Little John’s bar on St. Paddy’s Day. My grandparents are on the left.
My 11th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for week 11 is — Luck of the Irish. Do you have an ancestor who seemed particularly lucky? Do you have a favorite Irish ancestor? This is their week.
This week’s theme was a no-brainer for me. When anyone in my family thinks of St. Paddy’s Day, they always and automatically think of Grandpa.
I have blogged many times about him. Grandpa was orphaned as an infant, and then again as a toddler, never getting a chance to know his parents. He became separated from his siblings while in foster care, and spent his adult life trying to find and learn about his family. He is the reason I became a genealogist. Yet, regrettably, I did not take an interest in family history until after he died. Grandpa never knew the real names of his parents or his grandparents. He wasn’t even sure of his middle name until after he married.
What Grandpa did know, was that he was Irish. And he was very proud of that heritage. Obsessively so. Perhaps because it was the only part of his heritage of which he was confident. Knowing absolutely nothing about his immediate or extended family’s history, Michael clung desperately to his Irish roots.
Grandpa (on the left) cooking up corned beef and cabbage at the bar.
Michael John Flanagan’s proud Irish heritage never shone brighter than on St. Paddy’s Day each year. I can only attest to his behavior the years I was alive, but Mom tells me that the holiday was always a big deal in their home. By the time I was a little girl, Grandpa owned (or co-owned, I am not sure) a bar called Little John’s in Pico Rivera, Los Angeles County, California. On St. Paddy’s Day, he decked the bar out in everything Irish and had corned beef and cabbage cooking all day. Mom didn’t want us little kids visiting the bar, but my brother, cousins, and I thought it was a super fun place — especially on St. Paddy’s Day.
Grandpa didn’t stop at decorating the bar and serving Irish faire all day.
His favorite part of St. Paddy’s Day each year was dressing up as a leprechaun. This 6-f00t-plus tall New York-born tattoo-sporting World War II Navy veteran would proudly don green tights, under an all green homemade outfit, and strut his stuff around town. Not just around the bar. Around town. Grandpa had a huge sense of humor and loved to make people laugh, especially at him. It was a big time kick for him to go out in his leprechaun suit and make people stare and laugh.
Grandpa and an employee, outside of the bar that Grandpa owned.
Grandpa also loved to embarrass people. Especially Grandma. She didn’t mind him wearing the leprechaun suit at the bar, but she put her foot down to wearing it out and about town. I remember going to the grocery store with them once as a little kid, with Grandpa wearing regular clothes. He waited in the car, while Grandma and I headed in to do the shopping. While we were inside, Grandpa changed into his leprechaun suit in the car, and surprised us inside of the store. Grandma didn’t find it all that funny. I of course (along with everyone else in the store), thought it was hysterical.
So, you see, St. Paddy’s Day continues to be a very special day for me and my entire family. Because of Grandpa. We miss him terribly, but this holiday makes us all laugh and cry — mostly laugh. I post the leprechaun photos on Facebook each year, and we all share happy memories about Grandpa. He was definitely one of a kind. Every kid needs a grandfather like my grandpa.
What I wouldn’t give to have just one more St. Paddy’s Day with my grandfather, in his leprechaun suit.
Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge. Painting by John Ward Dunsmore, 1907. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
My 10th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for week 10 is — Stormy Weather. This is the time of year that the northern hemisphere starts to see severe storms. (As if the blizzards in New England this winter haven’t been bad enough!) What ancestor endured a particularly severe storm? It could be something like a tornado or blizzard or it could be a “storm” of bad things.
My 10th ancestor is Revolutionary War hero William Pace (1747-1815)whom my husband’s extended Pace family thinks is his 5th great grandfather. The stormy reference? A stormy winter and a storm of genealogist controversy.
I have previously written about Pace being a member of the elite Commander-in-Chief’s Guard for General George Washington. William Pace served in the Continental Army from 23 January 1777, mustering out as a Sergeant on 3 November 1783.
Valley Forge
Valley Forge, located in Pennsylvania (about 20 miles north of Philadelphia), served as the 1777 – 1778 winter encampment for General George Washington’s Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Every American grade-schooler learns about the brutal winter conditions at Valley Forge, right up there with the famous crossing of the Delaware.
Images of bloody footprints in the snow, soldiers huddled around lonely campfires, and Washington on his knees, praying that his army might survive often come to mind when people hear the words “Valley Forge.” But truer images of the place would show General Washington using the time between December 1777 and June 1778 to train his men and to fight to maintain his position as the head of the Continental Army. – Source: Mount Vernon’s Ladies’ Association
The Valley Forge encampment lasted from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778.
