Johnston Alexander Love, My Maternal Great Grandfather…
Johnston Alexander Love
7 June 1880 – 25 Sept 1951
My Maternal Great Grandfather
A Short Life…
Born on 23 Jun 1906 in 41 Cherryville Street, Belfast I had always thought that my paternal grandmother, Lizzie Berry; was the youngest of seven children born to James Berry and Mary Agnes Scott. It would seem I was wrong…
During my trip back home this summer I was lucky enough to get the burial records for Stoneyford Parish Church. After hours of transcribing records I discovered a name… Annie Jane Berry! Annie Jane was buried in the same grave as my paternal great grandparents and my great uncle Berry. For many years I had known a child was buried in the grave. Unfortunately no name was attached to previous records I had uncovered, and no living family knew of her .
Annie Jane had a very short life; she was born on 20 Apr 1908 in 41 Cherryville Street. Records show that her mother was Mary Agnes Berry, formerly Scott; who signed the Registration of Birth with her mark, an “X”, and her father was James Berry, a plumber.
On 3 Jun 1910, at 41 Cherryville Street, Belfast, Annie Jane passed away just after she turned two. With her older sister present at her death Annie Jane died from Meningitis (Tubercular). She had been ill for twenty one days. Her death was registered on 4 May 1908 – this resonated with me as I was born on 4 May… just not 1908!
So, it would seem that Annie Jane was the youngest child of eight and the younger sister of my grandmother Lizzie. She is interred in the Stoneyford Parish Churchyard with her parents and older brother William.
The sadness I feel for my great aunt Annie Jane Berry, someone I have never met, someone I didn’t know of until recently; is inexplicable!
“In the end, we’ll all become stories.” – Margaret Attwood
“Strangers in the Box”…
Come, look with me inside this drawer,
In this box I’ve often seen,
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still, serene.
I wish I knew the people,
These strangers in the box,
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks.
I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I’ll never know their ways.
If only someone had taken time
To tell who, what, where, or when,
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.
Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be passed away?
Make time to save your stories,
Seize the opportunity when it knocks,
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.
Author: Pam Harazim
Copyright (c) (2014) (https://twistedlimbsancrookedbranches.com). All Rights Reserved.
Hidden Headstones…
In August of 2014 I was, once again, in the Derry City Cemetery searching for family graves. Since my last trip “back home” in 2012 my research had unearthed several family connections and various other family members who were also buried in this particular Cemetery.
I was looking for a few specific graves, which where proving very difficult to find. However, with the help of my daughter, aunt and an employee of the Cemetery, I was able to find and photograph them. The grave I was most interested in was that of my 3rd great grandfather Daniel Chambers. An ancestor that none of my living family knew about and a grave that no one attended! We were all completely unaware of its existence until very recently!
I was also looking for the burial ground of my maternal second great uncle James Beattie. Finally, his headstone and that of his second wife, Fanny, was discovered. It had been over grown by a tree – literally surrounded! I would never have found it if not for the help of my little entourage and a very knowledgeable Cemetery employee. He just wouldn’t give up – he said, “you didn’t come all the way here not to find it! Martin, I remain in your debt!
An excerpt from A Visitors Guide to Derry City Cemetery states: “From 1 January 1867 the graveyards attached to St. Columb’s Cathedral, St. Augustine’s Church and Long Tower Chapel were closed to new burials, with ‘access’ restricted to those families with rights to graves.
The City Cemetery was opened in 1853. The first reported burial was that of Robert McClelland, a 10-month old child who died 10 December 1853. Robert had lived on Orchard Street in the City.
Joseph Bigger, who died 12 January 1854; was the first adult buried in the Cemetery (His grandson, David, was Superintendant of the City Cemetery and actually lived in the Gatelodge). Today there are over 74,594 burials – an average of 400 per year. “
I look forward to my next trip “back home” and intend to spend much more time in this particular Burial Ground. It is a Cemetery which is very large, beautifully kept and one where I feel at peace. A Cemetery full of stories and “Hidden Headstones”!
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A Tiny Little Document…
In the summer of 2012 on a trip “back home”, while going through some family documents that my aunt had amassed for me; I came across a little piece of paper.
This tiny “piece” of a document has had me wondering what exactly it is!
It includes many family names; family who I have since discovered had resided in Co. Donegal at one point in time! The families include: Chambers, Johnson and Barclay families from my maternal line.
It is obviously an official document, but what exactly? I would love to know what it is!
Inquiring minds…
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From Co. Antrim, Ireland to Pennsylvania, U.S.A. …
Born in the Ballymoney area of Co. Antrim, Ireland on 30 March 1878, she was the eldest of three children, and only daughter; born to Alexander Murdock and Jane Holmes. Her two siblings were Alexander and Archibald.
At the tender age of seven she was left without a mother; as in the spring of 1885 Jane Holmes Murdoch passed away at the very young age of 30. Two years later, in the spring of 1887, Alexander remarried; and over the ensuing years he and his 2nd wife Maggie had seven more children. Little is known about her life between the death of her mother and 1896.
While still a minor, on 23 December 1896; at the Dervock Reformed Presbyterian Church by Licence, Rev. J. Ramsey united her in marriage with Robert McAleese. Her name was Annie Murdock and she was my 1st cousin 3x removed; which means her father Alexander and my 2nd great grandfather William were siblings.
Annie & Robert lived at Drumahiskey, Enagh, Co. Antrim, where Robert farmed and Annie raised their children. Drumahiskey is also the home where they had their eight children. Two of whom were born and died between 1901 and 1911.
After a year of illness and on 29 January 1926, at the age of seventy seven; Robert passed away from “muscular degeneration of the heart”. Robert is interred in the Ballymoney Old Church Graveyard.
At the age of forty seven Annie was widowed and still had three children living at home. Her older children had all emigrated to the U.S.A. It is unclear where Annie lived between the death of husband in 1926, as the farm was sold and the proceeds divided between her and her six living children; and 28 April 1929. On board the S.S. Albertic departing from Belfast, Annie along with her two youngest children were bound for New York, U.S.A. Her son John had already emigrated just 3 short months after the death of his father; her entire family was now living in the U.S.A, settling in Pennsylvania.
Many of the family remained connected to their homeland, making numerous trips back across the Atlantic to visit family and friends. Annie’s eldest son Neal, and my 2nd cousin twice removed; was a name I had heard growing up. You see Neal and my great grandfather, Thomas Murdock; were not only 1st cousins once removed but very good friends. Neal was a frequent visitor at 19 Union Street, Ballymoney; often returning in July to march with the Orange Lodge LOL 456. The Lodge formerly referred to as ““LOL 456 Murdoch/k’s Lodge””.
On the 26 May 1948 at the age of seventy Annie passed away. She is interred in the Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
There are many more stories and connections to write about this particular Twisted Limb of my family tree.
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My Berry Connection…
“I would I were alive again to kiss the fingers of the rain.” Edna St. Vincent Millay
Copyright (c) (2014) (https://colleenjmurdoch.wordpress.com). All Rights Reserved.
MY Sweeney’s of Garryharry, Co. Donegal…
For years I didn’t know what the initial “S” stood for when my father was signing his name. After quite some time I discovered he was named after his paternal grandmother Lizzie Sweeney. As very little was known about my Sweeney’s, other than that they were from Garryharry, Co. Donegal; I’ve spent much time researching them. In the Spring of this year I had some help from Boyd Gray of West Ulster Genealogy Services who helped me locate the home of my great great great grandparents via the Griffith Valuation. Not only did Boyd send me the valuation records, but also a Google image of the property. I thought Christmas had come early!
Several weeks later I was surfing the net and came across a Sweeney phone listing for the same area. After about a month of trying to convince myself to make the overseas call I took a leap of faith and dialed the number. After all they would either speak to me or not! Not only did Mrs. Sweeney speak to me she was as excited as I was. We ended the thirty minute call with her saying, “You better not leave this country without coming to visit us”! The likely hood of that happening was zero!
Fast forward to August 2014, and my most recent and very successful jaunt “back home”! My little family and I, along with Boyd Gray of course, were headed to Garryharry, Co. Donegal to visit with my Sweeney family and the homestead of my great great great grandfather, James Sweeney!
