Mary Reilly

[mrsbee]

I am trying to find out any information regarding a Mary Reilly born May 10, 1853 or 1854. Unknown where in Ireland she was born or lived. Her father was John Reilly mother unknown. She arrived in New York 1867 at the age of 14 and believe she was alone. She
married in 1878 to Henry Meehan or Mehan and lived in Auburn, NY. She died in 1930.

[Corker45]

I have a Mary Reilly on my family tree who fits your date and parentage. My great grandfather was a farmer in county Cork. Mary was a member of his first family. He remarried when his first wife died and I am descended from the second family. My first cousin is still working the farm. I am away from home until 13th September so I only have limited access to my records ubtil then. Do you have any other clues about Mary's address or where she is buried? My data is as follows and her mother was Ellen Hannigan. The addition of the O' came after Mary's time.

   MARY O'REILLY1, b. 10 December 1854

More About MARY O'REILLY:
Godparents: James Hennessy, Margaret Sheehan

[mrsbee]

Thank you for the reply. Actually Mary Reilly was born May 10, 1853 and I believe she arrived in the U.S. in May of 1867. In 1878 she married Henry Mehan and lived in Auburn, N.Y. She died in 1930 and is buried in Auburn as well. I have been unable to find out her
mother's name the information I have found said her father was John Reilly and she was born in Ireland but not the exact area. As it appears she arrive in the U.S. at the age of 14 and their were no others showing with her that I can find. It would appear from your message the Mary Reilly in your family was born 10 December 1854 so may not be the same person. I would love to hear more, however, as have found dates can be inaccurate.

[Corker45]

Mary's father remarried in 1864 so one can only surmise that wife number 2 wanted to clear the patch for her own offspring. If Mary travelled to the US at age 14 you can be sure that she was either accompanied by a relative or that there was a relative waiting for her on the quay. We did manage to track down one of Mary's brothers in Australia and I am in correspondence with his grandaughter. She does not however have any information on the other siblings. Do you happen to know Mary's address in the US? People often included a reference to the old country in a house address.

Moderator's Note: attachment removed as the family tree contained details of many living relatives.

[mrsbee]

Again thank you for the information. I did find that when Mary was married in 1880 lived at 17 Florence St., Auburn, in 1900 at 353 State St., Auburn and in 1930 at 60 Lewis St. also Auburn, NY. I have gotten my information mostly from Ancestry.com and fultonhistory.com.
I intend to revisit the Auburn Historian again and see if they have any records from the church the family attended. Most census and other information I have gotten indicates her birth year and month as May, 1853.

[johnjensen]

I would guess from the information you've posted that you already have the details of the ship on which Mary arrived in NY.  On the off-chance you don't, there is a 14 year-old Mary Reilly who arrived on 23 May 1867 on the ship named  Pennsylvania.  The site www.castlegarden.org lists the following Reillys on the same ship, though no way of knowing if they're siblings:

REILLY BRIDGET 20 F 23 May 1867 
REILLY JOHN 26 M 23 May 1867 
REILLY MARY 14 F 23 May 1867 
REILLY PETER 27 M 23 May 1867

[Corker45]

My Mary did have a younger brother John who was born in 1856. I do not know any of my great grandfathers siblings but I will pursue the matter. One of the others could have been an Uncle or Aunt or indeed a couple.