Thanks to Michael McAllister for reaching out to me, I was able to discover another sad story that befell our family and the resilience of that family. My Great Grandfather, Joseph Hillanbrand was born in Frackville, Pennsylvania, as well as his first cousin, Jacob Hildebrand (an aberration of Hillanbrand). Both families moved from Frackville to Philadelphia. Jacob Hildebrand later married Julia Gaffney in 1896. Through this happy marriage, they had four children: Francis James, born 1897; Joseph Andrew, born 1899; Mary, born 1903; and Elizabeth, born 1906. Unfortunately, Julia had contracted the terrible disease of Tuberculosis and succumbed to it, at the age of 36 in 1909. Jacob HIldebrand, soon thereinafter, contracted Typhoid Fever, and died at the age of 38. The four children were left with no parents and the oldest was just 12 years of age. Julia's brother Thomas Gaffney took in Francis, Mary and Elizabeth, while Julia's sister Hannah (nee Gaffney) McAllister took in Joseph. Just another tragic story of loss of family at a young age and the selfless adaptation that family takes to recover from such tragedy.
Hillanbrand Family Genealogy
Family genealogy of Hillanbrand, Huth, Zernhelt, Francis, Collins, McNulty, Meer, Mulligan and McLaughlin. This genealogy has taken 40+ years to collect, analyze, collate and research. I don't mind sharing information, however, this is copyrighted material. Please, do not publish without my permission.
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Monday, August 2, 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
As a followup to yesterdays contribution, today, I have another photograph of a picnic with the Hillanbrand's and Riley's. This was taken around 1936/7, down around Umbria Street in Philadelphia. My Great Grandmother, Ellen Francis Hillanbrand is in the middle holding a beer. My Great Aunt Dolores and Great Uncle Robert Brecht is in the last row on the left. Robert Brecht is in the first row on right, holding the baseball. My Great Aunt Dot and Great Uncle Harry Kinsinger are to the right of my Great Grandmother. Their son, Joe Kinsinger is the smallest, in front right. And lastly, my Great Aunt Marguerite is kneeling, center left. If anyone knows some of the other characters, please let me know.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
I was reviewing some old photographs, when I stumbled upon this photograph. The photograph was taken about 1921 in Atlantic City, New Jersey by the commercial photographer Fred Hess. It is a picture of the extended Francis Family, which included the Hillanbrand's and Riley's. My grandfather is in the top row, with his arms around my Great Aunt Viola (on left) and Great Aunt Betty (on right). I believe that my Great Aunt Marguerite is in the arms of my Great Aunt Betty. Next to them, on right, is my Great Grandmother, Ellen Hillanbrand. On extreme left is my Great, Great Aunt Elizabeth Riley. Unfortunately, I don't know the cousins within the rest of the photograph. I thought I would share. Any help and assistance would be appreciated.
Monday, July 26, 2021
Another picture from Uncle Ray and Aunt Barbara's wedding. Front row - Clare Brecht, Aunt Dolores Brecht, Barbara Hillanbrand, Ray Hillanbrand, Mary Brecht and Reba Hillanbrand. Back row - Catherine Hillanbrand, Bill Hillanbrand, Jack Brecht, Tom Brecht, Tom Hillanbrand, Bob Brecht and Mary Ellen Brecht.
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Thomas Francis (1842 - 1910), my Great, Great Grandfather, was born in Ireland. His parents, Daniel and Mary Francis relocated to Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. In the photograph below, their house is second from left. Thomas married Bridget Collins on January 5, 1865. The Collin's family house is on the extreme right of the photograph. Thomas was a boatman, carrying loads of coal from Schuylkill Haven, down the Schuylkill River to Manayunk, Philadelphia. In the photograph is an example of the barge that Thomas utilized to haul the coal south on the river.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
With the help from this obituary from October 16, 1893 in the Reading Eagle Newspaper, I was able to ascertain, exactly, what my Great, Great, Great Grandfather, Francis Hillanbrand had as an occupation. I knew he was an engineer, but this obituary said he was a hoist engineer. He would lower men and equipment, down through the mine shaft via the hoist elevators. His was the last face that the miners would see, before he would lower them below. The picture on the right is one of the hoists left in Mahanoy Plane. He had worked at the Lawrence Colliery, which was abandoned in the 1930s.
