In this next story I will have to admit I did very little work. In fact, I don't think I did anything except share a sketchy history of my Griffin family. A new found fourth cousin, Mary, deserves all the credit for the research. However, this article should again point out the value of newspapers to your research supplemented by other records. And to think this whole thing started with the sharing of some incorrect family lore! FAMILY LORE, A BROKEN GRAVESTONE, A NEWSPAPER TIDBIT AND A FOURTH COUSIN USING NEWSPAPERS FOR RESEARCH How I Found My GG Grandmother Was Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM GRIFFIN from County Cork. And also how I also found her parents are more than likely William and Katherine McCarthy Cunningham (another generation found!) and her siblings are Jeremiah, Timothy, Michael, Martin, Richard and Mary Cunningham Conly. For the longest time I knew my gg grandfather was Morris / Maurice GRIFFIN, but didn't know from where he emigrated and I was unsure of my gg grandmother's name. An aunt had told me she was an Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM from Co. Mayo. Well, my aunts were never the most reliable sources, mind you. They led me on quite a few wild leprechaun chases with no pot of gold at the end. So, I stuck the words "Elizabeth Cunningham" next to Maurice Griffin in the family tree in the wife spot and uploaded the whole darned mess of Cunningham-Griffins up to my personal website one day long, long ago. And there it stayed. Long after that in 2004 a fourth cousin (who I didn't know was a fourth cousin at the time), left me an email wondering if I was related to the Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin I had listed on my website. I told her I thought I was since she was supposedly my gg grandmother and then that wonderful lady sent me some obits for Maurice Griffin. One obit mentioned he was from Co. Waterford. Well, now wasn't that a nice piece of news? I had no idea. Fourth cousin, Mary, also wondered my source for Elizabeth Cunningham being from Co. Mayo. Oh, I hated to admit that it was "family lore". She thought at that time that somehow her gg grandfather, Jeremiah Cunningham, and my gg grandmother, Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin, were related, but that part about Co. Mayo puzzled her since she knew her Cunninghams were from Co. Cork. Darn! Maybe this was another dead end. Life and research went on. Then, in July 2006, my dad gave me a folder of information he had received from who knows where (I think my aunt) that he said I could now own if I so desired. Lo and behold, I rummaged through it and I found a picture of Elizabeth Cunningham's gravestone that showed she was from Co. Cork! It just had to be her gravestone. I knew she had died some where between 1870 and 1875 because she was listed on the 1870 Federal Census but not the 1875 MN census and this gravestone photo, partially broken so you couldn't read some of it said "ELI"/Wife/Morris Gri/Born/In Co. Cork Ireland/Died/Jan. 30, 1872. There was also in that folder a letter from another Griffin descendant that said the Griffins were from Co. Cork. (More family lore???). Yahoo! Ehaw! Strangely enough around this same time, my fourth cousin, mentioned above, who had corresponded with me in 2004, contacted me again about the Cunninghams. She told me she had run across an item in the Caledonia, MN newspaper that convinced her that my Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin and her Jeremiah Cunningham were siblings: "Hello Cathy, We spoke about 2 years ago about Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin. I believed at the time that she was related to my gg grandfather, Jeremiah Cunningham. Elizabeth and her husband Maurice Griffin, lived on a farm close to Jerry, in Sheldon Township, MN. Their farms were located about 8 miles north of Caledonia. I recently found a news item in the Caledonia [MN] paper that I believe shows Elizabeth and Jerry were sister and brother. I'd like to talk to you if I could. Mary" That NEWS ITEM was: Caledonia Journal; Caledonia, MN; August 27, 1909 Mrs. Richard Welsh and niece, Irene Search, of Red Wing, who were here attending the funeral of Mrs. Welsh's aunt, Mrs. Jerry Cunningham, returned home Saturday morning. ---------- Mrs. Richard Welsh was Maurice & Elizabeth's eldest daughter, Kate, and Irene Search's aunt. So, if Mrs. Jerry Cunningham was Mrs. Richard Welsh's aunt then Mrs. Jerry Cunningham must be brother of Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin! Mrs. Jerry Cunningham was Ellen Hegarty Cunningham who died August 17, 1909. Further information that I remain indebted to this newfound cousin went on as follows: "A little background: Jerry had at least 4 brothers, possibly 5, and 2 sisters (counting Elizabeth) who settled in Houston county. Brothers: Timothy, Michael, Martin, Richard and possibly Dennis. Sisters: Mary Conly and Elizabeth Griffin. Mary was a real surprise. I found her on the 1880 federal census living with Jerry in Sheldon Tsp. She was a widow and had a son Thomas (17) and a daughter Ellen (15) living there as well. These two kids were both born in Ireland. I believe the Cunninghams are from the parish of Ballymacoda for the following reasons: 1. Brother Martin's obit states he was born in the parish of Ballymacoda, Cty Cork, Ireland. I know Martin was a brother from a) my great grandmother's family records b) the 1920 census shows Martin's son "Henry" living on the farm of Jerry's son "William". Henry's relation to William is listed as cousin. 2. Jerry's parents names were William and Katherine McCarthy Cunningham. Jerry married in Houston County. The person's who witnessed his marriage to Ellen Hegarty, were brother and sister Patrick and Mary Mullaney. The Mullaney's were from Ballymacoda and their mother's maiden name was McCarthy. Most likely cousins. 3. Jerry's obituaries and a biographical passage from the "History of Houston County" shows Jerry's migration path across the USA as: New York, to Virginia, to Ohio, to Michigan (were he worked the copper mines of Lake Superior) and finally MN. In 1850, a Timothy Cunningham, located in the copper mining district of Michigan, placed an AD in the Boston Pilot looking for his brothers Jerry and Michael Cunningham from the parish of Ballymacoda, county Cork. Timothy went on to the list the places he knew they had traveled, which nearly replicated Jerry's known migration path listed in the above two sources. I was later able to trace Timothy and Martin's marriage certificates to this area of Michigan. BTW - Martin, Timothy and Maurice/Elizabeth all had children born in Michigan. Ballymacoda is located near the Youghal Bay in eastern Cork. Very "near" Waterford county. Can't you see the family stories being a little mistold over the last 150 years to restate the place of origin as Waterford? Also the same thing with Skibbereen. Ellen Hegarty Cunningham, Jerry's wife, came from Skibbereen. Can't you see the family story being a little mistold to say "the Cunningham's/Griffins came from Skibbereen"?????" --- Well, yes, I could see that story being mistold, but how in the heck had my aunt come up with Co. Mayo for Elizabeth Cunningham Griffin to begin with??? (Maybe they had been popping a few too many corks at the time they gave me that info?) Thank goodness that newspaper tidbit and my research-savvy fourth cousin came along and shared. Cathy Joynt Labath Ireland Old News http://www.IrelandOldNews.com/ Iowa Old Press http://www.IowaOldPress.com