Ancestor Report
generation I

1 (0)
woman‎Josephine Ann Powers‏‎ PRIVACY FILTER
generation II (Parents)

2 (1)
manScott Douglas Powers‏ PRIVACY FILTER
  to:
3 (1)
womanPatricia Ann Jensen‏ PRIVACY FILTER
generation III (Grandparents)

6 (3)
manRichard Ray Jensen‏ PRIVACY FILTER
  to:
7 (3)
generation IV (Great-Grandparents)

12 (6)
manLester Roland "Les" Jensen‏
Born ‎25 May 1919 Nelson, Douglas County, Minnesota, died ‎8 May 1975 Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota‎, age 55 years, buried Nelson, Douglas County, Minnesota
Obituary
Lake Region Press
May 15, 1975 page 4B
Lester Jensen was born at Nelson, Minnesota on May 25, 1919, the son of Soren and Elise Jensen. He was confirmed at the Danish Trinity Lutheran Church and a member of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Nelson, MN. He attended school and grew to manhood in the Nelson community.
In 1939 he was united in marriage to Fyrn Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen then farmed in the Nelson community until ill health forced him to retire.
Lester was active in community affairs, serving on the N.F.O. Creamery Board, Shipping Assn.; School Board, lived in Douglas county 52 years, farm in the family 100 years.
Lester passed away at the Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, MInnesota on Thursday, May 8, 1975 at the age of 55 years. He is survived by his wife Fyrn, three sons: Paul of Chaska; Richard of Crookston; Robert of Nelson; also surviving are three grandchildren: Joe, Pattie and Billy; one brother, Albert Jensen of Pendleton, Oregon.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and one sister.
Funeral services Saturday, May 10, 1975, 11 a.m. at Our Saviour's Lutheran CHurch, Nelson, Minnesota, Rev. Paul Ranum officiating.
Interment at Nelson Cemetery, Nelson, Minnesota.
Pall Bearers: Darwin Anderson, Bill Dropik, Kenneth Peterson, Clarence Erickson, Edwin Nicolaus, Milford Wachter. Honorary Pall Bearers: Elmer Nelson, Frank Osterholt, Lloyd Sather, Donald Graham, Melvin Lommen, Truman Square, Harold Pfeninger.
Donna Hillesland sang "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and "Amazing Grace".
  Married ‎11 Dec 1939 Webster, South Dakota, age 20 years (married 35 years) to:
13 (6)
womanFyrn Marie Mitchell‏
Born ‎22 Jul 1921 Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎23 May 2008 Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota‎, age 86 years
social security death index:
FYRN J DOBBERPUHL was born 22 July 1921, got Social Security number 473- 12-1631 (indicating Minnesota,) and died 23 May 2008

First husband: Lester Jensen
Children: Paul, Richard, Robert

2nd husband: Kenneth Soderholm
3rd husband: Marvin Dobberpuhl

Parents:
Paul Dennis Mitchell
BIRTH 12 SEP 1885 • Bangor Township, Pope, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 19 OCT 1923 • Villard, Pope, Minnesota, USA

Mary Ellen "Mae" Gaffaney
BIRTH 6 FEB 1892 • Villard, Pope, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 14 JAN 1995 • Alexandria, Douglas, Minnesota, USA

