Seventieth Birthday of My Mother

 December 23 was the birthday of my mother, Judith.

This year she would have been 70 years old.

She died seven years ago.

Her genetic mysteries were a driving force in my use of DNA. I had to learn about percentages of shared DNA, predicted relationships, patterns of inheritance, as well as how to reach out to matches and research their family trees, with or without their help.

After she passed, I found three siblings she never knew about, thanks to DNA testing.

She would have loved to have known the answers to the mysteries of her origins. She passed the quest to me. I continue searching. Questions remain.

 

Johanna Ann Sheehy (1851-1929)

With the arrival of a marriage record from 1892, I can now place Ann Newman (1851-1929) among the children of Edmond Edward Sheehy (1825-1893) and Bridget Frawley (1826-1905). They were my maternal great great great grandparents.

This post follows up on a post published two years ago. This is how long it took to receive the record from the State of New York.

Joanna was baptized in 1851 in Limerick, Ireland. Her parents were listed as Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.

In the 1870s the family moved from Ireland to Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, United States. The children were older and most, including Joanna, were not recorded in the census with Edmond and Bridget.

I followed a woman named Johanna Maloney in the 1875 and 1880 census enumerations. This person remarried to William P Newman and became known as Anna or Ann Newman until her death in 1929.

To link Joanna Maloney or Ann Newman to my Sheehy/Frawley branch, I sought the marriage record for her to William Newman to see if her parents were listed.

According to the marriage record, Ann Agnes Maloney was the daughter of Edward Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.

Below are the records.

Johanna Anna had at least eight children. If there are any cousins out there descended from her, send word.