The  Sherry  Family
including the Witt & Kennevan Families

  click here to

 see family tree

James Sherry and his mother Catherine came from Ireland and by  29 July 1850 were listed in the census records as living with the McKeon family.  ( McCuen and McEwen are the earlier spellings of McKeon; many persons still pronounce McKeon  as McCuen.)

The most accurate starting point we have for the Sherry family is with Peter Sherry and Catherine Barry.   The 1920 census record indicates Peter and Catherine were married about 1895,  Both Catherine's and Peter's parents were born in Ireland.  The Barry family connects  the Sherry family to those of the McKeon and Casey. (See early McKeon file.)

Peter Sherry was born on 7 July 1866 in New York (probably Newtown), the son of James Sherry and Isabella Sherry (nee either Connelly or McKeon).  James was killed in a railroad accident in Dutch Kills, Newtown LI in 1871.   Isabella died in 1869 age 45.  Both died in Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, but it is likely they lived in Newtown, as Bellevue was the closest hospital  Both James Sherry and Isabella Sherry are buried in Calvary Cemetery in plots purchased by members of te McKeon family.

 Peter had an older sister, Catherine, who married a Kennevan.   We do not know with whom Peter lived after his parents' death, but it is likely with the McKeons.  Peter reappears in  the 1892 Queens census. He was living with his older sister, Katie, then the widow of  Alexander Kennevan,  in Newtown, Queens — now called Long Island City. 

Catherine Barry lived in Manhattan on 9th Street near Tompkins Square Park,  between Avenues B and C.  She was baptized at St. Brigid's Church on 24 February 1864, which would place her birth date in January or February of that year.  In the 1880 census, at age 16, she was listed as working in "ladies undergarments" together with her stepsister Anna Wearing who was only 14, having been born 7 April 1866 and baptized at St. Brigid's 13 May 1966.    Anna married Thomas F McKeon around 1882 and moved to Newtown.

  The Barry family relocated to Hoboken by 1892, but we do not know if Catherine moved with the family or stayed in Manhattan. We leave it to the reader's imagination to figure out how Peter met and wooed Catherine.  At any rate, the couple married around 1895, and set up housekeeping in Queens, where their three children, Isabella, William, and Abigail were born between 1896 and 1902.    One interesting note is that Isabella has the name of her paternal grandmother, and William has the name of his  maternal grandfather.

Steve Kennevan indicates that his family oral history said a financial settlement was made by the railroad, but a Kitty Mckeon was the trustee for both Peter Sherry and Catherine Kennevan.  However, no record exists that the money was ever distributed to Peter and Catherine.   And settlements in the 1870s would have been far less proportionally than they occur today.   Perhaps the Kitty McKeon is the Catherine McCuen listed above…

While Peter lived in Long Island City, he joined the Old Long Island City Volunteer Fire Department and remained active until he moved to the Bronx. The volunteer firemen were active until 1890 when paid firemen were brought in.  As late as 1939 the group held parades featuring a 75-year-old engine purchased from Staten Island by the Volunteer Fire Department in 1870.  The headquarters were located at 36-19 30th Street.  Joining volunteer firemen groups was a common practice for Irish men in Manhattan during the 19th century, and must have carried over to Queens.  It is not known whether Thomas McKeon was a volunteer fireman, but by 1898 he was captain of a fire group in Maspeth, Queens, when Queens was incorporated into New York City.

Peter Sherry married Catherine Barry in 1895according to the 1900 census record.  In 2006 Steve Kenevan located the baptismal records for the couple's first two children at St. Patrick's Church, in Long Island City.  The first transcript dated 1896 lists Peter Sherry as the baptized, but we think this is a typographical transcription error and ought to be Isabel Sherry.  Her date of birth is 27 June 1986 and baptism 19 July 1896.  The family is living in Ravenswood, an area along the East River just north of Long Island City and south of Astoria and close to the residential section of Dutch Kills (across the railroad tracks from the inlet Dutch Kills of Newtown Creek).   The sponsors were James Smith and Isabelle Kenevan.  The second record, dated 1898, page 43, is for William Sherry, born 1 July 1898 and baptized 17 July 1898.   The family is listed as living at 92 Jane street, which no longer exists, as it was in the path of the Queensboro Bridge completed in 1908.  The sponsors were Michael Collens and Mary Martin. 

