Thought it would be nice to take a departure from queries and talk about what we had found out about our CW-era ancestors, as well as to just how we discovered them. Like it is for many others, the b/m/d listings in the family Bible (originally owned by my g-grandfather, Dennis Kelleher) was one of my initial source of information - in this case for my Kelleher line. Many of the names and dates, however, are from long before my mother's time, and so she either didn't know them or her knowledge is sketchy at best. The first person listed is Patrick Kelleher, died 23 May 1867. My mother said she'd been told "he was in the Civil War and then went West to fight Indians" but didn't remember any details or from whom she'd heard it, or even if it was true or not. Her sister recalled the same story, so I felt it was worth checking out. I first tried looking him up a couple years ago at the ACW Research and Genealogy Database ( http://www.civilwardata.com ). There were several PKs listed, some of whom I could easily discard, such as the 45 year old (probably the wrong generation) and the guy who deserted (not likely to show his face at another army post), but a shotgun approach for the rest would run $50 with no guarantees, so that was out. (One of the shortcomings with almost the muster databases is they haven't uploaded records for US Regular Army soldiers yet.) Then last August, not really expecting success, I tried http://www.ancestry.com for their Union Army pension index. And here was a Patrick Kelleher of Co E, 2nd US Cavalry whose mother Johanna (hey, that is the right name) applied for a pension in Feb 1868. "Hokey smoke", I think. "Was the 2nd Cav in the CW? Yes. What did they do next? Went West to fight Indians. And Feb '68 would be about the right time for a pension application on someone dying in May '67." With so much fitting the puzzle, and a price increase to beat, I wasted no time in requesting the form from NARA, filling it out, and sending it in. Tried to get a jump on things by renting the US Army enlistment registry films from Heritage Quest, but the films weren't in the greatest shape and I didn't find PK this go round. About 6 months later, the package from NARA finally arrived. Opened it up, saw that the death date matched and that my g-gdad Dennis had provided a supporting affidavit - yes, this is my Patrick. As it turns out, though, the CW part is folklore. Patrick arrived in the US in 1864 and was a tailor in Boston when he enlisted in Dec 1866. He was killed "by the Indians" (probably Red Cloud's Sioux) near Bridger's Ferry in what is now Wyoming "while enroute to join his company" (gee, sounds like he was still only on his way out there). Service-wise, the only other things in the pension file was Patrick hadn't ever been paid (Johanna got the backpay, minus what was due the laundress) and that for some reason, the surgeon at Ft Laramie didn't seem to have a record of him being killed. This slowed down the verification process. Genie-wise, though, the file was a god-send. I'd known nothing about Patrick before, and now I had his year of immigration, his residence and civilian occupation. I found out how old Johanna was in 1868 so now had an approximate year of birth, that she had come to the US, and was living in Chelsea MA. Her husband John had died 20 years before (1848 - did the Famine have anything to do with it?) and she had never remarried. She was dropped from the rolls in 1883 due to not picking up the pension for the past 3 years, so appears the Johanna listed in the Bible as having died in 1880 is her. Along with Dennis, a Patrick Cavanaugh of Boston provided an affidavit; a Mary C. is listed in the Bible - could be Mary is Johanna's daughter and Pat C is her husband. Still don't have a townland, though; the file only made reference to Co Kerry, and I already knew that's where the Kellehers were from. Mention was made that Pat had been sending money home to Ireland to support his mother and pay her passage. Sounds like the family was engaged in the practice of coming over a little at a time (Dennis arrived in 1862), with the early arrivals working to bring the rest of the family over. I understand this was very common. With an enlistment date, I rented the film from HeritageQuest again and this time I managed to find Pat. Murphy's Law was at play here: while the top of the page was crystal clear, the bottom where Pat was listed was anything but. Pat's name was all but faded out, and most of the rest was decipherable because I now knew what I expected it to be saying. Pat was 21 when he enlisted and was a bit on the short side (5'5") with light hair and gray eyes. I've only just begun finding out what happened to Pat. I've learned that another EM was killed in the same action, but so far haven't found where he was buried. I have read that sometimes soldiers were buried in the field and all trace of the grave obliterated to prevent mutilation, so I might never find out. After reading the file, it occurred to me that, back in '75 while being transferred to Alaska, we drove by the area where Patrick was killed and possibly was buried. I now wish I had known about him then. Dennis