Obituary:
Dobberpuhl, Fyrn Fyrn Mitchell was born July 22, 1921 in Brooten, MN, the daughter of Paul and Mae (Gaffaney) Mitchell. She was raised and attended school in Villard, MN. Following high school she attended St. Benedict's College. On December 11, 1939 Fyrn was united in marriage to Lester Jensen at Webster, SD. The couple made their home at Nelson, MN where the couple farmed. They were blessed with three children, Robert, Paul and Dick. Following Lester's death in 1972 Fyrn joined the Peace Corp. She served in the Philippines where she taught agricultural techniques to various communities. President Ferdinand Marcos honored her with a national award for her service to the Philippines. After two and one half years with the Peace Corp Fyrn returned to Nelson. Fyrn was always active with her church. She served for several years on the Knute Nelson Memorial Home board of directors. In June 1993 Fyrn was united in marriage to Marvin Dobberpuhl at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria. They lived in the Nelson area until 1999 when they moved to the Senator in Alexandria. Recently the couple moved to Nelson Gables in Alexandria. Fyrn loved to travel. She enjoyed the RV lifestyle with Marvin for twelve years. Fyrn has traveled through all fifty states and visited forty-three countries. Fyrn also enjoyed sewing and gardening with flowers and vegetables. Food was an important part of Fyrn's life where she liked to produce it, can it, cook it and serve it. On Friday May 23, 2008 Fyrn died at the age of eighty-six years. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Lester Jensen; two sons, Robert and Paul Jensen; one brother, Woodrow Mitchell; and one sister, Marion Anderson. Fyrn is survived by her husband Marvin Dobberpuhl of Alexandria; her son Dick Jensen of Minneapolis, MN; three grandchildren, Patricia Jensen, Joseph Jenson and Ryan Jensen; two great grandchildren, Nathaniel and Josie; two sisters, Marjorie Von Felden of Minneapolis and Edith Olson of Bloomington, MN; and many nieces and nephews. A funeral service was held Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria. Rev. Greg Billberg officiated. Randy Morken and Ardis Danielson provided music. Interment followed in the Nelson Cemetery. Casket bearers included Gerald Sather, George Moon. Jim Jensen, Randy Olson, Bruce Von Felden and Don Woodhall. Arrangements were with the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Fyrn's parents marriage in Pope County, MN
POPE G458 06/24/1913
MITCHELL, PAUL D
GAFFANY, MAE E
generation V (Great Great-Grandparents)

26 (13)
manPaul Dennis "Mae" Mitchell‏
Born ‎12 Sep 1885 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎19 Oct 1923 Villard, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: Calvary Cemetery, Villard, Minnesota‎, age 38 years
  Married ‎13 Jun 1913, age 27 years (married 10 years) to:
27 (13)
womanMary Ellen "Mae" Gaffaney‏
Born ‎6 Feb 1892 Leven Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎14 Jan 1995 Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota Event Description: Calvary Cemetery, Villard, Minnesota‎, age 102 years, buried Villard, Pope County, Minnesota
1892-1995
MARY ELLEN "MAE" NELSON

"Mae" Nelson died January 14 1995 at the Knute Nelson Memorial home at the age of 102 years, 11 months and eight days.

Funeral services were held Wed., January 18 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Bartholomew's Church in Villard with Rev. Klienschmidt officiating and interment in Calvary Cemetery. A prayer service was held the previous evening at Hoplin Funeral Home. Casket bears were: Paul Jensen, Richard Jensen, Bruce von Feldon, Barry von Feldon, Greg Olsen, Randy Olsen and Bart Anderson.

"Mae" Nelson was born February 6, 1892 in Leven Township, Pope County, Minnesota, the daughter of Edward and Ellen (Shinners) Gaffaney in a log cabin. She lived most of her adult life in Villard. She was a member of St. Bartholomew's Catholic church and was active in church and community affairs. "Mae" cared for children and provided board, room and care for teachers, elderly and disabled individuals in her home.

Surviving are three daughters, Fyrn Dobberpuhl of Nelson, Marg von Feldon of Edina and Edith Olson of Bloomington; 22 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren and 10 great great grandchildren; two sisters, Lorraine Ewert and Helen Stege, both of San Jose, California; brother Walter Gaffaney of El Toro, California, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Paul Mitchell in 1923; Henry Nelson in 1962; her son Woodrow Mitchell in 1950; her daughter Marian Anderson in 1980, and her grandson, Robert Jensen in 1987.
generation VI (3rd Great-Grandparents)

52 (26)
manDennis E Mitchell‏
Born ‎28 Nov 1843 Millstreet, Cork, Ireland, died ‎25 Mar 1922 Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten‎, age 78 years, buried Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota
Dennis Mitchell's stone in the St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, gives the dates 1845-1925.

