Early McKeon  Family 
including Barry, Casey, Sherry

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Barry

           One definite link among the Barry, Casey, Sherry and McKeon families comes through Mary Reidy of County Clare.  Born September 1838,  she came to the United States in 1853, and married a man named  George Wearing, who died before the census of 1870,  leaving two children: Anna and George.   Mary Waring(sic), widow of George Wearing, is listed at 738 East 9th Street in the 1869 New York City Directory.   William Barry, sawyer, is listed at the same address.  This is midway between Avenue C and Avenue D, about a block away from the addresses listed in the 1870 census records.   

Young John Barry was born 24 April 1866 and baptized 13 May 1866, according to the baptismal register of St. Brigid's church.  He is listed as the child of William Barry & Catherine Miskiel, with sponsors Patrick O'Callahan and Hannah  Snut(writing illegible)

Another child of William and Catherine Barry is listed in the baptismal register.  She is Johanna Barry, born 14 May 1868 and baptized 24 May 1868.  Since she does not appear in the 1870 listing, we presume she died before taking of the census.

Mary Wearing married William Barry whose wife Catherine Miskiel died in the early 1870s.  The second marriage took place around 1875, according to the 1900 census records..  By 1880 Mary Reidy Wearing  and Anna Clarissa Wearing had been incorporated into the Barry census record:

Anna Wearing had taken the Barry name, either by formal adoption or by choice. However, her children Virginia and Anita used the name Anna Wearing in their official records.  Although born in 1880, Nora Barry does not appear on this list since she was born in 1880.  We have no explanation for the two James Barrys in the 1870 listing .  James and Mary Barry disappear from the 1880 record, perhaps via marriage.  But it is difficult to find either James or Mary in the census records, as the Barry name (as well as the names McKeon, Sherry and Casey ) are very common in the census records

What happened to young John and James Barry and George Wearing?  I have not located any information in the New York City Municipal Archives about them.  I  visited the baptismal registers of St. Brigid's RC Church, on Avenue B between 8th and 9th Streets, facing Tompkins Square Park. The St. Brigid records are now housed at Mary Help of Christians Church on 12th Street.  My most likely hypothesis would be for children's early deaths,  common at that time.  (Click here for information about Saint Brigid Church.)  There are no wedding nor funeral records available for the closed St. Brigid's Church.

The 1890 census records are fragments only, and tell us nothing about the Barry family.  But a search of the 1890 New York City directory locates a William Barry, sawyer, at 377 East 10th Street.  A search of tje Jersey City directory records finds William Barry, sawyer, listed In 1892 living at 385 Garden Street in Hoboken NJ, and a 1893 listing for William Barry living at  927 Garden Street in Hoboken NJ.  The federal census for 1900 lists the Barry family:

Catherine Barry had married Peter Sherry around 1895, and the couple lived first in Newtown, then in Morris Park (near Jamaica), then moved to the Bronx and lastly to Yonkers..  Click here for history of the Sherry family.    

Anna Clarissa Wearing married Thomas McKeon before 1884, and the McKeon family located in Newtown near Hunters Point and later in Elmhurst ,Queens. Click here for history of the McKeon family. 

 In the 1910 census, Hannah Barry is shown living with Peter and Catherine Barry Sherry in the Bronx, working as a dressmaker.

Elizabeth Barry married Hugh Casey in Manhattan NY on 27 June 1901..  The Caseys first located in Poughkeepsie NY, then possibly in New York City on the West Side in the areas known as Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, and eventually in Hoboken NJ.  Click here for history of the Casey family. 

Mary Barry entered the Sisters of Charity in Convent Station, New Jersey 8 Sept 1905 and was named Sister Teresa Magdalen.  (Click here for details).

Nora Barry did not marry.  She was a school teacher and appears in the 1910 census as living with the Caseys in Hoboken.

It seems that William Barry and Mary Reidy Wearing Barry may have died before the 1910 census.  The sketchy information we have is that William Barry died in 1910 and Mary Barry died in 1914, the latter being buried in Calvary Cemetery in a McKeon plot. 

Originally we thought that William Barry was a sea lawyer, or maritime lawyer, because family tradition links him to the Barry family who founded the Circle Line. This connection may be true, but  It is more likely that he was a ship sawyer, an old term for a ship master carpenter.  The East Village section where the Barrys lived in New York was nicknamed Dry Dock District because there were a great number of dry docks along the East River between 3rd Street and 12th Street.  It is estimated that at lunch time over 6000 workers left the docks to return to their apartments for lunch.  And the Barry neighbors seemed to consist of workingmen rather than professionals.  (Click here for description of the Dry Dock District.)

Click here for listing of the Sherry, McKeon and Casey groups

Besides the definite link among the families via the Mary Reidy connection,  there were other links, particularly between the McKeon and Sherry families,  as is evident from the grave listings in Calvary Cemetery in the plots purchased by James and John McKeon:

Burials in McKeon plots in Calvary Cemetery
This material is based on information derived from the records of
Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York

 Since neither Brooklyn nor Queens was part of New York City until 1898, and Calvary Cemetery was operated by the New York Catholic Diocese, persons born in Manhattan are listed as born in "New York", persons born in New Jersey or Long Island are listed as born in "United States 

James McKeon died of meningitis.  His home address was 406 Broome Street, a street in Manhattan close to the Williamsburg Bridge (which did not exist in 1858).  His New York birth in 1848 leads me to believe that the McKeon family came to New York City either just before or during the time of the Irish famine.

