Tracking Campbell through Catholic Church Records

Margaret Campbell and Patrick Joyce (1834-1905) were my great great great grandparents.

Patrick's death certificate lists his father as Richard Joyce. I have no further information on his origins.

I have no information on Margaret Campbell's place of birth in Ireland or her parents.

Margaret died in May or June of 1870 a few days after being struck by a train in Katonah, Westchester County, New York.

The first probable appearance of Margaret and Patrick is the 1860 census in Patterson, Putnam County, New York. Patrick is listed as age 25, born in Ireland, with a personal estate of $50. Margaret's age is 20, also born in Ireland. No children are enumerated with them.

In 1865, the family can be more definitely identified because of the children, Mary, age 4, and Adeline, age 2. Adeline came to be called Delia. She was my great great grandmother.

Note that in the 1860 census, 5 years earlier, Patrick and Margaret were 15 years younger.

Working with the expanded Catholic marriage index at Find My Past, a record of Patrick and Margaret's marriage may have been found in 1860 at St Joseph Parish in Somers and Croton Falls, Westchester County, New York. Margaret's name is transcribed as Cammell, not Campbell.

I need to see the actual record, if possible, to verify the names and capture any additional information that may not have been included in this index.

I found two baptisms for children of Patrick Joyce and Margaret Campbell:

-Bridget in 1863 at St Mary in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County

-James in 1869 at Immaculate Conception in Amenia, Dutchess County

In the entry for James, Margaret's name is spelled Cammell. This is what caused me to return to the marriage in 1860.

Was Bridget actually Adelia, my great great grandmother? The 1865 census lists two children, none named Bridget.

Immaculate Conception in Amenia was the church of another branch, Sheehy and Frawley.

The next step is tracking down these records.

Marriage Record Connecting a Person to a Place

Bridget Sheehy (1857-1916) was my great great grandmother.

With John D Preston (1857-1928) she had at least ten children born in New York and New Jersey.

Bridget's death certificate listed her parents, Edmond or Edward Sheehy and Bridget Frawley. A couple by this name lived in Amenia, Dutchess County, New York after leaving Ireland. Nothing definitively linked Bridget to Amenia.

Until now.

Find My Past expanded its collection of Catholic marriages and baptisms for New York.

Bridget Sheehy and John Preston have an entry for their marriage in 1877 in Amenia at Immaculate Conception. This is the same church used by Ellen Sheehy (1866-1938) and Thomas Culligan (1863-1937), the original clue for Bridget's family of origin.

In the transcripts of baptisms are four children of Bridget Sheehy and John Preston at Immaculate Conception:

-Michael, born 1878
-John, born 1879
-Mary, born 1881
-Catherine, born 1883

More Children for Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, Ireland to New York

Some DNA matches caused me to delve into my mother's Sheehy branch and find a lot more cousins.

Bridget Sheehy (1857-1916) was my mother's great grandmother. Her death certificate provided the names of her parents, Edward or Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley of Ireland.

Through newspapers, census records, Irish baptismal records, and help from other researchers, Bridget Sheehy's origins were traced to Limerick, Ireland. Five other siblings were identified. They had immigrated to Dutchess County, New York.

Some recent DNA matches traced their origin to James Sheehy (1855-1934). He married Mary Moore (1862-1897). Their first identified child, George Edward Sheehy, was born in New York in 1884.

Similar to the situation with the other siblings, I cannot link James to his parents, Edmond and Bridget, in New York. James is buried in Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Amenia, same as Edmond and Bridget.

In the online baptismal records for Clarina in Limerick, is an entry for James (called Jacobus in Latin). He was baptized March 25, 1855. His parents were Edmund Sheehy and Brigid Frawley. Sponsors were Thomas Leahy and Mary Sheehy.

Newspapers for the area of Amenia in Dutchess County, New York are available (for free) on FultonHistory.com.

Searching the cemeteries online via FindAGrave lead me to Anna Sheehy (1851-1929), called Joanna in earlier census years. Again, she is not with her parents, Edmond and Bridget, in New York, though she is also buried at Immaculate Conception Cemetery. On the same microfilm roll as the other siblings is the baptism of Joanna, daughter of Edmond and Brigid, on May 4, 1851. Sponsor was Margarita Sheehy.

In New York, Ann Sheehy is first found in the 1875 New York State census in Pine Plains. She is Johannah Maloney, wife of Jeremiah Maloney. They have two children, Mary and John.

After Jeremiah Maloney died, Ann remarried to William Patrick Newman in 1890. He was not enumerated in her household in the 1900 census. Ann had at least two children with William: James and Patrick.

Ann's obituary in 1929 states that William Newman was lost at sea in 1905.

I ordered a copy of Ann's marriage record from 1890. Her parents may be listed, which would provide a more definite link to Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.


The third newly discovered child is the earliest one yet of Edmond and Bridget.

John Sheehy (1849-1926) was baptized February 9, 1849. Sponsors were Jacobus (James) Sheehy and Margarita Frawley.

John first appears in New York in the 1880 census in Amenia with wife, Nora Cleary (1856-1926), and daughter Alice, born in December of 1879.

John was buried at Saint Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in nearby Millbrook.


An additional DNA match could land us the generation beyond Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley. The maternal grandmother of this DNA match was Margaret Gorman (or OGorman), born about 1874 in Ireland. Margaret's mother, according to her marriage record in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was Mary Sheey. This Mary is not the daughter of Edmond and Bridget because they already have a daughter named Mary (1853-1897) who is accounted for. (She married Thomas Ahearn.)

It is great to take a DNA match and trace back until the Sheehy connection is found.

Thus far I have identified nine children of Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, born between 1849 and 1866 in Limerick, Ireland. Further research and DNA connections will solidify or modify this construct.

Bridget Sheehy was my great great grandmother.
She married John D Preston (1857-1928).