Dennis Mitchell

Residence was not listed; a 21 year-old Shoemaker.
Enlisted on 5/17/1864 as a Private.
On 5/30/1864 he mustered into "L" Co. MA 3rd Heavy Artillery
He was Mustered Out on 9/18/1865 at Washington, DC
Sources used by Historical Data Systems, Inc.:
- Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War
(c) Historical Data Systems, Inc. @ www.civilwardata.com
Information added by member of SUVCW MN 2022
  Married ‎1874 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, age 30 or 31 years (married 47 or 48 years) to:
53 (26)
womanAnne "Honora, Nora" Tracey‏
Born ‎Sep 1849 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died ‎23 Aug 1932 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten‎, age 82 years, buried Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota
generation VII (4th Great-Grandparents)

106 (53)
manMichael "Tracey on gravestone" Tracey‏
Born ‎± 1812 Ireland, died ‎1 Jun 1874 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age approximately 62 years
The "Tracy" name seems to disappear in the Gatineau valley after the 1861 census. Michael arrived in Canada from Ireland about 1832.
  Married/ Related to:
107 (53)
womanAnn "Anne" Rooney‏
Born ‎1818 Ireland, died ‎1897 Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 78 or 79 years
Her husband, Michael “Tracey,” has a gravestone, but it’s not clear th at Ann is buried there.
generation VIII (5th Great-Grandparents)

214 (107)
manMichael ""Daddy Mick"" Rooney‏
Born ‎1782 Ireland, died ‎12 Jan 1857 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada Event Description: St. Camillus Catholic Cemetery, Farrellton, Quebec, Canada, age 74‎, age 74 or 75 years, buried ‎Jan 1857 Farrellton, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada
Michael Rooney and Catherine Caulfield emigrated to Canada around 1845 (although there are land records showing Rooney's in the Canada farm census of 1841). In their 60's, they followed several of their grown children, the earliest who was in Canada by 1829. They settled in the Gatineau River region of Quebec, north of Ottawa, near the town of Farrelton (present day La Pêche).
The two oldest boys - Patrick (b. 1808) and Michael (b. 1809) - had their own farms in Canada. They also probably did some contract lumbering as this region was rich in lumber and this was the heyday of lumber being shipped by boat to Great Britain.

Michael and Catherine's grandson Thomas T. Rooney, son of John R. Rooney (1854-1925), was possibly a second cousin to his wife Ellen E Rooney (1872-1902). Her grandfather, John Rooney, would have been born at an age to be a brother to Daddy Mick. John's descendants coincidentally fit into the Michael and Catherine Rooney line when a granddaughter married married a Daddy Mick Rooney grandson.

As of 2017, it has been proven by finding DNA matches on Ancestry between the Padua Rooney branch and descendants of the Avon Rooney branch. However, the exact connection is still to be determined.

The Egan's and Rooney's intermarried eight times (all of the couples dying in Pope or Stearns County):

James Rooney (1848-1926)
Ann Egan (1846-1914)

Mary Ann Rooney (1865-1937)
Dennis Egan (1849->1910)

William Edward Rooney (1897-1980)
Mary Emily Egan (1897-1990). Mary was an orphan train adoptee, so not genetically an Egan or a Rooney, even though her "grandfather" was John R. Rooney. Also, her husband William Edward Rooney was one of the "Avon Rooney's." Though not genetically an Egan or a Rooney, even though her "great grandfather" was Michael Rooney on the Padua side, she married William Edward Rooney whose great grandfather was John Rooney the Avon side. Thus by prior relationship they were 3rd cousins, but unrelated by consanguinity.

