Introduction - Larkin Family of McLean County, Illinois

3rd Edition, Updated 15 November 2019

I have worked pretty steadily in the past four years on digging deeper and getting more information and documentation on our family. For the most part, the documentation has verified the oral and written accounts handed down in the family. I have also been graced with other material like:

I should point out the the main documentation for my genealogical research is posted at
Rootsweb WorldConnect and source citations. This site is intended as a more informal narrative of our family history. This site includes research notes and sources, but unfortunately can no longer be updated.

For those with an Ancestry.com account, there is a tree on there as well, see
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/84846913

After over 10 years of collecting samples of Larkin Y-DNA in all corners of Ireland as leader of the Larkin DNA Project , we can now clearly see that our own Larkin lineage is the largest in the world, concentrated around the Shannon River Valley.

Brad Larkin

email: btlarkin1@gmail.com


2nd Edition, 2002

After five years of relatively fruitless Internet research into our family tree, I have started to find some additional information this year.  Thus, I have revised and extended the history of our 19th century ancestors with information from a variety of online sources like Ancestry.com and their census records, Clan history and genealogy pages, etc.  This document is forever a work in progress, but here are some of the new findings:

 

  • Patrick Kinsella immigrated to the U.S. from Kings (Offaly) County, Ireland according to a source at the Kinsella Clan site.  This is important in ever being able to trace parish records in Ireland.
  • The year of immigration for many of our ancestors was changed to match what was recorded in census records.
  • State of origins which were previously unknown for John Shattler and Jane Donovan were added.
  • Birthdates and wedding dates were adjusted to match census information.  Some specific examples are James Larkin (immigrant), John W Wells & Margaret Ann Shattler's wedding (happened 10 years earlier than previously thought).

Brad Larkin
April 2002

 

Introduction I wrote for the composite narrative on November 15, 1997:

 

To Grandma Larkin's extended family:
We have a lot of new family members since a written family history was done in 1977. In fact we have approximately 10 new members just since the last Larkin family reunion in Bloomington in 1994.

As I prepared a revision of the family history, I came across a significant amount of information on other ancestral families besides the Larkins such as the Wells, the Hogans, the Kinsellas, and the Zabels. Therefore, I have decided to compile this volume as first, an ancestral history of Michael Jerome Larkin and Sadie Leary; and second, an update of their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Sources for this work include the green bound version of the Larkin family history (The Family of James and Julia Hogan Larkin) written by Elizabeth Ann Kelly in 1977, a Wells Family History included in The Descendants of Richard Parr by Perry Parr in 1969, a one page narrative on the Zabel family (1962), newspaper clippings on the Leary family, and a variety of other material uncle Mike had. As the amount of material could easily have exceeded 40 pages, I have tried to condense it into a format of interest to anyone in Grandma's family. Therefore, information on more distant relatives not in our direct ancestry has been largely omitted. On the good side, we do have names for ancestors going back in some cases, 5 generations before Sadie and information on branches of which many were unaware. I have also added some graphical family trees to make it easier for us to trace our family roots as the narrative can be confusing for younger family members. Some maps are included to help those unfamiliar with McLean County, Illinois -- where our grandparents lived their entire lives.

I have also done considerable research on the Internet to find out background information on these families and Irish emigration to America in general. I have also tried to 'spice' this narrative up with as many anecdotes and stories of family members as I could gather. It is this oral history which is often the most interesting to each succeeding generation. If you have a story or anecdote appropriate for this history, I encourage you to send it to me.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed updates on their family information. A special thanks to uncle Mike Larkin who compiled all the family material and has traveled to Ireland to meet distant relatives as well. Also thanks to Uncle Larry and Uncle Jerry who shared a number of their reminiscence of their father.