Undernourished and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Typhoid, typhus, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia were among the numerous diseases that thrived in the camp during that winter. These diseases, along with malnutrition and exposure to the freezing temperatures and snow, contributed to the 2,500 soldiers that died by the end of the winter. – Source: Wikipedia
William Pace at Valley Forge
William Pace (then still a Private) is recorded on the March 1778 muster roll at Valley Forge. “According to March 1778 payroll, Pace was paid 2 pounds in English currency and 6 and 2/3 dollars in American.”
Per Wikipedia, Pace (if he didn’t arrive until March of 1978) would have served at Valley Forge after the encampment started receiving adequate supplies in February, due to Congress finally funding the Army’s supply lines. He would have also been there during the tenure of Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. Since Godfrey places Private Pace with the Guard at the Battle of Germantown in Pennsylvania on 4 October 1977, I am not sure why Pace wouldn’t have been at Valley Forge for the entire encampment period, showing up on all muster rolls. I will have to review military records more thoroughly.
Seriously? Another Valley Forge Ancestor?
At least one other ancestor of my husband served at Valley Forge — his 3rd cousin 7 times removed, Major General Nathanael Greene (then a Quartermaster General).
Storm of Controversy
There are a lot of family historians out there who claim that William Pace is descended from Richard Pace of Jamestown (1583-1627). Including a lot of public Ancestry Family Trees showing (apparently incorrect or not fully vetted) source documentation linking the two together.
No DNA Joint-Descent
Human Y Chromosome DNA. Creative Commons licensed image from the ISOGG Wiki.
A couple of days ago, I stumbled across references in the Pace Society of America Facebook Group to a document by William and Martha Bellomy, discussing the military history of William Pace.
Although Bellomy’s website and .doc version of the family history publication are no longer live, I was able to retrieve them both via the Internet Archive. In this document, the Bellomies state on page 19:
We now know, there is NO evidence that supports the claim that William Pace, Sr., is a descendent of Richard Pace who saved Jamestown, Virginia, from the Indian massacre in the early 1620’s.
DNA studies indicate that our first Pace ancestor in America was John Pace of Middlesex County, VA. Bill Pace, my cousin, of Scottsboro, AL (see photo, p.123) was our proxy in the DNA study. My great-great grandmother, Susannah Pace, was a sister to his ancestor, William Pace, Jr. It was necessary to have a surname of Pace for this particular DNA study. The DNA indicated that Bill Pace was related to John Pace of Middlesex. Although we are not directly related to Richard Pace, George Pace of Canada, relates that there must be some relationship between Richard Pace and John Pace of Middlesex because in England their families lived near each other and their families have common names.
Since I am still a newbie on my husband’s Pace line, and have done no original Pace research of my own (other than visiting several Pace ancestor sites on vacation last fall), I immediately raised this question on the Pace Family Genealogy Facebook Group in hopes that some of the members who are involved in Pace DNA research could shed some light on this issue.
William Pace, of Washington’s Guard, is a John Pace of Middlesex Co., VA Pace. DNA does prove that John Pace of Middlesex and Richard Pace of Jamestown, VA are from two distinct families – two separate DNA haplogroups.
For many years, Paces tried to massage the records and explain away the reasons they thought John Pace of Middlesex could be a descendant of Richard Pace of Jamestown. When Family Tree DNA was created, the Pace family was one of the earliest projects on board with the goal of finding out whether the two men were related. It was pretty obvious when the results came back that they weren’t – and it has been confirmed time and time again. DNA testing was the best thing to happen for the Pace families – except for maybe those that want to claim both lines as their ancestry. Hope you can get the Pace cousin to test. It should tell you which Pace line your husband’s Pace family belongs to.
In my husband’s family, there is disagreement over this among the Pace cousins who have researched their genealogy. Two claim direct descent through both William Pace and Richard Pace of Jamestown: I talked to one about this at a Pace party last summer, and I have reviewed the public Ancestry Member Tree of the second Pace who shares this theory. The dissenting Pace, with whom I just chatted on Facebook, says they are only descended from Richard Pace.
I have no horse in this race. I’m still in the gathering-every-possible-lead-and-theory I find phase, and slowly trying to evaluate sources myself.
Our Next Steps
So…what now? Are we related to Revolutionary War hero William Pace? Or to Jamestown hero Richard Pace? Or possibly neither?!
Will my husband get to continue demanding gratitude from his friends every Presidents’ Day, for an ancestor who helped protect our future first president and ensure our liberty?
Time to get some Paces to spit!
I have ordered an autosomal DNA kit from AncestryDNA, to ask my husband’s Pace aunt to let me test her (his Pace mother is deceased), as well as a Y-DNA kit from Family Tree DNA to beg one of my husband’s male-line Pace cousins (since Hubby is a Pace through his mother) to let me test them. Then contribute both to the Pace DNA project. The Y-DNA test from a male Pace cousin should help us, via the Pace project, identify to which (really, if either) of these notable Paces we are related.
