GRAVE MARKERS AT STS. PHILIP AND JAMES CEMETERY

THE NEUMANN SHRINE
Sugar Ridge, PA


Photographs Taken by Lynn Ann Franklin, wife of Bob Sweeney, at the Kelly Family Reunion on July 1, 2006. Commentary is provided by Bob Sweeney and Edward Kelly.
September 2006

Mary O'Brien Kelly--First Picture
Mary O'Brien Kelly--Second Picture

Mary was the wife of Michael T. Kelly, one of the emigrant Kelly children who came to Sugar Ridge in the 1800s. She was the daughter of Patrick and Mary O'Brien. The stone says she was a "native of Clonakilty, Cork". In reality, this was the port of embarkation fromr County Cork; the Kelly family is known to have actually originated in the parish of Ballymacorder in that area. Bob Sweeney is standing by the stone in the preceding pictures. His first cousin, David Sweeney, is screened by Bob in the second picture.

Ed Kelly added the following observations on September 15, 2006:

Ken Beirne does have Mary O'Brien Kelly and also her parents, Patrick and Mary O'Brien, in his index on the Beirne Family History site. Ken also has there a picture of Mary O'Brien Kelly that he obtained from Bernadette K. Tapella. As I recall, the grave marker includes also the names and dates of Mary O'Brien Kelly's parents, Patrick and Mary O'Brien, and the fact that they were natives of Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland. That is why, some years ago, I inferred erroneously that the Kellys may have come from Clonakilty. Based on Timothy Kelly's grave marker, we know now that the Kellys were natives of Ballymacorder, County Cork, Ireland. As I may have told you, my initial efforts to locate Ballymacorder were futile. Last summer when I was in County Cork, it was suggested to me that Ballymacorder may be a township name, much like Forks Township in Sullivan County, PA, rather than a place name like Overton in Bradford County, PA. My speculation is that Ballymacorder is located in the western part of County Cork. My goal is to return there some day and talk up some of the senior citizens in the pubs and elsewhere and try to find out more.

There are three other tombs with "Kelly/Kelley" surname in this group. The first is broken off, so it is not possible just by looking to know who is buried there, but we believe it is likely for Hanora Kelly [see comments below]. The second is for Catherine Kelly, age 20, daughter of Michael and Mary (O'Brien) Kelly; and the third, for Jeremiah Kelley, age two years and ten months, son of Michael and Mary (O'Brien) Kelly. We do know from Ed Kelly that Hanora Kelly ["Annora" on the original grave marker] who died May 3, 1864 at the age of 10 years, two months, and Michael Kelly who died January 18, 1881, are buried near Catherine and Jeremiah and are their sister and brother.

Unknown Kelley Burial
Catherine Kelly, died February 9, 1882
Jeremiah Kelley, died August 8, 1868

Next come several members of the Lane family who intermarried with the Kellys and Dorseys. See the set of comments provided by Ed Kelly below these photos.

Daniel Lane
Catharine, Wife of Daniel Lane
Dennis Lane
John Lane, Jr. and Catherine, His Wife
John Lane
Joseph, Mary and Charles Lane
Mary, Wife of John Lane
Unknown Female, Age 36, in Lane Plot
Catherine, Daughter of Michael and Mary Lane

--Daniel Lane, a native of Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland, died November 25, 1891 at the age of 77 years, nine months.
--Catherine Lane, wife of Daniel Lane and also a native of Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland died February 22, 1883 at age 66.
--John Lane, Jr. was born May 1, 1825 and died November 9, 1907.
--Catherine Lane, wife of John Lane, Jr., was born January 2, 1826 and died February 11, 1901.
--John Lane, Sr. died May 22, 1860 at age 77.
--Joseph D. Lane, son of John F. and Mary A. Lane, died September 22, 1883 at the age of three months, 21 days.
--Mary Lane, daughter of John F. and Mary A. Lane, died September 19, 1885.
--Charles Lane, son of John F. and Mary A. Lane, died August 4, ____ at the age of eight months, 15 days.
--Mary Lane, wife of John Lane, Sr. and a native of Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland died May 29, 1879 at age 86.
--Catharine Lane, daughter of Michael and Mary Lane, died in 1893.

The next set of photos represents the Leahy ["Lahey"], Byron and Cullen families. See the set of comments from Ed Kelly below these photos.

Patrick Cullen and Edward Byron
Note that the mothers of each of these men were sisters, Agnes (1886-1965) and Mary (1879-1962) Leahy.

Margaret "Maggie" (Lahey) Jordan
Note that Maggie, "aged 23 years" at the time of her death, was an aunt to Agnes and Mary, as well as a first cousin to Mary Lahey ["Leahy"], wife of Daniel Kelly and the great grandmother of Bob Sweeney, Ed Kelly and Ken Beirne, just to name a few of the dozens of her grandchildren. Maggie married Thomas J. Jordan (1852-1928), here spelled "Jerdon".

