Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow

Marriage Record for Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow
July 24, 1865, Castleblaney, Ireland

     The marriage record above is for my husband's great-great-grandparents, Owen Gorman (McGorman),  and Rachel Winslow.  This record was the first I found firmly putting his mother's family in a town in Ireland.   I had identified their names when I found the marriage record for his great-grandparents, Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly, during a research trip to the New Jersey State Archives.  One of the difficulties of Irish research is that many of the names are common, John, Joseph, Mary, Bridget etc., and surnames often use or drop the prefixes "Mc" or "O'" at random, and his family was no different.  Here, however were two names that seemed more uncommon.  When I entered the two names into Ancestry.com, I at once came up with an index to marriage records showing these two names.  An index to birth records later showed children of this couple.  The names, although common, matched the known brothers of Joseph Gorman.  Later, when I was researching at the huge Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I was able to acquire this image of the actual marriage record, and the names of the bride and groom's parents..
     Owen Gorman, a laborer, son of Patrick Gorman, was born about 1845.  He married Rachel Winslow, daughter of Nilsen Winslow, on July 24, 1865, in the town of Castleblaney, county Monaghan[1], Ireland.  They had six sons and a daughter born in towns near Castleblaney,  John (Oct 23, 1865 in Kilmore)[2], Joseph W. (Jul 22, 1867 in Kilmore)[3], Owen (April 27 1870 in Ballyhay)[4], Thomas (Jul 10, 1872 in Ballyhay)[5],  Patrick (Apr 29, 1875 in Monaghan)[6], James D. (April 1877[7], and Mary (about 1878)[8].  Thomas died in 1874 in Castleblaney.[9]
       Owen, Rachel, John, Joseph, David, and James all seem to have emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1880s, according to various census records.  John Gorman appears in the 1885 census of Warwick, Rhode Island as a boarder[10].  According to his family, he married Mary Keenan there on November 15, 1887, and lived in Warwick until his death.   In 1895, the New Jersey State census[11] shows Owen, Rachel, David and James living in Somerville, Somerset county, New Jersey, along with Joseph and his wife Julia who had married on November 6, 1894[12].  

1.  Marriage Records 1845-1870 in the General Registry Office of Ireland.  Digital copy FHL film # 101479. Record page # 576 for Castleblaney District, County of Monaghan. Record for Rachel Winslow.
2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.  Ancestry.com Ireland: Select Births and Baptisms 1620-1911. (Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc,  2011) records for John McGorman, Joseph Gorman, Owen Gorman, Thomas Gorman, Patrick Gorman, James Gorman, and Mary Gorman.  Records online.
9. Ireland Civil Registrations Deaths Index 1864-1968 (Provo Ut Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2011) Record for Thomas Gorman. Record online.
10. Rhode Island State Censuses 1865-1935. (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2013) Ancestry.com record for 1885, John Gorman. Record online.
11. Ancestry.com New Jersey State Census 1895 (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007) Ancestry.com record for Owen Gorman.
12.  State of New Jersey Marriage Return for Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly Nov 6, 1894. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ.

In the beginning...

  

Mary-Jane Roth Summer 1949

 As you may know, I began tracing my family tree about 20 years ago.  I had always enjoyed visits with our extended family, and listening to the stories told around many dinner tables.  As the years went by and older family members slipped away, my desire to record our stories for those who come after me got stronger and stronger.  As I have gotten older the task seemed more urgent, and I have put a lot of effort into collecting information about all of the branches of my family tree, Roth, Lieberman, Grosser, Tepper, Fried, Kandel, and their siblings, spouses, and in-laws.  Over time, I have learned a lot about documenting sources,  how to research all sort of records, and how to ask leading questions.  I have collected hundreds of photos and continue to track down and meet cousins who I had not seen in many years, or perhaps whose existence I had never suspected.   I have also expanded my search to include my husband Steve's family, the Crimes and Neumanns, Gormans, Fergusons, and McCanns.
    Today's technology has made it easier to share information with many people.  I have connected with many relatives over Facebook and with e-mail.  This blog is the next step in sharing my adventures in genealogy with everyone out there who may be interested.  As time goes on, I plan to highlight relatives I know about, sharing what I know of their stories, a photo if I have one, or a copy of some record I have found (naturalization, birth, tombstone, newspaper article etc), and my adventures in archives, libraries, and other repositories as I continue to work on the family history.  I hope that you will enjoy the stories I share, and perhaps add to my trove with some stories of your own about the person I highlight.  Feel free to share this blog with your other relatives if you think they will be interested.  I'd love to hear from them.