Descendants of Patrick Kirwin and Martha Jane Mills

NAME	PIX	BIRTH	LOCATION	DEATH	LOCATION	MARRIAGE	LOCATION	SPOUSE
Patrick Kirwin [1]		17 March 1801	Dublin, Ireland	5 May 1885	West Cherry Township, Montgomery County, Kansas	22 July 1855	Addison Township, Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	Martha Jane Mills [2]
Francis Marion Kirwin 45410*		20 February 1855	Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	25 May 1934	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	7 July 1877	West Cherry Township, Montgomery County, Kansas	Sarah Jane Haynes
William H. Kirwin [3]		28 December 1856/7	Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	2 June 1914	Tacoma, Washington (buried Tacoma Mausoleum)	1)31 May 1885 2) Abt. 1892 3) Abt. 1898 4) betw. 1910-1914	1)Calico, San Bernadino County, California 2) perhaps Tacoma, Washington? 3) Yukon Territory or Okanagon County, Washington? 4) Tacoma, Washington	1) Mollie Turner 2) A ? 3) Emma 4) Melissa
Mary A. Kirwin [4]		1 June 1858	Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	1879	West Cherry Township, Montgomery County, Kansas	17 February 1878	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	Howard Copeland
John Arthur Kirwin [5]		20 June 1859	Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	2 June 1944	Winnemucca, Humboldt County, Nevada	1)2 June 1885 2) abt. 1907	1)Calico, San Bernadino County, California 2) ?	1) Olive Cook 2) Frances ?
Thomas Jordan Kirwin [6]		1861	Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana	abt. 1900	likely Telluride, San Miguel County, Colorado			Elizabeth ?
Charles Edward Kirwin		2 April 1862	Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana	1 December 1939	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	11 December 1886	Montgomery County, Kansas	Louisa Thornton [7]
Elisa Marg Kirwin		8 August 1868	Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana	August 26, l868	Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana (buried St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Cemetery)	~	~	~
Albert Walter Kirwin 45409* [8]		22 May 1870	Greencastle, Indiana [4]	16 August 1932	Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois; Buried Woodland Hill Cemetery, Wood River, Madison, Illinois	10 September 1891	Neodesha, Kansas	Mary Kelly

* DNA testing proves that while Albert, the youngest, is certainly Patrick's son, Frank, who was born five months before Patrick and Martha married, is not Patrick's biological son. So, research on Frank's ancestry and the ancestry of the other brothers now diverges as we look to establish the identity of Frank's biological father over time. This is something that up until now would have been pretty impossible ... DNA resources allow Frank's results to be registered with several likely databases where we will be notified if a "match" comes in. Then it will be a matter of researching geographically to learn what member of that family was somewhere where 15 year old Martha Jane Mills was living in about 1854 ... in today's world even secrets from the 1850s can be unraveled! The best part is that whenever a DNA match comes in, it will likely be from a line that is already researched, so we will just "hook in."

[1] Patrick Kirwin's Naturalization papers say Patrick left Liverpool arriving in New York; 17 August 1848 - right at the apex of the Great Irish Famine. He was 47 years old. Had he left a deceased family behind and gone to the USA to give himself a fresh start in life?? Patrick functioned initially as a railroad worker working his way west from New York to Indiana. When he arrived in Shelby County, he met and married Martha Jane Mills and adopted her five month old son, Frank. He indentured himself for land, worked as a handy man and a farmer, likely starting over from scratch. Records show he was taken to court in a dispute over his building of an outhouse. Although Patrick always treated Frank as a full son, DNA tests have proved that Patrick was not Frank's biological father - click here for info.

[2] For many years, we have had no luck finding a likely 15 year old lass born in North Carolina in any 1850 census. Aunt Lou's ballad suggests Martha was "visiting" kin when she came to Indiana... translate "hiding her shame." See Footnote 1. DNA results one day may give us the name of the biological father of Frank.... the skeletons emerge when they are ready...

[3] Death certificate signed by Mrs. Melissa Kirwin, 816 South Grand Ave., Tacoma, Washington. Will's occupation listed as Miner, Real Estate Banker and Federal Court Bailiff. Will has no known descendants, but lived a very colorful life - see the Timeline above!

[5] John worked for many years as a Game Warden in Winnemucca, Nevada. He has no known issue.

[6] Little is known about Thomas who settled in Colorado. He had no know issue and the family did not know he had married for many years.

[7] "Aunt Lou and Uncle Charlie" were called just that by many folks in their community who loved this amiable couple. I can still see in my mind's eye the braided rag rug Aunt Lou made during the Depression that graced their home on into the fifties. She died the year after I met her, 28 May 1954. Aunt Lou b. 21 April 1862 in either Illinois or Iowa, was the author of the Kirwin Family Ballad. You can see her picture and obituary here.

[8] Albert shows up as a 1/12 infant, born in May (?), in the 1870 census which was enumerated 30 July 1870 in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana. The family went to Kansas soon after this. His death certificate says he was born in Greencastle, Indiana and that he died of TB in a Wood River, IL Sanatorium. He was a Boiler Maker - Oil Tanks worker. A descendant of his line is the donor of the cheek cells which proved that Frank is a half-sibling to the rest of his brothers.

UPDATE 2006: We finally got to take a trip to Dublin and took a look to see if we could find anything at all logical on our Patrick. Essentially, all we knew is that he said he was from Dublin and he immigrated in 1848, landing in New York. Since "Dublin" could have meant Dublin City, Dublin County or Dublin Parish, this information was not especially helpful. When added to the fact the the Irish are notorious for recording and celebrating Baptismal dates instead of birth dates, the task becomes even harder. Often, immigrants to the USA, especially during the famine "invented" birth dates. Patrick listed 18 March (St. Paddy's Day) as his birth date - hmmmm, mebbe, mebbe not ...

