Roman Catholic – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Dispensations in Days of Old

My blog is a day late due to my return from attending the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Boston. It was the first time the over 100 year old conference was held in the U.S. and I was delighted to be able to present on Tracing Noble Roots: Validating the plementi ljudi (pl) Lineage in Former Austria-Hungary. My talk was on how you, too, can identify your noble Croatian ancestors. It was held in South Church, a beautiful building where Benjamin Franklin had been baptized and where I had a family member that used to play tone bells there. Nothing like following in the footsteps of others!

I’d be the first to admit that I don’t have much knowledge or experience with heraldry so I did learn a lot by attending the conference. One of the most interesting lectures involved Roman Catholic dispensation records between 1250-1558 in Great Britain. I didn’t know they existed and they may be important to your family if you are researching that time period.

From the earliest time until Henry VIII cut his ties with the Roman Catholic church, dispensations were required to legitimize a marriage. For a fee, the amount of which is unknown, couples who wanted to marry were required to complete paperwork with their local parish which would then research if the couple was closely related. If couples did not pay for this “service,” and it was later determined that they were closely related (1st-2nd cousin) their marriage was considered void and any children of the marriage would not be eligible to inherit from the estate. Meaning, the Roman Catholic Church obtained the estate since their was no “legitimate” heirs at the time of the parents death.

You can find the 1000+ dispensations in the Calendar of Papal Registers, Britain, and Ireland series under Paper Regesta through 1534. You may also look at the Apostolic Penitentiary to England and Wales through 1503 that were indexed and published by the Canterbury and York Society. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to access the publication.

During the Q&A, a discussion ensued on whether other countries dispensations were available. I did a quick internet search and discovered that was the case for Austria-Hungary. Apparently, if you were a noble you couldn’t wed unless you were 3rd cousins or further related whereas peasants could wed at 2nd cousin status or back.

Further discussion led to the use of church banns used prior to a couple’s wedding. This would be an interesting research topic to determine if those banns were added after Henry VII to continue the validation that a couple were not closely related. “Speak now or forever hold your peace” could then be considered the final measure used to legitimize the marriage in the absence of the church researching the couple’s genealogy.

Another Family Story Shattered!

You know the feeling when you discover a long held belief isn’t what you thought?! Shocked, Saddened, Denying it, Attempting to disprove the new information – yep, those stages of grief. But learning the truth is important and I know it can change my genealogy sleuthing to find what I really need to get a better understanding of the family.

I’ve written previously about one of my husband’s great grandmothers, Mary “Mollie” O’Brien, who with her purported half sibling, ventured to New York City during the height of the Potato Famine from Ireland.

Cousins and I have surmised that Mollie and her sister must have been orphaned as Irish church and civil records show no trace of her parents after her Baptism in Limerick. This would explain why she set out for a new life in a new land.

Mollie worked as a maid in New York City and it was there she met Scotts immigrant, John Cook. After a brief courtship, the couple “eloped” via Newark, New Jersey where they had a quickie wedding and then took the train to Chicago where they lived out their life. Now “elope” is another fable that seems plausible but hasn’t been proven. Mary and John’s marriage record was found at a Roman Catholic Church in Newark that was close to the train station. The maid of honor and best man seem to be parishioners and not family or friends of the couple. Mollie was not honest about her age, adding a few years to make the union legal.

According to family tales, John was Protestant but agreed to marry Mollie in a Catholic church with the stipulation that any boys they had would be raised Protestant and the girls, Catholic. I always thought that was so forward thinking for the mid-1800’s. Love overcoming long held beliefs and the ability to compromise said a lot about their relationship. What a couple! Except, this story wasn’t true.

I first heard the tale from my father-in-law who explained to me why he was raised Protestant. His father, Andrew, was supposedly taken to church by his father, John, as part of this deal. I then met a descendant of William, Andrew’s brother, and she had heard the same tale. Using social media, we reconnected with a long lost cousin of Mary, the only girl the couple had and not surprising, that line had all remained Roman Catholic. So this story seemed true, except it wasn’t.

