Ancestor Report
generation I

1 (0)
womanBernice Elizabeth Morris‏
Born ‎Apr 1909 North Dakota, died ‎3 Mar 1934 Vancouver, Clark County, Washington‎, age 24 years
Father Name: Joseph Morris
Mother Name: Geneveive Miles b. abt 1883 Washington
also went by Ida. M
in 1920 census Bernice is living in ND with her mother & grandmother.
in 1930 census she is in Seattle, King County, Washington State, as a student. (probabaly returning to some of her Mother's family)

Husband: Harold Chatfield Knight Married January 3, 1931 in Seattle, King County, WA.
generation II (Parents)

2 (1)
manJoseph T Morris‏
Born ‎29 Dec 1873 Minnesota, died ‎10 Jan 1920 Cass County, Minnesota‎, age 46 years, buried Page Township, Cass County, North Dakota
They may have been in the 1900 census in Washington as "Joseph T," age 24, with his brother Michael E (M.E.), age 17. Its says their father was born (correctly) in Canada and their mother in Georgia (which may make this not the right family, as she was born in Canada as well).
  Married/ Related to:
3 (1)
womanIda M Unknown‏
Born ‎1885 Washington
generation III (Grandparents)

4 (2)
manJohn Joseph Morris‏
Born ‎12 Dec 1843 Quebec, Canada, died ‎13 Apr 1914 Page Township, Cass County, North Dakota‎, age 70 years
The family is in the 1885 census of Bangor Township, Pope County.

In the 1895 census the family is in Reynolds Township, Todd County.

In the 1910 census they're in Hamerly, Renville County, North Dakota with the three youngest: Arthur E, Mabel G. and Alice.
  Married ‎Feb 1871 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, age 27 years (married 43 years) to:
5 (2)
womanBridget Elizabeth "Elizabeth B" Tracey‏
Born ‎21 Aug 1851 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died ‎9 Dec 1937 Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota‎, age 86 years, buried Page Township, Cass County, North Dakota
The 1900 census - Tintah, Traverse County, says that she and her husband came to the U.S. from Canada in 1866.
generation IV (Great-Grandparents)

10 (5)
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:
11 (5)
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 V (Great Great-Grandparents)

22 (11)
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:
23 (11)
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).