Friday's Photo: Sister Bethlehem - Mary Murray

This photo is said to be Sister Bethlehem - Mary Murray - Original Source Unknown

Sister Bethlehem, born Mary Murray, was the daughter of Patrick Murray and Mary O'Rourke. For family reading this post, Sister Bethlehem was the sister of James Murray (father of Susan Murray Quinn, Patrick Murray, and many other children). 

Sister Bethlehem's Record of Apostolic Service gives a year of birth as being 1850, but a Mary, daughter of Patrick and Mary Murray was born in 1838 according to a transcription of the church records in the Parish of Abbey, County Clare. That is a significant difference in dates and I wonder which one or if either are correct. 

As found on her Record of Apostolic Service, Sister Bethlehem entered Notre Dame du lac in Notre Dame, Indiana as a Novitiate (trainee) in 1877.  She served as pharmacist for the student infirmary from 1894 to 1905 and a charge of St. Vincent's infirmary and pharmacy from 1910 to 1920.  During the last few years of her life, her service was recorded as "hose mending."  She was listed as a patient during the years 1923 to 1925.

A Google search found Sister Bethlehem on a calendar in the University of Notre Dame archives. 
1880 May 14
Bethlehem, C.S.C. S(iste)r M(ary): Notre Dame, Ind(iana) 
 to Father (Daniel E.) Hudson, (C.S.C.): (Notre Dame, Indiana)
At the request of Mother Annunciata, C.S.C., who is ill, Sister Bethlehem asks for 100 of the little souvenirs Hudson mentioned. Sister asks Hudson to pray that the Mother may be well in a few days.

And, also in the archives,  a June 1939 article about the demolition of the "Old Infirmary" in The Notre Dame Alumnus.
"Two outstanding Sister s who served there were Sister Bethlehem and Sister Cecilia. Sister Bethlehem had a keen eye for those students who were faking, and her way of testing everything was castor oil. If the student could survive that test he was sick." 

Mary Murray or Sister Bethlehem could only be found in the 1920 census. Mary Murray was listed with others from her convent.  One, Ellen Agnes Murray (aka Helen Murray and Sister Mary Columbkill) was Sister Bethlehem's niece, a daughter of James Murray. It is unknown if the others are related - Sister M. Urban (Catherine Murray), and Sister M. Loyola (Loyola Murray).

Sister Bethlehem died on April 18, 1925 and is buried at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery, Notre Dame, Indiana. Her grave can be seen by clicking this link to Find A Grave. 

Diana

© 2016

Family papers and photos obtained from M. Fahey. 

"Mary Murray in the 1920 United States Federal Census." N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?h=102384386&db=1920usfedcen&indiv=1>.

"Notre Dame Archives: Calendar." Notre Dame Archives: Calendar. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://archives.nd.edu/calendar/c188005.htm>.

"The Notre Dame Alumnus." The Archives of  The University of Notre Dame. N.p., 1939. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://www.archives.nd.edu/alumnus/vol_0017/vol_0017_issue_0007.pdf>.

My Website is Down!

A few people have written to tell me that my website (not this blog) is down. I have had the website on  Rootsweb since sometime around 2001 or 2002. These pages have trees for many of my ancestors' families, quite a few photos and many document and newspaper transcriptions. I searched Google for information about why the site was down and found the following message below. 

We're currently experiencing a temporary website outage due to RootsWeb hardware failure. Rest assured, our development and web operations teams are busy working to securely restore the site as quickly as possible.

Our initial expectation is to have the site back up and running on or around March 15, 2016.

We apologize for the disruption and thank-you for your patience. We will provide other updates here as we have them.

So, the web pages should be back up in a few days. When they are back up, check them out from this blog by going to the "My Families" link at the top of this page. 

Diana

© 2016

Friday's Photo: Going to Ireland

We will visit at least two churches. This is St. Patrick's in County Clare.
My husband's Murray family attended this church. 

I will be traveling with family to Ireland this month and thought that they would like to see a few of the places they will go. 

The Quinn home in County Galway 

The Quinn house in County Galway. This photo was taken in the 1983 on our first trip to Ireland. 

The Quinn house as seen by Lori and Brian Quinn in 2014.