Recently, FindMyPast.com released Chicago, Illinois Roman Catholic church records. I initially went on to find my relatives – my mom and great aunt’s Baptism certificate and my grandparents’ marriage record. I still haven’t found the marriage and I had terrible difficulty locating my mom’s document. I have a copy so I knew it existed; I knew when and where it had been made but the search function did not allow me to search by the known church, even though it is supposed to work.

I began to eliminate first names in the search and kept the search vague – just the last name and not even the complete name. The surname was Koss but when the family emigrated, the spelling had been Kos so I used just that. The search engine then gave me all the Kos’ and Koss’ to explore further. Lo and behold, there was my mother as Dorothea and not Dorothy. I hadn’t thought that the Latin word would have been used in the database as the hard copy record clearly recorded Dorothy. (Side note: I’m now wondering what my real baptismal record shows as I recall my mom telling me that there was some discussion with the local priest that my name did not have a Latin translation and that was a problem. I really need to find out what the church decided to call me! Perhaps my mom always knew she had been recorded as Dorothea but this was the first time I learned of it.)

But back to Mollie…I decided to find the Baptism record for Mollie and John’s daughter, Mary, and based on my new found knowledge, entered only Cook. There were many of them but using the known birth year I thought I’d find Mary quickly. Nope, instead I found Andrew and William. So the boys had been Baptized Catholic after all. Interestingly, William’s name was not Latinized to Gulielmus nor was Andrew’s as Andreas. When I finally found what I think was Mary’s, it wasn’t either, but her parents first names were and I’m not sure I have the correct record as their last names are off. No one else seems to have Latinized surnames so I’m not understanding what’s up with this record.

To be honest, these records were a hot mess. My Great Aunt Barbara’s had several errors that were corrected by cross outs. First, my great grandfather’s name was entered as the infant and then corrected; my great grandmother’s name was crossed out then added. Someone wrote sideways “Were married” and my great grandmother’s maiden name, Grdenich, was also added sideways in pencil in what appears to be a different handwriting.

After several days I still can’t find my grandparent’s marriage and I have the pictures so I know it happened.

But once again, back to Mollie…I guess it is possible that the boys attended another church and Mollie just took daughter, Mary, with her to mass. My father-in-law never told me what particular denomination his father attended. I’m not convinced the boys ever went to any church as John Cook, Mollie’s husband, happens to be buried in the Catholic cemetery next to her. John was originally entombed in nondenominational Calvary Cemetery but after Mary’s death, the family moved him to Catholic Mount Carmel. So I have no idea if he was approving or opposed to the change. His sons didn’t seem to mind. Daughter Mary is in the same plot with her Catholic husband.

I looked for Roman Catholic marriage records for all 3 children but like with my grandmother, haven’t found them yet. I also haven’t found anyone’s Confirmation record. The search continues.

Righting History

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 26 June 2014

I’ve been following the interesting series of articles published by the New York Times and Washington Post regarding Georgetown University’s history of selling slaves to keep the school financially solvent.

Finding records in the old south is often difficult but for the former enslaved, it is even more so. The links to the three articles below provide helpful hints on how to identify the paper trail:

272 Slaves were Sold to Save Georgetown. What Does it Owe Their Descendants?

A Million Questions From Descendants of Slaves Sold to Aid Georgetown

Georgetown’s priests sold her Catholic ancestors. Then she found out in an unexpected way.

Of course, the articles were not written to help newbie genealogists learn how to discover records of enslaved individuals. Besides discussing reparations, they highlight the emotions that families experience when a discovery of unsavory findings from the past is brought to light and the journey the families face as they move forward with the knowledge gained. As I’ve previously written, the process is similar to how one deals with grief and loss in the present.

The Georgetown slave story, however, adds another layer of acceptance; that of reconciliation with one’s religious convictions. From a social science perspective, I find it fascinating how the descendants are processing the information that their current religion’s forefathers treated their kin, especially knowing that the Roman Catholic Church was at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s.

I applaud the formation of the Georgetown Memory Foundation which as part of its mission, is to memorialize the event. Remembering history is a wonderful way to make it right.