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Sunday, May 2, 2021
So, in the past, I had talked about our family's plight in Ireland during the latter part of the 19th century. Around 1879, in Killasser, a Relief Committee was formed, consisting of prominent parishioners and chaired by the parish priest, to apply for and administer subscriptions for various funds which were set up to help those in need. In the parish, by 1880, 1,750 out of 1,800 families were receiving relief because of the failure of crops and general distress.
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Friday, April 2, 2021
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
I would like to finish a story, that I had started some time ago. It seems as if my Irish ancestors, the McNulty's, were involved in the criminal justice system in Ireland, once too often. This included my Great, Grandmother, Bridget McNulty. She was born in 1861 in Callow, parish of Killasser, County Mayo. She was the second child of Thomas and Anne (nee Mulligan) McNulty. The McNulty family was caught up in the Land Wars of Ireland and were evicted twice. Her father, Thomas, was often arrested trying to defend the family, staying in their home. As for my Great, Grandmother, Bridget, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. It appears that a certain Nicholas Durkan, received authorization from the government to build a road adjacent to the McNulty farm. As the Road Contractor, he was allowed to confiscate materials from the locals to build such road, often destroying rock walls that were used to delineate boundaries and keep livestock within. On April 22, 1874, according to the criminal complaint, Bridget refused to allow the road contractor, "...to raise and carry away materials for a road from off her land, which materials could not conveniently be obtained elsewhere." Her father was also arrested. The disposition, handed down from the Judge, was for my Great, Grandmother, "... to be whipped, whether in or out of prison." At this time, she was a mere 13 years of age. Something to think about, while thinking of the sacrifices that our family endured during this time.
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
As a second part in the series about my Great, Great Grandfather, Thomas McNulty, I will continue revealing his participation with the criminal justice system in Ireland. My brother, Mark, remarked, "Good or bad, at least he kicked ass!" Well, not really. On March 10, 1866, while on his way back home to Callow from the town of Swinford, he was "violently" assaulted on the road by Michael Walsh and Matthew Conway. Both were later sentenced to prison in the Castlebar gaol. Later that year, he was charged with allowing 15 sheep to trespass on a neighbors property and eat cabbage. As you can imagine, any type of vegetable was needed in post-famine Ireland. In the fall of 1872, apparently Thomas McNulty and his neighbor Michael Kenny were in a feud. There were five (5) different charges of each threatening each others life and preventing each from going to his tract of land in Doonmaynor. Times were tough, back then. Tomorrow, I will relate a story about our Great Grandmother, as well. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
Monday, November 16, 2020
To my family on the Hillanbrand side, I will be posting a series of stories regarding my Great, Great Grandfather, Thomas McNulty. Previously, I found that he was arrested for threatening a land agent before an eviction. I did some additional research and I found that he had an extensive history with the law. As I relate these stories, you must understand that as a tenant farmer, Thomas McNulty did not have any rights upon the land. On October 8th, 1858 and April 11, 1859, Thomas McNulty was arrested for being drunk and disorderly while in the town of Swinford. On January 2nd, 1862, Thomas was arrested for illegally fishing for salmon in the River Moy. During that time, the fish were owned by the owner of the land next to the river. So, being in possession of the fish would be theft of property from someone else. Often times, the penalty was usually disproportionate to the action. It was often acknowledged that if a fish was taken from a stream, the penalty would be a cow or sheep from the defendant.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT POST THAT I HAVE MADE IN YEARS. Yesterday, I posted a whimsical post about my Great, Great Grandfather being arrested for an assault on March 10th, 1866. I thought it was just an eccentric part of our family history. I was wrong. I wanted to know more about this story and I found an everlasting tragedy that altered lives for generations. Thomas McNulty was my Great, Great Grandfather. He, his wife, Anne Mulligan and the rest of the family lived in the townsland of Callow, in the parish of Killasser, County Mayo, Ireland. Being a tenant farmer, he had to pay rent to an absentee landlord through land agents. The landlords were typically English/Welsh and sent unscrupulous land agents to extract high rents. If you couldn't pay, you were evicted. Our GGGrandfather assaulted the land agent, Michael Walsh, from Borehamleigh, County Essex, England. Although the charges were dismissed, soon thereafter, our family was evicted from Callow and moved to the townsland of Doonmaynor. Upon further research, I found out, that this was not an anomaly. The west of Ireland was hit by the 1879 famine, a combination of heavy rains, poor yields and low prices that brought widespread hunger and deprivation. The McNulty's were not spared. Soon thereafter, the McNulty's were to be evicted again. Tenants began to form associations called Land Leagues to fight the injustices of the absentee landlords. In our family's case, a big anti-eviction meeting was held in Doonmaynor on June 13, 1880, to protest against the evictions of four families, including the McNulty's. The estimated crowd of 3,000, was led by the Killasser fife and drum band. The National Land League erected huts in a field across the street (now a community center) from the church. The field was known at the time as "hut field". The families were accommodated in the huts for some time, but most of them later emigrated. All of the McNulty children emigrated to Philadelphia, while their parents lived the rest of their life in the hut field. Please read about the Land War of Ireland. This had a direct impact on our family and was the cause of their emigration to America. Below is a photo depicting an eviction and the current location of "hut field".