Francis P. and Catherine (Dorsey) Leahy
-----and Their Daughter Theressa
Francis P. Leahy was a brother of Maggie Leahy mentioned above. Both were children of Patrick Leahy and Ellen Flynn. As a matter of family history, Leahy brothers married Flynn sisters. The respective siblings of Patrick and Ellen, Thomas Leahy and Mary Flynn, were the parents of Mary Lahey/Leahy, wife of Daniel Kelly. Their grave markers are shown below.

Hugh and Agnes (Byron) Leahy
Note that once again siblings married siblings: Hugh and Mary Leahy were brother and sister, children of Francis P. and Catherine (Dorsey) Leahy. They married, respectively, Agnes and Edward Byron, children of Michael and Bridget (Jordan) Byron. Incidentally, Bridget Jordan was a sister to Margaret Jordan who married Owen Sweeney in 1861. Owen was the oldest son of Michael and Catherine Sweeney, Bob Sweeney's great-great-grandparents, whom we will meet below.

Patrick and Ellen (Flynn) Leahy
Patrick Leahy (1810-1888) and Ellen Flynn Leahy (1806-1891)
Thomas and Mary (Flynn) Leahy
Thomas Leahy (1806-1861) and Mary Flynn Leahy (1810-1859) were the great-great-grandparents of Bob Sweeney, Ed Kelly, Ken Beirne, et al. Notice that Leahy brothers married Flynn sisters, thereby creating the basis for double first cousins in the next generation.
Bridget Leahy, Daughter of Thomas and Mary (Flynn) Leahy

--Patrick Cullen, son of Lawrence Eugene Cullen and Agnes Leahy Cullen and twin brother of James (Jay) Vincent Cullen (1924-2003), died at birth on January 19, 1924.
--James (Jay) Vincent Cullen (1924-2003) and Ruth Walsh Cullen (____-2007), his wife, also are buried at SS. Philip and James Cemetery, Sugar Ridge, Overton Township, Bradford County, PA.
--Edward Byron, son of Edward and Mary Leahy Byron, died at birth on October 6, 1926.
--Margaret ["Maggie" on the tombstone] Leahy Jordan ["Jerdon" on the tombstone], daughter of Patrick and Ellen Flynn Leahy and wife of Thomas J. Jordan, died December 19, 1876 after the birth of her first child, Joseph. Tom Jordan was a lumberman who remarried after Maggie's death and moved to Towanda, PA. Joseph Jordan, who had one son and one daughter, was an assemblyman and died about the age of 50. Joseph Jordan's son studied law.
--Francis (Frank) P. (Patrick) Leahy (1851-1924) was a son of Patrick and Ellen Flynn Leahy and the husband of Catherine (Katy) Dorsey Leahy (1850-1931). Their daughter, Teresa ["Therresa" on the tombstone] Leahy was born in 1894 and died in 1920. The twin sister of Ellen (Nell) Leahy Broschart, Teresa Leahy graduated from Overton High School and Mansfield Normal School and taught school two years in Overton Township, Bradford County. Teresa died of tuberculosis.
--Francis and Catherine Dorsey Leahy had 12 children, including Mary Leahy Byron, Agnes Leahy Cullen, Ellen (Nell) Leahy Broschart, and Irene Leahy Coveney.
--Mary Leahy Byron (1879-1944) who taught school at Campbellville, Millview, and Overton, 5-6-7-8 grades, and then became a nurse after studying at Atlantic City, NJ Hospital, married Edward Byron (1876-1962), a farmer in Albany Valley, Bradford County, PA. Mary suffered a stroke and died in 1944.
--Agnes Leahy Cullen (l886-l965) who graduated from St. Basil's High School in 1904, taught school before marrying Lawrence E. Cullen (l886-1968), a farmer in Albany Township, Bradford County, PA. Sister M. Laurena Cullen, IHM (Rita Angela Cullen) (1918-1985) was their daughter.
--Ellen (Nell) Leahy Broschart (1894-1984) graduated from Overton High School and Mansfield Normal School and taught school two years in Overton Township, Bradford County, PA before marrying Bernard J. Broschart, a farmer in Forks Township, Sullivan County.
--Irene Leahy Coveney (l896-1984) graduated from Overton High School and Mansfield Normal School and taught six terms before marrying William Coveney, a farmer in Athens, PA.
--The Leahys and the Flynns were natives of Parish Knocklong, County Limerick.
--Bridget Leahy was a daughter of Thomas Leahy and Mary Flynn Leahy and a sister of Mary Leahy Kelly, the wife of Daniel Kelly and the great-grandmother of Bob Sweeney, Ed Kelly, Ken Beirne, et al.

