Distant Cousins

Years ago, my uncle had drawn up his notes – a family tree – which I later used as a springboard to start on my own genealogical research. When I was young, I always thought the family tree stuff was interesting, but it wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I really started looking into it. By that time, my uncle was older, and his memory had begun to leave him. Sadly, by the end he had a hard enough time remembering me. He had moved in the 1970’s so most of the communicating we did was by telephone. Sadly, he died a few years ago.
I did not get much further than he did in my researches. I was able to flesh out the tree, and to put it into a family tree program. I managed to find documents to confirm and/or deny most of my uncle’s findings. His researches involved talking to his own Aunts and Uncles, I believe. I don’t know when he started, but his mother (my grandmother) died in 1969, and his father died in 1945. Much of the information in his tree was derived from personal knowledge.
In his notes, my Uncle mentions some distant cousins – the Piersons and the Lees. He does not tell exactly how they were related, and when I discussed it with him (and his siblings) there was no way to tell whether they were related through his mother or through his father. Indeed, no one knew whether they were first, second or third cousins.
One set of these cousins included a couple named Francis and Bridget Pierson. They had three children, to my uncle’s knowledge, named Gertrude, Jennie, and Francis (or Jiggy) Pierson, and they all lived on a farm in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. My Uncle told me that during the depression, he had been “farmed out” by his parents, which meant that for a while he went to live and work with the Piersons in Harleysville. This would, obviously have been during the 1930’s. My Uncle was born in 1919, and he would have been 9 years old when the stock market crashed, so I am assuming he was a little bit older when he went to Harleysville.
When I searched the Federal Census I did manage to find a couple named Francis and Bridget Pierson, and they did have the three children named, as well as two older sons named Thomas and Robert. They did not, at least up to 1930, live in Harleysville, though. They lived in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. Both of the older sons were living elsewhere at least until and after World War II.
Bridget Pierson died in 1929.
Francis Pierson died in 1934.
Jennie (or Jane) married a man named Robert Thompson, but died in 1933.
Gertrude married a man named Louis Warriner and died in 1943.
I never learned when Jiggy died. He had been working for the gas company in 1920 and 1930. He was born in about 1902. I suppose it is possible he bought a farm after 1930, but it seems kind of odd for someone to do that in his 30’s.
Anyhow, I’ve always wanted to figure out the story here. Was my Uncle mistaken about the farm? Maybe he was working with Jiggy on somebody else’s farm. After all, it was the depression. Jiggy could very well have lost his job with the gas company.
Since my Uncle never mentioned Thomas or Robert, I am assuming he didn’t know them. Likewise, he never mentioned Gertrude or Jennie’s married names, so I am guessing it wasn’t their farm. I don’t think there were any other siblings. My Uncle was vague when I asked them how old they were, but he did say they were older than he was, and he never mentioned any children his own age or younger. I am unaware of any children there might have been, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any.
Another question I have about this family that no one could answer is – How were they related to us? I have no information about Francis Pierson’s ancestry, but I did learn at least that Bridget Pierson’s maiden name was McLaughlin. I am guessing that they are related to us through the McLaughlin’s, but whether through my Heaney McLaughlins or my Carey McLaughlins, I can only wonder at this point.
My Aunt Mary once told me that she asked her father who only said, “A cousin is a cousin – after that it doesn’t matter.” Clearly my grandfather wasn’t a genealogist.

