Thomas Burke - Near Omaha Nebraska USA

[rosieno1]

Technically, I have a bit of cheek asking for help with Thomas, as if oral history is to be believed, he never set foot in Scotland.

However, his sister Margaret was my great grand mother, who came to Scotland in her early adulthood, and lived out her life here! So hopefully you'll all give me your help anyway!! Like last time ( McDermotts from Derry! )

Here's the story!

Margaret Burke was born in and around Clifden, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. About 1852, from her age on her marriage certificate ( more later).

Family history has that she, alone, of her family (reason unknown), came to Glasgow, some time in early 1870's, but not as early as April 1871, as I haven't found her on the 1871 Census. However, she married my Great grandfather Arthur Quin(n) Jnr at St Francis RC Church in Glasgow on 18/07/1874. She was aged 22 on the certificate. Family history has it that she stayed with the Quin family when she came over, as a Lodger, and that's how she met Arthur. As a complete aside, Arthur Jnr (Dad was Arthur too), was an early Mining Trade Unionist - mentioned in 'The Miner' paper to be found at the Mitchell Library, and they lived a very transient life, being 'moved on' when his activities were discovered - they lived all over central Scotland, from various bits of Glasgow, Cumbernauld, Blinkbonnie West Lothian, Trannent, and ended up in Rumford outside Falkirk, where their youngest living daughter, Mary, my Grandmother, met her husband, my Grandfather John Allison. Margaret and Arthur both died there. However It's not them I'm interested in here!

The rest of Margaret's family are believed to have gone to the USA. I assume that the parents were deceased by this time. (Michael Burke & Norah Connell(y) - I'm going for a 'working' holiday to Dublin, next month, and hope to find more background and info. in the Church/ State records. It is believed that Delia and Catherine went first, and someone came back and took Thomas the youngest over too.

Thomas is believed to have ended up in Omaha Nebraska - 'Greely County'. He did well owning a very large piece of land ( forrestry was the business I think!). Anyway, to cut a long story short, He hadn't married, and thoughts of inheriting any thing when he died kept my grand mother and her family hoping, through their very poor days at the beginning of the 20th Century!.

However, as always happens in these stories, in his dotage he met and married a young thing, with brothers who were lawyers, and nothing was inherited by the family back in Scotland!

His wife was called Mary ( I believe) & I do have the name and address of a niece living in Omaha in the 1950's - but as there is some possibility of them still being alive I won't publish it here - I could pass on as a PM if someone can help, is interested !
For info, it is also alleged that all the money/ land was lost in the thirties depression period! - so they got their 'just deserts', but maybe that was to make the family in Scotland feel less aggrieved!

Any help with tracing these people - Delia, Catherine and especially Thomas, and their descendants in the US would be brilliant.

Is there a way to search Census/Voters rolls? - so I could establish the truth, or other wise, about the named niece from the1950's, and try and work backwards from there?? Thanks in advance for any help on Thomas, his sisters, and their families!

PS I don't have any Dob's for Delia, Catherine and Thomas, as they would all have been born prior to Statutory registration was introduced for Catholics in Ireland! But Thomas I assume was younger than Margaret.

[speleobat2]

1920 United States Federal Census 1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Thomas G Burke
Home in 1920: Center, Greeley, Nebraska
Age: 65 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1855
Birthplace: Ireland
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's name: Mary
Father's Birth Place: Ireland
Mother's Birth Place: Ireland
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Home owned: Own
Year of Immigration: 1873
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 176
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas G Burke 65
Mary Burke 58


I have to be out of the house early this morning, but maybe someone else can follow up them.

Carol

[JustJean]

A bit more

Here they are in 1910.....

Name: Thomas G Burk
Age in 1910: 53
Estimated birth year: abt 1857
Birthplace: Ireland
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Ireland
Mother's Birth Place: Ireland
Spouse's name: Mary
Home in 1910: Center, Greeley, Nebraska
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1873
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas G Burk 53
Mary Burk 46

and here they are in 1900
Name: Thomas G Burke
[Thomas S Burke]
Home in 1900: Center, Greeley, Nebraska
Age: 40
Birth Date: Jun 1859
Birthplace: Ireland
Race: White
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1873
Relationship to Head of House: Head
Father's Birthplace: Ireland
Mother's Birthplace: Ireland
Spouse's name: Mary
Marriage Year: 1893
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 7
Residence : Center & Wallace Creek Precincts, Greeley, Nebraska
Occupation: View on Image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas G Burke 40
Mary Burke 36
Thomas Killilla 11

The Thomas Killilla with them is labled as a nephew born in Illinois with father born Illinois and mother born Tennessee.

