 |
| Central Vermont Railroad, 1879, showing Northfield and St. Albans, Vermont |
For years, I was stuck on Julia.
I had her parents’ names from her 1861 marriage record —
Patrick and Joannah Harvey. Her death record gave me different names entirely — John and Mary Harvey. I searched for Harveys in County Clare and
County Limerick and found nothing that fit. Had Julia come to America by
herself? Had she come with family?
That’s where things sat until 2019, when I attended the
Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank with my cousin. We had an
extra day before visiting family in San Francisco, and I spent it going through
my conference notes — something in them led me back to Julia Harvey.
I found a DNA match whose family tree placed her
as a sister to Mary Harvey Buck of St. Albans, Vermont.
I was skeptical at first. But this cousin had
documentation showing the parents as John Harvey and Johana Hartigan — too
close to what I had to be a coincidence. And he had a record naming Julia as
sponsor to one of Mary’s children, also named Julia, and an obituary showing
that Julia had another sister, Catherine.
I was amazed.
A few weeks later, while digging through DNA matches to
learn more, I found a cluster of matches connected to both Julia and her
newfound sister Mary. It didn’t take long after that to find Bridget Harvey,
another sister.
So in a short period, Julia went from being an isolate to
having three sisters — Mary, with both documentation and DNA; Catherine, with
documentation alone; and Bridget, with DNA alone. All four sisters were
connected in some way to Northfield, Vermont. All four had husbands who worked
for the railroad.
 |
St. Albans Daily Messenger, January 16, 1912,
Page 7, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.
com/article/st-albans-daily-messenger/
157079822/ : accessed September 26, 2026). |
The DNA evidence was hard to ignore. Descendants of both
Mary and Bridget match each other and match my mother’s DNA. Those same matches
turn up again and again among other tested relatives on my mother’s side.
The documentary side kept building too. All four women —
Julia, Bridget, Mary, and
Catherine — turn up as residents of Northfield,
Vermont in the early 1860s. Mary, Bridget, and Catherine later resurface
together in St. Albans, all connected to St. Mary’s Catholic Church
there. Mary’s and Catherine’s families appear together in
St. Albans records as pallbearers, witnesses, and more. Thomas Buck,
Mary’s husband, was sponsor for Bridget’s daughter, Elizabeth Copps. Together, the documentation and DNA made a strong enough case to treat all four as sisters.
 |
Children of Catherine Harvey Daley and Bridget Harvey Copps were baptized at St.Mary's Church
in St. Albans. Note that Thomas Buck sponsored Elisabeth Mary Copps. |
The Sisters in Ireland
I cannot find ship records or pinpoint when and from where the sisters came to the United States, but homes in northern Vermont make me wonder if they immigrated to Canada first.
Unable to find the Harveys in Ireland, I searched for Hartigan instead and found a Judith Hartigan married to
a Patrick Halvey, along with baptismal records for daughters Mary, Bridget, and
Judith. These records indicate that three of the sisters were born in Parteen – a parish
in County Clare right on the border of Limerick and in the Catholic Diocese of Limerick. The birth register began just
before Catherine’s expected birth year of 1831. Further research showed that Judith, Johanna, and Julia were used interchangeably in Irish records of the period—variations arising from Gaelic, Latin, and English translations of the same name—and that Halvey was itself a variation of Harvey.
Catherine Harvey
Catherine Harvey was born, according to the date on her cemetery stone, in 1831
—
early enough that she predates the surviving Parteen baptismal register. She
arrived in America in 1853 and married fellow Irish immigrant John C. Daley in
1854, in Northfield, Vermont. The couple later settled in St. Albans,
where John worked more than fifty years for the Central Vermont Railway.
I’ve found only six of the Daley children, but the 1900 census reports seven born, and 1910 reports eight—both agreeing that only two survived: Joseph T. and George P. George
never married, and Joseph’s one child died at birth, leaving no descendants
from this branch of the family. That explains why there are no DNA matches on
Catherine’s line.
John died in 1907;
Catherine outlived him by seven years and died in St. Albans in 1914. They are buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in St. Albans.
Mary Harvey
Mary Harvey was
baptized in Parteen on 29 March 1833, daughter of Patrick Halvey and
Judith
Hartigan. She married Thomas Buck, a well-known train conductor, on 21 July 1854, and lived in Northfield, Vermont (and possibly Alburg, Vermont; and Coopersville, New York) before settling in St. Albans, where the family became part of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Mary had eight children, with only three surviving
in 1912. Her only daughter, Julia Mary Josephina Buck, was born in 1858. Mary’s
sister, Julia Harvey, was a sponsor.
