Introduction
This is the third and last in a series of updates on the Glynn family. In the next few months we will be consecrating on providing additional information about the relationship to our ancestors. I mentioned if there is a revision it would be part of the Family Tree book. I have since changed my mind and decided that we will published the updated information on this blog sometime early next year --- much simpler that way.
Charles Lafferty
Dr. John Walsh continues his research into John Lafferty. He was described as "intelligent and worthy" before being killed in June 1865 which was well chronicled in the Challenges and Heroes book. He established residency in Woolsley Flat in 1859. Research efforts continue to try and determine when he came over from Ireland. Dr. Walsh also discovered that he established Chance Mining Company in November 1861 and insolvency was granted on March 24, 1863. The Masons Lodge of Sacramento may have additional information about John. He married Jane Patton in 1859 and they had two children Charles Jr and Mary Elizabeth. The son a photographer died at the age of 25 while serving as an elected member of the California Assembly. The daughter was my grandmother and is the great grandmother and great great grandmother to most who read this post. In other words, without Charles Lafferty we would have not existed.
Michael and Margaret Craig
With the help of the Holy Cross staff, I was able to locate the grave site of Michael and Margaret Craig. Michael died in 1893 and is buried in the first section of Holy Cross. There is no headstone and the graves that have headstones in this area are mostly unreadable.
The Craig's were the bridge between the Glynn family and the Lafferty's.
My daughter Katie who is a writer by profession decided to assist her old man in the final months of putting the original books together. She was a great help not only writing but for sharing ideas. The first thing she did was to write a glowing story of how Jane Patton a single young woman of 20 was brave and courageous to come from Northern Ireland to the U.S. by herself. She also sent a picture of an early 1900 ship and thought we could could use it on the page. I replied they just dreamed of such a ship.
Katie did further research and found the passenger list of the Riverdale Cotton Ship that Jane was on. She emailed me. Guess what dad --- Jane didn't come alone. With Jane Patton on the ship was her brother John, her sister Margaret Craig and her husband Michael and we believe his father John. Things would have been much simpler if Charles Lafferty was also on the ship.
We know that John Peter Glynn's mother Mary died most likely in 1872 when her son was 12. Who did he lived with? There is a possibility he lived with the Craig's for a few years since we know for sure when he was a brass polisher that he lived with them in 1880.
The Craig's moved into 351 Tehama in 1865 very soon after they arrived in San Francisco. Eventually in the early 1880s 351 also became the Glynn household until they moved to 1533 McAllister Street in 1902 a total of 37 years.
Condos located on Tehama are priced over $3,000,000 in 2018. They are not all new buildings. The address 351 does not exist today. The entire area except for the mint was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906. However, at 357 Tehama there is a 1910 building build after the earthquake that has been converted to condos. The Glynn's were a century ahead of their time.
Tuam, Ireland
When asked the question - 'Where was your father born' on Edward Glynn's Death Certificate, Mable his wife answered Galway, Ireland. All the other Glynn death certificates answered the question with one word --- Ireland. Thank you Mable!
From this information we were able to ascertain that John Peter Glynn was baptized on May 17, 1860 when he was 3 days old, at Donaghpatrick, Galway, Ireland in the diocese of Tuam.
My very good friends from Irvine Gary and Karen Belz on their trip to Scotland and Ireland earlier this year made it a point to visit Tuam. A sample of their many pictures are shown to the left.
The remains of the centuries old church where John Peter was baptized is shown located in the Donaghpatrick Cemetery
One of about five photos of Glynn tombstones is at the bottom left. If they were able to find five there must many more in that cemetery. Are they our Glynn family? Most likely not. The key will be to try and discover if John Peter's father Edward had any brothers and sisters. Our initial try in writing the original books was not successful although now we hope for better results with more time to focus on one objective.
Karen and Gary brought back a book about Tuam 'A town of Two Cathedrals'. The book contained numerous pictures of Cathedral of the Assumption and the St. Mary's Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Glancing through the book at first, I though the Protestant Church was the Catholic one because it had an altar railing.
When I looked at the pictures of Cathedral of the Assumption I can only recall the 1930 words of Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pius XII.
"A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become God. In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, "Where have they taken Him?"
