Ancestor Report
generation I

1 (0)
manRichard Edwin Martin‏
Born ‎23 Dec 1915 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, died ‎16 Dec 1996 Dallas, Texas Event Description: Mount Olivet Cemetery, St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., MO‎, age 80 years
generation II (Parents)

2 (1)
manWilliam Ethan "William Joseph" Martin‏
Born ‎20 Sep 1874 Lakeville Township, Becker County, Minnesota, died ‎15 Jun 1927 Sedan, Pope County, Minnesota‎, age 52 years
Baptismal Sponsors: Pat Rooney, M A Collier. William E. Martin died o f ALS.

The 1880 census lists this son of William Joseph Martin as also "William Joseph," and there are letters to him from his Canadian relatives addressed to "William Joseph." By the 1900 census, and still living at home, he is listed as "William E."

And there are two certificates of second grade achievement for a "William J. Martin" (but dated 1887, which would make him born in about 1880 if he attended at modern ages).

Lyle Martin's memories of his parents:

In 1922 or 1923 when Dad was operating his hardware store in Villard he carried on a game of checkers with a friend in nearby Westport or somewhere nearby – they informed one another of their moves by penny postcard.

I recall during the time we were in Villard, Dad had to replace a store front window of a drug store because I had playfully pushed an older boy who was leaning against the building and the window broke. Dad never did scold me about that at all.

Also at Villard, I recall that the family received two Airedales (Biddy & Buddy) from someone. The dogs were supposed to be related to dogs that President. Harding or Coolidge had in the White House. Buddy remained a part of the Martin family for about 14 years.

I'm quite sure that Dad served on the federal grand jury at St. Paul at one time – maybe 1924 or 1925.

In about 1931 – after Dad's death, an old schoolmate of his told me that dad was "a whiz in mathematics" – that he didn't need to pencil.

There is another incident in my memory that I've never been able to pinpoint very much – it is an occasion when at least dad and I went to Glenwood – and very likely the whole family was along. I recall there was a large crowd in the center of downtown - there to see some famous personage. Dad put me on his shoulders so that I could see him – so it must've been somewhere around 1919 to 1921. I would like to know who the fella was – maybe a political candidate.

After Dad died, Mother had the heavy responsibility of running the family General store at Sedan and finishing the rearing of the four Martin boys. She had to work long and hard hours for the rest of her life. Struggling through the depths of the Depression in Sedan was a real test for her. The Farmers & Merchants State Bank at Sedan closed it's doors forever in the fall of 1931 (?), taking with it a substantial checking account of the Martin store.

In the years went Mother operated the general store, with the help of Lule, Robert and Richard, she did almost everything that had to be done – she was buyer, credit manager, saleslady, home maker, cook, laundress, nurse and many more things all at the same time. Sedan was a village with an official population 147 during most of those years. The big business days were Monday, Wednesday and Fridays when the Sedan creamery bought cream from the farmers.


Obituary:

Deep sorrow prevailed throughout the village of Sedan and the surrounding community when it was learned that W. E. Martin had departed from this life Wednesday evening, June 15th, after a short illness at his home in Sedan.

William E. Martin was born at Detroit Lakes, Minn., 1874. At the time of his death he was fifty-three years of age.

With his parents he moved to Bangor where he grew to manhood. As a young man he made teaching his chief profession having taught in the rural schools of Pope County. Later he took charge of the school in Sedan for several years.

During the past twenty years he has been engaged in the mercantile business with the exception of one year when he was manager of the Sedan farmers elevator.

In 1920 he and his family moved to Villard where he operated a hardware store. Having spent about two years in Villard, he returned to Sedan where he resumed his old business.

On Jan. 8, 1902 he was united in marriage to Miss Grace Wamsley. Four sons, Melvin who is attending the University of Minnesota, Lyle, Robert and Richard who are at home with the bereaved wife, are left to mourn the loss of a kind and devoted father. Two daughters, Mildred and Dorothy died in their infancy.

Five brothers and three sisters survive the deceased, namely: James, Eden Valley; Thomas, St. Paul; Ed, Kenwood, Calif.; John, Cour de Lane, Idadho; Mrs. J. Shaw, Forth Worth, Texas; Mrs. D. Chamberlaine, Taconite, Minn; and Mrs. James Gaffaney of Forada, Minn.

Requiem mass was sung for the deceased Saturday morning and on Sunday, June 19, at two o'clock the ...equies were conducted by Rev. ...ach at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Sedan, Minn. ...e the great assembly of friends and relatives listened to an eloquent and impressive sermon on death. An almost endless procession headed by the Modern Woodman escorted the remains to the Catholic cemetery near the little village he called his home.

