Genealogy Puzzles

Who were the parents of Anna Orr Coyle of Zanesville, Ohio ? 

In my ongoing research regarding sisters Margaret and Ann Sheils who were born in County Roscommon, Ireland and emigrated to Zanesville, Ohio, I encountered the household of Thomas and Anna (Orr) Coyle in a 1893 newspaper death notice. The funeral of Mrs Margaret Orr (presumed wife of John Orr and sister of Ann) departed from the Coyle home on Zane Street. That made me wonder if Margaret could possibly have been Anna’s mother.

I have quite a bit of information regarding other members of Margaret and Ann Sheils’ birth family, most of whom lived in New York State. The sisters were 2 of the 10 children born to John Sheils (who died on the transatlantic voyage in 1853) and Hannorah Feeney (who died in New York in 1870).  Their brother John was a prosperous hotelier in Ulster County, New York who hosted many Tammany Hall cronies of their NYC Alderman brother Thomas.  Quite a bit has been documented and published regarding these brothers. A local biographical sketch of John, published in 1896, noted that his sister Margaret had married an Ohio foundryman, John “AWER”. 

I have found records of John and Margaret Orr living in Zanesville but they are incomplete and somewhat conflicting regarding their children. I did not find assumed daughter Anna living with her parents in any census record.  Could it be that Anna was with her mother in the 1860 census but mistakenly listed as Emma, born Ohio? From other records it seems that Anna may have been born in New Jersey. In 1863 she married Thomas Coyle and is listed in many records of her children as Anna Orr Coyle. She died in 1897, not too long after her mother. I have found no death record for her father, John, but assume he outlived Margaret whose death record listed her as married. Thomas and Anna Coyle were likely buried at Mt Calvary Cemetery but no findagrave listings or photos have been found; uncertain about Margaret and John Orr. The search continues.