The Murray home in County Clare

The Murray family lived in this house. It is not known when they lived in this house.  Date of photo unknown. 

The Murray home in 2015. Courtesy of Lori and Brian Quinn

Cemeteries

Much to my family's dismay, we will spend time in cemeteries. I will look for Murrays and other distant family in the cemetery next to St. Patrick's Church. We will look for Quinns in County Galway cemeteries. 

Diana

© 2016

Capt. Giddins' Company (Detailed and Petitioned Men) North Carolina

I knew that my great-great-grandfather, George L. Giddens, fought in the Civil War, was wounded at Malvern Hill, provided a substitute so that he only fought for one year, and applied for a pension. 

However, I didn't know about the Capt. Giddins' Company (Detailed and Petitioned Men) until recently when searching Google. Although the name is spelled Giddins instead of Giddens, my great-great-grandfather, was the only George L. Giddens of any spelling in Sampson County, NC. 

Organized on October 8, 1864, in Sampson County, this company appears to be considered a local defense or militia. I was unable to find an explanation of "detailed and petitioned men."

George L. Giddens was elected captain of this company of over 70 men. Elected Lieutenants were David King, Isaiah McPhail, and James M. Williford. 

Visit The Cumberland Plough Boys
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #2187 Stedman, NC to see a list of all of the men in this company. 

Diana

© 2016

Sources

"3rd North Carolina Detailed Men, Gidden's Company - The Cumberland Plough BoysThe Cumberland Plough Boys." 3rd North Carolina Detailed Men, Gidden's Company - The Cumberland Plough BoysThe Cumberland Plough Boys. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://ploughboys.org/3rd-north-carolina-detailed-men-giddens-company/>.

"Page 2 Civil War Soldiers - Confederate - NC - Fold3." Page 2 Civil War Soldiers - Confederate - NC - Fold3. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <https://www.fold3.com/image/58231095>.

Friday's Photo: Cemetery Photos - Ellen Agnes Murray

Mount Calvary Cemetery, Columbus, Franklin County,Ohio, USA - Plot: HC-D-141-1

2

I like cemeteries and Find A Grave.com is the best. I can virtually visit many cemeteries while still in my pajamas (and I don't have to worry about snakes). At Find A Grave.com, cemetery lovers visit cemeteries, take photos, record information, and post their finds at Find A Grave.com. I really appreciate contributors such as Nancy Ann Mull Buchanan who posted these photos and allows me and other viewers to share the photos. 

Ellen Agnes Murray was born on January 09, 1888  in the villiage of Burren, in the old Parish of Abby, now New-Quay, County Clare, Ireland.  She was the daughter of James Murray and Cecilia Linane.  Her name is listed as Helena on the Register of Baptismal, her Record of Apostolic Services gives her name as Ellen Murray and her obituary gives her name as Ellen Agnes Murray.  As a nun, she took the name Sister Mary Columbkill.

Sister Columbkill was visiting her sister, Julia Murray Moylan, in Ireland when she fell ill and returned to the United States by plane.  She died several weeks later on June 18, 1955 at Mount Carmel Hospital.  Her funeral was attended by many.  Honorary pallbearers included the Governor of Ohio and the Mayor of Columbus.  Burial was in Mount Calvary Cemetery. For more about Ellen Agnes Murray click here. 

Search for your family at Find A Grave. 

Diana

© 2016

Sources

"Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Sunday's Obituary: Ellen Agnes Murray - Sister Mary Columbkill." Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Sunday's Obituary: Ellen Agnes Murray - Sister Mary Columbkill. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/sundays-obituary-ellen-agnes-murray.html>.

"Sr Ellen "Mary Columbkill" Murray (1888 - 1955) - Find A Grave Memorial." Sr Ellen "Mary Columbkill" Murray (1888 - 1955) - Find A Grave Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=murray&GSiman=1&GScid=42241&GRid=100817726&>.

Friday's Photo: Could this be a Murray Family Photo?

I will be going to Ireland soon so will be posting Irish family photos before and after my trip. This photo was an old photo that belonged to my husband's grandparents, William Quinn and Susan Murray. The tape on the top leads me to believe that it came out of the same album as two others that had tape at the top. Both were Murray family photos. Susan's family lived in New Quay (the village of the Burren). Could this be a Murray family photo? 

