Francis Bailey

Francis Bailey

I don't know too much more about Francis Bailey other than that he served in the Civil War in the 152nd Indiana Infantry Co. H.  This company was organized toward the end of the war mustering in March 1865 and mustering out August 1865. I don't know anything of particular note about his service thus far in my research. 

The next piece of information I have is the article that told of Francis Bailey's very horrible death. 

** Viewer Discretion Advised**

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, July 29, 1869, pg 4

For me, when I found this article, it was one of those moments when I have had an unexpected, visceral, and emotional reaction to a family history discovery. The details of Francis' death were so horrific and must have been so devastating to his family that this article stayed with me for days afterwards. I couldn't stop thinking about what a horrible realization this would have been for Josephine.  

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, July 30, 1869, pg. 4

In an incredible twist of fate, his son, my 3rd great grandfather, August Bailey was also killed by a train, although the circumstances of that tragedy were very different and that is a story for another day. 

Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity

Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity

I have noticed that I have developed a certain fondness for the family members that gave me the most trouble (in terms of finding them and their stories), this is the case with my 4th great grandmother Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity*.

When I saw that the theme was your favorite Irish ancestor I knew I had to be Hanorah (obviously week 11 was supposed to cover St. Patrick's Day, so I'm still behind).

Tracking down Hanorah and her family was a challenge. Her daughter Lizzie and August's (my 3rd great grandparents') sacramental marriage record listed her parents as John and Anna Gariety and death record listed them as Patrick Gerrity and Katherine O'Donnell.  This was very confusing. I had know idea which was right. It turns out that neither were completely accurate. The best clue that I had was a list of siblings in Lizzie's obituary: Mary Engle, Sarah Wright, Jennie Davitt, Catherine Hennessy, and Joseph Fitzpatrick. The presence of a brother whose last name wasn't Garrity let me know that at some point her mother must have gotten remarried and some of these siblings were half siblings. I began looking for marriage, census and death records that include these siblings. This is how I was able to confirm the family members and timeline for Lizzie's family. Normally I have not collected death records for all siblings in a family, just for my direct ancestors, however, because Lizzie's mother was listed as Honor, Hannah, Anna, Nora, and Hanorah, it was necessary to collect all documents to make sure I was finding the right person. 

I found the above from Roots Ireland. Other than the name spellings, 

all other details are as they should be to match up with 

what I know about Hanorah and Patrick Garrity.

According to the South Mayo Family Research Center, Patrick and Hanorah's wedding would have taken place at the parish church, a picture of the church that was there at the time of their marriage is above. The picture is from circa 1900. The church is no longer there, a new church was built on the site. 

   

The census record above on the left is Patrick and Hannah Garrity with their children, including Lizzie in 1860. The one on the right is Patrick and Hannah Fitzpatrick in 1870 with Hannah's children from Patrick Garrity and their children together. Hanorah and Patrick Fitzpatrick were married in May of 1862, so Patrick Garrity likely died sometime in 1860 or 1861.  

There is still a lot more I'd like to learn about Hanorah and Patrick Garrity. I have no idea how Patrick died, leaving Hanorah with 5 children and I don't know much about her life with second husband Patrick Fitzpatrick except that they had 3 more children together. 

Hanorah passed away on April 17, 1918 from Lobar Pneumonia. She was living with her daughter Sarah (Sadie) Wright in Indianapolis. She was buried in Muncie, Indiana at Beech Grove Cemetery.  

Octave Archambeault

Octave Archambeault

The theme for this week was stormy weather and it reminded me of an interesting little article I found in several regional papers regarding a storm weathered by my third great grandfather, Octave Archambeault.

I don't know much about the ins and outs of Octave's life, I haven't "gotten around" to him yet, at least not a deep dive. I have the basic information, I feel like sometimes I get out as far as I can on a line and then dig in deep further back in the past working my way back to my generation, but that means I haven't really dug into the 2nd and 3rd great grandparents as much.

