Finally! At long last I get to add a generation to my Dolan family tree. I found a possible entry for my ancestor’s brother, Patrick Dolan, in the Massachusetts Vital Records index at Footnote.com. The date, 1855, seemed a little late. Patrick would be in his 30s by the time he was married, but the…
Tag: Dolan
Martin Kelly, My Family’s First Business Owner?
Much of what my Grandma Shellabarger told me about her family turned out to be myth or exaggeration. She got one thing right. One of her ancestors owned boarding houses in San Francisco. That ancestor was my Great Great Great Grandfather, Martin Kelly. Martin was born sometime around 1820 in County Roscommon, Ireland. I’m not…
The Dolan Project Part Two: Are You My Dolans?
You may remember that I’ve been trying to figure out the parentage of Michael and William Dolan who appeared in the obituary of Patrick Dolan, my Great Great Uncle, who died in 1905. I had been searching one family for a couple of years, only to realize they did not connect to my tree. So,…
The Problem with Patrick Dolan’s Obituary
Again on the trail of the Dolan family… I have Patrick Dolan’s obituary, which started this whole mess, I mean, adventure. The obituary proves that Patrick Dolan is my gr gr gr Uncle, but it leaves much to be desired in sorting out his unknown brother. The only facts it presents is that he is…
Figuring out when John Dolan Died
In my last post about my Dolan research I wrote about how my Dolan’s were getting all tangled up with the Kelly surname. I’ve been following the family of John Dolan and Bridget Kelly who lived in San Mateo, California according to the 1880 census. Bridget (Kelly) Dolan’s obituary told me that she was a…