Heaney

Immigrated 1848

The parents of Patrick and his siblings were James and Mary Heaney. On the 1860 census a 70 year old Mary Heaney is living with Patrick and Esther. Her name doesn't appear on the 1865 New York State census, so she must have died in between. The census only lists sex and age of household occupants not relationship. There is a good possibility that Mary was his mother.

In 1865, the New York states census shows a Mary Greeley, age 50, and son John, age 19, living with Patrick and Esther. Again, no relationship shown. On the 1880 census, where relationships are shown, his brother in law, Peter Doyle, is shown to be living with him. Peter had lived on Staten island, and perhaps confirms that Patrick had another sister in the United States.

This is a puzzling branch because, with the exception of a family bible, there is no written record about anyone in Patrick and Esther's family. Lore handed down and recorded in the bible shows that Esther Leonard was born in county Wickslaw (Wicklow) in 1835. There is nothing else about her until the 1860 census.

In 1860 census Esther is recorded as the wife of Patrick and the mother of three children. Kate, born in 1856, Jim, born in 1858, and Mary, born in 1860. Three more children were born to Esther and Patrick after the 1860 census was taken. Kate must have been Esther's mother's name as Jim and Mary are the names of Patrick's parents. She appears again in the New York State census in 1865 and the Federal census in 1870. A stone marks her grave in southold. The only inscription is the year of her death.

She was only 37 when she died, but there is no explanation anywhere of what caused her death. It was not in childbirth; she had her last child three years earlier. There is absolutely no information about her.

It must be presumed that the oldest daughter, Kate, who was 16 at the time of her mother's demise, had to assume the role of mother, cook and housekeeper. The other sister, Mary, was only 12 years old. The three youngest; John, Arthur and Will, were too young to cope. Kate never married until she was 24.