He further states: "I consulted the parish register personally and made these notes on September 6, 1964. The dates are baptism dates, not birth dates."

It's not surprising that John would have left Ireland at that time. Ireland was in the throes of the Potato Famine, which lasted from 1847 to 1851. Millions of Irish left their homeland during those years in search of a better life in the United States, Australia, and other parts of the world. We believe that John came to Northwestern Pennsylvania because his uncle, Margaret Flanagan's brother, Thomas was living there at the time. We don't know where John entered the U.S. or the exact route he took to get to the area.

The Finnucans, who will be introduced later, used to tell stories about John Mahoney living in Pittsburgh and working on the railroad for a time. There is also some family history that says that he worked as a stable hand in Conneautville at the Powers Livery Stable. Jim said that both my father and my grandmother said that John Mahoney had picked up a little German as a result of his stay in a boarding house in Pittsburgh. We have no independent confirmation of these stories so it's difficult to determine which are true and which are fanciful imagination, or as Jim says "Irish Legend Number One."

There is also a family story that John met his wife, Mary Hinchey, in Meadville. There is no evidence to support that (nor any to dispute it.) Her name has been seen as both Mary and Maria and the surname as Hinchey and Hinchy. She was unable to read or write and could not even sign her own name.

We don't know how or when Mary came to this country. We were told that Mary and John both came from Kilrush but had not know each other there. Her obituary, probably written by Sister Sebastian, lists her date and place of birth as May 25, 1833, Kilrush, Ireland.

There is an old family photograph (at right) taken in Chicago, Ill, at the R. Van Siekle Studio, 210 State Street, of a man standing alone by a chair. There is a notation on it that it is Martin Hinchey. If it is, we're not sure what relation this individual might have been to Mary Hinchey. It would seem likely that they were related, but we're not sure how.

It would seem reasonable that a single woman between the ages of 18 and 24 would most likely have come to that area to live with some family that she knew prior to leaving Ireland. Jim relates that my father referred to other relatives living in the same area, one such reference was to the McCabe family. We don't know what that relationship was, whether it was through the Flanagans or through Mary Hinchey. John Mahoney mentioned a Mrs. McCabe in his letter to Martin in 1902. Catherine McCabe is listed as Ellen Mahoney's (Sr. Beatrice's) godmother on Aug. 16, 1871. I remember a school teacher by the name of Georganna McCabe, who claimed to be a shirttail relation of ours, but again, we're not sure what that connection was.

The 1850 census for the borough of Conneautville lists Thomas Flanagan, age 25 and his wife Jane, age 20, as residents who came from Ireland. From Crawford County deed records we know that Thomas Flanagan purchased land from A. Hudekoper and recorded the transfer October 7, 1854, (Deed Book K2 29). The reconciliation of the ages from this 1850 census to those recorded in 1860 and those seen on the gravestones in St. Peter's Cemetery lends some uncertainty regarding this being John's Uncle Tom, however the dates are close; Jane's match up pretty well, but Thomas' are off by a couple of years.

It is interesting that on the same date, Oct. 7, 1854, John Mahoney filed a document stating his intention to become a citizen of the United States and the state of Pennsylvania. It's titled "Oath and Petition of John Mahoney for Naturalization." One interesting side note is the fact that the Prothonotary for the Court spelled his name as John Mahoney, whereas John signed his name as John Mahony. His citizenship was granted on Nov. 13, 1866. His witness was William Partch.