RETRACING THEIR FOOTSTEPS - LONDON, ENGLAND

Part 4 of the Series on Retracing their Footsteps

Theresa and Charlie arrived at the Regent Palace Hotel in London, England at 10:30pm on 26 May 1961. The next day they hired a cab for three hours and saw Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria’s statue, House of Commons, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  They also saw in London the following sites – House of Parliament, Tower of London, London Bridge, Thames River, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Piccadilly Square.

So far, my experience of being London, consists of spending a few hours in the London Airport with my daughter on our way to Milan in July 2019.  Hoping to someday spend some time in London and see the sites.

RETRACING THEIR FOOTSTEPS - COUNTY MEATH, IRELAND

Part 3 of the Series on Retracing Their Footsteps

May 26, 1961 – “Pat Sherlock picked us up.  What a ride in the country we had. We visited more Sherlocks, Christian and his wife, then to Dad’s father’s old homestead.  It was lovely. The people who live there did some changes [Charlie’s father Edward lived there in the 1870’s and 1880’s] but the lady let us take pictures and look around.  There was over 60 acres and all the land was green”.

Pat Sherlock, their driver, is the son of Patrick Joseph Sherlock.  So therefore, a sister to Agnes Sherlock and 1^st cousin to Charlie. Edward Sherlock’s old homestead [probably the house he grew up in] was in Demailestown [in Wilkinstown] but at some time they also lived in a house in Ladyrath [in Wilkinstown].  That seems like a place they were at for a shorter time.

“We went to Pat Sherlock’s for lunch. We saw his land and cattle then took another trip around to the Carey’s. Also saw the Ladyrath home.  We sure covered a lot of ground, beautiful roads and farms”.

Demailestown and Ladyrath are very close to one another. Actually, both of them are included in the bigger town of Wilkinstown.  While they are listed as townlands, they are more like housing developments.  So, think of a housing development in a rural setting with a few houses. Demailestown and Ladyrath are west of Drogheda, east of Kells, and north of Navan and Kilmessan.  I looked at both Demailestown and Lady Rath on Google Earth and couldn’t find a house like the one in the above photo.  Of course, this photo is from over 50 years ago and the house very likely could have been torn down and a new one built.

While we were in County Meath in 2015, I tried to find these townlands in person, but it is much harder than trying to locate places on Google Earth.  Oh, if it could be just that easy! Of course, it didn’t help that we didn’t have GPS, so it was rather like looking for a needle in a haystack!  The roads were tiny rural roads and there were not many signs. We drove past Lobinstown, Wilkinstown, Slane Castle and Navan.  Lady Rath and Demailestown is to the east of the main part of Wilkinstown.  So, alas, I did not actually get to see Lady Rath or Demailestown despite our efforts. But since Ladyrath and Demailestown is in Wilkinstown we came very close to it.  It really helped Charlie and Teresa that they had a driver who was very familiar with the area to take them to these townlands in 1961.

The Carey’s are the children/descendants of Elizabeth Sherlock [sister of Edward] and her husband Nicholas Carey.  I am not sure which Carey’s, Theresa and Charlie met with on their trip.

“We picked up Pat’s wife of 4 years and went to see Agnes who has 9 children.  Her husband was 50 years old [when they married] and she was 20.  He is now 70 and she is 40 years old.  After visiting Agnes, they visited Mary Glacken in Navan, who had dinner ready for everyone.”

Even though Charles and Theresa only spent two days in Ireland, they met a lot of relatives and visited several their homes.  Charles and Theresa also visited the old homestead of Bryan Sherlock and Margaret Caffrey Sherlock in Demailestown, where Charlie’s father Edward Sherlock was raised.  Edward died when Charlie was just a baby, so I am sure that their visit to the old homestead was rather emotional for Charlie.

I would not only have loved to visit the townlands of Demailestown and Lady Rath, but also meet any remaining Sherlock/Caffrey/Carey relatives still living in the area

RETRACING THEIR FOOTSTEPS - IRELAND

Charlie and Theresa started off their trip in Ireland after stopping briefly in London.