We also have two Tolan grave markers:

Henry Tolan
Henry Tolan died October 18, 1885 at the age of 72.
Ellen, Wife of Henry Tolan
Ellen Tolan, wife of Henry Tolan, was born April 8, 1822 and died April 7, 1880(?).

Next we have two Conmey burials. See the comments provided by Ed Kelly below the photos. The Conmey family, an old Irish line originally from County Mayo, but also present in Sligo, is a story unto itself that we will tell elsewhere on this site. These burials are members of the family of James Conmey, whose brother John Conmey was a prominent early settler of nearby Campbellville, PA. John and members of his family are buried at nearby McGovern Cemetery in Overton, PA, where there is a family memorial grave marker.

Sarah, Daughter of James Conmey
Sarah Kane Conmey, Wife of James Conmey
-----and Mary Ann, Sarah, Bridget and Eleanor Conmey, Their Children

--Sarah Conmey, daughter of James Conmey and Sarah Kane Conmey, was born in 1842 and died in 1862.
--Sarah Kane Conmey, wife of James Conmey, was born in 1807 and died in 1862.
--Mary Ann Conmey, daughter of James Conmey and Sarah Kane Conmey, was born in 1841 and died in 1845.
--Bridget Conmey, daughter of James Conmey and Sarah Kane Conmey, was born in 1849 and died in 1888.
--Eleanor Conmey, daughter of James Conmey and Sarah Kane Conmey, was born in 1852 and died in 1862.

The Conmeys were intimately related to the large Sweeney family of Cherry Mills and also to the Sweeney branch that lived on Sugar Ridge and is also buried at Sugar Ridge. The short version of the story goes as follows:

Back in Ireland, there were several intermarriages between the Conmey and Sweeney families, both of whom resided in County Sligo. Specific to our concerns here, Michael Sweeney married Catherine Sweeney, same surname but not close relatives. In Irish lore, this was considered good luck and the couple was said to be "cured" as a result. This was also the couple who, after various other adventures detailed in Sweeneys of Ringer Hill and Ghosts of Sullivan County, settled in the Cherry Mills area about 1843. Michael had a brother, Martin Sweeney, who married Margaret "Peg" Conmey in 1838 in Ireland; shortly thereafter, these newlyweds emigrated to the Rome, NY area where Martin was apparently a canal worker. Peg gave birth to three daughters in the next five years. In 1844, just hours after the birth of the third child, Martin dropped dead while chopping wood. The widow and her children now had to fare for themselves. However, Peg's brother was John Conmey of Campbellville; when he heard of the tragedy, he sent for his sister and nieces and brought them to his farm. At some point thereafter, Peg remarried to an older neighbor farmer named John Dolan, and the Dolans subsequently had several more children.

Ironically, there is also a local connection to the other "unrelated" Sweeney family to which Catherine, Michael's wife, belonged. A brother of Catherine named Thomas Sweeney settled on Sugar Ridge after Michael and Catherine came to the area, although we are not sure exactly when or why they came there. It would not at all be surprising for a sibling to emigrate to a location where family was known to be in the area. We don't know very much about these Sweeneys, but their graves are still distinguishable in the cemetery on Sugar Ridge, as shown below. Ed Kelly has given us his remarks as well after these photos.

Nellie, Wife of Thomas Sweeney
Patrick, Anna and Catherine Sweeney
-----Children of Thomas and Nellie Sweeney
Miles Sweeney
-----Believed to be a brother of Thomas Sweeney

Thomas and Nellie are known to have had other children who grew to adulthood. One of them, Nora V. Sweeney, is believed to be represented by the final grave marker on this page, shown below. It turns out that the Sweeney branch to which Catherine and Thomas belonged also settled in Wellsville, NY. Descendants of the Wellsville Sweeneys stayed in touch with the Sugar Ridge Sweeneys into the mid-twentieth century at least. We'll tell that story another day as well.

Nora V. [Sweeney?]

--Patrick Sweeney ["Sweeny" on the tombstone], son of Thomas and Nellie ["Nelly" on the tombstone] Sweeney, was born March 4, 1863 and died August 24, 1863.
--Anna Sweeney ["Sweeny" on the tombstone], daughter of Thomas and Nellie ["Nelly" on the tombstone] Sweeney, was born November 3, 1866 and died April 17, 1874.
--Catherine ["Catharine" on the tombstone] Sweeney ["Sweeny" on the tombstone], daughter of Thomas and Nellie ["Nelly" on the tombstone] Sweeney, was born August 3, 1869 and died October 20, 1872.
--Miles Sweeney ["Sweeny" on the tombstone] died September 30, 1906 at the age of 74.
--Nora V. Sweeney ["Sweeny" on the tombstone] was born February 27, 1872 and died April 26, 1897.

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