And I really need to start going after those primary source documents too.
Rosie Salas, Newly Married, Early 1940s. The caption reads “To my husband. With Love, Rosie.”
My 9th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for week 9 is — Close to Home. Which ancestor is the closest to where you live? Who has a story that hits “close to home”?
As I have mentioned in prior posts, I did not grow up with Rosie as an active grandmother in my life, because she did not raise my father. Dad was raised by his grandmother and uncle. I barely knew Rosie, and think I only met her a few times; the last time was at her ex-husband’s (my grandfather’s) funeral in 1990. All Dad ever knew about his mother’s family history is that she was born in Arizona (he always heard Nogales). He never knew the names or origins of her parents, and was surprised when I discovered she had half-brothers with whom she grew up.
Rosie’s Upbringing
We think Rosie was born in Arizona around 1923, after her parents Estevan Salas (1888-1930) and Victoria Jimenez (1890-1990) and older half-brothers Richard Coleman (b. 1911) and David Coleman (b. 1914) moved from New Mexico. I have yet to come across a birth or baptism record for Rosie. Her father Estevan was already deceased by the time the rest of the family was enumerated on the 1930 U.S. Census in the Orme Election Precinct of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. In 1935 (according to the 1940 Census), the family still lived in Phoenix. And by the 1940 U.S. Census, they had moved to Coachella, Riverside County, California. Rosie’s mother died just a few months after that Census, in Los Angeles County, California. I think that by 1942, when Rosie married, her half brothers had already moved up to the Fresno, California area. Rosie’s father and brothers were migrant farm laborers.
Los Angeles County Family
Although I grew up in Orange County, California (we moved here from Norwalk, Los Angeles County, California when I was 3 or 4 years old), none of our other family lived here. Both sets of grandparents and their children lived in Los Angeles County, where my own parents grew up. We were the odd ones, moving south to Orange County, away from the heavy L.A. smog and closer to Dad’s job. None of my cousins ever moved to Orange County. Other than my childhood, I have no ancestral ties to Orange County. My parents and siblings don’t even live here anymore…I am the lone survivor.
As far as I know, Rosie had no family in Orange County, and her husband only had distant cousins here.
Orange County Wedding
So imagine my surprise when in May 2013 I came across that marriage record for my paternal grandparents Rosie Salas and Benjamin Robledo (1919-1990), which stated they had been married on 24 October 1942 in Orange County. Orange County?! The record indicates Anaheim as the exact city, next to the very city where I grew up…Santa Ana. I was floored. Dad was floored when I told him. Why on earth did they choose to get married in Orange County, when both of them had residences in the city of Los Angeles?
My husband and I married in adjacent Riverside County, even though we both lived in Orange County. However, that was because my parents lived there and my family church was located there. Rosie and Benjamin had no substantial ties to the county in which they married.
October 24, 1942 marriage license for Ben Robledo and Rosie Salas. Courtesy of FamilySearch.com.
Unanswered Questions
This record opens up a bunch of questions that I most likely will never be able to answer.
Where in Anaheim? A church? A residence? There is and was no courthouse in Anaheim (Santa Ana and Fullerton house the nearest courthouses).
Were any family present? Since I don’t think Rosie really had any close family by this time, Benjamin’s family all lived in Los Angeles County, and they chose to marry one county away from their homes, I am guessing this was perhaps an elopement, not a big traditional family wedding. Rosie was already two months pregnant with their first child; my hunch is that Benjamin and Rosie married shortly after confirming the pregnancy.
But why run off and marry alone? I know my Dad’s family…they wouldn’t have held the pregnancy against the couple. Especially since they were now doing the right thing.
And why Anaheim, one county over? Neither had close family in the area. I have recently learned of distant cousins in the area, but no one whom I think was a close connection.
What I wouldn’t give to find out where in Anaheim they married, and visit it today.
The Nieto land grant and 1834 divisions, in parts of present day Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Courtesy of the National Park Service. Click image to view a larger copy.
My 8th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for week 8 is — Good Deeds. Does this mean a generous ancestor or one you found through land records?
My 8th ancestor is a group of people, rather than a single person. I’m not even sure they are ancestors…. or even relatives. My father’s extended Nieto family is just hoping so very much. This ancestor group is the four heirs of Don Jose Manuel Perez-Nieto (1734-1804), whom I am researching as part of myManuel Nieto Project.
This week, the focus has been on the history of the Spanish and Mexican land grants.
The Original Nieto Land Grant
If you recall from a post I did last month (see:King’s Soldier and Alta California Ranchero Manuel Nieto), in November of 1784 retired Spanish Army soldier and 1769 Portolà expedition member Manuel Nieto was awarded the largest, and one of very few, Spanish land grants in Alta California — what would become Rancho Los Nietos, located in present day Los Angeles and Orange Counties. According to Baker, Los Nietos is the second oldest land grant in California, with San Rafael (often called La Zanja) being the oldest.
