The Kenny and McKenny Families, Record by Record
Every dated record in the case study in the order the events happened, from Eliza Kenny’s arrival in Brooklyn to the death of her granddaughter in 1950. Key records are marked with a diamond; each entry links to its document in the gallery.
Richard and Eliza
An Irish couple in Brooklyn: their marriage, their two sons, and Richard’s death before the boys were nine.
Eliza Kenny settles in BrooklynKenny
In 1855 she tells the enumerator she has lived in the city twenty years.
George McKenney arrives in the United StatesMcKenny
His death certificate gives twenty-nine years in the country and in the city.
Richard Kenny marries Eliz. Kenny at St. Paul’sKenny
Witnesses John Rielly and El. Farrel. Known from a printed compilation of the parish registers.
James and John Kenny born in BrooklynKenny
Their ages agree in every census from 1850 to 1875: James about 1846, John about 1848.
The whole family in one censusKenny
Richard Kenney, 40, laborer; Elizabeth, 40; James, 4; John, 3; Brooklyn Ward 5.
Margaret McKenny born in BrooklynMcKenny
Daughter of George and Ann McKenney; 9 in 1860, 33 at her death in 1884.
Richard Kenny diesKenny
Alive in October 1850; his wife a widow by June 1855.
Eliza, widow, keeps a groceryKenny
Eliza Kenney, 49, widowed, grocery, with her sons James, 9, and John, 7; Ward 7.
The Widow’s Household
Eliza and her sons on Walworth Street, James going into the hat trade and John making mats; the McKenny family a mile away.
Mary F. McKenny bornMcKenny
Margaret’s sister, later Mary F. MacKinney: an infant in July 1860.
The McKenna household, Ward 7McKenny
George McKenna, 30, day laborer; Ann, 30; Margaret, 9; Mary, 7/12.
Eliza’s grocery, Ward 9Kenny
Eliza Kenny, 47, grocery; James, 14, and John, 12, at school. Another family, possibly Thomas Kenny’s, in the same dwelling.
The widow on Walworth StreetKenny
Kenny Eliza, wid. grocery, Walworth n. Park av; Kenny James, laborer, in the rear house.
John Kenney, Mat MakerKenny
Elizabeth keeps house; James, 22, works in a hat factory; John, 20, Mat Maker; Ward 21.
The McKenney householdMcKenny
George, 48; Mary [Ann], 40; Margaret, 18, at work; Mary, 9.
George McKenney diesMcKenny
Of phthisis pulmonalis, at Schanck Street near Willoughby, aged 42. Buried 1 January 1871.
The brothers at 79 WalworthKenny
Kenny James, hatter, h r 79 Walworth; Kenny John, lab. h r 79 Walworth.
Hatter and mat weaverKenny
Eliza Kenny, 60, widowed; James, 27, hatter; John, 25, mat weaver; frame house worth $1,200.
Ann McKinney and her daughters, Graham StreetMcKenny
Ann, 45, widowed; Margaret, 23; Mary, 14.
James Kenny diesKenny
A hatter, aged 29, of smallpox at 79 Walworth Street. Buried at Holy Cross.
The Mat Maker’s Family
John marries Margaret McKenny; within four years he loses his wife, an infant daughter and his mother, and he dies at thirty-six.
The widow of Richard and the mat makerKenny
Kenny Elizabeth, wid. Richard, h r 75 Walworth; Kenny John, matmkr., h r 75 Walworth. Thirteen John Kennys on the page.
Elizabeth “Lillian” Kenny bornKenny
Ten months old in the June 1880 census; her Social Security claim gives 28 July 1879.
The widow moves to Park AvenueKenny
Kenny Eliza, wid. h 537 Park av; Thomas Kenny at 525.
Three generations in one householdKenny
John Kenny, works mat factory; Margt, wife; Eliza, mother, widowed; Eliza, daughter, 10/12. Park Avenue.
Mary Anne (Mary Agnes) Kenny bornKenny
Baptized at St. Patrick’s on 12 February; parents John Kenny and Margaret McKenny; sponsors James Kenny and Mary A. Dunne.
Margaret Kenny diesMcKenny
Of pulmonary consumption at 39 Nostrand Avenue, aged 33. The certificate is delivered to John Kenny.
The infant Margaret diesKenny
Of cholera infantum at 39 Sandford Street, aged six months. Buried at Holy Cross.
The widow at 39 Nostrand AvenueKenny
Kenny Elizabeth wid. Richard, h 39 Nostrand av: the house where Margaret had died the year before.
Eliza Kenney diesKenny
In the Kings County Hospital, Flatbush, aged 79, a widow born in Ireland. Buried at Holy Cross.
John Kenney diesKenny
Of pulmonary phthisis at St. Catherine’s Hospital, aged 36, a hatter. Buried at Holy Cross on 1 December. His daughters are nine and six.
After John
His daughters’ lives, his sister-in-law Mary F. MacKinney, and the line to my grandmother.
Mary Agnes Kenny marries Joseph RobertsonNext generation
Seven years married in 1910.
Lillian J. Robertson bornNext generation
At 125 Ryerson Street; mother Mary Robertson, née Mary Kenny. My grandmother.
Two householdsNext generation
The Robertsons on Coney Island Avenue; Mary F. MacKinney with her niece Lillian Kenny.
The Robertsons at 220 East 4th StreetNext generation
Joseph, Mary, Lillian and Helen.
Lillian Marie Kenny enlists, U.S. NavyNext generation
Yeoman (F), Fleet Supply Base, Brooklyn; discharged 10 December 1920. Identity with John’s daughter not yet established.
Joseph Jay Robertson bornNext generation
At 68 East 5th Street; mother née Mary Agnes Kenny.
The last census of both householdsNext generation
The Robertsons with Lillian and Helen; Mary MacKinney, boarding-house keeper, with her niece Lillian Kenney.
Elizabeth Lillian Kenny marries John Joseph CorbettNext generation
Parents named as John and Margaret McKinney; her aunt Mary MacKinney a witness.
Joseph Robertson diesNext generation
Of a cerebral hemorrhage at Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
Mary Agnes Robertson diesNext generation
Of pulmonary tuberculosis at North Caldwell, twelve days after her husband. Her certificate names her parents as John Kenny and Margaret McKenny.
The baptism certificate is issuedNext generation
St. Patrick’s copies the 1882 register entry. The certificate passes to my grandmother and then to my mother.
Mary F. MacKinney diesMcKenny
At 340 Maple Street, single; daughter of George MacKinney and Ann Lynch; “survived by several nieces.”
Elizabeth K. Corbett’s Social Security claimNext generation
Born 28 July 1879; father John, mother Margaret McKernry.
The timeline lists what each record states. How the records were weighed against one another, and the conflicts between them, are set out in the full methodology.
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