Looking more into Michael, Sarah and Maggie Mckenna to find clues to the homeland.

Before jumping to far back in Ireland's records I am going to look into the U.S. records to see if there are any more clues on the family.  We still have no names for the parents and I want to see if there are any other siblings in their own household?  I know already of one Ann, who was already married to James Corr and had her own little family at the time of the 1901 census.  How many others were there?  Lets see what more I can find here in America to look for clues.

Find and examine more records for Michael and see what else can be found on his sisters.  Hoping for the parents names to come up!!!!!

I decided to look at Michael McKenna a little more.


Since Michael was living in New York during the time of the World War I & II drafts lets check out the draft cards.

Searching through the WW I draft cards which was filled out on September 12, 1917, I find Michael McKenna. 
·         32 years of age at this time and lists his birthday as January 6, 1886.  
·        His residence is 266 West 35^th Street, New York, New York. 
·        He lists himself as a Naturalized citizen at this point in time. 
·        Occupation is – Business Owner, Prop. of Café which is located at 496 Eight Avenue. 
·        The nearest relative he lists is Marie Kate McKenna who resides at the same address of   the Café, 496 8^th Ave, New York, New York.  Could this Marie Kate be his sister Maggie, who accompanied him on the ship to America?

Well this record doesn't really give us to much "new" information.  It does, however, give us a birth date for Michael.  We also know he was a naturalized citizen so we can now I will look for his naturalization documents.

The Declaration of Intention was filed August 2, 1907.  Looking at this we learn or confirm the following information about Michael.

• He is 5' 8" tall and weighs 137 pounds.  His hair is black, eyes are blue and he has 2 scars about left eye.
• Birthday is January 7, 1886 and was born in Monaghan, Ireland.
• Occupation is Bartender.
• Resides at 368 W 23rd Street, New York, NY.
• He arrived to America after leaving Londonderry, Ireland about the ship Caladonia.  He arrived on or around April 30, 1906.

The Petition for Naturalization for Michael McKenna was filed April 18, 1912.  We learn or confirm the following information.

• Residence was 497 8^th Ave, New York City, New York
• Occupation is listed as Bartender
• Again lists his birthdate, arrival date and gives us the date he filed his intention.
• Peter Burke & John Reilly, signed as witness to his filing of petition.  I can't make out what Peter's occupation is but he lives at 449 W. 43rd street.  John Reilly is a Hotel Keeper and he lives at 497 8th Ave New York City.  

In looking back again at the WWI draft card Michael is the owner of a cafe located at 496 8th ave. His sister (?) Mary Kate McKenna was living at that address.  Is that the neighboring building or was it downstairs in the same building from where the witness John Reilly lives at in 1912?

Michael McKenna completed and his Oath of Allegiance was filed on July 23, 1912.  Which would have been around the time he was finished with his 5 year required residence of the U.S. in order to become a citizen.

We really don't find any new information on the family in the naturalization records of Michael.  We just see a bit more into Michael's life.  I hope to be able to post a gem or two in the next couple of posts.

Just in... Records for Michael McKenna the Uncle that met Thomas Leo Corr in NY

Who is Michael McKenna?  Why was Thomas Leo Corr listed as meeting him when he arrived in New York?  Was Tom going to live with him?  Was Michael providing him with a job or education?  What was Michael’s story?  Did any other family members arrive earlier than him or was he the first of the family to move to this land of oppurtunity?

I started off knowing a few things about this mystery man.   He had to be the brother of Anne McKenna the mother of Tom.  He was in this country before November 4, 1922 when his nephew arrived.  Having his address which was listed on the Passenger list as 196 Eight Avenue, NY in 1922, I start searching New York City directories to see if he can be found.  The following was discovered:

1920 New York City Directory

McKenna Michl (McKenna & Ginnity) 196 8^th Avenue

1916 New York City Directory

McKenna, Michl. (McKenna & Ginnity) h496, 8^th Avenue

I found an interesting article in the 

New York Tribune, Wed July 21, 1920.  

"Physician Wins Point In Liquor Permit Fight"

After reading that article you may scratch your head thinking what happened.  This is what happened to make such an event occur.

At the stroke of midnight, on January 16th, 1920, America went dry. There wasn't a place in the country (including your own home) where you could legally have even a glass of wine with your dinner without breaking the law. The 18th Amendment, known as the Volstead Act, prohibited the manufacture, sale and possession of alcohol in America. Prohibition lasted for thirteen years.  Source: http://www.riverwalkjazz.org/jazznotes/speakeasies/

I have more to say about that topic and what I believe may have happened to the McKenna’s during that time.  I plan to cover unproved theories in a later posting.