Charles and Theresa arrived about 5pm [25 May 1961] in Dublin and took a taxi to the Shelbourne Hotel [which was not too far from St. Stephen's Green (a huge luscious green park-like area in the middle of Dublin)]. They first saw two of Charlie's relatives when they spotted two women at the hotel -- a Mary Glacken and an Agnes Sherlock.

According to my research, Mary Glacken is the daughter of Patrick Glacken and Mary Ann Sherlock.  She would have been a first cousin of Charlie [Charles’ father Edward and Mary’s mother Mary Ann were siblings.] I have not figured out how Agnes Sherlock was related to Charlie.  However, I am now thinking perhaps that Agnes is the daughter of Patrick Joseph Sherlock and Mary McCullagh [who are also the parents of Patrick Sherlock, who is mentioned later.] Agnes would be a 1^st cousin of Charlie too. There is a mention of a Margaret Sherlock. 

In 2012, while visiting Ireland for the Notre Dame vs. Naval Academy football game at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, my husband and I walked past St. Stephen’s Green to go shopping. St. Stephen’s Green is so gorgeous and very green!

Grandma Theresa doesn’t write much about visiting spots in Dublin itself. From her diary, it seems like they spent most of their time in the smaller villages, even though they stayed the two nights at a hotel in Dublin.

                                          [St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin in 2012]

In 2015, we did spend a short time in Dublin.  My son flew in after we had already gone to visit the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park.  We picked up my son from the Dublin Airport and stayed overnight at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. We visited the Guinness Warehouse and the Jameson Distillery in Dublin. So, I guess both my grandparents and us used Dublin more as a place to arrive and leave, rather than a destination to explore. 

                                        [The River Liffey in Dublin]

RETRACING THEIR FOOTSTEPS - INTRODUCTION

Fifty-eight years ago, my paternal grandparents Charlie and Theresa Sherlock went on this incredible European trip.  I have since dubbed it "Their Grand European Adventure". They left Burbank, California on 22 May 1961 and arrived back home a month later.  Of course, since I was only six years old at the time, I don't really remember much about it.  It started with a "Send Off " picnic at North Hollywood Park with family and extended family members.  However, after my Dad's death in 2001, I inherited the travel slides and Grandma's travel diary from that trip.  I have looked at the slides numerous times, throwing out the ones with scenery but no people, which was a huge mistake!  I also have read Grandma's travel diary too many times to count trying to piece together the photos with where they were taken.  I have tried to figure out who were the relatives (ones I have never met) in the photos.  I have used Wikipedia and Google Maps, but things have changed a lot in the past 58 years.

Ever since I saw the slides and read the travel diary, I have had this burning desire to re-trace as many of their European Adventure steps as possible. I know that I won't get it all done in one trip but that it may take a number of trips across the Pond, which will give me great joy!

Not only am I trying to continue my quest of re-tracing their footsteps, but I also want to write about it - comparing my visit with theirs (what they saw, activities they participated in and people they met). I will use the itinerary order of their trip.  Sections directly from Theresa's travel diary will be in italics.

Let me end this introduction with a travel quote that sums up my view of travel from an unknown source --

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer".

HAPPY 120TH BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA THERESA

Today, my paternal grandmother Theresa Barbara Ann Nebgen Sherlock would be celebrating her 120th birthday.  Theresa was born on 13 November 1899 in Chicago, Illinois to Peter Joseph Nebgen and Theresa Homrich Nebgen.  She had two older sisters, Helen and Anna, and an older brother Emil. As the baby of the family, she out lived her parents and her siblings, as probably expected.  However, she lived 10 years past the death of her remaining sibling.

Theresa got married when she was 18 years old and her spouse was only 17 years old. Even back then, her parents were not amused by their elopement and made each of them live with their own parents for a few years. If they still felt that way later, they could be together.  Well, they did feel that way and they stayed together for a very long time.  We celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1968 with a weekend long celebration.  Ten years later, we celebrated their 60th anniversary with the same enthusiasm but less partying!  Two months after their 65th anniversary, my Grandpa Charlie died.