Anyway, I know that he was the son of French-Canadian immigrants (he being also descended from Jacques Archambault), and that he married a women named Ida McWilliams and settled in a little town called Argos, Indiana. He and his wife had 8 children that I am aware of, my 2nd great grandma Lillian among them.

Octave and Ida, presumably with Lillian and Violet

Left to Right, Margaret, Clarence, Ida, Jack, Lillian, Melvin, Virginia, Octave, and Violet

While searching for Octave in newspapers, I came across this little article that I found interesting. I spend so much time looking for records of the basic life events, but when I find anything out of the ordinary it really sticks with me, even if its something small or mundane or even if its a little unfortunate I still feel lucky to have gotten a little bit of insight into their lives and what happened to them beyond birth, marriage, kids, death. That's how I feel about this little article about Octave Archambeault's farm and a storm...

The Kokomo Tribune, May 29 1947, Pg 13

Octave lived a good long life dying in 1970 at the age of 93. He left behind a large family...76 great grandchildren.... I would love to figure out how many great great great grandchildren he has....

This was emailed to me and I'm not sure what the source is. I imagine it is from the Plymouth paper. 

Mary "Mamie" Bailey

Mary "Mamie" Bailey

The theme for Week 9 was "close to home." I knew immediately that I was going to pick Mary "Mamie" Bailey. my 2nd great grand aunt, for this week's story. The explanation said: "Which ancestor is the closest to where you live? Who has a story that hits “close to home”?

I have to preface this by saying that nothing like Aunt Mamie's story has ever happened to me. But when I came upon (and as I got to the bottom of) Aunt Mamie's story... my heart was broken for her. As a mother, I couldn't imagine this event playing out in my own life.

Without further delay... here is her story.

My 2nd great grandfather William Bailey had three siblings, one was an older sister named Mary, who went by Mamie for most of her life. Mamie often threw parties for her friends and both William and Harry (the youngest) are also listed in attendance. In some parties, Melissa Noll (William's future wife and therefore my 2nd great grandmother) and her sister Gertrude are listed as guests too. 

The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, 30 December 1905, page 6

The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, 31 January 1906, page 7

I came across these articles while looking for articles that had either William  Bailey or Melissa Noll (my aforementioned 2x great grandparents). I first became aware that there had been a relationship between Aunt Mamie and Lawrence Hirchfelder, the honoree of the birthday party above when I found the following articles. 

The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, 2 July 1906, page 8

The Ft. Wayne Daily News, 30 June 1906, page 2

The Ft. Wayne Sentinel, 30 June 1906, page 2

I was able to find the court records regarding this suit filed by Aunt Mamie against Lawrence Hirschfelder. Aunt Mamie did become pregnant with a child from her relationship with Lawrence Hirschfelder. She brought suit against Lawrence for the maintenance of the child. Tragically the baby passed away and Mamie changed her suit to one asking for help with the expenses that she had born for the child's delivery, care, funeral and burial. 

While she asked for $1000, she was awarded $300 by the courts. Their child, named Harry Leonard was born on October 1, 1906. I have not been able to determine what was wrong with little Harry Leonard, although I suspect that he may have been somewhat premature. In any case, court documents describe him as a delicate child in ill health and he passes away on November 19, 1906. His funeral took place a St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ft. Wayne, according to their records he is buried at Catholic Cemetery. Despite the fact that we are not direct descendants of Mamie, I feel compelled to tell her and little Harry Leonard's story. I had some pause at airing Aunt Mamie's dirty laundry on the blog, but I have so much respect for her, I think she was really brave and that her family must have been very supportive.  To speak out in 1906 and demand help to care for your child ... when good Catholic girls weren't supposed to get in that kind of trouble and when they did they were supposed to go to a girls home and give their baby away. She said I'm keeping my baby and I'm making the father help with expenses. I think she is remarkable. 