What I do know from the about City Directory information is that Michael McKenna arrived here before 1916.  This narrows my search a bit for when he came to this country.  It was before 1916. 

Step 2: Look for NY real estate transactions for Michael McKenna.  I searched the Library of Congress website.  They are working on a project called Chronicling America and have access to various newspapers.  I searched all the papers listed in NY.  On June 14^th, 1910 the following listing was found in “Recorded Mortgages” which appeared in the New-York tribune . 

6^th ave, 852; Saloon lease; 4 stry brk; June 11; demand 6 per cent:  Michael McKenna to George Ehret; $4550; attorney, Edward M. Burghard, 129 Broadway.

I have a feeling that could be the Michael McKenna I am looking for.  I check the 1908, 1909 & 1910 City Directory again and this is what I see for the address listed in the newspaper.

1908 New York City Directory

McKenna, Michl   beer 852 6^th ave, h503 W 52nd

1909 and 1910 New York City Directory

McKenna, Michl  liquors 852 6^th ave, h854 6^th ave

Both directory listings show us that Michael McKenna was the same guy written about in the Real Estate transactions section of the newspaper.  His business address is the same.  He lived at two different addresses between the years 1908-1910. The question that needs to be answered is this the same Michael?  Now we will check public records to help us prove this is our guy.

Step 3:  If this is our Michael, he arrived in America before 1908.  With this date it will be easier to search for ship passenger records because it narrows down the time period needed to search.  Perhaps, we could also find out who his father was from such records.

Try to find a Michael McKenna from Monaghan, Ireland and I am guessing his birth year to be close to his sister Anne which would make him born 1880-1890.  I did a passenger immigration search at www.ancestry.com 

Wow, Michael McKenna is a popular name.  I narrowed down the long list  by entering the following information; Birth year 1885 +/-5, Birth place Monaghan Ireland, and arriving before 1908.

A ship record of the Caledonia, which on April 21, 1906, departed from Liverpool.  It arrived at the Port of New York on April 30, 1906. 

Among the passengers was a young man by the name of Michael McKenna, who was 20 years old he was traveling with his sister Maggie. 

Michael was listed as a farmer his last residence was Monaghan, Ireland and his final destination was New York.  Michael and his sister Maggie paid for their own passage to America.  Michael and Maggie were planning to meet their sister Sarah McKenna who lived at 18 W. 10^th street, New York.

This record gives us so much information to find Michael and his sisters back in the homeland. 

The next posting I will uncover Michael McKenna and his sisters in Ireland to get a better idea of who they were and find out about their parents.

More on Thomas Leo Corr - Ship passenger record

The last post I shared the 1911 census images that provided me with the proof of Thomas Corr's age and family.  When I found the passenger record information I was so excited about seeing his name I forgot to look deeper into it.  The years after 1910 provided more information then older ship records did.  The country started getting a little more pickier on who they let in.  More questions were asked of the passengers and a more detailed health examination was done on the immigrants before they were allowed to step foot on U.S. soil.

The first page shows us his name Thomas Leo Corr, his age 18, occupation is Assistant Victualler, he is able to read and write and speak English.  Nationality is Great Britain his race is Irish.  He was born in Monaghan, Ireland.  The nearest relative from where he came from:  Father, James Corr lived at Church Square, Monaghan.  His final destination is New York, NY.

This is page 2 of Thomas Leo Corr's ship passenger manifest record.  He had a ticket to his final destination and his father paid his way.  He was carrying at least $50 while on his trip to the U.S.  He was planning to join with his Uncle Michael Mckenna who lived at 195 Eight Avenue, New York, NY.  He was planning to stay for at least 10 years in the United States.  He was of good health.  The following describes his appearance to us.  Complexion: Fresh, Hair Color: Brown, Eyes: Blue, Height: 5' 7", Body marks of identification:  Mole on Right Eyes.  Place of birth was Monaghan, Ireland.

With this information I now know he had at least one family member living in the United States already.  My next step is to find more about Michael Mckenna his uncle.  This was the brother of his mom Anne Mckenna Corr.  I am going to look for them both in NY City / Bronx directories as well as the 1930 Federal Census.

I am hoping I have a little luck with finding Tom Corr and his Uncle Michael McKenna in NY.