Mary died on15 January 1912. Her husband died three years later. They are buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in St. Albans.
Bridget Harvey
Bridget Harvey was
baptized in Parteen on 21 February 1836, daughter of Patrick Halvey and Johanna
Hartigan. She married Garrett Copps on 17 September 1860 in Northfield,
Vermont, and the couple eventually settled in Utah. They had seven daughters.
Records
suggest Bridget and Garrett were living apart by the 1880s, and Garrett filed
for divorce in 1890. Bridget was gone by 1919, named as deceased in her
daughter Elizabeth’s obituary that year.
A strong, growing cluster of DNA matches connects her descendants to Mary’s—and to mine, through Julia. Her
life had more than enough in it for its own post, which is coming later.
Julia Harvey
Julia Harvey was
baptized in Parteen on 3 March 1839, daughter of Patrick Halvey and Julia
Hartigan — and my own direct ancestor. I’ve already written some of her story on this blog, and there’s still more to find. In short, Julia married JosephAlbert Glynn in 1861, raised four children between Vermont and Staten Island,
and spent six years in the New York City Home for the Aged and Infirm, leaving the
home in 1915. She lived with her daughter Carrie until her death in 1919.
Next
Patrick Halvey and Judith/Julia/Johanna Hartigan
If you would like to learn more about the families I research, follow my
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Diana
© 2026
Sources
1860 U.S. census, Washington County, Vermont, population schedule, Northfield, p. 261, dwelling 2092, family 2123, John Daily household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 August 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.
1875 New York state census, Richmond County, town of Southfield, first election district, p. 25, Albert Glynn household, lines 1–5; digital image, Ancestry.com, “New York, State Census, 1875” (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2026).
1880 U.S. census, Box Elder County, Utah Territory, population schedule, Terrace, enumeration district (ED) 7, p. 117B, dwelling 20, family 16, Bridget Copps household; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1335; digital image, Ancestry.com, 1880 United States Federal Census (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 September 2026).
1900 U.S. census, Franklin County, Vermont, population schedule, St. Albans city, Ward 6, enumeration district (ED) 116, sheet 3, dwelling 145, family 231, John Daly household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 August 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T623.
1910 U.S. census, Franklin County, Vermont, population schedule, St. Albans city, Ward 6, enumeration district (ED) 113, sheet 2-A, Joseph T. Daley household (Catherine Daley, mother-in-law); digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 August 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.
Central Vermont Railroad Company, Map of the Central Vermont Railroad and Its Connections, scale 1:3,509,000 (Philadelphia: National Railway Publication Co., 1879); digital image, David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, image no. 5284003, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/maps900055-24562.html : accessed 26 September 2026); modified by author.
Diana Quinn, #1 Diana's Bryan-Quinn Family, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/45260559?cfpid=6334928766: accessed 6 September 2026).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16921531/catharine_m-daley: accessed 26 Sep 2026), memorial page for Catharine M Daley (1831–1914), Find a Grave Memorial ID 16921531, citing Holy Cross Cemetery, Saint Albans, Franklin County, Vermont, USA; Maintained by Barb Destromp (contributor 46785064).
“Henry Glynn, formerly of Cohoes,” Cohoes Republican (Cohoes, New York), 20 April 1895, p. 3; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 14 July 2026).
New York State Board of Charities, Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1875–1921, New York City Home for the Aged and Infirm, Manhattan Division, Julia Glynn, admitted 18 October 1909, record no. 25/1524; Series A1978, reel A1978:123, New York State Archives, Albany; digital image, New York, U.S., Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830–1920, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1083/31864_243908-00516/142209 : accessed 27 August 2026).
New York City Department of Health, Bureau of Records, Certificate of Death, Registered No. 1779, Julia Glynn, died 12 February 1919, Bronx; digital image in the possession of the applicant.
Oakland Tribune, April 10, 1919, Page 19. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-elizabeth-copps-obitua/178354513/ : accessed September 26, 2026), clip page for Elizabeth Copps - obituary by user Diana
Parteen Roman Catholic Parish (County Clare, Ireland), baptism register, 29 March 1833, Mary Halvey, daughter of Patt Halvey and Judith Hartigan, sponsor Mary Carty; digital image, Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI, microfilm 02410/03, p. 12, National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (https://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634992_012 : accessed 11 August 2026).
