MDANNEAR-L Archives

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Subject: [ANNE ARUNDEL CO LIST:] McGann
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:13:19 EST

Here's my story:

The first marriage of my great-grandmother, Mary McGann, was to (James)
Patrick Conley on 11 November 1848 location unknown, probably in Maryland. Family
lore has it that the McGanns originated in Co. Tipperary, and that Mary's
sister Kate accompanied her on the voyage from Ireland. It is believed that they
left to escape the potato famine, probably 1846-1847. Also, it is believed that
Kate married John Gleason about the same time in 1848, and that John and
Dennis Gleason (Mary McGann Conley' s second husband) may have been related.
Seven children resulted from the first marriage, as follows:

       Catherine, born on 6 January 1850 in Pennsylvania,
       Michael, born on 6 June 1852 in Pennsylvania,
       John, born on 5 May 1854 in Maryland,
       James, born on 4 April 1867 in Maryland,      
       Martin, born on 1 January 1859 in Maryland,
       Mary Ann, born on 9 May 1861 in Maryland,
       Frank, born on 27 February 1864 in Maryland.

Patrick Conley died on 17 July 1865, location unknown. The family resided in
"Shawsville" of Marshalls District 4 in Harford County (documented in the 1860
Maryland census). Mary McGann Conley then married Dennis Gleason on 15 March
1867 in Harford County. My grandmother, Eliza Jane Gleason, was born on 6
February 1868 in York County, Pennsylvania. Dennis Gleason died on 16 February
1872 location unknown.

These are the "bare bones" of my research. In June, I traveled to Maryland
and visited the State Archives in Annapolis with little success. I did locate
Patrick "Conly" in the 1860 Maryland Census, with wife (Mary McGann) and
children of the correct ages. I riffled the card indices for hours without locating
any marriage record of McGann and Conley. I also checked in at the Enoch Pratt
Library in Baltimore but found nothing there of any help. I traveled up to
York to locate my grandmother's birth record and had no success there either.
Finally, I ended my trip in Washington at NARA searching for passenger records
for Baltimore, as well as the other three major eastern ports: New Yotk, Boston,
and Philadelphia; there were no McGanns or Conleys found that were the right
ages. (I guess I forgot to mention ages: Mary McGann was born in 1828 or 1829,
and Patrick Conley in 1821.)

I did find, in the seven volume "Famine Immigrant" books, records of two
Gleasons, one Denis of Ireland leaving from Limerick, and one Dennis of Great
Britain leaving from Liverpool, both 20 years of age, and both landing in New
York. The trail began and ended in New York, as neither could be traced from
there.

I have looked at several websites on the Ireland side, including the Heritage
Centers and the Irish Times database, and have corresponded with the
Tipperary Libraries in Thurles, trying to pin down McGanns in Co. Tipperary. I did
find only one M'Gann but eight M' Canns in the 1850 Griffiths Valuation.

Marvin Kennebeck

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