Am I related to Adelaide and Cecilia Donnelly, sister of John Donnelly?

Question

I am the daughter of Joseph Terrence Donnelly, born in 1896 in Silver City New Mexico. His three sisters were Adelaide, Cecilia (or Cecelia), and Julia (he was the youngest).  Supposedly, his father came from Philadelphia and was also named Joseph Terrence Donnelly (died around 1900). The names Adelaide and Ceciilia seem like quite a coincidence since they were the sisters of John Donnelly listed in the geneology.

My father grew up in Texas, but moved to NYC after WWI.

thank you,

Lita Donnelly Nelsen

Answer 1

Dear Lita, It is indeed a great coincidence - and herein lies a large portion of the challenge of doing geneology.The grandparents of "our" Cecelia and Adelaide, Rich and Sally Donnelly were born in Ireland in 1816, immigrated to Scotland in 1841 with their 4 month old son James. James Married Ellen ?? (maybe Helen Hamil) In about 1860 and they had 10 children:Adelaide ????, Frederick ????, James ????Thomas 1864-1934, Mary 1866, Francis 1872, Cecilia 1873, Louise 1875, Minnie 1878, Ellen 1880. James and Ellen and some children presumably died in a housefire about 1892 and Minnie and Cecelia were adopted by Francis Kelly Harris of Kirkudbright, Scotland. Minnie, who was my wife's grandmother, married an American and moved to Pittsburgh. We have no knowledge of Cecelia emmigrating-she later lived in Preston, England.. We speculate that several elder children had left the nest before the fire and some of them may have emigrated. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at Erikskov@exxtremeinet.com (note double XX in email address)

Answer 2

Dear Lita,

Sorry, I made a mistake in my response. It was not Cecelia and Minnie who survived and were adopted - it was Louise and Minnie. Louise also went by "Nell"  and "Sister" and it was she who later lived in Preston.

Thanks

 

Erik