Best wishes
Jean

[SarahND]

Just a comment after looking at the censuses: Mary doesn't seem to have been that much of a "young" thing in comparison to Thomas, so I think the family tale is exaggerated. They had already been married 7 years in the 1900 census so he would have been in his 30s when he married-- hardly in his dotage!. I chose that census to check, since it gives the month and year of birth. From the transcription given by Jean you can see that Thomas says he was born in June 1859. On the other hand, he also says he is 40 and is 53 in the 1910 census and 65 in 1920... But probably the month is correct, anyway!

It's hard to find Catherine and Delia without knowing their birth years, since there are many by those names. Not much time to check now, but if no one has chimed in before then, I'll try to look tonight.

All the best,
Sarah

[rosieno1]

I guess, like most family stories, there's truth, there's fabrication, and there's exaggeration in there! 'Course from this end, with no one much interested for 50 years, we don't have a clue about which bits are which - until you see the evidence, of course!

Firstly - thanks a million for the census info!
You are right, he hardly married in his dotage, or to that much of a young thing!!

However, I see they do not appear to have had any children, so, it strikes me that the story coming down to me about loosing out in the inheritance of Thomas' estate, may still have a little truth in it! - well maybe!

My dad Peter(83 years) and only living Aunty Terry (75 years) will be so pleased to see the information you have found for me!. I think that the last that was heard by their mother & the family was when a letter was received by hand from Rumford, passed on by relatives there, about Thomas's death. Dad was born in '26, and I'm not sure if he remembers it happening, or was just told about it by his family! I'm sure it would have been either the late 20's or 30's!

I wonder where he was prior to 1900, and his marriage - if he could be found, (after all from the census info. he had been in the USA since 1873) then we might be some way to finding Catherine & Delia. Perhaps his wife came from Illinois ? Perhaps that's where he left them? Well perhaps..... .

Can anyone advise me if I could find the marriage certificate ? and order a copy? I guess it wont be as easy as Scotland's People seems to be to me!

So many possibilities - I can't thank you enough, Sarah, Jean & Carol! - Another avenue to go searching down! Now where will I start?...... Janex

[SarahND]

Hi again,
Hard to know which one is Thomas in 1880*, since he doesn't appear to be in Greeley county yet. There are several single Thomas Burkes, born Ireland, of about the right age. Interestingly enough, there is a Thomas Burke age 35 in Greeley County, Nebraska, who was born in Ireland. He is a widower and is living with his mother Mary, age 60, and a niece Mary Gaffarry age 19, born Pennsylvania. Do these people ring any bells?

*You may or may not know that the 1890 census was destroyed, so there is a 20-year gap before 1900.

All the best,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Thomas died in 1927 and Mary in 1951. They are both buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~negre ... /index.htm

There are even photos of their tombstones! His claims he was born in 1858-- so who knows?

Cheers,
Sarah

[speleobat2]

Just returned home and I see that Jean and Sarah have been busy! Sarah that's pretty amazing finding the pictures of the gravestones even!

Janex, Did Catherine or Delia ever marry? You referred to a niece earlier so I'm wondering if she was on Thomas' side or if she was related to Mary. I'm guessing that the nephew was related to Mary? Mary was born in Kentucky according to the 1920 census.

Carol

[speleobat2]

Hi again,

Here's the link for the Greeley County, Nebraska Genwebsite. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~negreele/lookups.htm

If you search for Thomas G. Burke, you'll find someone who was researching another Burke family but she mentions Thomas G. Burke as being listed in a book called The Pioneer History of Greeley County. If you click on Lookups, you'll see at least one person who will do lookups in this book. I tried to find it on Google, but it didn't come up viewable. If you can't find someone to do a lookup, maybe one of us over here can order it through a library. It's available, but not anywhere close to me!

Someone from this genwebsite might also be able to tell you how to get a marriage certificate for Thomas and Mary.

Good hunting,

Carol

[rosieno1]

On the marriage certificate of Margaret, sister of Thomas, her parents (&Thomas's too) were given as Michael Burke, and Norah Conley - given as Connell(y) in other places. Both Margaret & her husband Arthur were illiterate, so could not have put the registrar right about the surname spelling, had it been wrong! Interestingly, the father was given as deceased, the mother was not! However,she was definitely Norah, this was also given on Margaret's death certificate. So the widowed Thomas with his mother Mary, is unlikely to have been him, on the 1880 census. But by the way, could the surname of the niece living with the 1880 Thomas & his mother be Gaffany or Gaffney, quite well known Irish surnames - I'm sure I was at school in Bristol with someone with that surname!

After some difficulty, I've finally seen the cemetery records, and the grave stones! My Dad and Aunty Terry will be very pleased that I have found this info. about what was considered a lost branch of the family! Thanks again for your help. I'm off to look at records for Kentucky on Family search - perhaps Thomas was there with his sisters, and met Mary, his wife there too? - you never can tell.