That was a interesting post Dennis. I have been researching Fettermans career and the 80 men who died with him for 3 years now. Not to much on the subject. There are some groups doing research on that period Ill see if I can dig anything up for you. Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis J. Francis" <fran@ees.eesc.com> To: <CIVIL-WAR-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 12:48 PM Subject: [Civil-War-Irish] Patrick KELLEHER - a success story > Thought it would be nice to take a departure from queries and talk about > what we had found out about our CW-era ancestors, as well as to just how > we discovered them. > > Like it is for many others, the b/m/d listings in the family Bible > (originally owned by my g-grandfather, Dennis Kelleher) was one of my > initial source of information - in this case for my Kelleher line. Many > of the names and dates, however, are from long before my mother's time, > and so she either didn't know them or her knowledge is sketchy at best. > > The first person listed is Patrick Kelleher, died 23 May 1867. My > mother said she'd been told "he was in the Civil War and then went West > to fight Indians" but didn't remember any details or from whom she'd > heard it, or even if it was true or not. Her sister recalled the same > story, so I felt it was worth checking out. > > I first tried looking him up a couple years ago at the ACW Research and > Genealogy Database ( http://www.civilwardata.com ). There were several > PKs listed, some of whom I could easily discard, such as the 45 year old > (probably the wrong generation) and the guy who deserted (not likely to > show his face at another army post), but a shotgun approach for the rest > would run $50 with no guarantees, so that was out. (One of the > shortcomings with almost the muster databases is they haven't uploaded > records for US Regular Army soldiers yet.) > > Then last August, not really expecting success, I tried > http://www.ancestry.com for their Union Army pension index. And here > was a Patrick Kelleher of Co E, 2nd US Cavalry whose mother Johanna > (hey, that is the right name) applied for a pension in Feb 1868. "Hokey > smoke", I think. "Was the 2nd Cav in the CW? Yes. What did they do > next? Went West to fight Indians. And Feb '68 would be about the right > time for a pension application on someone dying in May '67." With so > much fitting the puzzle, and a price increase to beat, I wasted no time > in requesting the form from NARA, filling it out, and sending it in. > > Tried to get a jump on things by renting the US Army enlistment registry > films from Heritage Quest, but the films weren't in the greatest shape > and I didn't find PK this go round. > > About 6 months later, the package from NARA finally arrived. Opened it > up, saw that the death date matched and that my g-gdad Dennis had > provided a supporting affidavit - yes, this is my Patrick. > > As it turns out, though, the CW part is folklore. Patrick arrived in > the US in 1864 and was a tailor in Boston when he enlisted in Dec 1866. > He was killed "by the Indians" (probably Red Cloud's Sioux) near > Bridger's Ferry in what is now Wyoming "while enroute to join his > company" (gee, sounds like he was still only on his way out there). > Service-wise, the only other things in the pension file was Patrick > hadn't ever been paid (Johanna got the backpay, minus what was due the > laundress) and that for some reason, the surgeon at Ft Laramie didn't > seem to have a record of him being killed. This slowed down the > verification process. > > Genie-wise, though, the file was a god-send. I'd known nothing about > Patrick before, and now I had his year of immigration, his residence and > civilian occupation. I found out how old Johanna was in 1868 so now had > an approximate year of birth, that she had come to the US, and was > living in Chelsea MA. Her husband John had died 20 years before (1848 - > did the Famine have anything to do with it?) and she had never > remarried. She was dropped from the rolls in 1883 due to not picking up > the pension for the past 3 years, so appears the Johanna listed in the > Bible as having died in 1880 is her. Along with Dennis, a Patrick > Cavanaugh of Boston provided an affidavit; a Mary C. is listed in the > Bible - could be Mary is Johanna's daughter and Pat C is her husband. > Still don't have a townland, though; the file only made reference to Co > Kerry, and I already knew that's where the Kellehers were from. > > Mention was made that Pat had been sending money home to Ireland to > support his mother and pay her passage. Sounds like the family was > engaged in the practice of coming over a little at a time (Dennis > arrived in 1862), with the early arrivals working to bring the rest of > the family over. I understand this was very common. > > With an enlistment date, I rented the film from HeritageQuest again and > this time I managed to find Pat. Murphy's Law was at play here: while > the top of the page was crystal clear, the bottom where Pat was listed > was anything but. Pat's name was all but faded out, and most of the > rest was decipherable because I now knew what I expected it to be > saying. Pat was 21 when he enlisted and was a bit on the short side > (5'5") with light hair and gray eyes. > > I've only just begun finding out what happened to Pat. I've learned > that another EM was killed in the same action, but so far haven't found > where he was buried. I have read that sometimes soldiers were buried in > the field and all trace of the grave obliterated to prevent mutilation, > so I might never find out. > > After reading the file, it occurred to me that, back in '75 while being > transferred to Alaska, we drove by the area where Patrick was killed and > possibly was buried. I now wish I had known about him then. > > Dennis > > > ==== CIVIL-WAR-IRISH Mailing List ==== > To review past messages, visit the list archives at > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/CIVIL-WAR-IRISH-L/ > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB >