Hurricane Sandy

Just about everyone in the Northeast was affected by Hurrcane Sandy in some degree, whether it was loss of electricity, a tree down across the street, a foot of snow in your yard, or inability to travel freely due to gas shortage. A couple of twigs of the Fanning family tree were adversely affected in a big way. Luckily, there were no deaths or injuries to report since the families evacuated before the storm's arrival. However, property damage is vast.

The Fanning Family bungalow in Long Beach, NY sustained great damage as the storm surge caused the ocean to meet the waters of Reynolds Channel. It appears the water was about four feet into the house and above the kitchen counter tops. There was enough water to make the refrigerator float and ruin just about everything in the water's path. Aunt Margaret, Anthony and Carolyn have been displaced since then and we will need to rebuild.

The Fanning bungalow in Long Beach after it was gutted on November 21.

In Rockaway, Aunt Ronnie and the girls were evicted by Hurricane Sandy when the flood waters caused the basement windows to break under pressure and the entire basement filled up. The water line raised up into the first floor by nearly 2 feet. There were splash marks on the exterior of the house as high as 14 feet from the ground as Jamaica Bay and  the Atlantic Ocean clashed along Cronston Ave. Furnace, hot water heater, electrical panels, and lots and lots of memories were damaged by the sea water. Water pressure was strong enough to cause an old oil tank to dislodge in the basement.

The first load of flood damaged belongings are curbside at the Hynes' Rockaway home.

To add insult to injury, a local landmark dear to the family was utterly destroyed by fire during the storm. The Harbor Light Restaurant was the venue to wedding rehearsals, birthdays, christenings, communions, and other meetings too numerous to list. As the 80 mph winds pushed the fire across the peninsula, the restaurant once owned by Uncle Walter was engulfed and burned to its very foundation. When I saw the first photo posted online of its smoldering ruins it caused me goosebumps.

The Harbor Light the morning after the storm.

If you have been following the story of my family through this blog, you have read how we have overcome adversity in the past. And we will overcome again. We have come from a strong lot who have endured months long trans-Atlantic journeys, terrorist attacks, and depressions. We have each other and through each others strength we shall soar once more.

The Weinbrecht Family

My great aunt, Marie Elizabeth Fanning (March 13, 1908 - January 10, 2000), was my grandfather's sister. I don't recall ever meeting her but often heard about her and her family at gatherings and family discussions. My mother has described her as a gentlewoman with wonderful manners and proper, but not in a stuffy, pretentious way. She married William Joseph Weinbrecht (April 13, 1905 - August 24, 1978) on June 17, 1933 in Manhattan.

William & Marie Weinbrecht in 1933

Before marrying Uncle Bill, she had traveled out to San Diego to live with her aunt Mary Alice & Eric Carl on 50th Street, as discussed in a previous blog entry. At some point after their wedding and before 1940 they moved to Corona, Queens. Their address was 31-12 100 St in the 1940 census. Uncle Bill was listed as a NYC Police Officer (from 1931-1951) and I know that he worked at the 110 Precinct, which covers the Elmhurst & Corona sections of Queens. His nickname was "Whitey" and he played on the police baseball team... quite an honor in those days.

NYPD Baseball Team in the 1930's Outside City Hall

Bill and Marie relocated to San Diego after Bill retired from "the job". They had three sons:

• William Joseph (b.1935) married to Mary Mort in 1960 in San Diego.
• Raymond (b. 1940) and married to Mary Maloney in 1968
• Joesph Francis (b.1944) and married to Margaret Sullivan in 1971

Bill, Joe, and Ray with their mom, Marie

Bill & Mary had a son Mark (b. 1961) who also possessed some baseball skills like his grandfather. Mark was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 14th round in the 1980 MLB Baseball Draft. He was a pitcher who played for Clairemont HS in San Diego. Mark married Kimberly Turner in 1986 and they have a daughter Amanda.

Mark with the Elmira Pioneer Red Sox

We'll have to continue with the rest of the Weinbrecht family on my next entry.... until then stay well.

September 11, 2001... Never Forget.

It touched all of our hearts in so many ways... of the 3,000 people murdered that day, one of them was our own family. He will always be missed and remembered.

"Capt. Walter Hynes was the person his extended family relied on for everything. If you needed your plumbing fixed or a room painted, Walter would do it. He would change your tire. He was the family lawyer. He even met his wife while lending a hand: he was helping another firefighter, Richard Fanning, move into a new house and was introduced to Mr. Fanning's sister.

Captain of Ladder Company 13 at 85th Street and Lexington Avenue, Walter lived in Belle Harbor, Queens, with his wife, Veronica, and their three daughters. He had worked as a firefighter in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and put himself through law school at St. John's University at night."

The rest of the Wrights...

I am back after taking the summer off from blogging and looking forward to providing some new and interesting information on the Wright and Fanning families.

The previous post on the life and family of Reverend William J. Wright, wife Lucy, and his daughters. They appear to have led a moderate lifestyle in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC. However, Frederick and William's sister, Madeleine Wright (not to be confused with my grandmother, Madeleine Hurley Wright), married into a wealthy New York family. They were descendents of English aristocrats who immigrated to the new world in its infancy.

Madeleine (1861-1932) married into the Ely family. Her husband, Cheever Newhall Ely (1849-1929), was a successful textile businessman and they were socialites. In the late 1890's they lived in a large Victorian home in Yonkers that had been profiled in a few architectural periodicals of the era. The below photo is of the home at 526 Warburton Avenue across from the Trevor Estate. The structure still exists but recent photos show the property has not been maintained to its original splendor.

The Ely family apparently played a significant role with the Wright family and socialized in the same circles. Cheever's cousins, Moses and Smith Ely, were in the wedding party of Frederick Wright & Marie Antionette Finck. While doing my research, I learned that there was a NYC Mayor by the name of Smith Ely Jr., but the dates of his life do not match up with the one mentioned above.

Madeleine & Cheever had 3 children but only one lived past childhood. Even wealth could not protect the children of this time period from disease and misfortune. Their daughter, Madeleine, died as an infant in 1885 and their son, Cheever Marsfield Ely, died at the age of 2 in 1893.

The surviving child, Grace Ely (1889-1953), has conflicting formation for the birth date. It appears that October 6, 1889 is the correct date, however, a passenger manifest on a cruise liner listed it as October 10, 1893. She married David Edward Cain (1891-1965) in 1914. David Cain was a Colonel in the US Army, serving in World War 2 and the Korean war, and they resided in many places across the country. Grace died in Jamestown, Rhode Island in 1953 and David died in 1965.

They had two children, Virginia Ely Cain (1916-?) born in NYC and David Edward Cain, Jr. (1917-?) born in Honolulu, HI.

Virginia married a man named Henry Lloyd Thornell Koren. HLT Koren was a well known Foreign Service Officer, who also dabbled in CIA activities, and was once the chief of the Congo Mission in Africa in the mid-1960's and also a Deputy Ambassador in several other countries. His State Department biography is posted here. I have not located Virginia's death records but Henry passed away in June 1994 in James City, VA. They had 2 children, Henry Lloyd Koren (b.1944) and Ann Koren.

David Cain Jr. married Martha Appleton (1919-1994) in 1942 but died just 4 years later in Rhode Island. I believe they had 2 children who are still living.

Jack the Ripper & the Fanning connection?

My last post on the Fanning family discussed my great-great grandparents, Peter Fanning & Mary Jane Carrol, their immigration to the US, and their family. Since that time I have been given some extraordinary information on both of them. And have been able to go back another generation in the Carroll family.

First, let me introduce to you the face of Peter Fanning... and his spectacular mustache! I was contacted by my father's cousin, Bill Weinbrecht, who was able to provide me with several photos of Fannings discussed here.

Peter Fanning, born in Dublin 1863.

Unfortunately, we don't have a photo of Mary Jane, yet. However, I have been in contact with people who are researching the Carroll family. I was given images of the census and baptismal records for Mary Jane & her family who indeed resided on Eccles Lane, Dublin in the mid to late 1800's. Eccles Lane does not exist any longer. They were members of St. Michan's Parish, which is still there.

With the information provided I was able to determine Mary Jane (listed in one record as Mary Anne Jane Carroll) was one of 8 siblings born to my 3x great grandparents, Patrick Carroll and Mary White. The other siblings were:

• Alice Carroll (1866-?)
• Anne (1870-?)
• Catherine (1871-?)
• James (1873-?)
• Thomas (1876-?)
• Bridget Mary (1878-?)
• Annie Josephine (1880-?)

I was contacted by someone researching Alice Carroll and soon discovered that as a 16 year old girl she was a witness to a notorious crime in 1882. The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings on 6 May 1882 in the Phoenix Park in Dublin of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke. Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Burke was the Permanent Undersecretary, the most senior Irish civil servant. The assassination was carried out by members of the "Irish National Invincibles", a group of Fenian activists.

During the trial of the men allegedly responsible for this murder, there were other attacks throughout Dublin in an attempt to derail the proceedings and discourage a conviction. One of these attacks involved the attempted murder of Mr. Denis Fields as he walked down Hardwicke Street in the Inn's Quay section of Dublin. Fields was a Special Juror for the trial & was seriously stabbed after a cab pulled up & three men jumped out & assaulted him.

From the research document "The Terror of Their Live: Irish Jurors Experiences", "In addition, there were several high-profile examples of juror intimidation, the best-known being the attack on Denis Field by a group known as the“Invincibles”in 1883. Field had been a member of the jury that convicted Michael Walsh for the murder of police constable Kavenagh at Letterfrack.The foreman and Field had been seen passing what were in fact perfectly innocuous messages to and from the Crown solicitor and were “assumed to be asking his advice on their verdict.” Soon after the trial, Field was attacked while walking home, on the same night that an attempt was made on the life of Lawson J."

 

Court artist rendition of Alice Carroll in 1883

According to newspaper reports, Alice did not want to cooperate or testify at the trials due to retaliation fears but was offered a 500 pound reward, a pretty hefty sum back then, and participated in the hearings. Some of the men were convicted and put to death at the infamous Kilmainham Goal (Jail). It is recorded that Alice and her family were the subjects of harassment by others in the community and Alice was no longer listed on census reports shortly after. It is suspected that Alice was given another identity and relocated from Dublin. There are some who suspect that she was given the surname Kelly and lived in London. And the reason for people having interest in her is that Mary Jane Kelly was the fifth and final victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper. The likelihood of Alice Carroll and Mary Jane Kelly being the same person are slim due to a variety of reasons but there are some theorists who she may a candidate. Others believe that Alice was sent with her reward money to Australia and, as afar as I know,  never to be heard from again.

I also found that Mary Jane's younger brother, James, married a woman named Margaret Lynch. Unknown if they had children. Her father, Patrick Carroll (1832-?) was born to Thomas and Alice Carroll, also of Dublin. They also had another son, Thomas, Jr. I am still working on other records for the Carroll Family.

Also discussed in previous Fanning entries were the aunts & uncles of my grandfather, Poppy Joe Fanning. Among the photos provided were some faces to put with the names... here is Mary Alice Fanning (1889-1979). She was born in Dublin and sailed across the Atlantic with the family as a child.

As told by cousin Bill Weinbrecht, Marie Fanning (Poppy Joe's sister) was "sent to live with Mary Alice & Eric Carl in San Diego in the 1920's. She never spoke about the reasons why she was sent but it was probably an economic necessity. Mary & Eric treated her like a daughter while she completed high school and nursing school here."

Here are some photos of my great grandparents that were also sent to me:

Julia Anna Schalk

Paddy Fanning

The Wright Brothers (no, the other ones)

John Guttridge Wright and Sophia Kelley Hull (my great-great grandparents) had three children. 

• William John Wright (1860-1939)
•  Madeleine Wright (1861-1932)
• Frederick Harriman Wright (1863-1993)

The previous Wright family chapter discussed the family and life of my great grandfather, Frederick Wright. This chapter will bring you to the family of his brother, William John Wright (1860-1939).

William J. Wright, the eldest of the siblings, was born in New York City in February of 1860 in the 21st Ward. The 1860 census did not include residence addresses but we do know that the 21st Ward was bounded north by E. and W. 40 St, the East River, south by E. & W. 26 St, and on the west by 6th Avenue.

By the 1880 census, William, and sister Madeleine,were living with his mother, Sophia Wright, and his grandmother, Sophia Kelley Hull (1838-1927) at 401 Third Street in Brooklyn. William's father, John, was living at 426 6th Street with Frederick for some reason. I haven't been able to find him in the 1900 census.

In between 1880 and 1909, William relocated to the Washington DC area. He had become an Episcopal minister and on October 29, 1909 married Lucy Hayden Gough (1881-1969) - 21 years his junior - at Christ Church in Chaptico, Maryland.

Christ Church, Chaptico, MD

The 1920 census tells us that William & Lucy lived at 1613 30 St NW in our nation's capital but a search of Episcopalian church records show that Reverend William was the Rector of Christ Church in 1916. Perhaps they maintained dual residences. The church apparently had them relocate once again because by the 1920 census they were living on Walnut Street, in Statesville, North Carolina and William was a minister of Trinity Church. Our last information for William was on the 1930 census where the Wright family was back in Washington DC, living at 1810 Ingleside Terrace NW. William died in January 1939. His wife stayed in Washington and lived for 30 years past her husband and died May 16, 1969 at 89 years old.

Rev. William & Lucy had two daughters, Lucy Gough Wright (1913-1995) and Madeleine H. Wright (1916-1971) - and coincidentally my grandmother's married name - both born in Maryland. While doing the research for this family I came across something quite confusing... while they had the same last name prior to marriage, they also kept popping up in searches as having the same last name, as well. I was able to determine that Lucy & Madeleine married a set of brothers.

Lucy married Ernest Douglas Birchby (1913-1980) and Madeleine married John Pinsent Birchby (1917-1976) of Kensington, MD. Ernest & Lucy had a son, Ernest, Jr. (my second cousin once removed) born in 1942 and according to internet records still resides in Kensington. I have not been able to locate any children for John & Madeleine, who relocated to Newport, Maryland. An obituary for Madeleine states that she was interred at Trinity Episcopal Church and her nickname was "Boots".

Next Wright family addition will be the story of William and Frederick's sister Madeleine.

Before they were heroes, they were family.

As we arrive at Memorial Day weekend I take this moment to compile a list of people listed on my family tree that have served in defense of our freedom and our country. It is on the shoulders of these men and their families that we are able to enjoy the rights and freedoms that we all enjoy in this century. We shall never forget your service nor your sacrifices.

Fanning Tree

Killed in Action

Cpl. Robert Wundsam (1925-1944)US Army - Farmingdale National Cemetery

Served and have since passed away:

Raymond Fanning (1913-1981) US Army - Calverton National Cemetery
William J. Fanning (1909-1993) US Army
William J. Fanning, Jr. (1940-1998) US Air Force - USAF Academy Cemetery
Steven English (1958-2003) US Marine Corps
James P. English (1897-1972) British Army in WW2 - British War Veterans Cemetery, Ardsley, NY
James D. Hampton (1908-1981) US Army
George F.A. Kempen ( 1896-1963) US Army - Farmingdale National Cemetery
Henry Kempen (1897-1969) US Army - Farmingdale National Cemetery
Kenneth Riggs (?) US Army
Charles T. Schalk (1914-2006) US Army
William J. Weinbrecht (1905-1978) -  US Air Force

Served and still with us:

Dennis G. Fanning - US Army
Thomas English - US Navy
Joseph F. Weinbrecht - US Army
Raymond J. Weinbrecht - US Army

Currently serving:

Andrew Charman - US Navy
Edward Zimmerman - US Navy

Wright Tree

Killed In Action

Sgt. Conrad Vogel (1823-1862) Union Army - died at South Mountain & buried at Antietam
Maj. Robert T. Elliott (1830-1864) Union Army, died at Topotomy Creek
Cpl. Lambert Hoffman (1914-1944) US Army - Sicily-Rome American Cemetery

Served & have since passed away:

Danforth L. Allen (1840-1909) -Union Army
Darius Allen (1887-1978) US Army
David Cain (1891-1965) US Army
Joseph B. Carr (1828-1895) Union Army
Walter H. Elliott (1842-1928) Union Army
Charles Fest (1899-1973) US Army
Eugene Fest (1906-1978) US Army
August Hoffman (1848-1938) Union Army - Farmingdale National Cemetery
William Hoffman (1889-1959) US Army
Bartholomew J. Hurley (1879-1963) US Army
Borromeo W. Hurley (1921-2008) US Army
Nathaniel Packard (1729-1809) American Revolutionary War
Hubert Stolleis (1917-1992) US Air Force

Served and are still with us:

Richard Wright - US Marine Corps.

The family tree is a never ending work in progress and if I omitted someone please accept my sincere apologies. I always strive for the most accurate information, so please let me know what corrections need to be made.

So, what does my DNA say? Undeniably Caucasoid.

Since I began the task several years ago I have added 2,164 people to my family tree. Outside of the United States, I have determined that the majority of my known ancestors have come from Germany, Ireland, and England. A recent DNA test shows something a little different.

A while back I was offered to have my DNA tested at Ancestry.com as part of their Beta program. The first sample was not discernible and I was asked to resubmit it last month. Today, I received the results and they were not entirely surprising but they did confirm a recent discovery that I can hardly wait to share with you all, particularly those of you on the Wright branch of the tree. It did tell me one undeniable fact... I cannot be any more Caucasian than I am.

As you can see in the above diagram two-thirds of my ancestors originated many hundreds, if not thousands of years ago in Britain and Ireland. No real surprise there. The surprise for some of you will come from the fact that I (or we) am 25% Scandinavian! None of my relatives have ever mentioned any knowledge of being Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, or Swedish, yet, my DNA shows that is where our roots are buried. And I didn't really believe it when I found recently matching family trees to ours but our Scandinavian background spans back thousands of years to before Christ and we are descended of royalty.

What did surprise me was the lack of evidence of our central European, specifically German, roots. With the recent discovery of the origin of the Kempen family (Fanning side) in Lower Saxony, the northwestern section of Germany, it stands to reason that these ancestors were closely related to the Dutch. The district where the Kempens originated is Leer and sits right at the border of the Netherlands. Our other German relatives (Hoffman, Dertinger, Schalk etc)  that are documented from Baden & Wurtzberg may have descended from other Scandinavian people, as well.

I look forward to sharing these fascinating discoveries in the future.

Peter & Mary Jane Fanning's journey

In my last post regarding the Fanning family, we saw their Manhattanville residence in relation to the 1900 census. New York did not have a regular census but they did conduct one in 1905 and it shows Peter & Mary Jane had moved from the Manhattan Street address down to the East Side of the island at 209 East 44 Street near Third Avenue. Peter was 42 years old and was occupied as a "horseshoer". Mary Jane was five years younger and kept house with their three children. James is not listed on the 1905 census and I assume he died as a child. Family lore says there may have been another son, Peter Jr., who died as a baby or was still born.

I have not located any evidence as to when Peter or Mary Jane passed away. They are not found in any other census reports after 1905. Family notes indicate they are buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queeens, NY. Calvary Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery and is a sprawling graveyard that many of us have driven over at some point since the Long Island Expressway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway have viaducts that transverse it. Calvary has four sections and the Fanning immigrants are supposed to be buried with their two sons, James and Peter, in the first section at 49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd. Another location I need to visit when I travel to NYC.

Calvary Cemetery in Laurel Hill, Queens.

As I wrote in the last post, their eldest son, Joseph Patrick "Paddy" Fanning, was born in Dublin in 1887. Paddy is listed in the 1905 census living with his parents and  was "driver" and I have to assume that he is a horse and wagon driver. Two years later he is married to my great-grandmother, Julia Anna Schalk, on May 22, 1907, in Manhattan. Their first child, Marie, was born in 1908 and son, William, followed the next year. The 1910 census has this family residing at 334 East 90 Street between First and Second Avenue and Paddy's occupation is listed as a driver for a laundry service. I am going to save the rest of this branch of Paddy & Julia's family for another Fanning post.

Julia & Paddy Fanning at the beach (not sure who the child is or who was cut out!)

Peter & Mary Jane's second child was daughter Mary Alice, born August 30, 1889, in Ireland. She came to the States as a child with her family. Mary Alice was married on September 27, 1918 to Erik Adolf Carl in Saranac, NY. I found a passenger manifest for her and Erik when they traveled to Europe in 1924 and when they returned they apparently moved out west to San Diego, CA.

I think this move to San Diego is significant for the Fanning family because it created the connection for a whole other branch of the family that set roots on the west coast. Erik died in 1927, though, and Mary Alice decided to stay. The 1930 census reports that Mary Alice, now 40 years old (although she fibbed on the census trimming four years off her age), was living on Altadena Avenue in San Diego with her niece, Marie Elizabeth. Marie is Paddy's daughter and sets the stage for the Weinbrecht family connection.

I haven't been able to locate her in the 1940 census yet, but by September 1947 she remarried to a fellow named Jack Thompson. As far as I know there were no children from either marriage but in 1960 Jack & Mary Alice were divorced. Mary Alice died on December 16, 1979 in San Diego.

Next post brings us to the Chicago branch of the Fannings.

The Wright Family

     

In my last post regarding the Wright Family I discussed the union of George & Madeleine and their family. Today we go up a notch or two. As previously posted in the post about Marie Antoinette Finck we learned that George's father was Frederick Harriman Wright (1863-1933). His middle name has been the link to family lore that we are related to former NY State Governor William Averell Harriman. I have not been able to make any connection through records of a relationship to the Harriman family. However, the 1866 city directory for NYC lists a business called "Wright & Harriman" at 25 Water Street and they were merchants. This was the business of Frederick's father, John Guttridge Wright (1825-1908). I have also discovered that there is a man named Joseph Wright Harriman, son of John Neilson Harriman. I believe this was the partner of John G Wright on Water St. Apparently, the two men were very close and gave their family name to their sons as middle names. Joseph Wright Harriman was the long time president of Harriman National Bank & Trust Co. and cousin of the Governor of NY. He was born a few years after Frederick was born. Unfortunately, Joseph was later convicted of bank fraud and spent time in federal prison.

As previously mentioned in the Finck post, Frederick was an artist and sculptor who went by the name F. Harriman Wright and had a studio on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side. Here are a couple of his pieces that have been listed for auction in the last few years..

 Frederick's father, John Guttridge Wright, was born in England in 1825 according to the 1920 census. His NY Times obituary states that he was born in 1828. He married Sophia Kelley Hull (1838-1927) in 1857 and had their first child in 1860. John and Sophia owned some property in Manhattan that was destroyed by a large fire that occurred in 1860. According to the NY Times their property was at 36 St & 6 Ave. and a city directory states that they resided at 34 West 36 St. in 1866. He was a grain merchant.

Apparently separated by the 1880 census John & son Frederick were listed as borders at a house in Brooklyn at 426 Sixth Ave. and Sophia was living with her mother, son William and daughter Madeleine in an apartment at 401 Third St, Brooklyn. John died at the residence of his son, William, in 1908 at Chaptico, Maryland. Sophia moved back and forth between her daughter Madeleine's house and William's house until her death in 1927.

The next chapter will discuss the brother and sister of Frederick H. Wright... family none of my relatives ever knew.