We had arrived!
To quote Boyd, “This is my great great great grandfather, James Sweeney’s (McSwyne’s) homestead now, as so often, used as a barn or outhouse at one of the current Sweeney residences. This is where my great great grandfather, also James Sweeney, would have been born. The same home he left in 1859 to marry my great great grandmother, Fanny Robinson from Ballyarr at 1st Ramelton Presbyterian Church.”
We had the pleasure of meeting Bill and Margery Sweeney and Bill’s sister Tillie. Bill and Tillie are my 2nd cousins 1x removed, which sounds quite remote – however, it means that their grandfather and my great grandmother where siblings! It the big picture of family it’s really not so distant. We shared stories about family… they knew that my Murdoch’s were related to them they just weren’t sure how. They also had memories of my great uncle, Gilbert Murdoch, visiting with them.
We were made very welcome at the Sweeney home and greeted with hugs and kisses! Tea was served, along with Margery’s homemade wheaten bread and jam, and we were even gifted some jam as we were leaving! It may seem rather strange, but … I felt as if I had been there before.
The story with this particular “Crooked Branch” of my family tree is certainly not over yet! There is much more to tell – stories for another time!
Decades after discovering what the initial “S” stood for in Ireland when I was a little girl; to over 40 years later, and once again being in Ireland… it most certainly was a full circle moment for me! I truly look forward to spending more time with this particular branch of my family during my next trip!
“Family, like branches in a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.” – Unknown
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The Templecormac Graveyard, Upper Ballinderry…
“We do not need to grieve for the dead. Why should we grieve for them? They are now in a place where there is no more shadow, darkness, loneliness, isolation, or pain. They are home.”
― John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
I visited this little Graveyard for the second time since the summer of 2012. Realizing after the first visit, and another year of research; that family are interred there.
The first visit left me with a rather uneasy feeling as though I was unwelcome! This last visit was very different; for some odd reason I felt surrounded by love!
I have photographed and recorded all of the headstones in this Graveyard, some are legible and some not. If you have family buried in The Templecormac Graveyard feel free to get in touch and I will be happy to send photos!
Copyright (c) (2014) (https://colleenjmurdoch.wordpress.com). All Rights Reserved.
Forgotten Graves…
During my very recent trip “back home” I spent much of my time documenting cemeteries, grave yards and family burial grounds in Northern Ireland. One of the many that I visited was the Middle Church in Ballinderry where a large number of my ancestors are interred.
The Ballinderry Middle Church was built in 1668 under the direction of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, who also financed its construction. In 1824 a larger Parish Church was needed and a new Church was built. Initially the Church was to be demolished and rebuilt on the same site; however it was decided to use a new site less than a mile away.
Shortly after the building of the new church the ivy covered Middle Church had fallen into a state of disrepair. A well off parishioner donated £2000 for the repair and the Church was restored.
The Church today looks very much as it did when it was originally built; it is proclaimed to be the finest example of a “barn church” in all of Ireland. It has neither heat nor electricity and is lit only with natural light and candle light. The pews and majority of the fittings are all original.
The Middle Church is still regularly used as a place of worship in the summer months of June, July and August on the first and third Sundays at 7:00 p.m. The grave yard at Middle Church remains the Parish Grave Yard.
My excursion to this specific burial ground was a huge success and provided me with many more “crooked branches“ to add to my ever evolving family tree.
During my time at not only this particular grave yard, but many others; I came across various very old graves, some covered in ivy, and others that had been there so long that trees were growing through them. It made me wonder… who these “forgotten graves” belonged to.
Where are their descendants? Did they sail to the “Americas” in the 17th and 18th centuries? Will anyone ever return to Ireland to look for their burial ground? It makes me wonder…
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“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings.” Teaching children values and giving them the opportunity to excel is essential to good parenting. However, I feel I must also provide my children (and myself) insight into the ones who came before us: our ancestors whose lives and stories have shaped us into who we are. This is my journey; these are their stories…
Unforgetting family
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TWISTED LIMBS & CROOKED BRANCHES 