Milestones in California History claims the original Spanish grant was for 300,000 acres, but was later reduced to 158,000 acres (Wikipedia states 167,000 acres) after the Mission San Gabriel contested the proximity of the rancho boundaries to its own property. According to the Orange County Archives, “It took in all the land between the San Gabriel and Santa Ana rivers, from the foothills to the sea.” Baker says that a total of 158,363 acres was patented when the Mexican regime took over Alta California.
The rancho included all or parts or present-day Anaheim, Artesia, Buena Park, Bolsa Chica, Cerritos, Cypress, Downey, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Naples, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, and Whittier.
Manuel Nieto in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 15). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
According to Milestones in California History and Engstrand, Manuel Nieto’s heirs inherited the rancho upon his death in 1804. In 1833, these heirs requested that the Mexican Governor divide up the land among them, which was done in 1834 when the land was regranted by the Mexican government.
Baker states that when the U.S. acquired California following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, “Seven patents were issued to the Nieto heirs or their assigns for potions of the old rancho, known as Los Cerritos, Los Coyotes, Las Bolsas, Los Alamitos and Santa Gertrudis.”
Children and Heirs
Don Manuel married Maria Teresa Morillo (1756-1816) about 1778 in Loreto, Baja California, Mexico. Northrup’s authoritative work identifies six children together, and provides these life event details from the mission records.
The land heirs are noted in italics. The two youngest children died at too young of an age.
The “Alta California” designation is my own. I use that place name in my research notes to refer to present-day California during the eras it was still under Spanish and Mexican rule. I begin using the place name of California to refer to the United States era.
1) Juan Jose Maria Nieto (male):
Born: 03 February 1781.
Baptized: 26 February 1781 at Mission San Diego, Alta California.
Married: 28 November 1806 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Buried: 03 August 1850at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Spouse: Maria Tomasa Tapia.
1834 Disposition:Los Alamitos (“Little Cottonwoods”, 28,612 acres), and Los Coyotes (48,806 acres). The Spanish Archive Records indicate that Juan Jose was also awarded two other pieces of the original land grant (Nieto and Romulo), and Wikipedia claims he also received what was called Rancho Palo Alto. I have no information on these three mystery spots yet.
Juan Jose Maria Nieto awarded Las Alamitos, Los Nietos, Los Romulo, and Los Coyotes. Juan Jose Nieto in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 15). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
2) Jose Antonio Maria Nieto (male):
Born: 1785.
Baptized: 14 August 1785 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Married: 12 August 1804 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Buried: 02 December 1832 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Spouse:Maria Catarina Ruiz.
1834 Disposition:Las Bolsas (33,460 acres) to widow Maria Catarina Ruiz.
Maria Catarina Ruiz, awarded Las Bolsas. Catarina Ruiz in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 38). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
3) Antonio Maria de los Santos Nieto (male):
Baptized: 02 November 1788 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Married: 25 January 1815 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Buried: 07 December 1832 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Spouse:Maria Josefa Alvina Cota.
1834 Disposition:Santa Gertrudes (21,298 acres) to widow Maria Josefa Alvina Cota.
Maria Josefa Alvina Cota, awarded Santa Gertrudes. Josefa Coto De Nieto in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 15). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
4) Maria Manuela Antonia Nieto (female):
Born: 04 August 1791.
Baptized: 05 August 1791 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Married: 14 July 1805 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Spouse:Guillermo Cota.
1834 Disposition:Los Cerritos (“Little Hills”, 27,054 acres) to Maria Manuela and husband Guillero Cota.
Maria Manuela Antonia Nieto in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 15). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.Guillermo Cota, awarded Los Cerritos. Guillermo Cota in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 31). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
5) Maria de los Santos Nieto (female):
Born: About 1795 at San Gabriel, Alta California.
Buried: 28 May 1796 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
6) Antonio Maria Nieto (male):
Born: 13 July 1796.
Baptized: 14 July 1796 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Buried: 13 December 1804 at Mission San Gabriel, Alta California.
Mystery Heir (Maria Chefas Nieto)
The Spanish Archives Records index lists an additional heir — Maria Chefas Nieto, identified with Bolsa Chiquita. This name does not yet show up in my research database, so she is now on my research radar.
Mystery heir Maria Chefas Nieto, awarded mystery disposition piece Bolsa Chiquita. Maria Chefas Nieto in the California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868. (Index page 15). Ancestry.com. Click image for a larger view.
California Ranchos Timeline
Key dates in the history of Alta California and California Ranchos.
