The Keenan Family

Background:

I knew very little about the life of Elizabeth Keenan before she married James Morrissey. Family records indicated that she was born in County Armagh to James Keenan and Bridget Barry. But, I had no documentary evidence for this outside of an unsourced pedigree chart handed down through my family. I had nothing on her siblings or her early life in Ireland or the U.S. The first record was a derivative source for her marriage to James Morrissey in St Louis, Missouri on 2 June 1856. [The author has since been able to locate the original civil record and the original religious record of their marriage online. Thanks FamilySearch Full-Text! Only the religious record states her parents and James and Bridget.] They were married by Father John Bannon at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, where the ceremony was witnessed by James Kelley and Mary Gaffney. Elizabeth is well-documented after the family moves to Richmond, Virginia in the early 1860s. Her daughter, Anna Elizabeth (Nannie) Morrissey died in 1927 and her death certificate stated that her mother was from County Armagh. The informant on Nannie's death certificate was her deceased sister's daughter Claire, who lived with Elizabeth (Keenan) Morrissey upon the death of Claire's mother. This was the first and only reference to a location of the Keenans in Ireland in family records.  

 

Research Question:

Who were the parents of Elizabeth Keenan who married James Morrissey in St. Louis, Missouri on 2 June 1856?

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Aunt Berb's Research: 

In Summer 2016, I received two boxes of family artifacts by my father’s unmarried sister, Bertha. They arrived from my first cousin Linda. She inherited the information from her mother, my Aunt Helen, who took possession of them after the death of her unmarried sister, my Aunt “Berbs.” Bertha Elizabeth Morrissey was the family historian. She gathered information from many sources including from her paternal aunt, Anna Elizabeth ("Nannie") Morrissey. Much of her work is the foundation for my own research on my paternal family in Richmond, Virginia and Ireland. Aunt Berbs was a remarkable researcher for someone who was an untrained novice without the advantages of computers and other technology. 

Within the two boxes of research were quite a few references to the Keenan surname from the area in and around the District of Columbia. These quickly drew my attention because I hoped they would provide clues to the Morrissey family’s connection to DC. I strongly suspected that my great grandparents, James Morrissey and Elizabeth Keenan had family or friends in the DC area based on two facts. James and Elizabeth briefly lived in DC during the U.S. Civil War. And, three of their children married spouses from the Northern Virginia/DC/Baltimore area. Rather, the contents of the boxes were 3 groups of items which lead not to information on the Morrisseys, but rather the Keenans. Included in the boxes were a handwritten, but photocopied list of children, 3 death certificates, a hand-drawn note regarding a grave monument, and a group of documents regarding the estate of Bridget M. Keenan. Bridget M. never married and had inherited a combined estate from other relatives. Her probate records named her surviving Keenan cousins.

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James Keenan’s List of Children: 

Included in Bertha’s records was first a poor photocopy of what resembles a “Births” page from a family bible record. There are no notes to its origin or author. It was likely written by one person probably at one sitting. It lists the children of James Keenan. Included are a reference to his marriage without a location or spouse listed, “Jas Keenan was married the 28th of July 1826.” Then this is a list of children:

• John, b. 18 July 1827 

• Mary, b. 15 February 1829 

• Catherine, b. 19 February 1831 

• Michael, b. 14 September 1832 

• Solomon, b. 26 January 1835 

• Elizabeth, b. 5 September 1836 

• Bridget, b. 4 April 1839 

• James, b. 13 September 1841 

• Solomon, b. 9 January 1845​​

 

Searching County Armagh, Northern Ireland

Online Roman Catholic Parish records are available at several repositories including Ancestry and Find My Past. A baptism record was located for Elizabeth, daughter of James Keenan and Bridget Barry dated 6 September 1836, in Killeavy Lower (aka Bessbrook) Parish. Subsequent records located for each child of James and Bridget born 1835 and after are located in Killeavy Lower Parish. No records for baptisms before 1835 were located online. 

• Solomon, bap. 7 February 1835, sponsors: Bernard and Lucy Rice [12 days after photocopied record.]

• Elizabeth, bap. 6 September 1836, sponsors: Patrick Sharkey and Bridget McShane [1 day after photocopied record.]

• Bridget, bap. 5 April 1839, sponsors: Patrick Sharkey and Mary Foster [1 day after photocopied record.]

• James, bap. 14 September 1841, sponsors: [illegible, microfilm copy too dark, and names run off the page.] [1 day after photocopied record.]

• Solomon, bap. 10 January 1845, sponsors: Peter and Mary Drumgoole [1 day after photocopied record.]

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Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, DC:

Mount Olivet was the primary Catholic Cemetery in the DC area during the mid to late 1800s. Many of the Keenans are buried there. In the immediate vicinity of parents James and Bridget are: 

• John Keenan who died 13 June 1863, age 36 [Born 1827.]

Elsewhere in the cemetery are: ​

• Mary Keenan Fegan, with a stated birthdate of 15 February 1829

• Catherine Keenan Griffin, with a state birthday of 19 February 1831

• Michael Keenan, whose memorial only gives a birth year as 1832

 

Conclusions: 
The photocopied document, of unknown origin, unknown author, and unknown age that lists James Keenan's marriage date and the birthdates of his children is not an excellent source of genealogical information. Despite it's deficiencies, it appears to be remarkably accurate when its evidence is correlated with baptisms records created at the time of the births, and maintained in a repository independent of family records. However, there is no marriage record online for James Keenan and Bridget Barry to analyze and compare their wedding date.