Den,
I don't know any specific books on the early O'Callaghan clan. Most of my
information (data) has come to me from an elderly aunt,
Margaret (nee Middaugh) Callahan and a cousin, Ola May (nee Callahan) Earnest. Following
the death of Ola May's father, Marion Callahan,
Ola May undertook to research the family history. She and Aunt Margaret did extensive
traveling to include one or more trips to County
Cork, Ireland. As a member of the American Genealogical Society I have become aware that
all too many books purporting to be historical in
nature are nothing more than paper mills - the Society continues to warn researchers to
look on these publications with skeptism. The best
documents continue to be church records, family bibles, cemetery records, newspaper
articles/obituaries and census records.
I note that your link, Benjamin F. Callaghan, was married to Nancy A McClure. Would
appreciate any further information on this branch
of the old tree. I know that Benjamin was born in 1805 and died in 1885 - nothing more.
Altogether plausible! As we look at the names of the children of John and Margaret
we see that the "O" was dropped throughout and for
Owen the 'g' was also dropped. Was this a conscious decision of the parents?
Maybe and maybe not. In some cases it comes down to how
names were "officially" recorded on birth certificates and church records. We
do know that both the "O" and 'g' were dropped with the
arrival of grandchildren of John and Margaret.
If you are interested, The Historical Research Center, offers heraldic material on
the background of the name "O'Callaghan". I have
both the coat of arms and a plaque that are quite informative.
I'll try to keep you informed of any further developments from this end. My
theory is that we are all in this together and it's a lot
more fun if we share our finds.
Pat Callahan
DEN McCULLOUGH wrote:
Pat,
I tip my hat to you,sir! Thanks for the info on the Callaghans of
Jackson County, Ohio. I'm a rookie/newbie/novice with the
computer/Internet/mailing lists and I'm happily floored by your quick
response.
When doing my Callaghan research some years ago in the few available
genealogy libraries in the boonies of Northern Lower Michigan, I was unable
to find the names of all of the children of John and Margaret O'Callaghan
I was only able to find John Callaghan, Junior; Wm. O.H. Callaghan; Owen
Callaghan; and Benjamin Callaghan (my link to John Davis O'Callaghan). I
pondered much about the other siblings, but was unable to find info. Again,
my thanks for filling in some blanks for me. If I'm not breaching any
etiquette of the mailing lists or genealogy groups, could you refer to me
the sources of info on the early Callaghans? Would be appreciated!
A tidbit from my family line: my grandmother, Jenny Callaghan
McCullough, born 1870 in Jackson County, told me that her kin always
referred to themselves in everyday conversation as " O'Callaghan," but
when
writing their names used the surname "Callaghan." ??? Does this sound
plausible to you?
Happy New Year to you and your kin!
Den McCullough
Petoskey, MI <mccullough(a)racc2000.com>
p.s. We have been slam-dunked for 2 1/2 weeks with about 80" of powder snow
and banshee-like winds. The skiing & snowmobiling is great, but the roads
are hazardous with white-outs and 4-5 foot snow drifts. Today the winds are
diminishing because of the Alberta Clipper now in our area. Temperatures of
15-20 degrees below zero forecast for this evening. Have you heard of the
old Irish saying, "Bad luck is better than no luck at all." 'bye.
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