1769-1821: Spanish rule of Mexico and Alta California.
1769-1770: Portolá expedition.
1781: Founding of the peublo of Los Angeles.
1784: Three earliest Spanish land grants awarded.
1821-1848: Mexican rule of Alta California.
1821: Mexican Independence.
1824: General Colonization Law (allowed foreigners to petition for land).
1828: Mexican Reglamento (codified rules for establishing land grants).
1835: Secularization of the missions.
1846-1848: Mexican-American War.
U.S. Possession of California (1848- ).
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2).
1850: Statehood (September 9).
1851: California Land Act of 1851: (ranchos had to reestablish their claims).
Sources
Ancestry.com. California, Spanish Archive Records, 1784-1868 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Baker, C. C. (1914). Mexican Land Grants in California. Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, 9(3), 236–243. doi:10.2307/41168710
My grandfather (top row, far right) with Uncle Verne and Aunt Edna Buckley, and their four daughters.
My 7th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for Week 7 is – Love: Which ancestor do you love to research? Which ancestor do you feel especially close to? Which ancestor seemed to have a lot of love?
My 7th ancestors are Joseph Laverne “Verne” Buckley (1909-1986) and Edna G. (Murphy) Buckley (1911-2008). Verne and Edna were my foster grand uncle and grand aunt, Uncle Verne being the oldest foster sibling of my grandfather Michael “Mike” John Flanagan (1927-1997). Aunt Edna was Verne’s wife.
Michael was my maternal grandfather. To me, he was and always will be simply Grandpa. The only Grandpa I really ever knew. A Grandpa who doted on his grandchildren and great grandchildren. For whom, granddaughters in particular could do no wrong. He has been gone almost 20 years, and yet I still think about him daily. Every child needs this kind of Grandpa.
He is the reason I became a genealogist.
Orphaned As a Baby
I have written quite a number of posts about Grandpa, as I desperately try to piece together the story of his childhood and of his parents.
Mike was first orphaned when his dad died of tuberculosis in 1928, while Mike was just an infant (1-1/2 years old, 2 days before his second Christmas). He was orphaned again at just 3 years old, when his mother too succumbed to tuberculosis in 1930.
Grandpa was the youngest of five minor-age boys who were all sent to a Buffalo, New York orphanage after their father died, since their mom was already too sick to care for them. After their mom died, the boys were split up, never again to all reunite. An older barely-adult-age half sister (full sister to the oldest boys) tried to get custody of all five brothers. Her ancestors have told me the court would not give such a young woman custody of all the boys, particularly the boys who were not her full siblings. Her ancestors also tell me that this sister carried that guilt and grief her entire life.
Hard Foster Family Life
Grandpa and his next oldest brother Patrick (2 years older), as well as possibly the middle brother Harry (7 years older than Grandpa) — the records and passed-down family memories are very unclear on this — were fostered out to Thomas Buckley while Grandpa was still in his toddler years. Thomas “Pa” Buckley and his wife Mary “Ma” owned and lived on a farm in nearby Collins, Erie County, New York, and already had many children of their own. Grandpa would tell his own children that the Buckleys did not originally want him, because he was too young to work the farm. But the older brothers insisted. So Mike too entered the custody of Ma and Pa Buckley.
Ma and Pa Buckley, with their family. Not sure if these are all children, or if it includes children-in-law too. I think that is Uncle Verne on the far left.
According to Grandpa, life with the Buckleys was not easy or particularly enjoyable for the Flanagan brothers. Grandpa would tell his children and grandchildren that he never felt Ma and Pa Buckley loved any of them, that most of the Buckley boys were mean to them, and that this meanness turned abusive. The older Flanagan brothers ran away. Grandpa was too young to take with them, so he was separated from the last of his brothers.
I know that many of the Buckley grandchildren and great grandchildren are living, so I apologize if any of them read this and feel hurt or anger about this telling of the foster family’s story. I also know there are two sides to every story. But I am telling Grandpa’s story, and he never wavered from this perception of his life with Thomas and Mary Buckley.
Foster parents Thomas and Mary Buckley never attempted to adopt my grandpa, and (according to Grandpa) made it very clear that he was not one of their children. Grandpa used to tell my mom that Thomas Buckley finally offered to adopt him when he was 17 years old and wanted to join the Navy. But that Grandpa figured there was no point to it that late in life. I have a Letter of Guardianship from the Surrogate Court of Erie County, New York, dated May 31, 1944 that grants legal guardianship of my 17 year old grandfather to his longtime foster father Thomas Buckley. I am not sure why the legal foster care arrangement did not already award legal guardianship, but apparently Grandpa needed a legal guardian, and that guardian’s approval, in order to join the Navy as a minor (see: 17 Years Old Orphaned Michael John Flanagan Enlists 9 Days After D-Day).
