Daniel Larkins, 1859-1880

Daniel Larkins was the oldest child of Patrick and Bridget (Ryan) Larkins. He was born in Sandusky, Ohio, and was baptized at Holy Angels Church by Rev. Alexis Caron. Daniel's baptismal sponsors were Patrick Ryan and Johanna Larkins. The baptismal record below is a part of the collection of Catholic parish records from the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, accessible online at Family Search.

In the 1880 U.S. Census, Daniel was age 21, and still resided at home with his parents Patrick and Bridget Larkins, and his six younger siblings. His occupation was stated as laborer. On Sunday evening, August 1, 1880, Daniel Larkins and an acquaintance, John Leitch, went to the Germania House. Daniel Larkins started to drink, and as he was not accustomed to drinking, the liquor affected him adversely. About four o'clock in the morning on Monday, the body of Daniel Larkins was found on the sidewalk in front of the Germania House. Young Mr. Larkins had a severe wound to the back of his head. John Leitch was sound alseep at the time of the fall of Mr. Larkins, and it is supposed that Larkins probably fell out of the window while leaning out to vomit. An article in the August 3, 1880 issue of the Sandusky Register stated, in part: "Larkins is spoken of by all who knew him as a quiet, sober and industrious young man. Sunday night was the first night that he ever stayed away from home with letting his parents know where he was. It is clearly evident that he got into bad company."

An inquest was held following the death of Daniel Larkins. It was determined that there was no foul play, and that Daniel Larkins fell to his death accidentally. Daniel Larkins was buried in the Larkins family lot at St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. His four youngest sibilings ranged in age from 3 to 11. It must have been a difficult task indeed for Patrick and Bridget Larkins to explain to the little ones that big brother Daniel would never be coming home again. Daniel's grave marker is between that of his mother Bridget, and his nephew Edwin Larkins.

Ode to Daniel Larkins

Long ago, across the sea,
You began your days in Tipperary.
After landing here in the U.S.A.,
To Ohio your family would make its way.

Your toiled on the land
In this strange new place
And raised many children
With wisdom and grace.

At the church you found hope
With folks you grew to know well.
So many weddings, and babies,
The family pew would soon swell.

Some stayed on the farm.
Others wed, moved away...
Many sons and grandsons
Found work on the railway

You worked hard and were faithful,
Though you never found fame.
Yet a stone at St. Joseph's
Still honors your name.

When the song "Danny Boy"
Makes its way to my ear,
I recall oh so fondly
My Larkins family so dear.

















(Note: This post was originally written for a Carnival of Genealogy. I am re-posting it today in honor of my Irish ancestors.)

Where are you, Gregory Larkins?

Gregory Larkins is my third great-granduncle, the youngest child in the Daniel Larkins household in the 1850 Census for Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio. Gregory was born about 1846. (I descend from the line of Gregory's older brother Patrick Larkins.)

By the time of the 1860 Census, Gregory is listed as age 14, still living with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Larkins, residing on the family farm in Perkins Township.

By 1870, Gregory is listed as age 22, and still residing on the Larkins farm in Perkins Township.

By 1880, I no longer find Gregory Larkins living with his parents, who are both still alive and residing in Perkins Township. There is another Gregory Larkins in Erie County, but he is not the right age as my Gregory, and his birthplace was Ireland. (My Gregory Larkins was born in Ohio.) I re-read the obituary of Daniel Larkins, the father of Gregory. When Daniel Larkins died in Bellevue, Ohio on May 25, 1893, the only surviving children of Daniel were two daughters, Mrs. Thomas McClain and Mrs. Patrick Kelly.

Sometime between 1870 and 1893, Gregory Larkins just disappears. I seem to always have more questions than answers!! Daniel and Johannah Larkins, the parents of Gregory, are buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, along with several other members of the extended Larkins family. If anyone knows the final resting place of Gregory, please contact me!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Ancestor Photos

The prompt for Week 36 of 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, from Amy Coffin at We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is Ancestor Photos

For which ancestral photograph are you most grateful? Who is in the photo and how did you acquire it? Why does the photo hold a special place in your heart?