Genealogy

My intention was to someday post something about my family tree, so I might as well do it now. It isn't that I think that anyone other than myself and maybe some of my cousins will be even slightly interested, but one never knows.
On my father's side my family is descended from on Patrick Carroll, who emigrated - we believe from County Cork, Ireland - sometime about 1849, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Patrick had two wives. By the first, one Mary Hennessy, he had four children (two who survived childhood) - Coleman Carroll, who was named for his Uncle, Patrick's brother; and 'Katie" Carroll, who married one John Morrison. The Morrisons outlived all 6 of their children, but one of them was a Freeholder in the City of Camden, New Jersey when he died from a heart attack, while in his office.
Patrick Carroll's second wife was named Catherine Maloney. They were my 2nd great grandparents. Patrick and Catherine had 5 children, 3 of whom have living descendants. The children were Joseph, Charles (my great-grandfather), Mamie (married William Burrows), Maggie (married Michael Fox), and Lizzie (married John McGonigle.) All of them lived in Philadelphia, or nearby.
My great-grandparents were Charles and Catherine (Uleau) Carroll. Catherine's father, my ggGrandfather, was one Henry Uleau, who was from Kassel, Germany. Henry emigrated as a young man and enlisted in the US Marines. Originally he was stationed in Brooklyn. He was a clerk in the Quartermaster's office at the Navy Yard there. For a few years, about 1862-1866, he was transferred to California, where my great-grandmother and one of her brothers were born, but eventually the family returned to Brooklyn. When my ggGrandmother Sabina Uleau died, Henry remarried, to a woman named Mary Nolan. They had a son (Henry's 6th child) named Francis, who grew up to be a Priest in Brooklyn. Sometime in the 1870's, the family moved to Philadelphia, and Henry's sons and daughter remained in the area, but another daughter returned with her step-mother to Brooklyn after Henry's death in 1890.
By the way - one of the best things about having Henry Uleau as a ggGrandfather is that his name is completely unique. As far as I can tell, he was the only Uleau in the United States in his time. This means that any time I see that name, I can be reasonably certain that I am looking at a reference to some relative or other. Of course it is possible that some person named Uleau entered the country at a later time, but if so, the a) their name hasn't come up on any database searches and b) chances are that person would be related, too. I have never sone a search in Germany or France (I was always told that he was Alsation), but it does not seem like a common name anywhere.
Charles Carroll (pictured) was a carpenter like his father, and Catherine taught Piano. According to one of my distant cousins, Charles sang in the choir at the Cathedral of SS. Peter & Paul, and it is there that he met a man who later was to be his brother-in-law, the ancestor of said distant cousin. I heard from a cousin that Catherine played the organ at the cathedral, but I have not been able to have this confirmed.
More later on the Heaney side (from Dungiven) of my father's family, and on my mother's family, too.

Not much to add

Had first night of auditions tonight for my next project. The show is Willie Wonka, and I am the musical director. It is a community theater group. Heard some good oices, some not so good. I do like the choreographer - she reads music, so I am pleased about that. The director is a good guy. I've worked with him before (as an actor) and I think we should all be able to play nicely together.
There was a rumor mentioned that a certain person might come out for this show, and we all agreed that it would be best to keep that person far away from out production.
We have more auditions tomorrow, and call-backs are the day after that, tuesday. I am not sure I will be exactly enchanted with this one (another stupid story/lame score), but at least the staff is good... and who knows? We might get a halfway decent cast. The chorus is looking pretty good, so far, if female heavy.
My sister has threatened a visit tomorrow morning, but did not mention a time. I guess I'll try to be civil.
Perhaps I will put in some time and effort in job hunting.

Why bother doing this?

There is no answer available for the title question. I suppose I must be incredibly bored. If you are interested, I am gay, an atheist, broke and currently unemployed, possibly ADD, depressed or both, definitely a little passive-aggressive at times, and not particularly keen to make a lot of new friends online.
However, I am a talented pianist, a good listener with social skills (usually), fairly intelligent, and not too old (if you are in your late 30s or 4os.)
Probably I will be blogging about whatever jobs I get in the next year or so, and whatever else is going on in my life. You will probably be bored by reading this, but I don't know you, so I can't really say that. If you must call me anything, call me Cole or Coley.
Oh - I love to read mostly history, but other stuff as well. I'm big on Wodehouse and Douglas Adams. I also love Jacques Brel, Tom Waits, and Rufus Wainwright among many other singers and songwriters. I also enjoy Mahler and Prokofiev. I am not into Country, but there are, I guess, exceptions. I worship Stephen Sondheim, but most other Broadway-type stuff leaves me bored.
That's enough for now.