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.... more on Kathleen Corr & her family

The last post I said I would be investigating Kathleen's brother a little more.  Patrick Clinton was the brother listed on the ship record.  Kathleen listed that she would be staying with him in Newark.  Patrick's address is listed as 144 Hudson Street, Newark, NJ.  Doing a street name search in the 1920 census I found Patrick living at the address Kathleen listed.

Here is “Patrick” well it is actually Joseph P. Clinton living at 144 Hudson Street he is 20 years old and his occupation is a Conductor on the Street Railway. The time he arrived to America is listed as unknown.  We will have to find him somewhere else pin down a date of immigration.

You will see he is living with an Uncle and Aunt Frank and Margaret Smith.  Frank was born here in America but Margaret is listed as being born in Ireland and became a citizen in 1890.  So I guess we will have to look closer at Margaret to see if she was related to your Great-grandmother Alice Hannaty, Great-grandfather Owen Marron or Mr. Clinton.  

I bet if we look we will find Joseph / Patrick in the 1911 Ireland census.   Another wonderful thing is that on Friday (I have been checking every day since I saw they were working on getting records up) the National Archives of Ireland web site just listed the 1901 census online so I will also look there.   Maybe we can figure out when Owen Marron passed away from both years of Ireland's census records.

Well I found the Clinton/Marron family in the 1901 census of Ireland kind of quickly.  I had the birth county of Meath listed for Kathleen and started there.  No luck, so I searched a County Monaghan which was the last address listed on Kathleen’s ship passenger records.  No luck. 


Now where do I look I wondered?  Looking at a map of Ireland there is a small county between Meath and Monaghan called County Louth so I checked there.  


There Kathleen was with her family. Thomas Clinton, Alice Clinton, Patrick J Clinton, Kathleen Marron and a boarder James Ferguson.

Looking at this page you can see Thomas Clinton, Kathleen’s step-dad worked at the railway works.  I guess this where Patrick found his calling in the 1920 census working on the Street Railway.  We also see that Patrick is 3 years younger than Kathleen so there is a good chance that it is her ½ brother.  I will know more when I find death record for her father Owen Marron.  I am hoping there will be a record of it – at least a cemetery record.

Searching the 1911 census I can’t find the family using Kathleen Marron’s name.  No luck.  Ok, maybe Patrick Clinton.  Found them.  Alice is again remarried this time to a man named John Mc Carney who is a tailor and they are all living on Dublin Street in Monaghan. Looking back at Kathleen’s passenger list record we know this was the address listed as her mother’s address.  We also see more ½ siblings under the name Clinton; Bernard and John Thomas.  (I guess this is around when she stopped using her birth father’s name.)

I am taking a guess here but perhaps Kathleen learned her dressmaking skills from this step-father.  That is the occupation she has listed on her ship passenger record.

With all these wonderful puzzle pieces about Kathleen's life before she arrived to America we find new family members to search for, clues as to why maybe she left Ireland.  I think if I was having a new step-dad every couple of years I would want to leave also.  What happened to her father is my big question to find out the answer to was he sick? Did he die during the fighting going on over there?  What happened to Mr. Clinton?  When did her younger brother come over to America?  (We know it was between 1911-1920 because we found him in the census records) Who was the Aunt he was living with in 1920?  I wonder if her other brother Bernard also made the voyage over to America or did he stay in Ireland?

Lots more to come........