Phillips, they have both been extremely generous with their time and information about their family, especially in light of the way we became cousins. So I’m going to use this blog for the next few months to tell both the story of how I came to know the Daileys and what I’ve learned since meeting Denis and Bill. Hopefully they will enjoy it and it will explain to others in their family just who in the heck I am and how we’re related.

Since I’ve already put together and shared Karle’s Story, I’m going to use that as a starting point and try not to repeat much of it. But it all starts with my grandpa Karle Reinke who we knew had been adopted shortly after his birth. We didn’t know anything else except that his adoption records listed Thora Strand as his birth mother. (See Karle’s Story for the complete version of finding his birth families, including the Daileys.)

Since I first ‘met’ Bill Phillips through his website and then Denis, through Bill, I have spent a lot of time researching the Dailey family. I’ve been to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, to Osage, Iowa with Denis and to Flandreau SD with both Denis and Bill to meet Myrtle Dailey Shackleford, who would have been my grandfather’s first cousin. I’ve probably spent more time working on this family than all the others combined. I have found some new information to add to the family history, chased a lot of dead ends and am left with many more questions than answers. But such is the lot of us family historians. This is my attempt to document all that I’ve learned and to list the questions that I’m still pursuing–a snap shot of where I am right now in my research. If I waited until I found all the answers I’m looking for, this would never get done. And Denis’s recent sad news was a stark reminder to get going.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2012

Although I generally do not make New Year’s Resolutions, this year I’ve got a couple and by putting them down here, perhaps I’ll stick to them.

1st. Be more disciplined about taking care of that which must be done BEFORE  doing that which I’d rather do.

2nd. Exercise more and eat less.

3rd. Since I have been so lucky to have inherited such amazing family pictures, I want to organize  and distribute them to anyone else who might be interested.

4th. I would like to start blogging my genealogical progress in a way that others might find useful and interesting. I’ve got so much information and so many pictures, I think it’s time to put them together in a way that would honor those who have come before me.