And little Harry has been in my thoughts often since I learned of him. He could so easily have slipped from history without being remarked upon or remembered.  He would have been my great Grandma Bea's first cousin and would have only been about 5 months older than she was, I probably would have known him. My grandmother, who knew Aunt Mamie had never heard the story. 

Aunt Mamie married a man named Charles Beekner, his name is also often listed among the guests at the parties she hosted. Mamie passed away in May in 1954, Her obituary makes no mention of Harry Leonard. 

J. George Noll

J. George Noll

The theme for Week 8 is generous ancestors or good land records story. I have been neglectful of investigating land records for my ancestors. I know that they can be a wealth of information and that I need to start exploring them more, I just haven't gotten around to them yet. I would like to think that I have generous ancestors, but I don't know any stories to illustrate this. 

I have decided to talk about my 4th great grandfather, J. George Noll because it appears that he was a well-respected member of his community. 

George Noll was born in Marborne, Germany in 1803.  I know that he came to America in 1834 thanks to this article published in the paper on the anniversary of 50 years in America published in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, 6 August 1884. 

I don't know much about George Noll. He and his wife Catherine were the parents of  four sons Martin, Alphonse, John (my 3rd great grandfather), and Frank. 

I choose George for this week's post because of the beautiful sentiments stated about him in his obituary. George Noll passed away on February 22, 1888 at the age of 85. I love that he was respected enough in his community for these things to be said about him. I know many obits are written by family but I am pretty sure this one was written by the paper itself. 

The Fort Wayne Sentinel, 22 February 1888, Page 4

Mr. Noll was a remarkable man...He enjoyed excellent health and not for a day was his vitality impaired...He was highly respected and was widely known among the old settlers of Fort Wayne and the county. His honorable life and stainless name won for him the esteem and good will of all his friends and acquaintances...The Sentinel feels sure the sympathy of the community will go out to them in their sore affliction. 

August Bailey: Love is Complicated...

August Bailey: Love is Complicated...

My 3rd great grandfather August Bailey has a LOT of stories to be told, I might have to select him again to tell some of his other stories. But for now , going off week 7's theme of LOVE, I'm going to talk a little about his complicated relationship with his wife Lizzie Garrity. 

August and Lizzie "Garrity" Bailey were married in November, 1880. In June of that year, in the 1880 Census. Lizzie "Garrity" is listed as a servant in the home of John Bryant. John Bryant was the widower of August Bailey's sister, Mary Jennie (Jane) Bailey. At the same time that Lizzie is living in the Bryant home as a servant, another of August's sisters, Josephine is also listed as living in the home and is identified as John Bryant's sister in law. John and Jane had small children, and it is logical that one of the Bailey sisters would have gone to help him take care of the children. It is impossible to know whether or not Lizzie got the job in the Bryant household because she and August were already courting, or if she had been working in the household, and met August through Josephine and John. It is neat to see this connection between them before they were married though, so often a marriage license is the first connection you can find. 

1880 Census

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, Tue, Jan 27, 1880, Page 4

August and Lizzie's Wedding License

August and Lizzie had 4 children together: Mary, William, Harry and Edward. Our ancestor was William, whose little brother Harry was 14 pounds at the time of his birth. Did you catch that.... FOURTEEN POUNDS... in 1887!!!!!  The happy occasion of Harry's birth was noted in the paper (below).  

The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Tue, Nov 1, 1887, Page 1.

August and Lizzie's marriage was not without its struggles.The 1890 census is unavailable so we can't check in on what the family was up to in 1890, however, in the 1900 census Lizzie and the children are living on their own and Lizzie is listed as the head of the household. At the same time, August is listed in another household as a boarder. This was very strange to me until I found a few news articles that indicated that August and Lizzie were separated.

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 5 Feb 1893,  Page 8.

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 18 Feb 1893,  Page 8.

A divorce never followed the separation and the suit for spousal support, at some point between the 1900 Census and an article published in 1906, August and Elizabeth got back together, although the article mistakenly calls August "William".  They are also together in the 1910 Census, which shows the length of there marriage as 30 years. 