This vintage picture is one of my very favorite family photographs from my mother's Larkins side of the family. My great great grandfather Thomas F. Larkins appears in a four generation photo with his daughter, Irene Larkins Risko, granddaughter Doris Wheeler Parker, and great granddaughter Joyce Parker, who later married my dad, Paul Orshoski, Sr. The date of the picture is December 8, 1941, the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the day of President Roosevelt's well known "Day of Infamy" speech as the U.S. entered into World War Two. My mom, Joyce Parker Orshoski, was in the wedding of family friends, Elizabeth Schmid and James Summy. Mom was ten years old in this picture. The wedding took place at St. Stephen's Evangelical and Reformed Church in Sandusky, Ohio. The reason I love this picture, which was in my mother's collection of family photos, is that it represents to me a much happier time in the Larkins line of my family. Grandma Doris died on May 6, 1943, at the age of 32, following a divorce. Great Great Grandpa Tom suffered a debilitating stroke, and Great Grandma Irene would end up taking care of both her ailing daughter and father in the early 1940s, not all that long after this lovely picture was taken.

Mom was resilient, however, and enjoyed her years at Sandusky High School and Margaretta High School. She got married in 1950 to my father, Paul R. Orshoski, Sr.

They had six children, twenty grandchildren, several great grandchildren, jobs they loved, lives filled with lots of friends and family, and many years of making memories.

How I Found Mrs. Patrick Kelly, Daughter of Daniel Larkins

Throughout my several years of doing family history research, my Irish ancestors on my mom's Larkins side have caused me to encounter many brick walls! I often ran into the name of "Mrs. Patrick Kelly" as a daughter of Daniel and Johannah Larkins. Mrs. Patrick Kelly, also known as Mary Larkins Kelly, is my Third Great Grandaunt. For a long time, I thought I would never find a Mary Larkins or a Patrick Kelly, with such common Irish first and last names! One day I found a Patrick and Mary Kelly living in Springfield, in Clark County, Ohio, with two small children, in the 1860 Census. It seemed logical, since the Mad River Railroad ran from Sandusky to Springfield at that time, and perhaps Patrick worked for the railroad, and ended up in Springfield. Below is a marriage record of Patrick Kelly and Mary Larkins, from Clark County, Ohio on November 21, 1849, accessed at Ohio, County Marriages, 1790-1950 on Family Search.

Since the obituaries of Daniel and Johannah Larkins stated that Mrs. Patrick Kelly resided in Elgin, Illinois, I decided to contact the Elgin Genealogical Society in Elgin, Illinois. The Research Associates of the Elgin Genealogical Society, for a very reasonable fee, provided me with death records, probate records, and obituaries of both Patrick and Mary Kelly. I was absolutely amazed at what was in that special envelope from Elgin! It turned out that Patrick had been born in Ireland in 1824. He first settled in Ohio, and in 1877 he brought his family to Elgin, Illinois, where he was the first janitor of the Elgin City Hall building. His obituary, which appeared in the Elgin Daily News of April 24, 1908, stated that "He was a man of genial disposition and always ready with some witty replay or anecdote." Mary Larkins Kelly passed away on December 14, 1914 in Elgin, Illinois. Her obituary provided details of her life, which included making quilts for all her children and grandchildren. She was known for her kindness in times of sickness and death, and she had endeared herself to large number of people in Elgin.

The death record of Mary Kelly is pictured below, in four different images. The left side of the first portion of her death record lists Mary's name and death date, which was December 14, 1914. She died at 4:40 p.m. Her residence had been 204 Villa Street in the 5th Ward of Elgin, Illinois.

Cause of death was listed as bronchial pneumonia and senility.

The second portion of Mary Kelly's death record listed her husband's name, Patrick Kelly. Her occupation was housewife. The undertaker was listed as the Wait & Ross Co.

On the right side of the second portion of the death record of Mary Kelly, stated are her birth date, 1830, and the names of her parents: Daniel Larkin and Johanna Skahanke. Mary had resided in Elgin for 35 years.

Mrs. Mary Larkins Kelly, and her husband Patrick Kelly, who had died on April 24, 1908, were both buried in the Bluff City Cemetery. Though I have never yet had a chance to visit their grave sites, the Elgin Genealogical Society provided me with a map of the cemetery, noting the exact Lot and Section numbers. I do hope to make the trip one day, to see where my dear Irish relatives were buried.

My journey to find Mrs. Patrick Kelly included searching census records, obituaries from Sandusky, along with outstanding research assistance from the Elgin Genealogical Society. It was a fun journey, and I was eventually able to touch base with some descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Kelly now residing in Washington State. Genealogy is SUCH a wonderfully rewarding hobby!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Historical Documents

The prompt for Week 7 of 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, from Amy Coffin at We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is: Historical Documents

Which historical document in your possession are you happy to have? How did you acquire this item? What does it reveal about your ancestors?