Covering Up the Pain
Throughout my childhood, Grandpa would share humorous stories over and over about the Buckley boys that would always make us laugh. He often shared these same stories with his children. I used to run to Mom telling her what a fun funny childhood Grandpa must have had. When I was old enough to understand, Mom explained to me that Grandpa’s childhood was NOT fun or funny. That these stories which made us laugh so hard were his way of dealing with the hurt and pain he still carried from those foster years. She told me the truth about what he experienced.
I was floored the fist time I learned this. Grandpa was so full of love and joy, and such a big emotional softie who could not bear to disappoint his grandchildren by ever saying “no” to anything. Aside from the times he experienced severe physical pain from a bad back and heart attacks, I always remember Grandpa smiling and laughing. He was one of those people that everyone wanted to be around. He lived for practical jokes and making people laugh. Nothing made him happier than to have his grandkids all piled on his lap.
How could that be, from someone who suffered so much tragedy, hurt, and abuse?
Because of Uncle Verne and Aunt Edna Buckley.
Surrogate Parents & Family
I mentioned at the beginning of this post that Verne Buckley was the oldest child of Thomas and Mary Buckley, and that Verne was married to Edna (Murphy) Buckley. Verne was 18 years older than his baby foster brother, my grandfather, and his wife Edna was 16 years older — old enough to be more like parents to Grandpa. Verne and Edna lived in their own separate little home on the Buckley family farm. Since they didn’t yet have children of their own, and Grandpa was too young to be of any real help on the farm, Grandpa spent a lot of time in their home. They took him in and treated him like their own son. What love and affection my grandfather received growing up at all was from Uncle Verne and Aunt Edna, and their four girls. Once they started having children of their own — all daughters — the girls in turn doted upon Grandpa.
When Michael married my grandmother Elsie Charlotte Hayes in 1946, he listed Edna (Murphy) Buckley as his mother on the marriage record. He had no other mother. Edna was it.
Marriage certificate for my grandparents, Michael Flanagan and Elsie Hayes, 1946. At 19 years old, Michael was still uncertain of the names of his parents. He incorrectly identifies his father as Michael Flanagan (it was Patrick). He lists Edna (Murphy) Buckley — his foster sister-in-law — as his mother (it was Sarah Kennedy). Click the image for a larger view.
I always heard my grandparents, mom, and aunts and uncle refer to Verne and Edna Buckley as UNCLE Verne and AUNT Edna. It wasn’t until I was older that I would learn they did not have a biological or even a legal relationship to my grandfather. But “family” cannot be defined by biology or by legal status. Verne, Edna, and their girls were Grandpa’s entire sense of family, they were his ONLY sense of family.
I met Uncle Verne, Aunt Edna, and some of their girls as a child. It was a BIG BIG deal when they would come out to California and visit. Grandpa would just exude light and love when he talked about Uncle Verne and Aunt Edna. So did Grandma… she knew what her husband had experienced as a child. One of the girls and I corresponded often after Grandpa died, when I first started on my genealogy, and she always talked about how much they all loved and missed “Uncle Mike”. Aunt Edna and I corresponded by mail late in her life after Grandpa died, before Alzheimer’s and old age stole her from us at 97 years of age. She would share touching stories about Grandpa. I felt such a profound sense of loss when the last persona alive who knew my grandfather as a child died. I regret not flying out to New York to talk to her in person.
My mom’s brother still keeps in touch with some of the Buckley girls. There is so much love between our extended families. To Mom and her siblings, these are their cousins…. their father’s family.
Michael Flanagan with some of his Buckley foster nieces and a nephew. This was likely taken when Michael was 17, when he joined the Navy and entered service in WWII.
I posted a while back about the hurt my Grandpa experienced growing up in his Buckley foster home, and my Mom’s brother was quick to comment on my blog that this was not the case when it came to Verne and Edna Buckley, and their girls. So I felt compelled to call attention to these wonderful loving people, and what they have meant to my grandfather and to our own family.
God bless Verne, Edna, and their daughters. For they took in a scared toddler who lost everything and everyone, and they showered him with love. They taught him love. They sustained him through very difficult years. They provided him with a sense of family. Michael John Flanagan SHOULD have grown up hard-hearted. He should NOT have known how to be a loving husband, a loving father, a loving grandfather, and a loving great grandfather. Family was EVERYTHING to Grandpa. A man who should not have understood the warmth, joy, and comfort of family.
Except for Verne and Edna Buckley.
Legacy of Love
As I have grown older, I have increasingly grown more amazed at how my grandfather was able to become such a family-focused, big-hearted, emotional softie, laughter-filled man. When he couldn’t possibly have had a single memory of his parents, of them holding him, kissing him, or loving him. When he was torn away from his sister and brothers. When he suffered so much hurt and abuse as child. When he grew up knowing that his guardians never loved him enough to want to make him a permanent legal part of their family.