The Fort Wayne Sentinel, 5 Nov 1906, Page 6

1910 Census

A few years later August dies tragically in a train crash.... that is a story for another time. However, after August and Elizabeth's complicated relationship. I found a line in this article regarding August's death particularly moving. 

His wife is prostrated over his death....

Jacques Archambault

Jacques Archambault

The week 6 theme for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is farthest away.  I decided to interpret that as farthest back in time. For me, at least at this moment, that is my 11th great grandfather Jacques Archambault (1604-1688). Lucky for me there is a LOT of information out there about this ancestor; in fact there is an entire genealogical society devoted to him, his legacy, and connecting his descendants: Les Archambault d'Amerique, to which I have just mailed my membership form and fee. If you are interested I recommend you check them out.

Jacques Archambault was born in France in 1604, in a small village called L'Ardilliere, his baptism took place at what is now called Dompierre-sur-Mer.

Presumably the house of Jacques Archambault's birth

Photo by Gerard Archambault 

Source: Jacques Archambault,the first well digger of Ville-Marie

In France, it appears that Jacques was a wine grower, based on a contract found that shows him selling three barrels of white wine to a local wine merchant. 1  I have not found strong evidence as to why Jacques Archambault left France with his entire family, I thought it was unusual for whole families to make the move to New France. In most accounts of the family history it is suggested that he was recruited by Pierre le Gardeur de Repentigny, a man that was from Jacques' region of France, and while there were many ways to be recruited at the time I think the following passage lines up exactly with the circumstances of the Archambault family and the man that recruited them:

Those who wished to settle people on a seigneurie, had to recruit on a larger scale. However, although they didn’t dismiss the large ports, the first seigneurs of Acadia and Canada often took a more local approach. Their own regions of origin supplied a considerable number of recruits. Because they needed to develop their land, they tried to enroll whole families and country folk from their home regions. For this reason, the seigneurs, including religious communities, were responsible for recruiting a large proportion of the founding immigrants.2

It seems likely that this scenario applied to the Archambaults and Repentigny as they held a lease for settling some of his land. Some accounts also suggested that perhaps religious tensions in the area made the idea of starting anew in the colonies more appealing.

So much has been written about Jacques Archambault and his family that it feels like I'd be reinventing the wheel to try to recreate it all. I'm going to jot down a few highlights and include links to resources I found help for or interesting for those who are interested in more info.

Jacques and his wife, Francoise, had seven children, Denys, Anne, Jacquette, Marie, Louise, Laurent, and Marie-Anne, Louise died in France, but the rest of the family made the journey. I am descended from Laurent Archambault. He and his wife Catherine had 12 children.

About 1654 Jacques moves from Quebec to Montreal, it is here that he makes a name for himself by digging the first well in Montreal. There are contracts of other wells he built in the community after this first one.

Near Here, on La Place D'Armes, Jacques Archambault, only Ancestor of the

 Archambault's of America, dug in 1658 the first well on the Island of 

Montreal at the request of the Governor, Monsieur de Maisonneuve. 

Here are some articles that give more detail about his life: 

•  Wikipedia Article 
• Our French Canadian Ancestor
• An overview of our ancestor’s lineage
• Jacques Archambault and his family,witness the earthquake of 1663
• The grave enigma?

There are even more resources than this. These are the ones that I find the most interesting.  In February of 1688 Jacques Archambault passed away. He had spent 22 years of his life helping to build the colony of New France; he was 84 years old and had 52 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren at the time of his death.

Common Drawing said to be the likeness of Jacques Archambault. 

Source:Laforest, Thomas J. Our French Canadian Ancestors.

1. Laforest, Thomas J. Our French Canadian Ancestors.

2. Choquette, Leslie Ph.D., Assumption College (MA) http://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/population/immigration/

Patrick Leahey

Patrick Leahey

The optional theme for week five in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge was "plowing through."  I wracked my brain and I couldn't think of who I could pick for this theme!  An online genealogy buddy from Ravelry recommended that I flip a coin. That suggestion gave me the idea to pick a random number from my ancestor list that I made using an Ahnentafel numbering system. The winner of this endeavor was my 4th great grandfather, Patrick Leahey (Leahy). 

This blog entry will be rather short, as I don't know as much as I'd like about this ancestor quite yet... it may end up with a long list of questions at the end. Patrick's wife Catherine Armstrong Leahey was the subject of Week Two's post.

I first connected Patrick and his wife to family from my great grandmother's notes, she was a family history buff too and left us great starting places and lots of primary source documents. In her belongings I found a trove of notes about my great grandfather's family history that she was given by her mother-in-law. One of these notes listed out Catherine Kelly Dillon's grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles.

The little bit as the end has captivated me! It says "my mother's home was Thurles, Co. Tipperary Ireland her father taught in the caves at night all those who could go some of his couldn't write their names." 

 After doing some research, I have determined that she is referring to Hedge Schools. I haven't had time to dig into this too much, but the historical dates don't quite line up for this for me. Patrick Leahey was born in 1796, the penal law against Irish teachers was repealed in 1782. So it wouldn't have been illegal for him to teach his students. There wasn't wide accessibility to schools from the English until the early 1830s, and it seems that Irish Catholics did not want to send their kids to the English schools, likely because of sentiments such as those described here:

"As late as 1825, the Protestant hierarchy petitioned the King, saying "amongst the ways to convert and civilise the Deluded People, the most necessary have always been thought to be that a sufficient number of English Protestant Schools be erected, wherein the Children of the Irish Natives should be instructed in the English Tongue and in the Fundamental Principles of the True Religion."

Perhaps Irish teachers weren't illegal, but was it still illegal to teach Catholic doctrine, or the Irish language? I'm not sure. At least one researcher has found evidence that hedge schools did continue through the 1870s and one as late as 1892. So it is possible that he was a hedgemaster but I don't know at what point in the history of tense Irish-English relations. Was it in his youth before the institution of more palatable elementary schools in 1832. When did he start "teaching in the caves" and when did he stop? Did he teach at night not because it was illegal, but because he was teaching adults who had missed out on a proper education the first time? SO many questions.....
I don't really know anything else about Patrick Leahey's life beyond this; I was given some research that a cousin of some sort commissioned from the "Irish Ancestry Guild" in Dublin. According to their research Patrick Leahey died in 1866. I was able to find an Irish death record which corroborates the information from the guild. I would feel more comfortable if I could find one other source to know that the record below does belong to my Patrick Leahey.

I haven't found a grave for Patrick Leahey but I did find an interesting website with information about workhouses in the UK, and a page specifically devoted to the work house in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. There are great pictures of what the workhouse looked like as of 2002. Most of the buildings were demolished in 2004, which is unfortunate because I would like to have seen them in person. But maybe someday I can go to the site.....

Source: Higginbotham, Peter "Thules Poor Law Union and Workhouse" 

<http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Thurles/> consulted 10 March 2015, 

Used with permission of the author.

Melissa Noll Bailey

Melissa Noll Bailey

The theme for Week 4's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, was closest to your birthday.  The relative closest to my birthday is my grandmother, who is living, I decided not to tell her story on here for that reason. The next closest to my birthday ancestor is my Great Great Grandmother Melissa Noll Bailey. 

Melissa was the daughter of John George Noll and Mary McCleery (daughter and sister of the aforementioned Julia Claspil McCleery and Melissa McCleery Richards, respectively). She was one of at least 17 children (19 by some accounts, though I have not been able to find record of the other 2 children). She lived from 1887-1971, I always found that so interesting because she was born at the tail end of the Victorian age, and lived to see so many changes in the world, the change over from horses to automobiles, the vote for women, the civil rights movement, the moon landing. I wonder if my great great grandchildren will think the same of me as I was born in 1981. Anyway.... Melissa married William Bailey and had 4 sons and 1 daughter, Beatrice, from whom I descend. All 4 of Melissa's sons served in WWII and by the grace of God they all came home!

