This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: BonnieWebster58 Surnames: Boyer, Bresnan, Burke, Caragher, Connolly, Coughlin, Holloway, McGrath, O'Connor, Preston, Schnipper, Tiernan, Webster. Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.burke/4405/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I'm looking for the ancestors of Thomas Joseph Burke and Anne McGrath (aka Ann, aka Anna). Thomas was born in Ireland, about 1846 (give or take). Anne was also born in Ireland in 1846. I don't know when Thomas arrived in the US, but Anne came over in 1865 and they were married that same year, in St. Louis, Missouri. Their first 2 children, Annie D. and William J., were born in St. Louis, before the family moved to a farm in Wyandotte County, Kansas: near Connor Station or Wolcott, which has since been incorporated into Kansas City. 4 more kids were born: Mary (aka Maria, aka Marie); Thomas Joseph Jr. (aka Joseph L.); Agnes (aka Sister Mary Stephen); and John F. The Burkes were in Kansas from at least 1872, when Mary was born, until the 1885 Kansas state census. By the 1900 federal census, they were back in St. Louis, minus Thomas Sr., with Anne listed as a widow. I've found my grandmother's brothers and sisters in the censuses, etc., and I even found her mother's death! certificate, listing Anne Burke's parents as Anthony McGrath and Mary McCormack. And Anne's obituary mentions she was survived by a sister, Mrs. Mary McLear.But all we (descendants of Mary / Marie) know of my grandmother's father is that "Thomas Burke was killed on the bridge", murdered as a result of something shady he was involved in. But we don't know what bridge or where. There's a bridge near their farm that led to then-Kansas City. And there's a bridge from St. Louis, MO, to East St. Louis, Illinois, but we don't know if it was either of those, or neither of those. I think there are still descendants of Thomas Burke and Anne McGrath living in St. Louis, and I hope I hear from someone who can answer the mystery of what happened to Thomas Burke, and exactly where, in Ireland, he and Anne came from. Other surnames associated with their descendants include, Boyer, Bresnan, Burke, Caragher, Connolly, Coughlin, Holloway, McGrath, O'Connor, Preston, Schnipper, Tiernan, We! bster. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.