The Ancestors of Sadie Irene LearyLeary FamilyAlthough examples can be found thorughout Ireland, the Leary / O'Leary name is strongly centered in County Cork, Ireland. In the Cromwell's Civil Survey of Ireland of 1654, 34 of 103 landowners in County Cork bore the surname O'Leary. Today this name is the 62nd most common surname in Ireland. 80% of these modern Irish O'Leary's were born in County Cork. The Gaelic for O'Leary is O Laoghaire. Sadie Irene LearySee the Larkin Family - 3rd Generation section for full section on Grandma. Among her reminiscence of her childhood and family,
John LearyJohn Leary, Sadie's paternal grandfather, was born in Ireland about 1834 and managed to survive the potato famine as a young man. He emigrated to America in 1856. As the Leary name is clustered in County Cork, it is likely that John came from that part of Ireland. His father is recorded as T. Leary (probably meaning Thomas Leary). His wife, Mary Ann Hanlon likewise was born in Ireland and came to New Jersey with her family around 1860. John and Mary Leary lived most of their married life in Morris County, New Jersey where John farmed. John's brother James did not like the look of soils in the eastern States, so he walked to Chicago from New Jersey and then came to McLean County as a sharecrop farmer with no wages. Eventually he established his own farm just soth of Merna. In the mid-1880s John's nephew, Daniel J. Leary and then around 1905, his brother John (our ancestors) joined him in McLean County. John, Mary, and James are all buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Merna, Illinois. Mary Ann HanlonJohn Leary's wife was listed as Mary Herbert in her son Daniel's marriage record. This could be a clerical error, a mistake on his part, or it could be correct. Sadie Irene Leary clearly lists her as Mary Conroy in her family group sheet, however, this seems like a mistake as she is listed with a maiden name of Hanlon on Illinois death certificates and the burial list in New Jersey. RESEARCH: Note that there is a James Hanlon also buried at St Joseph's. That man, died 7/19/1855 and is listed as "age 45; born in parish of Glanworth, Co. Cork, Ireland". Could well be Mary's father. New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, Etc. Vol III lists a John Hanlon in Morris County at 5257 N. W. 1875, Inv 1875. The children of John and Mary Leary were all born in Morris County, New Jersey as follows:
Daniel Joseph LearyDan Leary, Sadie's father, was born Dec 12, 1869 in Morristown, NJ but came to McLean county as a young man. In addition to Holder and Cooksville IL, Sadie's notes indicate he also resided in Fletcher MN, and South Dakota. He probably moved a great deal as as a farm laborer in young adult years years. Form Sadie's notes, we're told that he was working on the Fred Zabel farm at the time that Fred's daughter, Alice, was born in 1886. The U.S. Census of 1900 places Daniel Leary as a day laborer residing on the farm of James Murphy in Blue Mound township -- just a few houses still from the Shattlers and near the Zabels. As related in Grandma's reminiscences, after eloping with Alice, Daniel was a mail carrier in rural McLean Cnty and married Alice Zabel (See Zabel family) by means of an elopement in 1903. Dan and Alice had six children:
Dan died in 1924 and his wife survived until May 31, 1955. Both are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Merna, IL. If doing research, be careful not to confuse he and his wife Alice with other Daniel and Alice Leary's in McLean County who are his cousins and nephews. Zabel FamilyAlice ZabelAlice Zabel was the eldest child of Frederick Jr. and Mary Jane Wells born Dec 8, 1886. She married Dan Leary (see Leary Family) and resided at Holder Illinois. She lived in Ellsworth and Bloomington after her husband passed away. She and Dan Leary had six children: John Leary, Lucille Leary, Fred Leary, Sadie Leary, Elston Leary, and Margaret Leary. Thus she is our Grandma Larkin's mother. Alice apparently wrote a significant number of poems and children's short stories, some of which exist today in photocopies of her handwritten script. She seems to have often sent these writings to friends as a sign of affection. A sample of this voice from our past is included below:
Frederick Zabel Jr.Frederick Zabel Jr. (Fred), Alice's father, was born Aug 6, 1859 to Frederick and Winnie. He married Mary Jane Wells (see Wells family) on Jan 1, 1886 in McLean County. He and his wife lived all the rest of their lives on a farm 3 miles south and 2 1/2 miles west of Cooksville where all their children were born. The couple was buried in Blue Mound Cemetery although I do not have the dates of their death. They had eleven children:
