Religious Calling -- Nature vs. Nurture

          Growing up I knew that several of my distant relatives were priests.  In my baby book, there was a copy of a handwritten letter from a Reverend Bernard Tobin, welcoming me into the world.  I also had heard of a Father John Baggarly, who was supposedly a relative of ours.  I didn’t know how they were related to us, but being a Roman Catholic myself, thought it was rather cool to have a few priests as relatives.  

          After getting interested in genealogy, one of my quests was to find out how these “men of the cloth” were related to me.  When I received a copy of the family history of the Chambers from my cousin Betsy, it spelled out quite nicely how Father Baggarly was related.  We were 2^nd cousins, once removed. 

          I then asked my cousin Kevin, who had known Father Tobin personally how we were related and his answer was “on Grandma Sherlock’s side”, which wasn’t very specific.  I didn’t realize how unspecific that answer was until I started researching the Homrich’s and Nebgen’s and found out that probably a third of the state of Michigan was somehow related to them, but of course, that is for another post. 

          However, researching my German ancestors, I did come across a family – the parents were Bernard Homrich and Ella Valley – who had 2 children who joined religious orders.  One daughter became a nun and one of their sons was a priest, serving as a missionary in Bangladesh.  This got me thinking about the whole nature vs. nurture argument (okay, I did earn a BA in Psychology which may make me more likely to think this way) and how did it relate to religious orders.  Perhaps, it was much less genes and much more the atmosphere and environment provided by these two parents.  

          Finally, two weeks ago, I did figure out how I was related to Father Bernard Tobin, which made me very happy.  We are half second cousins, once removed.  My great great  (or is great x2) grandfather and his great grandfather were the same person.   I was surprised, however, to find that several of Bernard’s siblings were either nuns or priests.  In fact, of Rose Schmidt’s and Joseph Tobin’s ten children, five of them heard the calling to join a religious order.  Both Bernard and his brother Gerald became Redemptorist priests.  Gerald served as a missionary in the Brazilian jungles while Bernard served as a priest in a parish in Fresno, California.  Another brother, Francis, served as a priest in Oakland and Fresno, California.  Two of Bernard’s sisters served as nuns – Sr. Rose in Panama and Guatemala and Sr. Lorraine in Michigan.  

          I am trying to imagine the type of family life that would encourage and foster five of their children to accept the calling for religious life.  It must have been a very loving, giving and supportive family and one that encouraged service to others.  I am proud to be related to them and am continuing my search to see “what else I can dig up”.

The Dilemma

For awhile now I have been contemplating including my research and stories of my German ancestors, beginning with my Grandma Theresa who was married to Grandpa Charlie in this blog.  Would that confuse people?  Maybe those people following the Irish ancestry don’t want to hear about the German ancestry.  What should I do?

          Well, about six weeks ago, I did encourage my son to start his own blog – not on genealogy – but on something that interested him.  I do believe that blogs need to be about your passions.  Well, he graduated with a degree in Creative Writing and his passion is fiction – books, movies, TV shows.  After giving him the advice that he needs to make the theme general enough so that he would have stuff to write about, I decided perhaps to follow my own advice.  

          So, from now on, I will be incorporating information about the Nebgens, the Homrich’s, the Simons, etc., along with the Sherlock’s and Chambers.  After all, the two families assimilated almost 100 years ago. 

Grandpa Charlie married Grandma Theresa on 23 March 1918 in Crown Point, Indiana.    Charlie Sherlock was 17 years old and perhaps was trying to be independent from his mother Bridget, stepfather Joseph and 5 year old brother Joseph.  Theresa Nebgen, on the other hand, was the youngest of 3 daughters.  Her oldest sister Helen had gotten married in 1917 to Albert Cedargreen.  I can’t tell whether her older sister Ann was already married in 1918 or was to be married shortly.  Theresa also had an older brother Emil who wasn’t married yet.  Needless, to say, whether it was young love or a chance to escape, Charlie and Theresa married in 1918.  Of course, I am sure that they were deeply disappointed when their parents told them they would have to live back with their own families for awhile.  Knowing my grandparents, I am sure that didn’t set well with them. 

          It is rather interesting that in the 1920 census, Theresa is listed as Theresa Sherlock and married while living with her parents, while her spouse Charlie was listed as “single” and he was living with his mother and step dad.  Fifty years later in March of 1968, we celebrated the 50^th Anniversary of Charlie and Theresa.  I was in the 7^th grade and remember the anniversary Mass celebrated at St. Genevieve’s Catholic Church in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California and the party that followed at Uncle Eddie’s and Aunt Dolores’ house.  Their 3 sons, daughter-in-laws, and 14 grandchildren and a few great grandchildren celebrated Grandpa Charlie’s and Grandma Theresa’s 50 years together. 

Note: Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Theresa are on the left in the above photo. My Dad, their son, Donald, is 2^nd to the far right.  The photo was taken in the Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood, California in 1946. 

Unrelated Note: For anyone who may be interested, my son’s blog in which he analyzes fiction is at alltherobots.wordpress.com.

IRISH CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

          Since Christmas Eve is tomorrow, I thought perhaps that I should research some Irish Christmas traditions.  Perhaps my parents had adopted some of these traditions and I did not realize that they were Irish in origin.  I do remember many of our family’s Christmas traditions when I was a child, including attending midnight mass, opening our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve and singing along to Mitch Miller Christmas record albums.

