Hello,
I'm posting this for my husband, Joe Dwyer, whose great-great-grandparents were James Cussen (b abt 1815) and Johanna Scanlan/Scanlon (b abt 1822, d 7 April 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri). The couple married in Killeedy and had 10 children altogether (with a great deal of certainty based on the 1900 US census in which Johanna reported that she had 10 children with 8 surviving). We have all 10 accounted for, with baptism records for all and one child born late enough for me to have found both baptism and civil registration.
Baptised in Killeedy: Mary - b 1843, d - 1922; Ellen - b 1845, d - ?; Michael - b 1849, d -1928; Johanna/Hannah - b 1851, d - 1925; John - b 1853, d - 1898; Bridget - b 1855, d - 1929; Catherine - b 1857, d - 1913; James - b 1861, d - 1923;
Baptised in Newcastle West: Patrick - b 1863, d - 1908; and Martin - b 1865, d - 1878.
I have all their death records, too, except for Ellen. Everyone but Michael and Martin died in Saint Louis, Chicago (where Joe was born), or Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Michael died in Ireland where he had remained (more below about Michael). Ellen cannot be found, but she was married to an O'Hearne and deceased by 1913, according to her mother's obituary. I have no other details on her, so any help with finding who she married, where, if there were children born to that marriage, and where she died will be much appreciated.
Michael became a government employee (tax and excise collector), traveled quite a bit around Ireland, married in Dublin to Bridget Ryan of Dublin, and had a daughter. Michael and Bridget were married by a bishop. Joe's cousin, a Scanlan, is located in the Dublin area and will be researching to see if there are living cousins today in that area.
Except for Ellen, Michael and Martin, all the other children emigrated and were together in Saint Louis by 1880. Their mother joined them about 1883. In the 1900 census, she was a widow.
Their father, James Cussen, stayed behind, presumably with a sickly Martin. We cannot locate James' death cert, either, although he did not ever join his family in the US. If someone could locate that record, again, we would appreciate it.
Finally, we understand there are still Cussens in Newcastle West today, and we are curious to know if that branch is the same line Joe descends from. At Martin's birth, James' occupation is listed as shopkeeper. Later at Martin's death, James is listed as a farmer. We speculate that this shop may have been the solicitor's shop.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give us.
Regards,
Jeanne Foley Dwyer
