Introduction
A little Guiney genealogy here.
For Kortsch family genealogy, see the post on Mom’s father, Paul Kortsch Jr. (1887-1957) and grandfather Paul Kortsch Sr. (1854-1921) Look, too, at the Ferdinand Kortsch post, which contains information on the American founder of the Milwaukee Kortsches.
The Name
Although we’re familiar with the Guiney family name, this spelling of it hasn’t always been the only one. Not only were there were two spellings, they were used interchangeably, too, adding to the confusion.
In one section of their 1876 Irish marriage certificate the spelling is John “Guiney,” and just below that it’s John “Ganey” (see below). The same Shanagolden registrar spelled it differently within what must have been a matter of seconds.
And ‘Ganey’ is the spelling on the birth certificates of all their eight children (examples below). So, too, the surviving individual immigration cards of three of the sisters. As well as the 1898 ship manifest recording the family’s arrival in America (discussed lower). Not until they settled in Milwaukee did they consistently use “Guiney’.
It would seem that in an Irish accent ‘Ganey’ and ‘Guiney’ sound the same. We’ll use ‘Guiney’ because it’s the one on the marriage certificate and the one the family used consistently after their arrival.
The birth certificates also tell us that John Guiney and very possibly Margaret Maune could neither read nor write. He makes his mark on Catherine’s birth certificate, and in all the other documents it’s the town clerk who signs ‘John Ganey’ in the signature block. In one instance, the clerk signed Margaret’s name for her on the form. (They may have learned after they arrived in America. On several U.S. censuses they asserted they could do both. Whether that’s true could not be ascertained.)
The Parents
Mom’s grandmother, Nana’s mother, was Margaret Maune Guiney (1858-1924). Her gravestone (below) gives the sparest outline of her life: “Margaret M. Guiney|Born in Robertstown|Co Limerick Ire.|Aug. 5, 1858|Died Mar. 26, 1924.” Robertstown in Limerick (there are others) is located about halfway up the southern shore of the Shannon Estuary.
This is the only known picture of her.
Her husband’s marker is just as terse: “John J. Guiney|Born in Rathkeale|Co Limerick Ire.|June 1856|Died August 31, 1914.” Rathkeale is ten miles SE of Robertstown.
After marrying in 1876 they settled in Shanagolden, between Robertstown and Rathkeale, where he worked as a bootmaker/shoemaker, an occupation he continued in America.
Here are three pictures of Shanagolden, the first taken around 1890. The next two are taken from the same vantage point, the first in 1900 and the other a century later.
The Family
John J. and Margaret Maune Guiney had seven girls in succession until one boy was born, whereupon they stopped having children:
- Catherine Guiney Morrow (1877-1934)
- Mary Guiney (1880-1885)
- Alice Guiney (1882-1901)*
- Margaret (‘Madge’) Guiney Dondero (1885-1973)*
- Daughter: Mary Dondero Ulik (1916-1985), wife of Steven J. Ulik and Mom’s cousin. Born same year as Mom
- Ellen (‘Nellie’) Guiney Sheehan (1887-1961)*
- Anne (or Anna) Eanlen Guiney Kortsch (1890-1973)–Nana.**
- Bridget (‘Bernice’, ‘Biddie’) Guiney Schaefer (1892-1958)
- Edward Patrick Guiney (1897-1938)
* Their individual immigration cards can be seen in the Immigration Cards of the Guiney Sisters post.
** At some point Nana altered her name from Anna to Anne. A holy card with ‘Anna” was given to her by a high school teacher in 1907. And it was still ‘Anna’ three years later on her marriage certificate.
Mary and Alice died young, 5 and 18 respectively.
The entire family, all eight surviving members, emigrated in 1898, arriving in New York on May 28.
Queenstown is now called Cobh, the name change taking place soon after the Republic of Ireland declared its independence from Britain in 1920. It was still Queenstown in 1912 when the Titanic set out from the harbor, its storied end coming just two days after leaving port. Queenstown/Cobh is still a bustling port for both maritime commerce and passengers.
Pictures of the ship that brought the Guiney family to America, RMS Lucania, can be seen in Immigration Cards of the Guiney Sisters. The Lucania was famously luxurious, but the Guiney family would have seen little of its opulent appointments from steerage. They arrived in New York with a total of $10 in their pocket, roughly $380 today. Not much of a financial cushion for a family of nine. Perhaps they didn’t need more. They knew exactly where they wanted to go. On their arrival form the name of the person waiting for them at their destination is an illegible scrawl, with just one word readable: “Milwaukee.”
The Guiney sisters were a close-knit family, a close-knit Irish family at that. A number of the daughters chose to be buried with each other in the Guiney family plot at Calvary Cemetery, bringing their husbands with them. Nana had her daughter Alice, her husband, Paul, and later herself buried there rather than their own family gravesite.
In 1910 John Guiney is married to “Margie” Guiney, living at 514 Milwaukee St., with four children in the household: Madge (Margaret), age 24, Anne (20), Bernadine (age 18), and Edward (13). “Bernadine” is the preferred name of Bridget, who used it as an adult. She was also called ‘Biddie’, her childhood nickname. “Bernice Schaefer” is the name inscribed on her grave marker at Holy Cross Cemetery.
The other two living sisters, Catherine and Ellen, may have been married and out of their parents’ home at the time of the census.
Birth Dates, The Fanciful And The Real
In the 1910 census the ages of the children are correct, but both parents are listed as being 50, which isn’t accurate. The discrepancy may be accidental or it may be deliberately misleading. Lying to the census taker, who doesn’t ask for verification, was and still is common sport for many people, and the Guiney sisters played it on a semi-professional level. Aunt Madge may have been the family champion.
According to the 1910 census Margaret Guiney Dondero was born in 1885, which is accurate, but
- in the 1920 census, she gave her birth year as 1889.
- In 1930, with uncharacteristic restraint, she moved it forward only one year, to 1890,
- in 1940 she hit one out of the park by claiming to have been born in 1893, eight years younger than the truth.
- In 1950 she dialed it back a bit, to 1890 again.
- The official date for her death, 1973, the same year as Nana, we can take to be correct only because she wasn’t the one who gave it to the records office.
In the end, though, she won the game. Chiseled into her gravestone for all to see for eternity is the birth year, 1891. One has to admire the persistence but also to wonder what was gained by making herself six years younger when she died than she really was.
In the 1920 census, a widowed Margaret “Guyney” was living at 241 Knapp St with her son, Edward Dondero, as the head of household. Also in the house were “Berenice Schaffer,” married to Michael “Schaffer,” who were daughter Bridget (‘Bernice’) Guiney and her husband.
The next two pictures are of Nana’s older sister, Ellen (‘Nellie’) Guiney Sheehan. The 1930 census lists her as married to John Sheehan, with one son, Edward. That information is reliable, but at the same time Nellie upheld family tradition by making herself out to be three years younger than she really was, giving her birth year as 1890 instead of 1887.
Picture Gallery
The next three pictures are the archive’s only portraits of Edward Guiney, Nana’s youngest sibling and the only son in the Guiney family. He died at 40. John Guiney, whose obituary is included below, was one of Edward’s sons. The baby Kay (for Kathleen) grew up to become Kay Guiney Szjana, who is mentioned in her brother’s obituary, She lived until 1993. The Ann in the picture is Nana, holding the recently-born Gerry.