A document that I am happy to have in my possession is a deed. It is from Volume 60, page 15, from the books of deeds on file in the office of the Erie County Recorder. I obtained this document in the early 1990s. Mr. John Schaeffer, who was the Erie County Recorder from 1984-2000, made the copy of this deed for me, after I checked the Grantor Index and the Deed Book. In this deed,I learned that on May 5, 1894, the heirs of my ancestor, Patrick Larkins, transferred property to Charles Weyl. The property was in the Fourth Ward of the city of Sandusky, located in the South half of the East two thirds in Lot Number 33 on Fulton Street.

John Larkins, Ella Larkins, Mollie Larkins, Kittie Larkins, and Thomas Larkins, my great great grandfather, were the sole heirs of their father Patrick Larkins. The wives of John and Thomas Larkins, Mary and Mary Louise Larkins, each paid one dollar, and thus they released any claim to the property being turned over to Mr. Weyl.

The property sold to Charles Weyl for thirteen hundred and twenty dollars. The names of the heirs of Patrick Larkins, along with the names of two of his daughters in law, appear at the bottom left portion of the document. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the name of Kittie Larkins. Mom always told me that my Great Grandma Irene adored her Aunt Kit, who died as a very young woman. It helped me to realize that Aunt Kit/Kittie did indeed live, and she once signed an important piece of paper, after her father's death. I am still very much a beginner in understanding property records, but this photocopy of a deed from 1894 is one that I treasure!

Mary "Mollie" Larkins Weis

Mary "Mollie" Larkins was my great great grandaunt, the sister of my great great grandfather Thomas F. Larkins. Aunt Mollie was born on March 8, 1872 to Patrick Larkins and Bridget Ryan Larkins. (Her tombstone, however, reads 1873 as the year of her birth.) She was the fifth of the seven Larkins children, all baptized into the Catholic faith. In September of 1899, Mollie Larkins married Solomon Schlenk. Solomon Schlenk died on January 14, 1909, when he was only 41 years of age, leaving Mollie a young widow.

Between 1920 and 1930, Mollie Larkins Schlenk married John J. Weis. They lived on McDonough Street in Sandusky, Ohio. Mollie Weis passed away on December 26, 1938. Sadly, her husband John J. Weis, and her brother, John Larkins, had both died previously in the same year that Mollie died. Mollie and John J. Weis are buried at St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. What a sad Christmas for the Larkins family, to lose Mollie the day after Christmas.

Below is a family picture (of poor quality, I'm afraid) of several Larkins family members. Aunt Mollie is the short lady standing beside her brother Tom.

















Mollie's sister in law, Mary Louise Cross Larkins, and her niece Irene Larkins, are pictured in the front row of the family picture.

Thomas Arthur Larkins, 1894 - 1937

My great granduncle, Thomas Arthur Larkins, was the youngest child of Thomas F. Larkins and Mary Louise Cross Larkins, born in Sandusky on September 19, 1894. He was usually called Art, so people did not confuse father and son. When he was a teenager, Uncle Art worked at the bathhouse at the beach at Cedar Point. Mom often told us the story that once when my Great Grandma Irene wore a bathing suit that her brother didn't think was appropriate to the Cedar Point beach, Uncle Art made her go change clothes. He thought she had too much flesh showing for a proper young lady of her times! Thomas Arthur Larkins can be seen in the back row of his graduation class photo that appeared in Sandusky High School's yearbook, The Fram. Art is the third individual from the left, in the back row. He was rather short, and he had thick, wavy hair.

By 1916, Uncle Art had moved to Franklin County, Ohio, where he worked on the railroad. Art's father and grandfather both had worked on the railroad in Sandusky, Ohio, Grandpa Patrick Larkins on the old Mad River Railroad, and Grandpa Thomas F. Larkins on the New York Central Railroad. Art married Audrey Burrell, and they had a son named James A. Larkins in 1919. After Art and Audrey divorced, Art married a lady named Opal. Uncle Art died on December 21, 1937, at the age of 43. It seems so sad to me that he died before his older sister and his father, and at Christmas time! Thomas Arthur Larkins was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. A few years ago, my brother took Mom and I to find Uncle Art's tombstone, but no stone remains. The office said that it is possible that at the time of his death, perhaps there was no stone erected, or that over the years it could have sunken beneath the ground. Mom left a bouquet of silk flowers at the spot that where we think Uncle Art was laid to rest. Rest in peace, Uncle Art!