Since I have access to someone who actually knew Melissa, (my grandmother was her granddaughter after all) I thought I'd let her tell a little about what she remembered about her grandmother. In family history you know a lot of the facts, but can't always know about personality or interests. I am so excited that my grandma shared this story of her grandma's LOVE for the Detroit Tigers!

With Grandma Bailey living in Detroit when I was growing up, I didn't get to spend as much time with her as the grandkids that lived close by, but I do have some fond memories of the times I did spend with her.  When I was only seven years old, my parents put me on a train in Huntington, and I traveled alone to Detroit to spend a few weeks with my grandparents.  Even though I was very young, I remember vividly watching my grandmother intently listening to the Detroit Tigers play baseball.  While listening, she would write down in great detail, each players times at bat and the stats for each pitcher who was in a particular game.  She had stacks of notebooks containing stats that spanned many years of following her beloved Tigers.  My Grandmother was very quiet, very loving, and always made me feel special in her gentle ways.  I made the train trip to Detroit more than once and remember that one time, when I returned home, I cried many nights because I missed my grandparents and the time I had just had with them.  I only visited them once after they moved to Florida.  That was when I was a junior in high school.  I do remember that I was cutting wisdom teeth at the time and was pretty miserable during the three weeks that we were there.

and Now Pictures! 

I love this little note in the paper following Melissa's birth. 

I love how detailed wedding announcements were back in the day!

Melissa on her Wedding Day, 1906

Her Obituary, June of 1971

Julia Claspil McCleery

Julia Claspil McCleery

For week 3 the suggested theme was Tough Woman, it was suggest this could be because the women herself was tough, or because researching her was tough.  While I suspect that this woman was very tough indeed. Julia Claspil McCleery is my 4th great grandmother and is the mother of Week 1's relative Melissa McCleery Richards. 

Here is what I know about Julia. Her adulthood was difficult, her husband served throughout the Civil War, leaving her to care for three young children, then shortly after returning from the war, her husband was murdered. Three years after that her son died. Her youngest daughter (Melissa, referenced above) moved from Fort Wayne Indiana to West Virginia.  In 1875 she was living in Ft. Wayne and working as a domestic. In 1880 Julia married John Hutzell. 

William and Julia's Marriage License

Fort Wayne City Directory 1875

John and Julia's marriage license

Everything I know about Julia is from the time of her marriage to William J. McCleery in 1853 until her death in 1898. I know nothing else about her except that she was born in Ireland. Her death certificate did not list her parents names and I can't find when she came to the U.S. or anything else that happened to her before her marriage to William.

Her death record does not list her parents

Her obituary says nothing of note, except how she died, in fact it doesn't even get her children correct.

I'm completely stumped as to how to go back any further from Julia, and of course because I have this major brick wall I am that much more interested in breaking down the wall and finding out more about Julia and taking her line back further!

Catherine Armstrong Leahey (Leahy)

Catherine Armstrong Leahey (Leahy)

The case of the disinherited daughter.... 

I decided for week two to talk about a brick wall that I have been tackling. I choose this for "King week" because this story involves landed gentry.   Let me start by laying out my line from me to my 4x great grandmother Catherine Armstong Leahey. 

• me
• my mother 
• my grandmother
• my great-grandfather- Joseph Dillon (m. Beatrice Bailey, she is not in the descent line of Catherine, but she is very important to the story) 
• my great great-grandmother - Catherine Kelly Dillon
• my great great great-grandmother Johanna Leahey Kelly
• my 4 x great grandparents  Patrick and Catherine Armstrong Leahey born in County Tipperary Ireland. 

