You never know when you’ll get what you’re looking for, especially when researching a name like Murphy. I got lucky this time though with a death certificate for William Murphy at the Pennsylvania State Archives. William Murphy, my 3rd great grandfather, lived at 307 McClure Ave in the 1920 census with his daughter Sarah and […]
I was named after my Grandma Kate, born Katherine Irene Murphy. She passed away before I was born, but I’ve always felt a special connection with her. Grandma Kate was named after her aunt, Katherine Murphy-Arnaut, who died unexpectedly at 29 years old. I was pretty excited to find that Katherine Murphy-Arnaut’s grandmother was also named Catherine! (spelled with […]
I think I may have actually figured out who her parents were and where she came from. Here’s my method: Thomas Aspery I started researching Thomas Aspery a couple weeks ago, from the list I made of possible relatives (see previous post). He had the same uncommon last name, was born in England, same generation […]
I had seen a photo of “Uncle Harry,” as my mom identified him, but she didn’t know exactly who he was. His name was Harry Murphy and he appeared in a couple photos with other Murphy family members. I actually assumed that he was a neighbor that shared the same last name. While visiting family […]
My mom grew up in a large family. She always talked about the big traditional family gatherings where everyone traveled to one house and celebrated together. Growing up we still had a traditional dinner, but it usually was a small group. I never quite understood the big production of Thanksgiving, but I knew my mom […]
Hello! I’m just getting back to civilization after a very busy work week/weekend and am desperately trying to manage my “flourishing” genealogy to-do list. First things first, do something with the growing collection of family photos. Thanks to family members that have posted photos to Facebook and a recent trip to my parent’s house, I […]
I had this photo labeled as James Joseph Murphy, but I’m starting to think this may be someone else. James J Murphy died in 1917 at 36 years old. This man looks a little older, don’t ya think? To give some comparison, the photo on the right is actually James J Murphy. The hair part […]
One of my favorite family photos. The Murphy family in Youngstown, Ohio 1955. Let me know if I have misidentified someone. 1. Patty Ann Gallagher 2. Margaret Arnaut 3. Owen W Gallagher 4. Mildred Elaine Murphy 5. Unknown 6. Unknown -possible friend of Mildred Elaine Murphy 7. Edward Murphy 8. Mildred Whitacre 9. Robert Lee […]
The mystery of James Joseph Murphy is SOLVED! A million thanks to Ken W. who located the marriage record of Margaret Richards and James Joseph Murphy. This marriage record was found at Family Search and is the glue to all the questionable details that were lingering about. I stopped using the Family Search website about […]
Update February 2017: James Joseph Murphy is no longer the biggest mystery in my tree 🙂 In fact, I ended up tracing his ancestry back to 1810. Original post is below, but more up-to-date info can be found: James Joseph Murphy William Murphy (James Joseph Murphy’s father) Catherine Aspery (James Joseph Murphy’s mother) Harry Murphy (James Joseph Murphy’s […]
Katie's Grove 