Helpful Information from St. Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, Ohio

Several years ago, my mother and I were trying to learn more about Mom's Irish roots on her Larkin/Larkins side. We set out to see if we could find out more information about my great great grandaunt, Ella/Ellen Larkins. We finally determined that Aunt Ellen had been buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, Ohio, south of Columbus, so we contacted the cemetery office. Staff from the office of St. Joseph Cemetery graciously snapped a Polaroid shot of the tombstone of Ellen and Garret Londergan. The lot card for Ella/Ellen Londergan provided us with her exact birth and death dates. Ellen was born on March 2, 1861, in Sandusky, Ohio, and she died on February 12, 1937. The card told us that the funeral mass was held at St. Francis Church. Her children were listed as sons John and Edward, and daughter, Mrs. Cornelius Thiel. Her parents were given: Patrick and Bridget Larkin. Ellen's father Patrick was a native of Ireland. The names of her siblings were also listed: Thomas Larkin of Sandusky, John of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Mrs. John Weiss.











The cemetery lot card for Ellen's husband, Garrett Londergan, gave us his date of death, which was May 13, 1937. Garrett was age 67, and he was born in Elmira, New York. His funeral mass was also held at St. Francis Church, and his occupation was millwright. Garrett's mother's maiden name was Connelly, and both his parents had been born in Ireland. He was survived by three sisters, four brothers, and four grandchildren.










A map of St. Joseph Cemetery was highlighted in green, to show us the exact location of the tombstone for Garrett and Ellen Londergan. They were buried in the Queen of Martyrs section, Lot 24, spaces 4 and 5. This map proved very helpful when Mom and I finally had the opportunity to visit the St. Joseph Cemetery.


















Not all cemeteries have the time and staff to be able to give this level of helpful genealogical information to family history researchers, but we were very excited to learn all these details about a couple to whom we were connected, but about whom we knew very little.

Was She Named Mary, or Lillie, or Lula, or Louise....?

My great great grandmother, Mary Louise Cross Larkins, is pictured above. She is seated to the left of the young woman marked "Gr. Irene," who was my great grandmother. According to the database Michigan Marriages, available at Family Search Labs, Lula M. Cross married Thomas F. Larkins, on January 7, 1889, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.













When I did a search at Family Search Labs, for individuals whose father was named Thomas Larkins and whose mother's maiden name was Cross, I got these results. (Click for a larger view.)










When Irene's older brother Edwin Charles Larkins was born in 1889, his mother's name was listed as Lillie Cross. In 1915, my Great Grandmother Irene listed her mother's name as Mary L. Cross when she got married to Emmett W. LaTourette. When my Great Grandmother Irene got married to John Bour in 1919, she stated that her mother's name was Mary Louise Cross. When Grandma Irene married William Howard Graham in 1922, she said that her mother's name was Louise Cross. In the 1900 U.S. Census for Erie County, Great Great Grandmother Mary Louise Cross Larkins' first name was listed as Lulu. When I interviewed a distant cousin, Inez Wilson, long ago, she referred to Mary Louise Cross Larkins as Lou. So many names for one person!

Whenever my mom spoke of her Larkins and Cross family ties, she always called Gram Irene's mother Mary Louise, so that is what I consider her name to be. Mary Louise Cross Larkins, who went by so many different first names, died on July 20, 1912, at the age of forty one. From reading some old newspaper clippings, it appears that Great Great Grandma Mary Louise Cross Larkins had a deep rooted Catholic faith, and adored her children and extended family. She was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, next to her beloved husband Thomas F. Larkins.

Gram Irene Received the Last Rites

While I was on a mission to assist someone in researching their family history, I ran into a death record for my beloved Great Grandma Irene.

Below is the Interment Record from Holy Angels Church in Sandusky, Ohio, which is accessible online at Family Search, under the category: Ohio Diocese of Toledo, Catholic Parish Records, 1796-2004. (Click on the image for an enlarged view.)






Irene Larkins Risko, who died from heart disease on September 17, 1961, was interred at Calvary Cemetery on September 20, 1961. The record states that Father Bishop administered sacraments to her. The website of the American Catholic states that the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, formerly known as the Last Rites, is a ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.