Grandpa was able to overcome this.
Because of Verne and Edna Buckley.
They loved him, they wanted him, they cherished him and his own growing family.
My 6th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for week 6 is So Far Away — Which ancestor is the farthest from you, either in distance or in time/generations? Which ancestor have you had to go the farthest away to research?
My 6th ancestor is my paternal grandfather, Benjamin Robledo (1919-1990). Grandpa Ben was the first U.S.-born child of Mexican immigrants Jose and Maria (Nieto) Robledo, and he was the first of three sons to proudly serve on behalf of his parents’ new country.
The So Far Away connection? Where I first find him serving during the Second World War — in New Caledonia.
I remember an airline commercial from my childhood that featured flights to New Caledonia. The name New Caledonia mesmerized me, it seemed so exotic, and I loved the way the syllables would rattle off of my tongue when I’d repeat it back. I find it odd that this airline commercial has stuck in my mind all of these years. And it was only a couple years ago that I learned of my grandfather’s tie to this exotic far away location.
Sailors man the rails as USS Blue Ridge arrives in Noumea, New Caledonia, 2011. Source: US Navy photograph.
Joining WWII
Benamin Robledo enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 8 September 1943 in Los Angeles County, California at 24 years of age. He married my grandmother Rosie Salas 10-1/2 months prior, and the couple gave birth to their first child just 4 months prior to Ben’s enlistment. At the time, Benjamin was working as a welder, and the young couple lived in Los Angeles.
The first muster (attendance) rolls I have been able to locate for Ben are the regular 30 June 1944 Quarterly Muster and the supplemental Report of Change. This leaves a 9-month void at the beginning of his military service, during and immediately after what I assume was basic training. At some point during this 9 month void, Benjamin was allowed to see his wife, because they became pregnant with their second son by the time of this first identified muster roll.
Seaman 1st class (SC1) Benjamin Robledo joined the U.S. S. Waterford ARD-5 on 28 June 1944. The 30 June 1944 Muster Roll Report of Change notes that Benjamin transferred to the U.S.S. ARD-5 at Receiving Station Noumea, New Caledonia “for duty” on a “special assignment”. Since I am missing military records prior to this date, I do not know how or when Benjamin arrived in New Caledonia.
The Archipelago
New Caledonia, now a special collectivity of France, is an archipelago located in the South Pacific, 750 miles east of Australia, across the Coral Sea. According to Wikipedia, it has a land area of 7,172 square miles and a population of 268,767. Captain James Cook gave the archipelago (which reminded him of Scotland) its name in 1774, when he became the first European to sight the islands. New Caledonia became a French dependency in 1853, and declared in favor of the Free French government after the Fall of France in 1940.
Nouméa centre et la cathédrale, 2009. Wikimedia Commons.
Nouméa is the capital city of New Caledonia, situated on the southern end of the main island of Grand Terre. The city sits on a protected deep water harbor, which made it an ideal location to serve as the U.S. military headquarters in the South Pacific during World War II.
U.S. forces landed on New Caledonia in 1942 when the United States entered World War II. New Caledonia became an important outpost in the battle for the Pacific during World War II. With its central Pacific location, New Caledonia provided a strategic air base as well as personnel and logistics support for the war. The memorial on New Caledonia honors the U.S. commitment to New Caledonia during World War II, deterring Japanese forces from taking the island. Over the course of World War II, over 40,000 U.S. troops were stationed on the small Pacific island nation.
According to the World War 2 Pacific Island Guide, New Caledonia “was code-named CHEEKSTRAP and later IRET. The U.S. Naval operating base at Nouméa was WHITE POPPY initially, LECTERN from February 1943, and then EPIC.”
Originally considered to be of use only as an air refueling station, New Caledonia’s value increased to the U.S. military in preparation for the invasion of Guadalcanal. The archipelago provided the base of operations for Allied troops (and their strategic victory) for and during the Battle of Guadalcanal, which lasted from 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943. The World War 2 Pacific Island Guide points out that Nouméa “continued to support amphibious operations as the war moved across the Pacific culminating its service as the staging base for the 1945 Okinawa assault.” The base was closed on 27 May 1947.
U.S. Navy admiral looks at a photograph of Noumea, New Caledonia, during World War II. Source: US Navy photograph, 2011.
My grandfather is first identified at Nouméa on 28 June 1944, well after the Battle of Guadalcanal. He did continue to serve on the ARD in the Pacific theater until 27 November 1945, however I have not yet reviewed the ARD’s records enough to determine which, if any, Pacific battles my grandfather might have served in.
Future Vacation?
