Summer in Iowa: 1999

Kath and I had an interesting time in Iowa this summer, tracing our roots. We have been to Ireland, but the missing link to us seems to be the generation that was born in the States. We wanted to see the cemeteries, look at the newspaper records and survey the area! We went first to Dubuque, looking for information about Bishop Cosgrove's mother and uncles. We discovered that a great niece of the Bishop's, Sister Lorraine, is living in Chicago. She still visits relatives in Dubuque and Farley.

She sent me a picture of herself this Christmas (on left with a friend from Farley).

We went on to Waucoma and then to Lawler. All of the Caseys, Burnses and Doyles seemed to have settled in or near these little towns when they got here from Ireland. Both towns are smaller today than when our great-great grandparents were living in the area, and are full of Irish. Bishop Cosgrove attracted many Irish immigrants out to Iowa, and this area of low rolling hills and vistas reminds us a lot of Monaghan. Waucoma is very quiet--only one place to eat and nowhere to stay. With the river dammed in the middle of town, forming a charming lake, we can see how cool and lovely it must have been for vacations when Grandma and Grandpa were young. Right away we met a cousin. Frances Trewin was raised in Waucoma; her connection is through our Great Grandfather, Ed Doyle's brother James. James II's daughter Bessie (Mary Elizabeth) Burke was Frances's mother. She died at age 85; buried in Waucoma . Frances would be Dad's, Sheila's and John's second cousin.

These Doyle's have a wonderful family history--bound in paper--that traces back to Ireland. Frances Trewin was in Ireland three years ago, and she talked to some Doyles in Tramore that were the descendents of the Doyles who stayed back. They lived in the same Doyle homestead. They have photocopies of records that showed they were tenants of Cullen Castle since the 1600's.

This is included here in another section.

The Doyle Family History that the Waucoma Branch worked on, has Great Great Grandma Doyle's name as Mary Flannery. This is Ed's mother. She came to the US with her mother Margaret and brother Patrick after her father, a professor, died in Ireland. She married James in Vermont, had two children, lived briefly in Warren, IL, (Jo Davies County) had another child, then they came west to Waucoma in a covered wagon. Her brother went off to serve in the Civil War and was never heard from again, according to this account.
 

Seated (l-r) Patrick, James I, Mary, Edward, James II

Standing (l-r) Alice, Johannah, Anne, Margaret

Missing: Frank & Mary

In Lawler we found Burnses at the Burns home place. This is the house built by our Great-Great Grandfather's son. The original place, built by the first Owen Burns and nearer Waucoma, burned down. We got to meet our third cousin, David Burns, and his delightful mother, Marilyn. She, although she was only married to a Burns, has begun to assemble a history for her children and grandchildren. This is the home place:

 I continue to update with information as I get it, but I still have not transcribed all Kathleen's and my research from the summer. We unexpectedly began working on the German side too when we met even more cousins in the Amanas!