Feb. 19, 1887 Condolence Letter from Cousin Beesy Leonard Carmody in Springfield, MA
February 21, 2018Bridget “Beesy” Leonard Carmody (c. 1852-1930) was the daughter of John Leonard and Bridget Armstrong Leonard of Kilcummin Townland in County Sligo, Ireland. In Beesy’s 1887 letter to John F. Armstrong, she addressed him as “My Dear Cousin”. JF was also addressed as “cousin” in a letter from Beesy’s sibling, Ellen Leonard Rooney. Kate Leonard, Beesy and Ellen’s older sister, was close to JF’s sisters Kitty and Ann and stayed in touch with him.
Beesy’s father, John Leonard, and JF’s mother, Anne Leonard Armstrong, were likely siblings in County Sligo. It is also possible that Beesy’s mother, Bridget Armstrong Leonard, was Francis Armstrong’s sister. If this is true, then JF was first cousin to Beesy and her siblings through both his mother and father.
Griffith’s Valuation, a survey and valuation of Irish landholdings, was conducted in County Sligo in 1857. At that time, John Leonard and Francis Armstrong rented cottages and farmlands next to one another in Kilcummin Townland in County Sligo. Beesy Leonard Carmody was born about 1852, the year JF turned seven. JF lived in County Sligo until he left for the US in 1865, when Beesy was about thirteen years old.
For more information on Beesy and her siblings, see the references with attached research notes below.
Please note that Marie Van Sant Hudson and Patricia F. Daugherty, a descendant of JF’s uncle,Thomas Armstrong, contributed substantial research for this post.
References
1870 US census, Hampden County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Springfield, p. 40, dwelling 274, family 325, Bridget Leonard, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 February 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T132.—-Notes: Bridget Leonard, 18, and Ellen Leonard, 23, were living together in Springfield, Massachusetts. They were in a household with Catherine Rooney, 59, and three other people, one of whom was Patrick Rooney, 24.
1900 US census, Hampden County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Springfield, sheet no. 14, dwelling 220, family 288, Beesy Carmody, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 February 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T623.—-Notes: Massachusetts-born Carpenter Jeremiah Carmody, 47, and his Irish-born wife, Beesy, 45, were living in Springfield, MA with their nine children. Beesy had given birth to nine children, all of whom were living.
1910 US census, Hampden County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Springfield, sheet no. 9A, dwelling 89, family 143, Beesy Carmody, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 February 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.—-Notes: Carpenter Jeremiah Carmody and his Irish-born wife, Beesy T. Carmody, were living in Springfield, MA with five of their children. They had been married twenty-nine years. Beesy had given birth to ten children, nine of whom were living. She had immigrated to the United States in 1869.
1920 US census Hampden County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Springfield, sheet no. 7B, dwelling (no. blank), family 223, Leonard Carmody (wife), digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 February 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T625.—-Notes: Carpenter Jeremiah Carmody and his Irish-born wife, Leonard, both 66, were living in Springfield, MA with their thirty-year-old daughter, Lillian, a bookkeeper. Leonard (Beesy) had immigrated to the US in 1865 and was a naturalized citizen, probably through her marriage to Massachusetts-born Jeremiah.
Find a Grave, online database and images, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60302533/katherine-leonard : accessed 1 March 2018), memorial page for Katherine “Kate” Leonard (c1849-1929), Find a Grave Memorial no. 60302533, citing St. Michael’s Cemetery, Springfield, Hampden Co., MA.—-Notes: Memorial page for Kate Leonard has no info on her but, interestingly, there is a photo of a gravestone with the names of her sister and brother-in-law, Ann T. Leonard (1852-1940) and William Bradford (1851-1920) and their children. At the bottom of the gravestone are two names, Jane Leonard and Kate Leonard, no dates. It’s possible that Jane was also a sibling who immigrated from County Sligo.
Griffith, Richard, “General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland,” Dereens and Kilcummin Townlands, County Sligo (Dublin: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1857), 22, 24, and map for Francis Armstrong, occupier, Dereens and Kilcummin Townlands, Achonry Parish; “Griffith’s Valuation”, digital images, Ask About Ireland (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation : accessed 2 March 2018).—-Notes: These are the farmlands rented by Francis Armstrong, Derreens and Kilcummin Townlands, Anchonry Parish in 1857.
Griffith, Richard, “General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland,” Kilcummin Townland, County Sligo (Dublin: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1857), 22 and map for John Leonard, occupier, Kilcummin Townland, Achonry Parish; “Griffith’s Valuation”, digital images, Ask About Ireland (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation : accessed 2 March 2018).—-Notes: These are the farmlands rented by John Leonard, Kilcummin Townland, Anchonry Parish in 1857.
Hampden County, Massachusetts, Marriage Registry Book, n.p., Jeremiah Carmody – Bridget Leonard, 7 January 1872; consulted through Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 February 2018); citing Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911, 1911-1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.—-Notes: Marriage record for John Jeremiah Carmody, 23, and Bridget Leonard, 19. Bridget’s parents were listed as John and Bridget Leonard.
John J. Leonard, “Commonwealth of Massachusetts Record of Naturalization and and Final Admission of John J. Leonard to become a Citizen of the United States, Filed and Certificate issued 15 October 1904, petition for naturalization no. 2769 filed 26 Dec 1900;” imaged in “Massachusetts, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950,” database and images at Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 February 2018); citing Petitions and Records of Naturalization , 8/1845 – 12/1911, textual Records, 448 Volumes and 50 Boxes, NAI: 3000057; “Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21,” National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts.—-Notes: John J. Leonard, the brother of Beesy Leonard Carmody and Ellen Leonard Rooney, stated in his US naturalization papers that he had been born at “Kilcummin in Sligo, Ireland” on 15 August 1857.
“Miss Kate A. Leonard”, Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 27 December 1929, online archives, Genealogybank (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 25 February 2018), citing original p. 4.—-Notes: Kate’s obit lists her surviving siblings: Mrs. Ann Bradley and Mrs. Beesy Carmody of Springfield, MA, Mrs. Ellen Rooney of NY City, NY, and John J. Leonard of Springfield, MA.
“Mrs. Beezy [sic] Carmody”, Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 28 January 1930, online archives, Genealogybank (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 25 February 2018), citing original p. 2.—-Notes: This is a description of the funeral of Bridget “Beesy” Leonard Carmody that took place the previous day on 27 January 1930.
New York, State Census, 1905. New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan, p. 31, 215 West 13th St., Bridget Carmody, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 February 2018); citing New York, State Census, 1905, population schedules, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.—-Notes: Jeremiah Carmody (53), a US-born carpenter, Bridget Carmody (52), his Irish-born wife, and their US-born children, Mary L. (31), a bookkeeper, Katie (29), an office worker, and Jennie (24), an assistant bookkeeper, were living in Manhattan at 215 W. 13th St. Mary L., Katie, and Jennie were three of the nine children living with Jeremiah and Beesy in Springfield, MA at the time of the 1900 US census.