While the Georgetown University administration tries to identify ways to right a wrong they have overlooked another story from their past. Father Patrick Francis Healy was the university’s 29th president tasked with its growth shortly after the Civil War. He was quite successful and much beloved. Fr. Healy’s ancestry makes his tenure even more remarkable then his legacy. Born in Georgia to an Irish Roman Catholic father and a mulatto slave owned by his grandfather, Patrick Francis and his siblings were born into slavery. Healy’s parents wanted their children to be educated which was illegal since they were slaves. The family sent Patrick to a Quaker school in the north, however, he faced discrimination not for being a mulatto but for being Irish Catholic. During this time, his grandfather and father continued to own slaves, another strike held against him by the Quaker school. Patrick transferred to a Jesuit owned school in Massachusetts. He joined the priesthood and went on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy at a Catholic university in Belgium. He achieved this during the time his mother remained enslaved.

The interaction of race, creed and national origin have complicated our country’s history and continues to do so today. As genealogists, it is wise for us to remember the complexities as we help those who have newly discovered information gain acceptance.

A New Genealogy Society – What Fun!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 11 Oct 2015.

My sister-in-law called me last week and wanted to know if she was Scotch-Irish. I laughed and told her she was of Scottish and Irish heritage. I then explained that the term Scotch-Irish is derogatory and only used in the U.S.

She was happy to find out that she was indeed Scottish as a new genealogy society is being established in the city where she lives and she wants to join with her friends. The first organizational meeting is today so she doesn’t have a membership application to complete or much information on the requirements.

I looked at a similar organization and, knowing that I’m going to be extremely busy with my day job and trying to get my genealogy certification portfolio put together, I told her I’d pull the records for her as an early Christmas present.

Oh what fun it was to review my older research notes on one of my favorite couples on my husband’s side! I really wish I could have met these folks as they are just endearing to me with their spunk, love and acceptance of each other’s differences.

John Cooke was born in Whees, Stirlingshire Scotland about 1827. I have him with his family in the 1841 and 1851 census in Scotland. I’ve never been able to locate an emigration record but he must have come to New York City shortly after 1851 as he married Mary “Mollie” O’Brien in 1854 in Newark, New Jersey. Mary was born in 1835 in Limerick, Ireland and thanks to the Irish records now available online, I have her Roman Catholic Baptism record. Of course, it is on the right side towards the bottom of the page that is most difficult to read! Mollie and her step-sister, Ellen, emigrated in February 1853 as domestic servants with another girl from her parish. This was during the potato famine and there is no records of land ownership by Mollie’s parents so times must have been tough. Coming to a new country at 18 years of age with nothing takes spunk!

Newark, New Jersey, being just across the river from New York City, was the perfect place to elope and take the train to Chicago. I don’t know for fact that Mollie and John eloped but it’s awfully odd that there were no traditional wedding banns posted, which was a common Roman Catholic tradition. Also strange is that step-sis Ellen wasn’t the witness. It appears that two unrelated parishioners did that job. The birth information that was given at the church doesn’t quite match reality, either. With no relatives around to question, John shaved off a few years, making him the same age as Mollie.

The couple remained together until John’s death in 1889. Mollie lived until 1903 and never remarried. I believe they truly loved one another and their respect goes way beyond what a lot of folks can’t do even today. The couple made an arrangement prior to their marriage – all female children would be raised Roman Catholic and all male children would be raised Protestant. I’m not sure how Mollie got the Roman Catholic Church to agree to this since the rule was if you were married in the church you were agreeing to raise ALL of your children in the faith. I also have to give John credit for marrying Mollie in her church and giving 50-50 in regards to the children. I’m really impressed this agreement was made 160 years ago and both parties kept their word. With integrity, they didn’t need a written pre-nuptial

The couple had 3 children – 2 Protestant boys and 1 Catholic girl. I’ve been in contact with the girls descendants and they are all Catholic to this day. All of the boys descendants I’ve been in contact with continue to be Protestant except for one and that was due to marrying a Catholic girl (me).

Interestingly, when John died he was buried in the Protestant cemetery, Calvary, in Cook County, Illinois. Mary’s death certificate noted that she was going to be interred in Calvary, too, but she wasn’t. She was buried in Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Cemetery instead. After 15 years of being apart the children decided the couple needed to be together so John was re-interred next to Mollie. Unfortunately, there was no stone. I assume because the cost of re-interment was considerable at the time. I wish I could afford to put a stone there cause this is a true love story that needs to be long remembered.