Parteen Roman Catholic Parish (County Clare, Ireland), baptism register, 21 February 1836, Bridget Halvey, daughter of Patt Halvey and Johanna Hartigan, sponsors John Harvey and Ellen Heily; digital image, Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI, microfilm 02410/03, p. 28, National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634992?locale=en#page/28/mode/1up : accessed 14 August 2026).
Parteen Roman Catholic Parish (County Clare, Ireland), baptism register, 3 March 1839, Judit [transcribed elsewhere as “Jud”] Halvey, daughter of Patritii [Patrick] Halvey and Julia Hartigan, sponsors Michaela Halvey and Maria Flynn; digital image, Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI, microfilm 02410/03, p. 46, National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (https://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634992_046 : accessed 11 August 2026).
Putney, Windham County, Vermont, town records, birth entry for Mary Lucy Glynn, 15 February 1866, image 95 of 1071; “Putney, Windham, Vermont, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L996-MWS9?view=explore : accessed 14 July 2026); citing Putney Town Clerk, Vermont; Image Group Number 005488192.
Robert E. Matheson, Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland (Dublin: Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Alexander Thom & Co., 1901), 28; digitized image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/varietiessynonym00math : accessed August 2026).
Salt Lake Times (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 November 1890, p. 5, col.3, Jarrett and Bridget Copps Divorce (untitled article); digital image, OldNews.com (https://www.oldnews.com/en/record?record_id=record-12010-746274866&ocr_panel=1&referred=mh_record_page : accessed 9 July 2025).
St. Albans Weekly Messenger, April 1, 1915, Page 7. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-albans-weekly-messenger-death-and-fu/205290670/ : accessed September 26, 2026), clip page for death and funeral of Thomas Buck by user dewquinn.
St. Albans Daily Messenger, January 16, 1912, Page 7. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-albans-daily-messenger-harvey-buck/83967254/ : accessed August 13, 2026), clip page for Harvey Buck - gives marriage date of July 21, 1854. by user dewquinn.
St. Albans Daily Messenger, June 5, 1907, Page 7. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-albans-daily-messenger-obituary-for/83628859/ : accessed September 26, 2026), clip page for Obituary for John C. Daley (Aged 72) by user Diana.
St. Joseph de Corbeau Catholic Church (Coopersville, New York), baptismal register, 1858, p. 116, entry B.261, Julia Mary Josephina Buck, born 12 October 1858, baptized 20 October 1858, daughter of Thomas Buck and Mary-Ann Harvey, godparents David McCarthy and Julia Harvey; digital image, Ancestry.com, “U.S., French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1695–1954,” image d13p_34240453 (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1111/images/d13p_34240453?pId=5965 : accessed 10 August 2026); citing Gabriel Drouin, comp., Drouin Collection, Institut Généalogique Drouin, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Vermont, death record for Mary Harvey Buck, 15 January 1912, St. Albans; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Vermont, U.S., Death Records, 1909–2008,” image 31394_203831-01414 (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1607/images/31394_203831-01414?pId=49104 : accessed 10 August 2026); citing Vermont Death Records, 1909–2003, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Montpelier, Vermont.
Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society, comp., Baptism Repertoire, Saint Mary’s Church, St. Albans, Vermont, 1847–1934 (n.p.: Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society, n.d.), entries for William Daley, baptized 28 January 1866; Joseph Daley, baptized 14 July 1868; George Patrick Daley, baptized 22 September 1872; Julia Frances Copps, baptized 22 January 1865; Elisabeth Mary Copps, baptized 24 March 1867; and Bridget Copps, baptized 31 January 1869; digital photographs, “VT Church Records Includes St Albans,” images 75–77, privately held by researcher.
Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society, comp., Marriage Repertoire, Saint Augustine Church, Montpelier, Vermont, 1855–1930 (n.p.: Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society, n.d.), entry for Garret Copp and Bridget Harvey, 17 September 1860, noting marriage at Northfield, Vermont.
“Vermont, Vital Records, 1720–1908,” database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 September 2026), birth record, Edward Buck, born 19 October 1860, Northfield, Vermont; citing State of Vermont. Vermont Vital Records through 1870, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.
Walpole, New Hampshire, Marriages, 1857–1894, p. 67, marriage record for Albert Glynn and Johanna Harvey, 9 June 1861; digital image, Ancestry.com, “New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947” (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5241/records/15910753 : accessed 10 August 2026); citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; images provided by New England Historic Genealogical Society.
