ROOTS MEETING & LUNCH

October 26, 2018

DENNY’S, BLOOMINGTON IL

Descendants of James Murphy and/or Mary Quigley Cleary gathered. What fun to greet first cousins and

meet new second and third cousins! We had a full house with five new cousins coming for the first time.

Attending were:

James Murphy/Mary Murphy Evans/Mary E. Evans Hayes & Cornelius Hayes line:

Mike and Rita Merna McCarthy, Billy Hayes, Theresa Merna, Gerald Hayes, Joseph F. and Rose Hayes

Bridget Murphy Blair Line: Patricia Spencer

Michael Cleary/Elizabeth Cleary Head line: Karen Brown Saleh, Tony Brown, Jim Brown, Kevin Brown

Michael Cleary/Catherine Cleary Stack line: Mary Stack, Charlene Kimpler, Sue Kimpler Rose, Tom and

Tammy Stack, Bob and Sandy Kimpler Stozek

Michael Cleary/Patrick Cleary line: David and Anne Cunningham Rosenthal

Michael Cleary/J.T. Cleary line: Jack Haas

Emails were received from:

Pat Kruetzer, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: descendant of Margaret Cleary Kennedy.

“received your e-mail about the lunch gathering on the 26th. Wish I lived closer so I could attend - the topics for

discussion always sound interesting.

We are doing ok - survived Hurricane Florence with no damage, just a huge amount of rain. Many people in our

county are displaced due to flooding.

I recently came into possession of some photos of the John E. Kennedy family. A cousin who died a few years ago

had acquired them from her mother. My cousin's husband recently sent the photos to me. Hope you are well and

enjoying a beautiful Illinois autumn. Best wishes to everyone there- Pat

Photo from Pat K: John

E. and Maggie Scannell

Kennedy 1895 Paxton IL

Sister Catherine Cleary, descendant of Thomas Cleary, Sisters of St. Benedict, St. Mary Monastery, Rock

Island, IL

I love getting the reminder of the Cleary family reunion. My father loved the fact of his grandfather Thomas coming

from Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland and used to sing a song about the coming from Nenagh and Mother’s

parents (Clarys Fulton) from a northern county. (Sister Catherine’s mother was the first cousin of Bishop Fulton

Sheen. Bishop Sheen often came to visit her childhood farm)

Keep on talking about and researching the background of the Cleary family. They were a VERY BRAVE family as

were all the Irish of that time. Not sure if you know my youngest sister, Audrey (the 9th child of the 10 of us) has

Alzheimer’s. She lives here in our monastery on our Health Care Floor. I spend a lot of time with her each day…a

gift and a cross. At any rate we have very strong and brave ancestors. Keep up the courageous, faith-filled

ancestry. Lovingly, Sr. Catherine Cleary, OSB (Mary Stack read a quote on Sister from the Monastery website

about her childhood: “All summer long guests arrived at the Cleary farm. Cousins came to ride the ponies, aunts

and uncles to visit with the parents. Meals were prepared, served and cleaned up after. Beds were changed and

floors were swept. On the first of September Sister’s mother would say “This is the first day this summer we have

not had guests.”

Joan and Jack Cleary, Rantoul, IL descendant of Michael Cleary/William S. Cleary

Joan and Jack are still in Florida but headed home to Rantoul soon. They say hello to all.

NEWS

Pat Adamatz and Tony Brown are now keeping our Roots check book. Approximately $900 in

the account. They recently paid out $299 for a renewal two year subscription for our family

website kept by Mary Stack. clearyandmurphyreunions.myevent.com

If you have something you would like to have put on the family website, send it to Mary Stack.

All submissions are welcome.

One of the large Penn headstones at St. Mary’s Cemetery, El Paso, has finally toppled. Charlene

Kimpler has contacted a Penn descendant about the possibility of getting it fixed. It had leaned

precariously for years. The headstone is for two of immigrant Mary Cleary Penn’s sons. One

killed playing in the railroad yards and one died in a factory fire.

EL PASO HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS ARE NOW SEARCHABLE ONLINE

Historic El Paso newspapers are now available to be searched digitally thru the Minonk Public Library

website. https://minonklibrary.wordpress.com/

AGENDA

CORNELIUS HAYES STORY

Mike and Rita Merna McCarthy (Jane Merna’s daughter and grt

granddaughter of Cornelius and Mary Evans) presented the

Cornelius Hayes story. Recently returned from a trip to Ireland

including the County Tipperary area of Nenagh where Cornelius

Hayes and the Cleary’s resided.

Cornelius Hayes’ (1849-1905) father died when he was an infant

and his mother Bridget Spain Hayes (1831-1881) raised him. In

1864 15 year old Cornelius sailed for a new life in America with

his Cleary cousins John and Martin. They came aboard the ship

Underwriter to New York City.

They came to the Benjaminville IL (Bentown, east of

Bloomington) where other Cleary brothers and Cornelius’

Aunt Mary Spain Cleary and Uncle Patrick Cleary were

already living. Cornelius lived with his aunt and uncle.

Around 1870 the Cleary brothers all began buying land east

of El Paso IL and moving there. Cornelius would eventually

begin buying his own land and became a successful farmer,

married Mary Evans from Bentown area, and had 12

children. He brought his mother from Ireland to live with the

family.

In 1897 he built an impressive Victorian style home complete with electrical wiring despite the

fact that electricity would not be available for another ten years.

Cornelius and Mary Evans Hayes

1902

2018

Brothers Joe and Gerald Hayes were present at the meeting and told about being raised in their

grandfather’s home. Joe remembered as a boy pumping water from the cistern to the horse tank in the

attic from which the water would run by gravity to household spigots.

Mike and Rita Merna McCarthy are continuing their research into the Hayes’ family in Ireland.

JOHN “JACK” PENN MEMORIAL

The Bloomington Police Department recently posted a memorial page in remembrance of Detective Jack

Penn who was killed in the line of duty in 1931. Jack was the grandson of immigrant Mary Cleary Penn

and a well known figure of early Bloomington.

\

In Memorial of Bloomington Police Detective

Sergeant John E. “Jack” Penn

On this day we honor the memory of Detective

Sergeant John E. Penn, who succumbed to injuries

suffered from being struck by a vehicle in the line-of-

duty on August 12, 1931.

Detective Sergeant Penn paid the ultimate price for

his service. His family and friends he left behind

remain in our thoughts.

The citizens of Bloomington lives were made a little

safer because of your service Detective Sergeant

Penn.

“They fell, but o’er their glorious grave floats free the

banner of the cause they died to save” –Francis

Crawford

http://www.odmp.org/officer/10517-detective-

sergeant-john-e-jack-penn

NEXT MEETING

Our next lunch meeting will be held April 26, 2019, 1:00 at Denny’s on Veteran’s Parkway, Bloomington.

If you have a presentation you would like to make contact Mary Stack.

PHOTOS FROM MEETING