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Toddlers and Angels

June 4th—the day my sister Sharon died—always makes me pause.  My mind shifts back to the dark days of 1994. Then, when the veil between here and after was thin and my mind was continually occupied by thoughts of my sister - memories, regrets, wishes - I was on high alert, ever watchful for her presence.  Desperate for a sign that she was okay was a natural response to the traumatic way she died. I wanted reassurance. I found myself looking for women that looked like her in the grocery store or on the street, just to get a glimpse of her face one more time. For months, even years later, my heart would nearly leap out of my chest when I spied a young lady with long, dark, curly hair or a face that resembled hers. Of course, I was invariably disappointed when that person wasn't Sharon, and I couldn't pretend it was all somehow just a bad dream. But there were a few times, when our daughter was a baby and toddler, when it wasn't me but Anne who seemed especially attuned...
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CATHERINE RYAN


31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 17, 2022:   Paternal Great, Great Grandmother #1  - Catherine Ryan Gilbride (Abt. 1855-1881)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

This is the one that is nearest to my heart. If you have read my blog for any amount of time, or know me, you know that my quest for my second great grandmother Catherine Ryan has been an ongoing one—filled with mystery and discovered tragedy. Hers is the story that compels me to keep researching, to discover where she came from, and the reasons for her sad life.

I have written many times about Catherine: how I discovered what had become of her after she disappeared from her husband and son by 1880; about the trip I took with a cousin to Scranton, Pa., and with help of cemetery staff visited her unmarked gravesite. In another post, I imagined a conversation I might have with her if I could travel back in time and visit her at Danville Insane Asylum.

The stumbling blocks to revealing the rest of Catherine's story are a few:

  • As she died so young, she left few records behind with which to reconstruct her life.
  • Witnesses and sponsors named in records I do have appear more connected with her husband Michael than with her. For example, the witnesses to her marriage appear to be a friend of Micahel's and his fiance.
  • To date, no DNA evidence I have has revealed other matches through which I might discover Catherine's parents. All my matches so far identified within our Gilbride line connect back to Michael Gilbride, his parents or grandparents. I would need to identify DNA matches which connect one generation further back in the Ryan line...perhaps to siblings Catherine might have had which might lead to her parents. This strategy too is difficult: in many cases surnames will have changed by marriages over time, and I may not immediately recognize connections.  I am regrouping in my mind on next steps in that journey.

In the meantime, I offer these past blog posts which tell Catherine's story, and how I have gone about finding her.

What Would You Tell Me Catherine? (fictionalized conversation with Catherine)

Record Not Found Online (includes transcription of Catherine's patient record).

The Search for Catherine Ryan Gilbride (research methodology)

Out of Place  (research methodology)


NOTES

Image: Mary Cassatt, "Mother and Child," abt. 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_and_Child_MET_246188.jpg : accessed 17 January 2020); used under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0), Public Domain Dedication.


 

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