My cousin and I have been searching for information on our great grandfather's family. Our great grandfather was William Francis Ruane b 7 Jan 1865 (we believe this is correct. The information was found in the LDS FamilySearch database "Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911", FHL Film No. 101103.) His parents' names were James Ruane b ~1848 and Honor (Hannah/Anna/Honora) Browne. We believe James and William came to the US on the Helvetia leaving from Queenstown, Ireland and arriving in New York on 30 June 1870. The surname on the passenger list is "Ryan" but we believe the correct spelling was "Ruane" as that is the surname shown on our grandmother's US birth certificate.
We have no other information concerning James and his wife although there is an Anna Ryan age 55 on the passenger list but we can't be certain she and James are related or were traveling together.
We do know that James and Hannah had another daughter, Mary Frances b 1877, Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA. Mary Frances married Patrick Francis McGrath b 1870 (we have no idea where in Ireland he and his family lived).
William Francis Ruane married Mary Eleanor Connolly (whose nickname was "Nellie") b 27 Feb 1862, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA, on 11 Aug 1891 in St Anne's Church, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA and they had 3 children: Herbert Francis Ryan (his surname was spelled "Ryan" on the Massachusetts' vital records) b 29 Feb 1892, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; Florence Eleanor Ryan b 18 Apr 1893, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; and our grandmother, Frances Geraldine Ruane b 18 Sep 1899, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Nellie died on 18 Oct 1906, she was pregnant at the time and the child was still born.
We have a photograph of William with our grandmother from 1930 but no other information about him or his parents. We would love to find any relatives of either James or Hannah.
Thank you so much for any help you might be able to give.
Sincerely,
Deb Adams
Monday 7th Jan 2013, 01:48AM
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Disclaimer: I am a professional genealogist and help out on this site when/where I can but will also gladly accept commissioned research
Hi Deb,
looks like you've done a great job putting the family histroy together - a bit concerned though when you comment "we believe this is correct"!
Tracing living descendants can be done using a variety of sources - see details on my site here http://www.irishfamilyancestry.com/Descendant-Research.aspx
Before starting anything like that we would need to be sure all the information you have collected is reasonably sound. Much of the information you have is, I guess, based on Fact/Family History and the rest is a good fit.
if you need some prefoeesional help finding living relatives do get in touch.
regards
Peter
Wednesday 30th Jan 2013, 03:49PM