At the Dublin National Library, one of the volunteer professional genealogists quickly directed us to the National Archives a few blocks away. Flying blind, I decided to look at Dublin Trade Directories to see what Kirwan/in's were in Dublin beginning with 1801 (when Patrick said he was born). I looked at Directories for every 10 years until 1820 when Patrick would have been old enough to have a job on his own, and then I narrowed the search to Directories for every year. Not until 1830 were any Patrick's listed - then there were three:

Patrick Kirwan, Rope Manufacturer, 3 Pill Lane Dublin
Patrick Kirwan, Silk and Ribbon, 4 Skinner Row, Dublin
Patrick Kirwan, Silk and Muslin Dyer, 52 Cork Street, Dublin

Patrick Kirwan, Dyer, 44 Pimlico Lane
Patrick Kirwan, Rope Maker, 105 Pill Lane - also listed at the same address in 1846, 1847 and 1848

The second and third Patrick had several listings and appeared to have been fairly well established. The occupation suggested this was the same man with perhaps a factory and retail address:

Patrick Kirwan, Haberdasher, Laceman and Hosier, 40 Grafton Street, Dublin (1840, 1846)
Patrick Kirwan, Inspector of Weights and Measures, 40 Grafton Street, Dublin (1846, 1848)
Kirwan, Schevenals & Company, Millinery and Full Dress Warerooms, 40 Grafton Street, Dublin (1840)

I was very interested to note that suddenly this Patrick dropped off the lists after 1848, the year our Patrick immigrated... I had long suspected that a man who left Ireland in the famine at the age of 47 might well have lost a family in the famine. I was curious about the name "Schevenels" and took a look at the Appendix to Thirtieth Report of the Deputy, Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland to see if the name came up associated with Kirwan. Sure enough, there was a marriage license registered between Patrick Kirwan and Mary Anne Schevenels in 1834 on page 269 - I will order the record. I will also be looking to see if I can find Birth or Death records associated with this family.

I have since been advised by a professional Irish Researcher to see if there exists in Indiana a record of his Application for Naturalization as apparently the actual Application includes more information than the resulting Naturalization Document that is issued later for citizenship.

Mary Anne Kirwan, millinery and dress warerooms, 40 Grafton Street
Patrick Kirwan, registrar of weights and measures, 40 Grafton Street

It will still take further research if we are ever able to actually determine whether or not this Patrick is our patriarch, natural or adoptive. Even though the occupations do not match at all, if one loses everything, one begins where they can and many folks decide to work with their hands. In finding these records, I felt a sense of peace and closure that seemed "right." Even if we are never able to learn more, I can "adopt" this Patrick as our own, at least for the time being, as he adopted my great great grandfather as his own in Shelbyville, Indiana. This may truly be as close as we ever get to learning the full story of a man whose early beginnings could only be defined as mysterious, but who made or family what it is today!

NAME	PIX	BIRTH	LOCATION	DEATH	LOCATION	MARRIAGE	LOCATION	SPOUSE
Francis Marion Kirwin [1]		20 February 1855	Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana	25 May 1934	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	7 July 1877	West Cherry Township, Montgomery County, Kansas	Sarah Jane Haynes
William Charles Kirwin	see family pix	15 May 1878	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	2 November 1965	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	4 July 1901	Perry, Noble County, Oklahoma	Esther Crane
Cora Belle Kirwin	see family pix	23 August 1882	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	5 September 1970	Skiatook, Osage County, Oklahoma			Stile Click
Arthur Kirwan		approx. Dec/Jan 1883/1884 [1]	W. Cherry Township, Montgomery County, Kansas	Before 1890	likely Kansas	~	~	~
Mary Evelena Kirwin		9 August 1886	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	22 February 1961	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	7 September 1908	Jenks, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	Le Roy Carpenter
Estelle Grace Kirwin		2 March 1889	Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas	18 June 1979	Orlando, Lake County, Florida	8 April 1906	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma	William Marion Oswalt
Edith Elfreda Kirwin		4 September 1891	Ceres, Noble County, Oklahoma	21 November 1918	Prue, Oklahoma	1 February 1908		Jesse Ewing Frailey [3]
Francis Marion Kirwin, Jr.		13 February 1894	Ceres, Noble County, Oklahoma	24 September 1928	Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma			Bernice Jackson
Edna Martha Frances Kirwin		22 June 1899	Ceres, Noble County, Oklahoma	2 May 1998	Henryetta, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma	4 July 1919	Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma	Ensign Morton Harman

[1] It has been proved that Frank Kirwin was not the biological son of Patrick Kirwin. To see charts on his likely biological family click here. Sarah went to Blackdog Twnshp in Osage County to help care for daughter Edith and her new baby in the 1918 flu epidemic. She caught the flu herself and died along with Edith and Edith's daughter, Irene.

[2] Arthur Kirwin shows up in the 1885 Kansas Territory Census & Voting Record at age 14 months. This document was enumerated 1 March 1885 putting his birth abt. December 1883 - January 1884. He does not show up in the 1890 Oklahoma Territory Census with the rest of the family and is assumed to have died young.

[3] Edith and Jessie had children: Harold b. abt. 1909, likely in Sapulpa, Creek County, OK, Irene b. abt 1915, Helen, b. abt 1916, James b. abt.1918. Edith died in the 1918 flu epidemic along with her mother and her daughter Irene.