SAYREVILLE — Many Americans know something about how and when their ancestors made their way to the U.S.
In the case of the Irish, most came over some time in the late 19th or early 20th century. But do their descendents ever wonder about the lives of these ancestors who chose to sit for weeks on a cramped boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean?
Of course, genealogical questions such as these fall in line with Americans of all backgrounds and ethnicities. But for one local resident, such questions led to a 35-year search for answers that ultimately would be told in the pages of a recently released book.
Maureen Wlodarczyk, a lifelong resident of Sayreville, remembers asking her grandmother, Kate Whalen, about the family’s history, but she would never divulge much information.
“I would ask her about it and she was embarrassed, didn’t want to say a lot. But little by little she told me things,” Maureen said.
Maureen Wlodarczyk of Sayreville recently completed her book, “Past-Forward: A Three-Decade and Three-Thousand-Mile Journey Home,” in honor of her grandmother, Kate Whalen, pictured here, circa 1924. The secrecy was likely due to Kate’s turbulent childhood, but she also did not know much about the prior generations.
“Somehow I thought knowing about her family ancestry would dilute her painful childhood memories,” Maureen said.
Maureen promised her grandmother that she would find out the family’s story, and though it would take more than three decades, she has finally been able to piece it all together. Sadly, its completion would come after Kate passed away.
Maureen discovered that she is the greatgreat granddaughter of John F. Flannelly, who emigrated from County Sligo, Ireland, with his parents and five siblings in late 1846 during the potato blight. John’s parents, William and Mary Lang Flannelly, were married in Skreen, County Sligo, in March 1832 and had seven children. When the Flannelly family headed for the U.S. in 1846, they joined a large population of Irish immigrants in Jersey City.
Such details are told in “Past-Forward: A Three-Decade and Three-Thousand-Mile Journey Home,” which Maureen published in January. The first chapter starts with “Dear Kate.” Written through a set of letters, the book serves as a tribute to her beloved grandmother.
“I tell her the whole story,” Maureen said. “I take her back to the 1700s, the humble beginnings, as far as I could go. Then I take her forward.”
The story starts back in the 18th century in Ireland and leads up through the famine and the family’s exodus. It continues through the next eight decades in Jersey City and follows her family’s legacy up until 1935, when Kate’s father passed away.
“I’d love for people to read the story. I think it will touch people,” Maureen said. “It’s a very personal story, but it’s not just my family, it’s my family’s story in the context of immigration in general and in the context of history.”
Maureen has always been a history buff and has visited historic Williamsburg, Va., many times. A decade ago her family even bought a vacation home in that area. However, she never knew until recently that it was at the field hospital in Williamsburg where her great-great grandfather, John F. Flannelly, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, was cared for after being wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862. That was also the place where John would meet Maureen’s great-great-grandmother, Delia Hough, who was 13 at the time and had come from Ireland without her family.
Maureen learned much of this information just recently, when she was finally able to acquire John’s discharge papers.
“I had no idea I had a connection there, and I literally cannot tell you how many times my feet walked those streets,” she said. “I guess he was calling me all those years.”
Maureen also discovered from the discharge papers that her great-great grandfather had red hair, a gene that has been passed down through the generations.
“Now we know, the red hair came from grandfather’s father’s side of the family,” she said.
John, whose family was living in Jersey City, married Delia in 1867. Their daughter, Mamie Flannelly Whalen, was Maureen’s great-grandmother. Mamie, who died young from tuberculosis in 1913, left behind five children, including Kate, Maureen’s grandmother. Mamie’s husband, Patrick Whalen, was an alcoholic and left his children to the care of various relatives. This catapulted Kate into adulthood, and by age 13 she became a live-in domestic worker for a Jersey City family.
Kate married at the age of 16, and she and her husband raised one daughter, Maureen’s mother, who subsequently had one daughter of her own, Maureen.
After viewing records upon records and searching through state archives, Maureen was able to discover several details about her family. Then, upon the onset of the Internet and websites like Ancestry.com, she was able to fast-track her decades-long search. She was even able to connect with distant relatives, of whom she had no previous knowledge.
In order to find out one’s genealogical history, Maureen suggests first gathering all known information, through stories or facts. From there, using surnames, places of birth and military service, she suggests the researcher start searching for more specific information on Ancestry.com. Other resources include the Latter Day Saints, which has a free website called familysearch.org and an adjunct research facility in East Brunswick; the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website; and the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton.
On May 21 Maureen had the opportunity to meet Ireland President Mary McAleese, who graciously accepted a copy of Maureen’s book.
“I find that people are fond of saying the world is a horrible place, but more often than not, people are not terrible. They’re kind, they have good intentions,” Maureen said. “I’ve met many dozens of wonderful people in my genealogical search.”
The 175-page hardcover book can be purchased on websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and at www.outskirtspress.com/passforward, the publisher’s website.
“I wish my grandmother could have lived, for me to sit down and tell her who she was,” Maureen said. “[But] after seeing what it’s done for me, and the people I met and crossed paths with, it’s been a very rewarding experience.”