My mom always thought that Grandma Irene felt she was out of favor with the church because she had been divorced (and more than once.) In spite of that, she had a deep faith, and she felt very strongly that if prayers were offered up on Good Friday, that they were more likely to be answered. It gives me great joy to know that she received sacraments that were very important to her at the end of her life, which was filled with many ups and downs, and a lot of heartache. Had I not been browsing through church records online at Family Search, I never would have known this small, but so meaningful reassurance that my great grandmother found spiritual peace before she passed away. Grandma Irene had many failed relationships, and she lost both her parents and daughter before she died, but when I knew her, she was funny, generous, kind, and she had a heart that was filled with love for her family.

The Civil War Service of Great Grandma Irene's Grandfathers

Long before my great grandmother Irene Larkins was born, her maternal and paternal grandfathers had both served in the Union Army during the Civil War.























A native of Ireland, Patrick Larkins served in Company K of the 19th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted on April 23, 1861, and mustered out on August 31, 1861. Patrick worked on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and later worked at Hubbard's lumber yard in Sandusky. He and his wife Bridget had a family of seven children, all baptized in the Catholic church.

My Great Grandmother Irene's maternal grandfather was James C. Cross. He was a carpenter by trade. The father of James Cross, an English immigrant named Charles Cross, was the Mayor of Sandusky from 1853-1856. James Cross enlisted in military service at Monroeville on September 19, 1862, as a private in Company G of the 123rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the time of his honorable discharge, at Camp Chase, Ohio on June 12, 1865, James Cross had risen to the rank of Corporal.


















Between 1868 and 1883, James Cross and his wife Elizabeth Marshall had a family of six children. He provided the birth dates of all his children on a document in his military pension file.























Both Patrick Larkins and James Cross were buried at St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. Keeping in the family tradition of service, my Great Grandmother Irene's uncle, Nicholas Charles Cross became a Brother in the Catholic Church with the Xaverian Order. Her fist cousin, Naomi Cross, was a nun who worked in the Hough area of Cleveland in the 1960's. Naomi changed her name to Sister Bertha after she entered into religious service.

Through the years I have never seen a photograph of my ancestors James Cross or Patrick Larkins, nor have I ever heard any stories about their years in military service during the Civil War. I get the impression that both men must have felt it was their duty to serve their country. Seven of my Great Grandma Irene's great grandparents were born in foreign countries. I am proud of my ancestors' service to their families and their country.

Snowy Day Discovery

Having the day off to due the latest winter storm that hit the MidWest, I had some time to browse through the many databases available at Family Search. I entered the name of my great grandmother, Irene Larkins (sometimes spelled Larkin.) My Grandma Irene was married several times, but I had never before encountered the name of Emmett W. LaTourette, the man she married on January 21, 1915. The marriage record, according to the database Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958, took place at Seneca County, Ohio. Gram Irene listed her name as: Mary Irene Larkin, and her birth year as 1892. She provided her parents' names: Thomas Larkin and Mary L. Cross. Emmett W. LaTourette stated that he was born in New York, and his parents were James W. and Emma LaTourette. Emmett stated that he was single, while my Grandma Irene stated that she was divorced.























So far, I have not found any other evidence of my Grandma Irene and her brief marriage to Emmett W. LaTourette. She married again, before 1920, so no census record exists showing her name as Irene LaTourette. (She married Mr.LaTourette after 1910, but before 1920.) An obituary of Mrs. Emma LaTourette, which appeared in the May 10, 1949 issue of the New York Times, stated that she was the wife of James W. LaTourette, and had a daughter named Mrs. Lucy Huber, and a son, Emmett LaTourette. Mrs. Emma LaTourette had been a resident of Staten Island, New York for seventy three years, before her death at the age of 90. She was very active in the Molly Stark Council of the Daughters of America. An entry on FindaGrave indicates that Emmett W. LaTourette died in 1970, and he was buried at the Bethel Methodist Churchyard in Tottenville, New York.


My memories of Grandma Irene are of a wonderful, caring great grandmother, who loved me very much. She was a talented seamstress and baker, and she was very generous to my family.















When I was only two years old, she paid for my mother and I to take a train trip across the country to see my Uncle Tom and Aunt Evelyn and their three children in California. She had so many delightful qualities, and I only wish that she could have found true love. Reading between the lines, I think she had her heart broken many times.

