Edward Joseph Brennan

[Chris]

Edward Joseph (my gg grandfather) was born 23 Jun 1853 in Holland Twp to Patrick and Mary Ann (Jordan) Brennan. The 1861 and 1871 census records list a sister Mary the same age, but I've not been able to trace her. This fits into my cousin John Brennan's assertation that Edward had a twin sister.

In the late 1870s or early 1880s he came to California and ran a livery stable next door to James and John's saloon (as he was a teetotaller).

03 Feb 1884 he married Josephine Curtis, sister to John's wives. They had 11 children:
Edward James born 24 Nov 1885, died 29 Jul 1963
Frank Curtis born 20 Dec 1886, died 27 Apr 1973
Clarence Alphonsus born 12 Jun 1888, died 17 Jun 1888
Edith Josephine born 12 Jun 1888, died 31 May 1982
John Pierce born 16 Jan 1890, 11 Apr 1976
Helen Marie born 13 Dec 1890, died 23 Mar 1943
Rose Jeanette born 14 Dec 1892, died 25 Sep 1975
William Thomas born 14 Jan 1894, died 05 Nov 1946
Gertrude C. born 28 Aug 1896, died 07 Dec 1967
Mary Loretta born 21 Aug 1898, died 21 May 1979
Ralph G. born 23 Oct 1901, died 23 Jun 1973

Edward died 03 Jan 1943 and Josephine died 07 Dec 1913.

[TJ]

Hi Chris,

I have slightly different information on Edward....I have him as Edward James Brennan, born Jun 1856 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The 1900 Berkeley census seems to confirm this.

Another relative from the Curtis side of the family provided me a bunch of information, but I'm running into a dead end in Canada as the church records were destroyed in a fire just before 1850.

Regards,

Tom

[Chris]

Hi Tom

My apologies for the long delay; I missed your reply and just found it while upgrading hte board; mea culpa!

There seems to be a lot of confusion, and at this point I don't really know.

My great-grandfather, the senior Edward's oldest son, was Edward James (according to his WWI draft card).

OTOH, my grandfather Earl Edward's cousin Edward Joseph (son of Frank Curtis Brennan and Emma Irene Silva) told me on the phone some years ago that his middle name as well as his first were for his grandfather. He's since passed away, so I can't check in again; I suppose it's possible that he was named for both grandparents: Edward for his grandfather Edward and Joseph for his grandmother Josephine. I just really don't know.

Re Ed Srs' year of birth; I have transcribed copies of the 1861 and 1861 censuses of Holland Twp, Grey County, Ontario (but only the pages related to the Brennans) . Edward and Mary were both listed as 8 years old in 1861 and 17 years old in 1871. I've gone by those dates rather than his death certificate (which lists his birth as 23 June 1857 in Owen Sound). The 1861 was enumerated 14 January 1861 while 1871 census was enumerated 2 April 1871. IIRC, both were age at the previous birthday. I've found that childhood census records seem to correlate more closely with baptismal records when the latter are also available, so I've gone with the 1852 for Edward and Mary (I had listed it previously as 1853, but after learning the date of the 1861 census, I pushed it back a year).

If you'd like digital copies of the censuses or Ed Srs death certificate, I'm glad to share; email me at chris at brennan-families.com and let me know whether you'd rather have them as an attachment to email or download them from the website.

The church records are really hard to find. A distant connection, Kim Muldoon, is a genealogist in Hamilton, Ontario, and has found it almost impossible to locate anything; access is hard to get and the records have never been organised.

A few records are up in Owen Sound at St. Mary's Church, which has the baptismal records from St. Paul's Church in Dornoch from, I think, 1857 on. There's a younger sister Johanna Brennan born in Glenelg township June 12, 1859. Daughter of Patrick Brennan and Mary Ann Jordan. Baptised on June 13th, 1859. Sponsors Michael Cummings and Mary Brennan. I also have 2 first cousins' baptisms listed from St. Mary's, children of James Brennan and Clarissa Keyes (I believe that James was Patrick Brennan's younger brother, but they may have been cousins rather than siblings.