My Grandpa Charlie seemed to be larger than life so he tended to get all of the attention. Theresa, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy going along for the ride. Theresa and Charlie did have some great adventures, including their month long trip to Europe in 1961, which I like to call "Their Grand European Adventure".  They also took shorter trips to Hawaii and Mexico.

 Theresa did have a long life, living to the age of  93, dying in June of 1993.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA THERESA!!

LENNY SACHS

Every now and then, instead of discussing one of my ancestors, I write about someone who had some sort of impact on my ancestors.  Today I am writing about my Dad's (Donald Sherlock) godfather.  I thought it was very appropriate, especially since we are in March Madness (yes, the tournament is longer these years, lasting into April) and that the team from Loyola Chicago is playing in the Final Four.

Growing up, my Dad told me that his godfather was Lenny Sachs, a basketball coach for Loyola Chicago.  According to him, he was rather legendary.  My Dad said that when he was a kid, that Lenny had brought his team out to Los Angeles to play the UCLA Bruins (okay, that is my team!) and that my Dad was the ball boy for the Loyola team.

I thought I should research Lenny Sachs to find out what I could learn about him.  I learned that he earned 11 varsity letters in high school.  Okay, that is impressive!   After graduating from high school, Lenny joined the Navy (this was during World War I).  After his stint in the Navy, he returned to Chicago to attend college and coach high school basketball.

Okay, here's where it gets interesting and even more fascinating!  While attending college, he also played in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals.  Lenny even scored the first points in the history of the franchise. 

After he graduated from college, he became the college basketball coach for Loyola.  At the same time we was still playing in the NFL.  After a few years, he decided to just focus his energies on coaching basketball, which unsurprisingly got better when that was his sole focus.

Lenny used a 2-2-1 zone defense that was so successful, a goal tending rule was adopted in 1937.  That didn't really stop Lenny and Loyola since they were 21-0 before losing in the NIT Championship game in Madison Square Garden in 1939. 

Lenny became Athletic Director for Loyola in 1935 after earning a graduate degree there. He also coached a high school football team and at the age of 45 had a heart attack at the high school.  He died on 27 Oct 1942 at the age of 45.  Nineteen years later, Lenny was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame.

One has to wonder what other great accomplishments he could have achieved, had he lived longer.

Reference: "Loyola Hall of Fame Coach Lenny Sachs" by John C. Thomas, Ramblermania, Ramblermania.net

CHARLES AND THERESA'S 100TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

One hundred years ago today, Grandpa Charlie Sherlock crossed state lines with his sweetheart Theresa Nebgen and were married. While they lived in Chicago, Illinois, they were married in Crown Point, Indiana.  Charlie was 17 years old and Theresa was 18 years old.  Upon arriving home and notifying their parents, I am guessing they may have been a little surprised to find out that their parents thought they should each live with their own parents.  If they still had marriage on their minds and love in their hearts, they could live as a married couple in a few years.

In the 1920 census, Charles was living with his mother Bridget Chambers Sherlock Gary, his step-father Joseph Gary and brother Joseph Gary while Theresa was living with her parents Peter Nebgen and Theresa Homrich Nebgen and brother Emil Nebgen. I find it interesting that Theresa is listed as married and with her married surname while Charles is listed as single.

Not quite sure when the couple actually started living together but they did have their first child Charles Sherlock in January of 1922.  Well, their rocky start didn't predict the longevity of their marriage!  In March of 1968, the entire family -- 3 sons and their wives and many grandchildren and some great grandchildren celebrated their 50th Anniversary for an entire weekend.

Ten years later in 1978, we celebrated again their anniversary -- although the celebration wasn't as large this time.  The last anniversary they celebrated together was in 1983.  Charlie died in May of that year. 

HAPPY 100TH, GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!