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Monday, September 7, 2020
In a homage to my family that had sacrificed themselves in the toils of labor, my Great-Grandfather's first cousin, John Huth was working for the non-union shop of Yuengling Brewery. Only married for two years, with an infant daughter to provide for, John was forced to work in over-heated conditions at the brewery, leading to his death. Not having the means, even in death, he is buried in an unmarked grave in the Yorkville section of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. RIP and not forgotten. In recent events, Yuengling forced the workers to decertify the Union, by threat of shutting down the brewery and moving it to another state.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Monday, August 3, 2020
U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card File
To members of my family on the Hillanbrand side. This is going to be a two part series story for today and tomorrow. My Great Uncle, Michael Thomas McLaughlin, was born of my Irish Great Grandparents James McLaughlin and Bridget McNulty. They married on September 13, 1884, not in Ireland, but in St. Patrick's Church in Rochdale, Lancashire, England. I suppose, like many Irishman during that time, James looked for work in England. Thereinafter, their first child, Michael was born August 3, 1885 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England. The family later emigrated to Philadelphia in 1889. Michael became an electrician by trade. On November 27, 1917, at the ripe age of 32, Michael enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War One. He was assigned to the 370th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces of the 2nd Air Corps. His squadron taught new pilots reconnaissance and aerial observation during the war, being based out of Chatillon sur Seine, France. Below is a short (?) history of the 370th during the war, which provides a great first hand prospective:
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Monday, March 9, 2020
I thought since St. Patrick's Day is coming, I would submit the following story of our Great, Grandparent's passage to the United States from Ireland. James and Bridget McLaughlin emigrated from Ireland in 1889, with their children Michael and Anna. They were transported aboard the RMS Teutonic (pictured here). The Teutonic was known as the first modern liner because of the modifications to passenger accommodation. Whereas all of White Star Line's previous liners had only carried two classes of passengers—Cabin and Steerage -- the Teutonic introduced changes to that paradigm. The White Star Line later built the Titanic. The Teutonic was built with the three-class accommodation system, consisting of First, Second, and Third Classes. First Class, originally known as Cabin Class, was renamed as Saloon Class on specific terms, being meant for upper class travelers. The Teutonic had accommodations for 300 First Class passengers in spacious cabins situated on her uppermost three decks, and had many interesting features. Many of the cabins were inter-connecting for family travel. A new class began appearing in ships after this time in shipbuilding, and Teutonic was among the first to see it. Second Class, also known as Cabin Class, was meant for travelers of the middle class. Teutonic was built to carry 190 Second Class passengers in comfortable rooms on the second highest deck, further aft towards the stern. Third Class, commonly known as steerage, was primarily for immigrants. Teutonic was built to carry 1,000 Third Class passengers in two areas of accommodation aboard the ship. As was the case aboard all White Star vessels, Third Class spaces were segregated with single men berthed forward, and single women, married couples and families with children berthed aft. steerage passengers were quartered in nine separate compartments on the two lowest decks, with five forward and four aft. All five forward sections and three of the four aft sections consisted of large twenty-berth cabins lining the ship's hull, with interior spaces left open to be used for dining and other purposes. The fourth section in the stern, designated for married couples and families with children, consisted of small but comfortable and private two and four-berth cabins. The photos attached are of the RMS Teutonic, the main staircase and the accommodations technical drawing.