The pallbearers were: A. J. Phillips, Herman Pilotte, C. B. Wesse..ng, Joe Egan, Frank Landweir and P. J. Rooney.

The floral offerings were many and beautiful and bespoke a testimony of love and esteem for a departed friend and sympathy for the sorrowing ones left behind.

W. E. Martin will be remembered by everyone as a man staunch and upright in business, a kind friend and neighbor and one who had the courage of his conviction and dared to do right. His counsel and advise were sought by many as he was known to be a man of words, intelligence and sound judgement.

Sedan lost a most distinguished and respected citizen in his death. Everyone has lost a friend and our hearts go out to the bereaved ones in their hour of sorrow.

Those who attended the funeral from a distance were: Mrs. J. Wirtzfald, Martin, N. D.; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Martin, St. Paul; Mr. and Mrs. James Martin, Eden Valley; Mr. and Mrs. James Egan, Donnybrook, N. D.; Mr. James Hart, Waubon, Minn.; Mr. Chas. Keilty, Mahnomen, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Freixe, Clara City, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cosgrove and daughter, St. Cloud; Mrs. Geisen, St. Cloud; Mr. Giles Wamsley, Minneapolis; Mrs. James Gaffaney, Forada, Minn.
  Married ‎3 Jan 1902 Stearns County, Minnesota, age 27 years (married 25 years) to:
3 (1)
womanGrace Ellen "Grace Evangeline" Wamsley‏
Born ‎2 Sep 1880 Reno Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎20 Sep 1949 Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota Event Description: Padua Cemetery, Stearns, Minnesota/Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota‎, age 69 years, buried Sedan, Pope County, Minnesota
Obituary:

Grace Martin Passed Away In Alexandria

The many friends of Grace E. Martin, long time resident and business woman of Sedan, were deeply sorrowed to hear of her death on September 20, 1949, at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Alexandria. She had been hospitalized since April 2, 1949 when she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He condition gradually weakened until she peacefully passed away.

Grace Evangeline Wamsley was born on Sept. 2, 1880 in Reno Township, Pope county, and was 69 years of age at the time of her death. She was the oldest of eight children born to her parents, Edwin J. and Julia Mitchell Wamsley. When she was about ten years of age her family moved to Leven Township near the village of Villard. There she resided until 1900 and then again moved with her parents to Stearns county, a few miles north of Brooten. She taught in the public schools of Stearns county for two years, and then on January 3, 1902 was married to William E. Martin of Bangor Township.

Shortly after their marriage, William and Grace Martin established their home in Sedan and they became active in local village, school and church affairs. Six children were born to them, two daughters, Mildred and Dorothy, both of whom died in infancy, and four sons who still survive. They are Melvin S. Martin, Warsaw, New York; Lyle of Alexandria; Robert of Faribault; and Richard of Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1912 William and Grace Martin went into the mercantile business in Sedan and operated a general store there. They sold the business in 1919 but continued to live in Sedan until 1921 when the family moved to Villard. In 1923 they returned to Sedan and resumed their old business at the same old stand.

On June 15, 1927 William Martin passed away and Grace Martin continued to operate the business thereafter with the help of her growing sons. As her sons grew up and made their way out into the world, she declined to retire to an easier life but continued to operate her business alone and to preserve her family home at Sedan. After operating the business single handed for a number of years, illness finally forced her to dispose of her business and home at Sedan in the summer of 1948. She then made her home with her sons until her final illness overtook her.

On Sept 5, 1946 a severe windstorm hit the village of Sedan and she narrowly escaped when a bulk station was blown across the street and hurtled into the front of her store building where she was alone at the time. Even this harrowing experience failed to influence her to retire and she rebuilt her store and she continued to do business and make her home in the community which she loved so well.

Grace E. Martin was treasurer of the village of Sedan from 1932 to 1948 and discharged her duties in a commendable manner.

Also surviving besides the four sons are their wives, five grandsons and four granddaughters. One sister Mrs. Jim Egan, and four brothers, George, Otto, Ben and Giles Wamsley also survive.

Requiem Mass was sung for the deceased by Father Thomas Shadeg at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Sedan on Friday, September 23, 1949. A large group of friends and relatives gathered to pay their last respects to a dear departed friend. She was laid to rest alongside her beloved husband in the Catholic cemetery at Sedan.

Serving as pallbearers were the following: Melvin Brosvig, Tommy Mitchell, Gene Landwehr, Jack Casey, Don Mitchell and Russell Egan.

