Question

Hello, I'm up against a wall on my P. gf Danis* Sullivan. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Dennis. Can you give us some idea of what your brick wall is, and what you've tried so far?

Comments

Sorry for being so vague, and I'm [[Sullivan-756]],   looking for an Irish grandfather; parents of [[Sullivan-5760]] . What I know so far:

 

Dennis *Danis Francis Sullivan was born About 1850 in Ireland and died on an unknown date. His parent are both listed as born in Ireland on 1880 census. He married Ella Adelia (Snow) Sullivan on Oct. 8, 1872 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Ella Adelia, is the daughter of Louis Snow and Sylvia Snow, was born on Feb. 20, 1855 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States and died on Jan. 1, 1933 in Two Buttes, Baca County, Colorado, United States.

Dennis and Ella had 4 children before they separated. John L Sullivan was born on Dec. 15, 1873 in Missouri, United States and died on Mar. 19, 1944 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Danis Sullivan, Jr. was born in 1876 in Missouri, United States and died on an unknown date. Sylvia Sullivan was born in 1879 and died After 1953. Louis Sullivan was born in Mar. 1882 and died on an unknown date.

On a 1880 Census, his occupation is "House Mover." Also living in the house was a cousin named Tom Tannahan, age 25, from Ireland.

Dennis Francis "*Danis" Sullivan

Born 1850 in Ireland

Son of [father?] and [mother?]    My Brick wall!!!

[brothers or sisters?]

Husband of Ella A. Snow — married 1872 in ST. Louis, Missouri, United States

Father of John L. Sullivan, Dennis Sullivan and Sylvia Sullivan [add child]

Died [death date?] [place of death?]

---

A couple of suggestions....I would probably go to familysearch.org and do a search on deaths. They have a lot of death certificates on file. If he lived as long as his wife, you might luck out and find his. I'd start by searching in or near the place where his wife died and spread out from there. Have you found him on census records later than 1880? Keep in mind that on many records, the name may be spelled differently than you expect. He might be listed as Danis, Denis/Dennis, Francis, Frank, etc. I did a quick search over there, and there are a lot of records under his name. Search for his wife on census records, and see what her marital status was for each census. If she was listed as married on one and widowed on the next one, it will help you narrow down his date of death.  It often takes time, but you can narrow your results. Good luck in your search.

---

Thanks for the follow up Sabrina. I'm a wizard at digging up records, but really have come to a dead end on Danis, Denis, Dennis, Sullivan, born in 1850 Ireland. I had his whole family in St. Luois and see his parents are also from Ireland, but I never could find his folks names. No death record, no idea where he moved after he and wife Ella Snow split. I've looked in cities where his children moved to, searching high and low, (at grave sites), and just can't find where he came from. I do appreciate you feedback. Let me know if you think of any thing else. ;)

Answer 2

Kelly,

The Sullivan Y DNA project is huge and you would probably do well to try to find a male Sullivan descendant of your Dennis Sullivan to do a 37 marker Y DNA test in the project to place you in a group. I was able to add a generation to my Sullivan lineage using the DNA testing in this project. If you have a living brother or Sullivan Uncle (presuming Sullivan is your maiden name) they would be a perfect candidate to test for you.   The website is here-

https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Sullivan

 

Also, you don't have Dennis/Danis Sullivan's marriage record on his profile--do you have a copy of the original? It is definitely late enough to possibly list parents of bride and groom on the certificate

Comments

Lisa, I love all you ideas! I checked the marriage record and no parents were listed. I may mail in a request for original. Also, my Dad was an only child, so no uncles, my brothers are estranged. Is it possible to have my son test for DNA and get him linked in for research?   Just wondering. Thanks so much for your input.

---

Hello Kelly. Since you do not carry the yDNA and your son carries his father's yDNA, there is little merit in trying to join the Sullivan yDNA project. However you might consider testing your autosomal DNA with the FamilyFinder Test at FTDNA or else take the 23andme test or the Ancestry test.

It would then be worthwhile uploading your results to www.gedmatch.com where you could possibly find additional Sullivan cousins (either in the US or Ireland) among your matches.

 

Best of luck

---

Unfortunately Kelly, all men inherit their Y DNA directly from their father's which is what makes it so explicitly helpful on a specific surname line.  Unfortunately for you this means your son carries his father's Y chromosome and not your father's Sullivan Y DNA.  :(  Sorry.   For atDNA testing you would be better to test yourself at 23andme, although atDNA is much more complex to utilize for a specific branch, such as your Sullivan's.   Perhaps there is a living male on your Sullivan line from a great Uncle?  Sometimes researa\ching forward lineage is what is required to find a candidate to participate representing your line.