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Religious Archives Reveal the Lives of Two Sisters

Sister of St. Joseph of Buffalo, St. Mary's School for the Deaf, circa 1880.   March is Women's History Month! It's time for the spotlight to shine on the ladies in our family trees. I'll be writing all month on women I've researched. I encourage all family history lovers to take the month to seek out the stories of our foremothers! They are often under-documented, but they have a lot to teach us.   I've just finished reading Sunny Jane Morton's new book Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States. Catholic women religious are a frequently overlooked subject of genealogical research, for many reasons, including, as Morton states in her Introduction, "They were Catholics in a culture dominated by Protestants. They were women in a culture dominated by men...They were unmarried and not mothers in a culture that defined both as near-essential for women." These reasons are amplified in many cases by the women'...
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PLACE OF ART AND MEMORY: THE CEMETERY

Graveyard at Glendalough monastic site, County Wicklow, Ireland. (Photo: N. Gilbride Casey, 2017)

Traditionally, the month of November has been a month of remembering departed loved ones. In many Christian faiths, November 2nd is known as the Feast of All Souls. Veterans Day falls on November 11th, and we recall the ultimate sacrifices of the many men and women who secured our nation's freedoms. And of course, our dear ones who have died are always close in thought on Thanksgiving Day.

Cemeteries pay a particular role in helping us to remember our departed, not only by holding their mortal remains, but by providing a focal point where we may remember, grieve, ponder, and reconcile our thoughts and emotions. Surrounded by flowers, trees, sculptures, fountains or ponds, as well as beautifully-rendered grave markers - a cemetery can be a balm to the soul of the grieved.

I have always appreciated the silence and beauty of cemeteries--places of art and memory. They approach the sacred for what they hold and keep--precious family and friends. They may also contain clues to ancestral families and hints for further family history research.

Part of my genealogical journey has been photographing the headstones of my own family, and requesting photos of markers in out-of-town cemeteries. Recently, kind volunteers have provided me with three important grave photos - giving me a glimpse of my family history crafted in stone.

Eight members of the extended Gilbride family are named on this headstone at Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: K. Donaghey, 2017)


 

The Gilbride plot in Scranton's Cathedral Cemetery (formerly Hyde Park Catholic Cemetery), marks the grave not only of my great, great grandfather Michael Gilbride, but also his second wife Mary, his children Anna, Michael, Joseph and Rose, a grandson Gerard, and Mary's second husband Thomas Hart. Seeing the headstone confirmed several relationships I discovered in my research, and gave me a hint for a grandchild I didn't know existed.

My 4x great grandparents James G. Gilbride and Mary Catherine Hart Gilbride, and their son Francis, are buried in this plot in Queen of Peace Cemetery, Hawley, Pennsylvania.(Photo: T. Gross, 2018)


Queen of Peace Cemetery, in neighboring Hawley, Wayne County, is home to the second important headstone:  the family plot of James G. Gilbride, my fourth great grandfather--who I believe was the Gilbride ancestor to come over from Ireland. My fourth great grandmother Mary Catherine Hart Gilbride, and third great uncle Francis Gilbride, are also buried there.

Reap stone, on the possible grave of Catherine Ryan Gilbride.(Photo: T. Schweikert)

 

A third stone represents a mystery still to be solved: the plot where I believe my great, great grandmother Catherine Ryan Gilbride is buried, covered with a stone bearing the surname Reap. Cemetery records indicate that half the plot was purchased by a Mr. Kilbride in 1877, and the other half by a Michael Reap. It's just another piece of the mystery surrounding Catherine's life and death.

In the course of my research I discovered Find a Grave, a virtual cemetery website. Here visitors can search and view any of  170 million memorials from around the world, created by volunteers who photograph and/or upload grave information. With a free account, visitors can create "virtual cemeteries" to group their own family members. They can also request that grave photos be taken by local volunteers, if none exists yet.

I have created several such virtual cemeteries to track grave locations for my ancestors and those of my husband, adding details, photographs, and other information where I can. When I discover a family connection in my research, I look for other family graves on the site and link them, thus tying long-separated families back together.

Below are links to virtual cemeteries for some of our family lines. Perhaps you would like to visit our shared ancestors where they lie in memory and art - in the virtual cemetery. If part of these families, feel free to upload photos or suggest additional information.

Nancy Gilbride Casey Paternal Lines:
Gilbride Family Cemetery
Baker/Becker Family Cemetery
McAndrew Family Cemetery
Cassidy Family Cemetery
Dyer Family Cemetery

Nancy Gilbride Casey Maternal Lines:
Kozlina Family Cemetery
Simonik Family Cemetery

James Dale Casey Paternal Lines:
Casey Family Cemetery
Hall Family Cemetery
Kelso Family Cemetery 
Blackman Family Cemetery
Davis Family Cemetery

James Dale Casey Maternal Lines:
Evans Family Cemetery
Stephen Family Cemetery 
Howard Family Cemetery
Stallings Family Cemetery










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