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.

What happened to the Moran siblings of Saugerties?

My great grandfather, Thomas William Moran, was born in Saugerties NY in 1855. His parents, Michael Moran and Elizabeth Cunningham, immigrated from Ireland with their 3 oldest children Michael, James, and Mary about 1852. Their son Patrick was born in NY in 1853, followed by Thomas. All seven were recorded together in the 1855 and 1860 Saugerties census.  In 1870 only Patrick and Thomas were with their parents; their sister Mary was listed in the next household with her Irish husband John Bennett, a brickyard worker like the Morans.  The two older sons have not been found.

In 1880 the two youngest sons were still with their parents as were two Bennett grandsons (assumed to be the children of Mary whose whereabouts was unknown). Both William and Elizabeth died in the early 1880s. It is unknown if the 2 grandsons were reunited with their parents or not as Mary and John Bennett have not been found.   What happened to them?

I have had mixed success in tracking the two older sons, Michael Jr and James. Sadly, James was fatally assaulted in 1879 by tenants in a rent dispute. His widow Bridget raised their 5 children.  But Michael is a mystery. The oldest of the children, Michael Jr, was born in 1844 and has not been found since the 1860 census. The truly confusing issue is that I found a January 1883 NY probate record that seems to be showing his brother Patrick petitioning for guardianship of 5 children: Michael, John, Mary, Nellie, Lizzie. Were they Michael’s children? I cannot find them in the 1880 census. Where might they have lived? What happened to Michael and who was his wife?

That leaves us with Patrick Henry Moran, who was named his father’s sole executor in the summer of 1882 (does that indicate that the first born son Michael was not in the area, not in good health, not in his father’s good graces?). Patrick is documented in Saugerties working as a stone cutter and then at the brickyard. In May 1881 he married Mary Coyle there at St Mary of the Snow Church. I have not found any record of them since.