A large number of floral and spiritual offerings were made, bespeaking a testimony of love, devotion and esteem for a departed friend.

After conclusion of the services at the cemetery, the ladies of the parish served a dinner in the church basement for the friends and relatives.

Among those attending the funeral from a distance were the following: Melvin S. Martin and son, Charlie, of Warsaw, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Martin of Faribault, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Martin and son, Johnnie, of Kansas City, Missouri; Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Wamsley of Charlo, Montana and their son, Gene, of Helena, Montana; Otto Wamsley of Billings, Montana; Bem Wamsley of Wolf Point, Montana; Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Egan and Miss Mabel Rooney of St. Paul; Mr. and Mrs. Giles Wamsley of San Diego, Calif; Mrs. Margaret Wirtzzeld and son, LeRoy of Underwood, N.D.; Mrs. Lilly Chamberlain of Taconite, Minn.; Miss Anne Mitchell, Minneapolis; Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Freese, Alberta, Minn.; and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Tintes, Eden Valley, Minn.
generation III (Grandparents)

4 (2)
manWilliam Joseph Martin‏
Born ‎15 Apr 1838 Shanagolden, County Limerick, Ireland Event Description: the date is of his baptism, died ‎28 May 1910 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 72 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
William Martin and his wife "Kate" and two kids and his brother John, age 25, are in the 1870 census of Minneapolis (St. Anthony, Ward 2 : 550 618). He and his brother are working in a sawmill. Also living with them are Catherine's brothers Michael Rooney (age 23, b. Canada), James Rooney (age 21, b. Canada), and perhaps a cousin, Patrick Killeen (age 40, b. Ireland), all listed as laborers. Other records indicate that Patrick enlisted in the Civil War in 1965 and was in heavy artillery at Ft. Snelling, and that he was born in Galway.

William Martin moved from Minneapolis where his two oldest children were born to the Detroit Lakes area in 1870 to work for a "pinery" or lumber company. James and William were born here. In 1873 they moved to "Stearns" (Raymond Township) in about 1873, based on comments in letters from his brother James in Canada. There are a number of mentions of the "Record" newspaper in the Canada letters, from Detroit Lakes. In 1885 the family moved from Raymond Township to Bangor Township, about 12 miles to the southwest. They retired to a home in Sedan, owned by Charles.

In a letter shortly before their marriage, James Martin told Jennie Anderson that he had secured a traveling pass, a ticket from Kensington to "Detroit," so that as part of their honeymoon they could see Det oit where his life started.

8/23/15:
David Gaffaney looked up my great grandfather's baptismal record on the Irish parish website (http://registers.nli.ie/) - he is William Martin, who married Catherine Rooney. Lyle Martin had found him listed in the parish record at Shanagolden, Co. Limerick, Ireland when he made a trip there in the 1980s.
It was quite easy to find him. His is the last baptismal record of April 15, 1838. The Latin reads "Bap. Gulielmus filius leg. Ionnes Kilmartin & Catherine Connors (spon Patricius Sullivan & Juditha [?] Keating)". English: William, legitimate son of James Kilmartin & Catherine Connors, sponsors Patrick Sullivan and Judith [?] Keating". After the Kilmartin's arrived in the Gatineau area of Canada they changed their last name to Martin.

William Martin and Catherine Rooney were married at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in northeast Minneapolis on July 7, 1867. Witnesses were John J. Darcy and Mary Tracy. The priest was the Rev. Felix Tissot.
Two years later John Darcy married Catherine's younger sister Sarah at the same church. They had a son they named Felix.
Mary Tracy would have been Catherine's 24-year-old first cousin, daughter of her aunt Ann Rooney.
As of 2016, the St. Anthony parish records are at the Church of the Holy Cross in Minneapolis, about a mile north of St. Anthony of Padua (612-789-7238) on University Avenue.
Also, see http://www.lngplants.com/Basilica_of_Saint_Mary_Minneapolis_1955_JMR_PA.html

William Joseph Martin's naturalization record is at Pope County, dated March 10, 1886.

This a list of priests connected to St. Anthony of Padua parish in Minneapolis, some of whom had a connection with the Murphy/Rooney families:

Reverend John McDermott, born in Clifton, County Galway, Ireland, in 1816, and ordained in Little Rock, Arkansas, about 1840. He came to the Diocese of St. Paul in 1860 and assumed charge of St. Anthony parish. He was a pastor at St. Anthony of Padua church in Minneapolis before going out to Mower and then Wright County and from there to Meeker County just to the west. He died in 1887 in Darwin, Meeker County, Minnesota and is buried in St. John's Catholic Cemetery there. (He was injured getting off the train in Darwin that same year, which may or may not have any connection to his death.)