My great grandmother Beatrice Bailey Dillon shared my passion for family history (or rather, I share her passion... she came first) and she worked on both her own side, and her husband's. As a result my grandmother had gobs of family documents and notes from my great-grandma Bea's research... JACK POT. 

Before I got my hands on all of those goodies though, I had been working on my own and through some distant cousins I was given a research document from an ancestry guild in Ireland outlining the Leahey Family. It gave the names of all of Patrick and Catherine's children and when they came over to America and who they married, but it didn't give the names of Patrick and Catherine's parents.

While going through the tub of documents my grandmother gave me I found a typed letter from another set of cousins, it told of their trip to County Tipperary to find the ancestral homelands and how they were told that Catherine and all of her siblings were disinherited by their father, Catherine specifically was disinherited for marrying a Catholic. The father was gentry of some sort, but no title was given and he lived at Farney Castle and he had left the castle to his nephew, for added color they added that Catherine's father died alone.  This was the first time anyone in my family had heard this story (we thought) and we had no idea if it was true.

Then, when going through some handwritten notes, I found a bunch of notes that Catherine Kelly Dillon gave to my great grandma Beatrice about her family tree. These notes were a gold mine with names, dates, marriages, death locations, and stories she had heard from her mother Johanna and other relatives. Included in these stories was this little gem:

"My Grandmother L. was disinherited

she never went to her Father's home

Aunt Ellen told me her father was Lord Armstrong 

I almost fainted when I read this, the Aunt Ellen mentioned in the note is Johanna Leahey Kelly's older sister. I had sort of dismissed the earlier story because it was kind of vague and didn't really include any details. Once I found this I had to get to the bottom of it. Aunt Ellen was about 10 when I think her mother died and 21 when her father died; it seemed to me that she would have some first hand knowledge of her grandparents. 

I searched records in Ireland and when I found this I thought for sure I had found the evidence I needed... 

The Catherine in this baptismal record is the daughter of the William Armstrong who at the time was the heir to the Farney estate, but had leased it over to his brother John.  I thought I had found her!  

However on further review this is unlikely to be my Catherine. According to several editions of "Burke's" including a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, this Catherine Armstrong married a man named John Bayly, I thought at first that maybe he died and she remarried, we had always thought that my 3x great grandmother Johanna was born when she was in here early 40s, so that could have happened. But it did not, Catherine Armstrong Bayly had a son named Lancelot-Peter around the time Johanna Leahey's older brother Edward was born. Furthermore, there is evidence that Catherine Armstrong Bayley died in 1874, and we believe that our Catherine Armstrong Leahey died in 1855. 

I'm not yet willing to say that our Armstrong family has no ties to the Armstrong Family of Farney Castle. I have personally experienced and seen on all the genealogy TV shows that these family rumors and legends usually have some grain of truth, some basis in fact that may have gotten twisted over time, but is usually not totally wrong. Also, since Aunt Ellen was born in County Tipperary and was old enough to remember her mother before she died, I think she certainly knew there was some family scandal involving the Armstrong landed gentry that lived in her same County. Also, in pouring of what records I've been able to find, all the Armstrongs in Tipperary county seem to be related somehow and are mostly Protestant, it is not a stretch then to think that Catherine marrying a Catholic in the late 1830s would have been a problem for her family. 

I have  three theories as to where the connection may really lie. Perhaps Catherine was a daughter of the William's brother who was leasing Farney Castle at the time my Catherine Armstrong would have been born, This brother was certainly in the family but not the heir.  My other two theories involve going back in the family line further. Perhaps she is a descendant of the original landed Armstrong, but through a son that was not the heir in one of the proceeding generations or perhaps the disinheritance happened further back and it was her "grandfather's" home she didn't go to. 

Hopefully I'll get to the bottom of this. My family and I went to Farney Castle and toured it, at the time we were still convinced that our Catherine was the one in the baptism record above, and touring the Castle had great meaning for us. I hope I can restore our connection to the place for which I now have fond personal memories.