Diana

© 2016

Friday's Photo: The Criswell School

The Criswell School, Falls County, Texas
I took this photo when visiting the Criswell Cemetery. To learn more, visit the Criswell Cemetery page. 

I've mentioned very little about my Criswell ancestors on this blog. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was named for his mother's favorite uncle, Thomas Leroy "Whit" Criswell. Dad's mother was Myrtie Hairston, daughter of Lodema Walker Criswell and Phillip Hairston who met and married in Falls County, Texas.

Lodema was the 6th born of the 13 children of William Moore Criswell and Mary Ann "Polly" Evans who settled in Falls County prior to the Civil War.

I visited the Criswell Cemetery in 2005 where I saw the schoolhouse and burial site of many of my Criswell family members.

While researching the Criswell School, I learned that the original school was built in the Criswell community, a farming community consisting of several hundred residents in the late 1800s and early 1900s. According to an article found at Newspapers.com, the original was rebuilt sometime in the 1920s and that newer building burned on January 28, 1927. The building pictured was said to have been erected soon after the fire.

I don't know the date the original Criswell School was built, but did find mention of Criswell's school house in the adjacent 1874 clipping found at Newspapers.com. 

A little about the clipping - The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a fraternal organization in the United States that encourages the promotion of community and agriculture. Many of these persons listed were children or spouses of the children of William and Mary Ann Criswell. 

Diana

© 2016

Sources

"Criswell Community School Pictures." Criswell Community School Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txfalls/School_Photo/School_Pictures_Webpages/CriswellCommunitySchoolPics.htm>.

"Patrons of Husbandry legal definition of Patrons of Husbandry." Patrons of Husbandry legal definition of Patrons of Husbandry. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Patrons+of+Husbandry>.

Friday's Photo: Marie and Friends

 

I titled this post "Marie and Friends" but really don't know if the women are friends or relatives. Is this in Seymour, Texas? Borger? Or, another place in Texas? Is this before or after 1920? 

My father's sister, Marie Bryan is the girl to the far left. If these girls are her cousins, maybe someone has a matching photo. 

Marie Bryan 1921

I thought that these girls could be classmates so looked at Marie's high school yearbook, the Jackrabbit, at Ancestry.com. Marie graduated from Seymour High School in 1921. There were eleven graduates in the class of 1921. Two young men, Adolph Wirz and Roscoe Caldwell, and the remaining were young women; Marie, Cecilia Cooper, Jo Lee Dickson, Lucille Gray, Lois McMurray, Lyddia Patterson, Laura Bess Rogers, Bill Smith, and Bernice Sanders.  Comparisons of the photos were inconclusive. 

This is one of many of my problematic photos. If you have suggestions or a similar photo, please contact me! 

Diana

© 2016

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

"U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 for." U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 for. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2016. <http://interactive.ancestry.com/1265/43134_b207594-00043/328323589>.

Friday's Photo: Who Is This Pretty Young Woman?

This photo was passed to me by my cousin, Jackie. I assume that it originally belonged to my father's parents. The hairstyle is indicative of those of the 1890s.There are no markings on the back of this delicate paper photo.


Could she be a family friend? If family, is she related to my grandmother's Hairstons or my grandfather's Bryans? 

Surnames include Bryan, Hairston, Criswell, Evans, Selman, Albritton, Biggs, Chisum, Gilbert, Gresham, Hammett, Keith, Latta, Noah, Pitman, Regan, Thompson, Watts, Wimberly, Wylie, and many more. 

Diana

© 2016

Friday's Photo: Arlington Cemetery in December

We visited Arlington National Cemetery last week. There were wreaths on most of the headstones that I could see. A few of the older headstones, where military fathers and sons were buried together, had two wreaths and gravestones, marked with the Star of David, had no wreath out of respect for the Jewish tradition of not placing floral decorations on graves.

 

The wreaths are placed on the graves by Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit organization that coordinates wreath laying ceremonies at Arlington as well as other cemeteries in all 50 states and other locations throughout the world. Click here to read more about the history of this organization. 

For my Quinn family -  Photos of my husband and his parent's graves - William Joseph and Doris Staubach Quinn. 

Diana

© 2016