Somehow I doubt my grandfather got to partake in much RnR on New Caledonia during his wartime service there, but he had to have at least appreciated the breathtaking natural scenery. Although stunning ocean views were nothing new to Benjamin, who grew up near the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach, California.
This granddaughter too has spent most of her life living near the beautiful Pacific Ocean, and spent most of her high school and 20s-era weekends sunbathing on nearby home beaches that so many others plan vacations to. But suddenly this exotic South Pacific vacation spot is once again calling to that young girl who loved hearing the name “New Caledonia” from that old TV commercial. To walk where my grandfather walked in 1944. If I do get to visit New Caledonia, I hope to take my father. Although he is not remotely a beach vacation type of person, I know how much it would mean to him to get to see where his own father served.
This video highlights Nouméa and New Caledonia just 22 years after my grandfather’s stay.
Large rotary plow operated by the National Park Service, Yosemite, circa 1940s. Photo courtesy of http://www.yosemite.ca.us.
My 5th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.
Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.
The theme for Week 5: Plowing through — We will likely be plowing through a lot of snow by this time. What ancestor had a lot of struggles to plow through? Or take it more literally.
My 5th ancestor is my husband Jeff’s 1st great grand uncle George Walter Harless (1894-1976). George Walter is the youngest brother of my husband’s great grandfather Leonard William Harless, about whom I have not yet written. And he is the youngest son of California pioneers Leonard Harless Jackson and Pauline Adeline Gann, of whom I have written quite a bit, and whose footsteps Jeff and I chased on our genealogy road trip last summer.
George Walter Harless was born 13 April 1894 in Lewis, Mariposa County, California. He spent his childhood in Mariposa County, just outside of Yosemite National Park.
All my husband knew about his 1st great grand uncle is that he drove a snow plow in Yosemite. My father-in-law confirmed this, and told me that he thought his grandfather’s brother George had also been a miner in Madera. So when I saw the “plowing through” theme for this year’s 52 Ancestors project, I decided to try to find out a bit more about 1st great grand uncle George.
WPA Snow Plow Crew
While I have not found any records that specifically identify George as a snow plow driver, I do find some records that support this occupation.
Memorial services will be held Monday at 1 p.m. in Stratford Evans Merced
Funeral Chapel for George Walter Harless, 82, a Merced resident since 1960 who
died Thursday in a San Francisco hospital.
Mariposa Masonic Lodge No. 24 will conduct services for Mr. Harless, a
retired road foreman in Yosemite National Park.
Inurment [sic] will be at Arbor Vitae Cemetery, Madera. A veteran of World War 1,
Mr. Harless lived at 5736 E. Highway 140. He belonged to Mariposa Masonic
Lodge No. 24, 32nd Scottish Rite in Fresno and the Fresno Shrine.
Mr. Harless is survived by his wife, Olive; a daughter, Mrs. Barbara H.
Bailey, Capitola; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions to the Central California Heart Association would be
appreciated by the family.
The 1940 U.S. Census shows George Walter Harless (at 46) living in the unincorporated community of Raymond, Madera County, California alone with his wife Olive A. Leonard (1891-1980). At that time, George was employed as a Flagman on a WPA Project. Raymond is 23 miles outside of the Yosemite gateway city of Oakhurst, and 38 miles away from Yosemite Village. George was quite likely the flagman on a WPA road crew in the national park. Interestingly, George and Olive’s 19 year old daughter Barbara was enumerated on the same census as living inside of Yosemite National Park, where she worked at a cafeteria in a hotel and snow lodge.
Employment listing for George Walter Harless on the 1940 U.S. Census. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.
Jeff and I just visited Yosemite last July on our Harless family history road trip. I wish I’d paid attention to these records before then. I could have inquired around inside the park about accessing old employment records. Fortunately, Yosemite is one of our very favorite places, and is driving distance for even just a long weekend.
Other Careers
Prior to the Great Depression, George worked in copper mining, per his WWI Draft registration card and the 1920 U.S. Census. He served in the U.S. Army from 1917-1919, during the First World War.
On the 1930 U.S. Census, George Walter was enumerated twice. On 2 April 1930 in Madera County with his wife and daughter. But his type of employment is not legible enough for me to make out (something “____boy”). George was also recorded on 12 April 1930 (without his wife) living back with his parents in Mariposa County, working as a farmer. It is likely that George’s wife gave his name to the Census worker because his permanent home was in Madera County, but George had temporarily left his family to move in with his parents and work on his father’s farm to raise money or food for his family back home.
By 1942, per his WWII Draft registration card, George Walter was employed with the U.S. Army Transport Service at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California, where he lived with his middle brother Francis Miles Harless. It is unclear if his wife Olive lived there too.
It would seem that George Walter Harless moved around central and northern California quite a bit seeking work, plowing through life.