Frederick ZabelFrederick Zabel came from the Saxony region of Germany and is believed to have been born in Feb 1827. Frederick came to this country alone but returned to Germany for his wife Wilhemina (aka Winnie; born Oct 20, 1834), sons Frederick Jr. and Louis (aka Lewis, see 1900 Census for Blue Mound township, p. 20 for his family), and an adopted daughter Ottillie from Wilhemina's previous marriage. It was said that Fred strongly resented anyone saying that Ottillie wasn't his daughter. It is thought that Ottillie was about 7, Fred Jr. 5, and Louis 3 when they came to America. This family data corresponds with census data showing 1865 as the year of their family immigration. Frederick Zabel bought 160 acres in the northwest corner of Section 34, Blue Mound Township, McLean County, IL from the government for $ 14 per acre in 1866. At one point, his grandson Louis still owned this land. The Zabel's first house in America had no foundation -- it sat on stilts to keep it off the ground. Wolves howled around the house -- it was open prarie -- so the chickens were kept under the house with a fence to protect them from the wolves. Wilhemena got pretty homesick at first. Fred was remembered as frequently bottling home-made beer - the only liquids Fred would drink were beer and coffee. He died of kidney trouble at 77 years of age in June 1904. He desired to be cremated with his ashes scattered to the four winds. The urn was buried in Graceland cemetery in Chicago. His wife lived with her daughter Ottillie and Sam Sutter until her death in on Jul 4, 1905 at 80 yrs of age. She is buried in Blue Mound Cemetery beside Ottillie and Sam Sutter (Cooksville, IL) Fred also had a brother, Louis, who also came from Germany and settled at Dwight, IL. There was a brother who was lost, another sister in Germany, and another sister who married a man named Richter. Ida and Robert, came to Dwight. Robert died in his 20's. Ida married Adolph Simon and lived in California with a son, Adolph. Shattler FamilyJohn Wesley ShattlerBorn 12/19/1821 in Virginia. Both his parents were born in Germany. He married Jane Donovan and had a daughter, Margaret Ann, who married John Wellington Wells. From the birth information below, you can see that the Shattlers were pretty mobile for some time. Part of the explanation is that Jane Donovan's father had moved to Iowa in the interim. John Shattler was living on his son's farm (John Wesley Shattler Jr.) as a widower in the 1900 census. Also interesting is that his son John was born in May 1855 in Iowa. John and Jane Shattler's children include:
Also interesting is that in the 1900 census, Daniel J. Leary was living just a few farm house doors away from the Shattlers (McLean County, Blue Mound Township ED # 94, page 16 for both) Margaret Ann ShattlerDaughter of John and Jane (Donovan) Shattler. A record of their marriage on 2/10/1866 can be found in Illinois state archives.* Margaret was born April 17, 1845 near Springfield, Ohio but came to Blue Mound Township as a child with her parents. Wells FamilyJohn WellsJohn Wells and his wife were living in Liverpool, England about 1847 or 1848. Their grandson, John W. Wells, thought they were from Yorkshire. They were quite old and were trying to persuade their only son, George Wells, to leave the army and make his home with them, offering to give him their house, a huge old mansion on the outskirts of Liverpool. Death certificates for a John Wells, who died at Liverpool on April 21, 1851, indicate he was a customs official. George WellsGeorge Wells was born in England in 1807 and was a soldier in the British army. In 1842 he was stationed at Belfast, Ireland and there in 1842 married a local Irish girl, Mary Ann Casey, who lived in a small village near Belfast. She had two brothers, Patrick and Eugene, and two sisters, Bridget and Helen. One of the sisters married a British soldier of the same regiment to which George Wells belonged (and apparently settled in England). One of the brothers, Eugene, died at the age of fifteen. Census records indicate her birth as being in 1820. George and Mary Ann Wells had two children. The first, John Wellington Wells was born Nov 4, 1844 in the same village that his mother was from in Ireland. The second, George Wells Jr., was born in Apr 2, 1848 in Liverpool where his mother had gone to stay with her in-laws, the Wells. She said afterward they were very kind to her. Apparently George Wells retired from the British army with a pension in 1848. On April 5th of that year the War Office issued a Circular Letter stating the