Mary Rooney (1837-1905)
James Egan (1826-1912)

Eleanor Rooney (1842-1902)
Patrick Egan (1833-1892)

Elizabeth A Rooney (1866-1904) (first-cousin once-removed to her husband)
Thomas Edward Egan (1862-1928)

Martin Gannon (1848-1911) (son of Mary Egan and grandson of Thomas B Egan)
Catherine Kilroe (1859->1940) (granddaughter of Bridget Rooney and great granddaughter of Daddy Mick/Mammy Kitty Rooney)

Daniel Michael Rooney (1955-2014) was related to his wife, Karen Ann Majerus (1957-living): His great great grandparents were Michael and Catherine Rooney, while Karen's 4x great grandparents were Michael and Catherine. Thus, they were third cousins twice-removed. Also, Karen is an Egan descendent as well.

Including the three cousin marriages listed just above, there are these additional three:

In 1877, Sarah Margaret Tracy, daughter of Ann Rooney, married her first cousin, John J. Rooney, son of Patrick Rooney.

In 1888, Hugh M. Rooney married his first cousin, Winifred Sophia Rooney.

In about 1889, Thomas T. Rooney of the Padua Rooney branch married his second cousin, Ellen E. Rooney, of the Avon Rooney branch.


Randy Rooney says (May 2016):

"I have been in contact with my closest Y-DNA result match who has a genetic distance of 1 out of the 37 markers I had tested. His great grandfather, Patrick [Rooney] b. ~1845, was from Dundalk, County Louth , just south of County Down. Is it possible that we aren't finding Rooney's in the area of Parish Moore since Michael wasn't from that part of Ireland, but just started his family there because Catherine was from there? And if Michael didn't have strong family ties to the area, did that prompt their emigration from Ireland. It seems reasonable they lived near Parish Moore at one time if Thomas married Ellen Ward there, and Michael/Catherine are listed as being from Co. Galway on the Canadian marriage record of John Rooney/Mary McCool. However, what else is known about where they had lived prior to Canada? The more we learn, the more questions there seem to be…"

Earlier in his email Randy said: "Clonburren and Moore South graveyards, [the two others besides the Kilbegley Cemetery associated with the Parish of Moore in Roscommon], have been completed already [cleaning, reading and photographing old monuments], so you can see what Kilbegley eventually will include. I found the Moore South graveyard interesting since there were many Caulfield's, but no Rooney's."
Ten Caulfield's, to be exact.


July, 2017:

Looking at Geraldine Felling Walsh's Ancestry DNA pages. She and her siblings and several of her living first cousins are closer to the Rooney ancestors genetically than are any of the rest of us. There are a number of people related to her that have a Rooney in their family tree, but those Rooney's have no known connection to us. The furtherest ancestor any of them listed could be as close as a first cousin or a nephew or niece to "Daddy Mick." They appear so far to come from either Leitrim or Mayo in Ireland. Maybe they are from a "Leitrim" branch?
  Married/ Related to:
215 (107)
womanCatherine ""Mammy Kitty"; Catharine on gravestone" Caulfield‏
Born ‎1783 Ireland, died ‎17 Feb 1875 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: Padua Cemetery, Stearns, Minnesota, age 91‎, age 91 or 92 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
After "Daddy Mick" died in 1857 and was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Farrelton, Mammie Kitty emigrated to the U.S.A. with eight of her nine grown children and their families. They came first to St. Anthony Falls, site the present-day Minneapolis, which was so small it could be covered in a half hour by horse and buggy. Later they moved to Stearns County, Raymond Township - a place at first called "Rooneys' Settlement, later called Padua, between 1865 and 1870.

Ambrose Rooney said that his father used to talk about "Grandma Kitty " and thought that there was something funny about her. Ambrose Gaffaney said his mother used to talk about a lady who smoked a pipe (Mary McCool, wife of John Rooney, smoked a pipe; Marilyn Rooney Lysen is now in possession of the pipe).