Rev. Felix Tissot, a French priest, succeeded Fr. McDermott in 1866 at St. Anthony in Minneapolis. The predominately Irish parishioners were chagrined that they had a French priest instead of one of their own. He was the priest who married Catherine Rooney and Will Martin in 1867 as well as also her younger sister Sarah Rooney and John Darcy in 1869. He was born in Lyon, France in 1835 and was first assigned to a Goodhue County mission in 1856, then to Cannon Falls, then Wabasha, then St. Anthony of Padua from 1866 until 1886. He died 18 November 1893 at the age of 58 and is buried in St. Anthony Cemetery in Minneapolis in the circle plot.

Rev. Hugh J. McDevitt was born in 1842 in Ireland and died in 1910 in Minneapolis and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul. He did mission work in Australia before coming to the U.S. He was the one listed with Margaret Murphy in the 1895 Minnesota census of Manannah, Meeker County, Minnesota. (Fr. McDermott had already died; he had organized the Church of Our Lady in Manannah in 1876 ). It looks like the faded name written in that census is Rev. John McDevitt, but the first name is either a mistake or it's his middle name and he went by John. And his age fits him. He was pastor of the Minnesota parishes of Darwin, Manannah, Rosemount and Shakopee, successively.

Rev. James McGolrick was born May 1, 1841, at Barrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland and came to Minneapolis in the autumn of 1867. He was soon transferred to Minneapolis as assistant to Father John McDermott of St. Anthony's church. To provide a place of worship for the Catholics of East Minneapolis, Father Mc-Golrick built an addition to the little frame structure erected some time previously by Father Tissot, the successor to Father McDermott at St. Anthony's parish. This was the first Church of the Immaculate Conception. Father McGolrick remained in charge of the congregation of the Immaculate Conception until December 27, 1889, when he was consecrated first Bishop of Duluth. He died in 1918 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Duluth.

Rev. James O'Reilly from County Cavan, Ireland, was pastor at St. Anthony of Padua in Minneapolis starting in 1886. He became bishop of Fargo in 1909.
  Married ‎7 Jul 1867 Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, age 29 years (married 42 years) to:
5 (2)
womanCatherine Bridget Rooney‏
Born ‎14 Sep 1845 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died ‎25 Jan 1911 Sedan, Pope County, Minnesota‎, age 65 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
William Martin and Catherine Rooney were married at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in what is today northeast Minneapolis on July 7, 1867. (The cities of St. Anthony east of the Mississippi and Minneapolis west of the Mississippi, merged into one, Minneapolis, in 1872.) Witnesses were John J. Darcy and Mary Tracy. The French priest, Rev. Felix Tissot, performed the ceremony. Fr Tissot is buried in the "circle" in St. Anthony Cemetery in Minneapolis
Two years later John Darcy married Catherine's younger sister Sarah at the same church with the same priest. They had a son they named Felix.
Mary Tracy would have been Catherine's 24-year-old first cousin, daughter of her aunt Ann Rooney.
As of 2016, the St. Anthony parish records are at the Church of the Holy Cross in Minneapolis, about a mile north of St. Anthony of Padua (612-789-7238) on University Avenue.
Also, see http://www.lngplants.com/Basilica_of_Saint_Mary_Minneapolis_1955_JMR_PA.html

Glenwood Herald
February 3, 1911

CALLED TO HEAVENLY HOME
_____________________________

Mrs. Catherine E. Martin of Sedan is called Home After Long and Useful Life.
_____________________________