George Wells applied for this service and was accepted. Fifty-six men were in the contingent that went to Fort Garry in 1848; among them was George Wells, pensioned from the 5th Regiment of Foot and William Sharp, pensioned from the 94th Regiment of Foot. George and his family sailed from Plymouth on a voyage lasting six weeks. His son J. W. Wells said they went past Greenland and were frozen in the ice for three weeks. Eskimos came out to see them. George killed two polar bears and had coats made from the skins. They went through Hudson's Bay and landed at Fort York or York Factory, thence up the Nelson River in boats. Their boat capsized and they spent an hour in the river on a flat rock with six inches of water running over it. They settled two miles from Fort Garry, where Winnipeg is now. George Wells bought 100 acres of land besides the tract granted by the Hudson Bay Company, and cleared the two tracts. Two or three years later in approximately 1851, George Wells died there. His widow, married fellow pensioner/emigrant William Sharp in about 1852. About 1856 Sharp took the family (including the two Wells boys) to Amherstburg, Ontario then onto the shore of Lake Erie (directly across from Sandusky, OH) two years later. Sharp died about 1864. His widow then moved to McLean County, Illinois in about 1865 where her son J.W. Wells had already gone. She remarried a James Wise in Illinois in about 1870 and died near Cooksville, IL in 1875 and was buried in the old Indian Graveyard near Lexington, IL. Her stone is said to be just inside the gate on the left. Wells FamilyMary Jane WellsMary Jane Wells was John Wellington Wells eldest child and was born in McLean County on Aug 18, 1866 (or 1867 according to 1900 census). She was married to Frederick Zabel Jr. on January 1, 1886 (see Zabel Family). She is our Grandma Sadie Larkin's maternal grandmother. John Wellington WellsJohn Wellington Wells, Mary Jane's father, was born Nov 4, 1844 in Belfast, Ireland and emigrated as a young boy to Canada with his family as stated above. In 1864 he went to Illinois and enlisted in the Union Army on Sept 1, 1864. He served in Company G, 146th Illinois Volunteers as the war wound down. [A copy of his pension request in online at Ancestry.com, Image # 4297, his service record there also indicates he left the service as a corporal, a not-insignificant achievement in that time] When Lincoln was killed, he was a member of the detachment of soldiers guarding his grave. He was honorably discharged at Springfield July 8, 1865, then returned to Blue Mound Township, McLean County. John W. Wells married Margaret Ann Shattler (see Shattler Family) on 2/10/1866. The Wells couple lived on various farms in Blue Mound Township, apparently as tenant farmers. About 1880 they moved to a farm owned by James Smith, one mile south and three miles west of Cooksville where they lived for 11 years. John W. and Margaret Wells had 10 children:
About 1897 John became postmaster of Cooksville and moved to that town, where he served in this capacity for 24 years. His wife, Margaret, died Oct 1, 1909 and is buried in Blue Mound Cemetery. Incidentally, John W's brother, George Wells Jr. served in the Civil War in the Michigan Volunteers, was discharged, then reentered the Army after the war. He wrote John from Baltimore that he had shipped for the West Indies and was never heard from again. The Duke of Wellington LegendSadie was always emphatic that we are descended from the Duke of Wellington and an Irish girl named Welsley or Welshley. Therefore I reviewed the Wells family information as well as a number of references on Wellington himself, whose family name was Wellesley. If you didn't know, the Duke of Wellington (aka the Iron Duke) defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo and later served prominently in the English Parliament. He held estates in Ireland and was generally supportive of harsh legal measures which exacerbated the Great Famine. Since all his legitimate heirs are considered semi-royalty and well documented (and not related to us), what are the possibilities that we might be related to him through an illegitimate child? Not very likely. The Wells family history clearly delineates the Wells as hailing from England (Liverpool, originally perhaps Yorkshire) and the first immigrant being George Wells an English soldier (not an officer) who married an Irish girl from Dublin then emigrated to Canada on a pensioner’s land grant from the Hudson Bay Company (as outlined above). This couple named their 2nd son John Wellington Wells (b. 1844), probably in honor of the Duke of Wellington - then a celebrated hero in England. Thus the origin of this family myth probably lies in John Wells middle name. The Irish girl in this story, Mary Ann Casey (JW Wells' mother) was born about 1820 near Belfast Ireland and married George Wells in 1843, making an illegitimate birth unlikely. |