          I found some great websites while conducting my research, including the following – Ireland-information.com , yourirish.com, irishcentral.com and blog.goireland.com.  From my limited research, I concluded that we Americans share many of the same traditions as the Irish do with some noted exceptions. 

          A big Irish tradition is putting a lit candle in the window welcoming Mary and Joseph on their long journey.  Placing a holly wreath (holly grows in Ireland) on the front door is another Irish tradition.  The Irish also like to sing Christmas carols.  Perhaps they are singing along to Mitch Miller?

          I did find some Irish traditions that I definitely won’t be adopting , like jumping off the rocks into the Irish Sea on Christmas Day.  Unless, it is a hot tub and warm outside, I won’t be participating!  Wearing awful Christmas sweaters is also a tradition.  I try to nip that one in the bud whenever I sort through my closet and get bags ready for Goodwill. 

          On the other hand, I did find some very promising traditions which I need to consider adopting.  First, is serving of salmon or prawn cocktail as an appetizer on Christmas day since I love both of those foods.  We typically eat prime rib (it is that Italian side of my husband’s family) but I could definitely eat stuffed turkey (in fact, stuffing is my absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving) with potatoes and vegetables.   I have never tried plum pudding with brandy sauce but I am willing to give it a try.  My kids, of course, would love the tradition of being offered a chocolate treat after dinner.  They might want one for an appetizer too!  My husband, on the other hand, thinks he has been cheated all these years since Santa at our house only received milk and cookies, not a bottle of Guinness and mincemeat pie. 

          Personally, I totally agree with the Irish custom of not taking down Christmas decorations until Little Christmas on Jan. 6^th for fear of bad luck.  I am wondering if I leave them up an additional week or two if I will have even better luck because I definitely need some!  But my favorite tradition, which we will be adopting this coming year, is celebrating Women’s Christmas on Jan. 6.  You may ask how you celebrate this wonderful day.  It is very easy – women get the day off while the men do the housework, cooking and more importantly take down the Christmas decorations.  That alone sounds like good luck to me! 

          In closing, I would like to wish you all a “Nollaig Shona Duit” – pronounced “null ig hun a dit”  or “Merry Christmas”.   

MORE OF BRIDGET CHAMBERS' SIBLINGS

         

          As I discussed in my last post, my great grandmother Bridget Elizabeth Chambers was born in Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland.  She was the youngest of 9 children.

          Her older sister Ann Chambers was born in 1864 in Islandeady and married Hugh Feehan.  Ann and Hugh lived in Rossow, County Mayo. Rossow is west of Islandeady and very close to the coast. The Feehans had 8 children: Maria, Bridget, Thomas, Jack, Patrick, Nora, Hugh and Elly. Ann and Hugh lived in Ireland their entire lives and their grandson Hugh now lives in the old family home in Rossow.  However, Ann and Hugh did manage to help some of their children and some of James Chamber’s children immigrate to Chicago. 

          Another sister Barbara was born in 1866 but died as a baby in 1867.  A year after Barbara’s death, James Chambers was born in 1868 in Islandeady.  James married Mary Malley and they had 3 children: Thomas, Maria and Kate.  Bridget’s (and James’) mother Ann Kilroy Chambers lived with James and Mary after the death of her husband Thomas Chambers in 1889.  James and Mary, though, died in the early 1900’s.  Ann Kilroy Chambers then immigrated to the US to live with her daughter Bridget in 1905. 

          Bridget’s younger sister Nora was born in 1873 and married Patrick Murray in Ireland.  Nora and Patrick immigrated to Chicago in 1906 and had a son named Thomas. As a child, I remember Tommy Murray visiting my Grandpa Charlie (who was his cousin).  Tommy wore white pants to church and my Dad and Grandpa used to tease him that he was the “ice cream man”.  Once I started researching Tommy, I found out that he was a driver for a laundry.  No wonder he had a lot of very clean white pants!

BRIDGET ELIZABETH CHAMBERS AND HER SIBLINGS

           Grandpa Charlie’s mother was Bridget Elizabeth Chambers. She was born on 3 Oct 1870 in Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland to Anne Kilroy and Thomas Chambers.  Bridget was the 2^nd youngest of nine children. Five of her siblings immigrated to the US.  

          The oldest sibling, Patrick Chambers, who was born in 1857, immigrated to the US in 1879.  He worked as a foreman for city services in Chicago.  Patrick never married or as one of my dad’s friends used to say “never made the same mistake once”!

          Michael Chambers, the next oldest brother, was born in 1858 in Islandeady, Mayo, Ireland and immigrated to the US in 1880.  He married Winifred Callahan and they had 4 children.  Michael owned a saloon in Chicago and was possibly also a butcher at a meat market (located at 161 N Market, Chicago). 

          The oldest sister and 3^rd in line was Marie Chambers, who was born in 1860 in Islandeady, Ireland.  She immigrated to the US with her brother Michael and married Thomas Lynch.  They lived in Chicago and had 6 children: Anna, John, Mary, Thomas, Columbus and James. 

          Next in the sibling line is Charles, who was born in 1862 in Ireland.  Charles either immigrated in 1880 or 1885.  Charles married Ellen Ruane in Chicago.  He owned a grocery store/meat market, which was located at 678 Orleans Street in Chicago.  That building is one of the only wooden buildings to have survived the 1870’s Chicago fire.  It is now called “Green Door Tavern”. 

          I will talk more about Bridget and her other siblings in my next post but a quick note about the above photo.  The photo was taken in Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland by my cousin Kevin on his pilgrimage back to the homeland with his wife a few years ago.