Ellen Regina Welch Mitchell Orgins

It's easy to get sidetracked on paternal lines. In the records, they are, for the most part, easier to research. But one must not forget the maternal branches. After all, they do make up one half of a family unit.

Ellen surrounded by her Grandchildren

Ellen Welch was born in 1888 to James C Welch and Mary Carroll. I think we can safely assume that she was born in Marshalltown, Iowa since her parents married and resided there from 1880 until their deaths.
Ellen had four siblings - Josephine, Charles Carroll, Marie Frances, and Catherine Margaret. All having been born in Marshalltown.
Her sister, Josephine, resided in Marshall County all of her life. She married John Macklin in 1909, and, together, they had seven children. 
Her brother, Charles Carroll Welch, died at the young age of 15 and is buried in Marshalltown.
Marie Frances married William Charles White, 1919, in Crawford County. For a time they resided in Marshalltown before moving to San Diego, California. They had four children with the first two born in Iowa, and the last two born in California. William and Marie are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego, California.
The youngest daughter of James and Mary, Catherine, married Maurice Francis Jackson in Marshall County, and they, too, moved to San Diego. It was there that they had their family of four children. Except, maybe, their son, Maurice, Jr, who records his birth place as Marshalltown on all of his records.
Maurice and Catherine both died in San Diego County, but the location of the graves are unknown as of this post.

Ellen's Obituary

Ellen's father, James, was born in Vernon, Indiana to James Welch and Bridget McCarrick.  Both of his parents were born in Ireland. Some of his siblings were born in Ireland, some in New York, and some in Indiana. His siblings were David, John, Mary, Bridget, Thomas, Catherine, Martin, and Ellen.

Mary Anne's baptismal Record
from County Kilkenny, Ireland

Ellen's mother, Mary Anne, was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland to Daniel Carroll and Mary Phelan. Any siblings are unknown as of this post.

A Few Mitchell Finds

So, I'm still adding well-known cousins to my tree through Hannah Mayhew.
Until I'm finished, I did a little poking around the ole' Mitchell Branch to see if I could find anything new. I've been searching the Catholic Parish Records in Roscommon, but haven't come up with anything yet. Some of those records are very hard to read, so it takes time.
I did find a few things, though, for the Mitchells in the U.S. 
First, I want to go over the Miley's. Remember them? I wrote a post a while back about researching them has been a lesson in patience. 
Well, I found the Will of Mary Mitchell Miley. It opened up John and Mary's children a wee bit more. 
First, here is her will.

So, I discovered a few things about Mary's children - John, Jr., Jane, Annie, Mary, Katie Ann, Winnie, and Alice Rose.

John, Jr. - I don't know why Mary left John, Jr. out of her will. He was alive at the time Mary passed away. There are only two reasons I can think of: one - they were estranged. Maybe that whole custody battle caused a rift between them or something; two - maybe, Mary didn't think he needed anything. That he was doing just fine on his own. Whatever the reason, he's not mentioned.

Jane - She wasn't mentioned either. However, I did some checking to see if, perhaps, she had passed away before Mary. She didn't - and Jane isn't her real name. Jennie Elizabeth is her real name.

Jennie married Jacob T. Lingle, and they had 10 children. They lived in Chicago where most of their children were born. I couldn't find a death date for Jennie, but Jacob died there in 1914. A couple of their kids moved to Wisconsin.

I have the name Jane for Mary's mother. Some researchers have the name Jennie. Judging from Mary's daughter, both could be correct with Jane being a type of nicname for Jennie.

Annie is another child of Mary's not mentioned in her will. I still haven't been able to find out anything about her, and am wondering if she passed away prior to Mary. I lost track of Annie after the 1880 Fed Census.

Mary is mentioned in the will with the surname of Connell. I did some checking, and Mary had married Thomas Connell. I found no record that they had any children. Mary was 16 years old when she married Thomas in Crawford County. The exact date was not recorded, but it was entered in the County Registration book in Jan 1884.

Katie Ann is, also, mentioned in the Will. It was her husband, Timothy, that was executor of Mary's Will. Katie and Timothy lived in Omaha, Nebraska.

I have found nothing further for Winnie, although the Will did verify that she had married a man by the last name of Lobb.

Alice Rose was left Mary's house. I already knew that she had married Augustin Abts and had two children. Newly discovered info was their death dates - Alice in 1959, and Augustin in 1960. They both died in Nebraska. I also found Alice's death certificate and funeral card on Ancestry.

I also found Bartley and Mary Gaffey Mitchell's Wills, and Michael Giblin's Will. Michael was married to Margaret, sister of Bartley and Mary Miley.

Bartley and Mary Gaffey Mitchell Wills.

Michael Giblin's Will. All I can say about Michael's Will is that he must have been one of the richest men in the county for the amount of money he bequeathed. It did verify that his son, William, was adopted, and that he thought his original surname was Avery. He also mentions that William arrived in his home through the Parish Priest. Because William was born in New York, I am wondering if he was an Orphan Train child.

Last of the White/Allgar Cousins - For Now, Anyway

Zac Efron

11th Cousin

Frank Billings Kellogg

U.S. Secretary of State

Nobel Peace Prize

7th Cousin 4x Removed

 Lee B Loomis
Armored Car Service
7th Cousin 4x removed

John Pierpont Morgan, Sr (above, right), and his son, John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. (left)
Father and Son - Bankers, Financiers
Sr. was the husband of my 9th Cousin 3x removed (wife Frances Louisa Tracy), and JP, Jr. was my 10th Cousin 2x removed.