Isabella Sherry's maiden name was likely Connelly (or else McKeon). The Catherine Connelly in the grave may have been her mother.  Isabella was married to James Sherry.

Were Patrick Dunleavy and Catherine Dunleavy husband and wife?  Was Catherine a McKeon? Were they related to or merely close friends of the McKeons?   Where was John McKeon, the owner of this plot buried?   Why did he purchase this plot before it was needed? 

The presence of the Barry and Sherry names make it clear that there was a relationship between the Barrys, the Sherrys and the McKeons.   Was the Mary Barry buried in 1914 our Mary Reidy?   The Mary Barry buried in 1884 was married to a different William Barry.  Was she a McKeon?

A young girl by name of Ellen McKeon was buried in a McKeon family plot in Calvary cemetery in 1862..  She is listed as having lived at 39 Rivington Street, which is only two blocks north of Broome Street.

Casey

  Hugh Casey was a member of the following family,  which appears in the 1880 and 1900 censuses (the NYC details of 1890 census were accidentally destroyed):

There is a family legend that the Caseys were in Chicago and left because of (or at least after) the famous Chicago fire.  The family appears again in the 1900 census:
 

There are inconsistencies between the records, but remember that census records are derived from oral testimony.  A check of the Illinois census for 1870 shows the same family, but with conflicting data:
 

Hugh Casey married Elizabeth Barry around 1900, so his subsequent history appears in the section on the Casey family.

McKeon

It is difficult to identify which of the many McKeons listed in census records are related to our branch of the McKeons.  I tried to concentrate on John, James and Patrick McKeons, as these are identifiable in the records 1870 and beyond.  The New York City Directory of 1839-1840 lists John M'Keon and James M'Keon, both attorneys with offices at 109 Fullton Street and home at 512 Broome Street.  There is also a Margaret M'Keon, widow of James, living at the same address.  One hypothesis is that Margaret and James were the boy's parents.  And James McKeon was buried in 1858  from 406 Broome Street in 1958.  Occupations in the census records seem to imply that Broome Street was an upper class residential neighborhood.  While attractive to think our ancestors were attorneys, a more likely link exists with the following family listed in the 1850 census:

The son James McKeon is approximately the same age as the James McKeon buried in 1858 in the Calvary Cemetery plot purchased by John McKeon.  The turner occupation seems to have been  common in the McKeon family.  Thomas Connelly may be the son of the Cath Connelly buried in the same plot.  We suspect Isabella Sherry buried in the same plot was either a McKeon or a Connelly.  All of this is merely hypothesis not supported by any other evidence in our possession..

The first mention of Thomas McKeon is from the 1870 census for Newtown Queens NY:
 

The birth date for Thomas doesn't match exactly, but dates given verbally aren't always exact.  We do know that Thomas McKeon worked at carpentry  before he joined the fire department.  The Caseys gave Richard Foy a small side table with some interesting lathe work which had been given to Anna McKeon by Thomas McKeon prior to their marriage, probably around 1880.

 Immediately preceding the listing for John McKeon's family is that for Patrick McKeon:
 

From these records, we determine that John and Mary McKeon were in New York at least by 1848, while Patrick McKeon was present by 1849. 

By the time of the 1880 census, John McKeon has moved to 156 Prospect Street in Long Island City, and his son John has started a family living next door at 158 Prospect Street.  Young Thomas McKeon is now classified as a 'wood turner'  or lathe operator.
 

The 1900 census lists Patrick McKeon living with his daughter Alice at 318 Rawson Street, Queens, NY:
 

Both George Anthony's parents were born in Germany; both Alice's parents were born in Ireland.  Patrick McKeon arrived in the USA in 1842.  It seems likely that Patrick McKeon was Alice's father.

There may be a link between the "wood turners" among the McKeons and the Sherrys and   Steinway & Sons which was founded in New York in 1853 by Henry Englehard Steinway, an illiterate German cabinetmaker and musical instrument builder, and four of his five sons.   The Steinway Factory is located at  1 Steinway Place Long Island City, NY 11105.  Each Steinway piano is made up of over 12,000 parts.  The company holds 115 patents that affect virtually all of these components. Horse drawn trolleys were employed to carry skilled workers from Hunters Point area north to the Steinway factory.  But there were other industries in Hunters Point and Newtown, so the Steinway hypothesis remains just that until we discover more about the McKeons in the mid 19th century.

There are many references to McKeons in Manhattan for earlier years, but we have not yet been able to positively link these to the relatives we know.  Our link between Patrick McKeon and John McKeon is presumed because they follow each other in the census listings, but it is not certain how they are related.

One early census listing deserves mention because it hints at a connection between McKeon and Sherry in the first half of the nineteenth century:
 

A hostler has two meanings:  1) a stableman who takes care of horses  and  2) a worker who services a large vehicle or engine, such as a locomotive.  I guess Francis fitted the first definition.  Another McKeon/Sherry link is listed below under the Sherry story.