At her home in Sedan, Minn. on Wednesday, January 25, Mrs. Catherine E. Martin passed away at the age of sixty five years. Death had been expected for some time for the doctors gave up hope long ago, and Death alone could furnish relief from a long term of pain and suffering which began several years ago [carcinoma of the rectum].
Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Father Sharer of Padua in the Catholic church at Sedan on Saturday at nine o'clock and interment was made in the cemetery at Padua, in the afternoon of the same day, and the body laid beside that of her husband William J. Martin who had died just eight months before.
Deceased whose maiden name was Catherine B. Rooney, was born in Canada September 14, 1845, and was therefore, at the time of her death in the 66th year of her age. In the early sixties she emigrated with her parents to Minnesota and settled in Minneapolis, which was then little more than a village. Here she was married to William Martin in 1866 [actually, July 7, 1867]. They moved to Stearns county in 1873, whe re they lived for 12 years engaged in farming till 1885 when they move d to Bangor, Pope county. In June 1908, they moved into town finding farm work some what strenuous for their advancing years and here she passed away as above noted surrounded by a number of sorrowing friends and relatives.
Six sons and four daughters live to mourn the loss of a kind and loving mother, also six brothers and one sister survive her. The sons are, John F. Martin, Frazee, Minn., James E. of Kensington, W. E. and Chas. H. of Sedan, T. C. of St. Paul and E. L. Martin of Windham, Mont. The daughters are, Mrs. James A. Gaffaney of Forada, Margaret Julia and Elizabeth of Sedan. The brothers are, Michael and John Rooney of Montana, James and W. E. Rooney of Padua, T. T. and Hugh M. Rooney, Brooten and a sister Mrs. Dennis Egan of Padua.
Kind and loving in disposition, a great friend of the children of all ages, her sympathies were always with the young. She will be greatly missed by a large circle of friends, and the loss to her home is irreparable, indeed.
The Herald joins in extending sincere sympathy to the friends and relatives of the deceased.
generation IV (Great-Grandparents)

10 (5)
manJohn Rooney‏
Born ‎24 Jun 1820 Galway, Ireland, died ‎19 May 1880 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 59 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
The 1844 John R. Rooney and Mary McCool marriage record at St. Paul's Catholic church, Aylmer, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada:

"The sixteenth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, after the banns of marriage have been once published at the parish (place?) of the mass of our mission between John Rooney of Wakefield son of age of Michael Rooney and Catherine Caufield [or Callfield], County Galway in Ireland, on the one part, and Mary McCool of Hull, daughter under age of the late Michael McCool and of the late Sarah Flannigan [or Flanigan] on the other part; no impediment having been discovered and whereas the publication of two bans has been by us granted in virtue of our powers, we the undersigned priest missionary have received their mutual consent to marriage and have given them the nuptial benediction in presence of Eliza Paul, James McCool, James Cassidy and Bernard Cassidy, who as well as the parties have declared they could not sign.
J. Desantels, priest"

This family, through Sarah, is in the 1851 Canada census of Quebec (Canada East), Ottawa (county), Wakefield. The family through Thomas (8 kids) is in the 1861 census of Canada, Township of Wakefield. Next to him is his brother Thomas Rooney and Bridget and their three children (the oldest being from Thomas's first wife).

Sometime during 1865 or 1866 the family moved to Minnesota. They we're found in the 1865 Minnesota state census.

[There's a John Rooney in the 1869 Minneapolis city directory as a laborer, living between Helen and Oregon streets, which are the 2nd and 3rd streets south of Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. Minneapolis and St. Anthony were joined in 1872 under the name Minneapolis. He is more likely to have lived in St. Anthony, so this one may not be related.]

John and family are in Raymond Township, Stearns County in 1870.

Helen Felling's papers: John Rooney (the father) left with a team of oxen to get [or to sell] a load of seed wheat about a mile north of his home. His wagon tipped over and the sacks of grain smothered him [he was found dead buried under the load]. He is listed in the 1880 federal mortality schedule of deaths in Stearns county, the cause of which is listed as "accidental." The Sauk Centre Herald reports this on May 28, 1880.
  Married ‎16 Oct 1844 Aylmer, Hull, Quebec, Canada, age 24 years St. Paul's Catholic Church (married 35 years) to:
11 (5)
womanMary McCool‏
Born ‎1823 Donegal, Ireland Event Description: or 1828, died ‎30 Nov 1895 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 71 or 72 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
According to maps made from Griffiths, McCool is almost exclusively an Ulster name. The name concentrates in Donegal.

December 2016: An online family tree of distant relatives has identified the location of the birth (1823) of our great, great grandmother Mary McCool, who married John Rooney. They provided a picture of where she and her parents, Michael McCool and Mary (or Sarah) Flanagan, lived in Cullionboy, Donegal.

The McCool homestead was a two-room thatched roof stone structure with an attached shed which was used for the animals. This building, located in the townland of Cullionboy--about 5 miles from Donegal Town--was inhabited until 1967 and, as can be seen in the recent photo, is still standing, minus the thatched roof.

One of the witnesses to her marriage to John R. Rooney was her brother James McCool. Also perhaps an Eliza McCool and two people with the last name Casidy (Cassidy?).

In the 1851 census of Rigaud, Vaudreuil, Canada, there is a family of "McCall" next to the Avon John Rooney and family, and the Mary has the correct birth year. Parents were Denis McCall and Helene Chanan.
generation V (Great Great-Grandparents)

20 (10)
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:
21 (10)
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).