Mrs. Emma Larkin/Larkins

According to her death certificate, Emma Leike was born in Hinter Pommern on May 26, 1875. She married Edward Krueger in Erie County, Ohio in 1902, but that marriage ended. By 1920, Emma was married to Thomas F. Larkins (sometimes spelled Larkin.) Thomas had lost his first wife Mary Louise Cross Larkins, in 1912. In 1920, Thomas and Emma lived at 1309 Shelby Street in Sandusky, Ohio. The 9 year old granddaughter of Thomas, Doris Wheeler, also lived at 1309 Shelby Street in 1920.

Emma loved little Doris, and saw to it that she attended church and Sunday School. Family stories told of how Emma kept house spotlessly, but when Doris's first child Tommy was born, that little boy could do no wrong, and Grandma Emma rarely scolded him, even when he pounded on the legs of the dining room table with his toy hammer!

On December 9, 1936, Emma Larkins died from carcinoma of the pancreas.


















She was greatly missed by her beloved husband and by his large extended family. Reading between the lines, I think it took a lot of courage for Thomas Larkins, an Irish Catholic man, to marry a divorced Protestant woman. But they loved each other, and made a wonderful home at 1309 Shelby Street. When Thomas's daughter Irene was having a difficult time, they helped raise Irene's daughter Doris. They lovingly welcomed Doris's children to their home for holidays and family dinners and card parties, and reached out to Doris's husband's family as well. I only wish I could have met this loving, hard working woman who added so much love to so many members of my Larkins family. Emma Larkins is buried at Oakland Cemetery, next to Doris Wheeler Parker, the little girl she helped to raise. When Great Great Grandpa Thomas F. Larkins died in 1944, he was buried next to his first wife, Mary Louise Larkins at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky.

Mrs. Emma Larkins was survived by her husband, stepdaughter Irene, stepson Thomas Arthur Larkins, and six sisters: Mrs. Bertha Buoy, Mrs. Frank Stoner, Mrs. Arthur Benson, Mrs. Frank Mischler, Mrs. Allen Bickley, and Mrs. Ralph Stanley. She also was a step grandmother and step great grandmother to Doris Wheeler Parker, Jimmy Larkins, Steen Thomas Parker, and Joyce Parker, who all loved their Grandma Emma.

Marriage Record of Thomas F. Larkins and Lula Cross: A Closer Look

In a previous blog post, I discussed finding a brief marriage record of Thomas F. Larkins and Lula M. Cross at a very helpful online site related to Kalamazoo County Genealogy, at http://kalamazoogenealogy.org.














After entering the names of the bride and groom into the Family Search Labs database, I was able to learn a little more about this couple. Their names were listed in the collection entitled: Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925. This "hit" led to an image of the marriage record from Kalamazoo County, Michigan. (Click on the image for a larger view.)








The date of the marriage was January 7, 1889, and the minister who officiated was Rev. Thomas Ryan. As was also listed on the 3 x 5" card from Kalamazoo Genealogy, the ages of the bride and groom were listed, along with the names of the parents of the couple. When looking at the record as listed at Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925, I see a slight variation in the first names of the witnesses to the wedding of Thomas F. Larkins ad Lula Cross. Instead of Joanne Ryan and Maria McHugh, the names are listed as John Ryan and Mary McHugh.

Since the wedding took place in 1900, I decided to try to locate John Ryan in the U.S. Census for 1900. John Ryan was listed as living in Kalamazoo County, Michigan in 1900, and his birthplace was Ohio, the same birthplace as Thomas F. Larkins. Going back twenty years, I find a John Ryan living in the household of Patrick and Hannora Ryan, in a large family including seven children, and residing in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, the very county where Thomas F. Larkins was born and died!

The maiden name of the mother of Thomas F. Larkins was Bridget Ryan. So....was Bridget Ryan the sister of John Ryan's father Patrick Ryan? Or were these two young men both of Irish Catholic origin just close friends? Sadly, I do not know the exact connection between Thomas F. Larkins and John Ryan, who was one of the witnesses at his wedding. And since the minister was Rev. Thomas Ryan, it is possible that he may have been related to Mr. Larkins or Mr. Ryan, or possibly to both of them! What I did determine was that Thomas F. Larkins and John Ryan were teenage boys in the 1880 census in Sandusky, Ohio, and they both were at Kalamazoo County, Michigan on January 7, 1889, on the occasion of the wedding of Thomas F. Larkins and Lula M. Cross. So many questions, but not so many answers!