In the 1900 census, Peter Sherry and his family are located at 246 Chichester Avenue, Queens.   He is married to Catherine (Kate) Barry, and Isabella and William were listed as their children.    

The 1900 record indicates that the Sherrys had been married for five years, and both Peter's and Kate's parents were born in Ireland.   I located Abigail Sherry's birth certificate at the New York City Municipal Archives, and transcribed the following information:

Chichester Avenue is now called 95th Avenue.  The Sherrys lived between 111th Street and Lefferts Avenue, within walking distance of the maintenance yards of the LIRR, which had established stations at 111st and Atlantic Avenue (Clarenceville) and Lefferts Blvd and Atlantic Avenue (Morris Park).  Both stations are long gone.

Morris Park was a section developed in 1884 by Frederick W. Dunton, a nephew of Austin Corbin,  developer and president of the Long Island Railroad.  It was located southeast of Richmond Hill, and is now absorbed into Richmond Hill in current maps.  It's chief importance to us is that it became the center of operations for the LIRR, and operated the major maintenance shop for engines and rolling equipment  for the system.  The residences were modest in price, and occupied chiefly by Irish and German families who worked for the LIRR.  Peter's occupation as a boilermaker points to a high probability that he worked for the LIRR.

By 1884 a movement came about to create a new village east of Clarenceville and south of Richmond Hill. The proprietor of this development was Frederick W. Dunton, a nephew of Austin Corbin, president of the Long Island Railroad. Mr. Dunton was the president of the "Bicycle Railroad" and became interested in the development of real estate on Long Island in 1883. Along with William Zielger, who was a large land holder,  the village of Morris Park was created. The place was so called because many years earlier it had been owned by a Mr. Morris. It had formerly been known as Morris Grove, originally a ten acre tract of woodland enclosed by a rail fence and with a crude frame structure which served as a shelter against rain. It was a favorite picnic ground for many years. The railroad established a station there and called it Morris Park.

Morris Park was more of a working man's community and was located next to the Morris Park Railroad Shops. The older village of Richmond Hill was at one time a summer garden area with many wealthy denizens coming only for the summer. Many of the homes in that northern area had music rooms, libraries and domestic quarters in their homes.

I have not discovered wedding certificate for Peter and Catherine, but the wedding may well have taken place on Long Island.  When Catherine's younger sister, Elizabeth, married Hugh Casey, the wedding took place in Manhattan, probably because most of the relatives lived either in Manhattan or Long Island rather than New Jersey. 

 By 1910, the Sherrys had moved to the Wakefield area of the North Bronx, with Peter working for the New York Central Railroad.  This area, together with Woodlawn and east Yonkers had become a target area for movement of Irish and German families from Manhattan.    The Mullins, Peter Foy and the Witt families live or would live nearby.

 Hanna Barry was Kate's sister.  We don't know what happened to the rest of the Barry family.  Hannah died in 1912.  The approximate birth dates don't jibe correctly, but it must be remembered that census records are taken orally, so are dependent on the interviewee's memory.  Peter Sherry worked for the railroad, and the New York Central and New Haven lines ran close  to his homes in Wakefield and Yonkers.

The couple's oldest child, Isabel Sherry, has already married George Witt and is living with her in-laws on Richardson Avenue, in the Wakefield section of the Bronx.

By 1930, William Sherry had married, and the family census data looked like this:

Elizabeth Hickey Sherry's parents were both born in Ireland.  Besides his work in real estate, William Sherry was active in community affairs, serving for some time as County Supervisor.

William Sherry Jr remembers his grandfather living at 30 Sterling Avenue, moving into an apartment in the home owned by Isabel and George Witt..    He also remembers his family moving from 157 DeVoe Avenue to another house at 201 DeVoe Avenue.

The census indicates that George and Isabel were married in 1918. 

Of William and Elizabeth Sherry's two children, Elizabeth did not marry, but William Jr married Elizabeth Pickett whose family lived at 36 Post Street in Yonkers at the time of the 1920 census and had moved to 5 Fairfield Place in Yonkers by the time of the 1930 census.

Mary Ellen Dowd's parents were both born in Ireland, as were those of Joseph Pickett.  In the 1920 census, Joseph Pickett is described as a buyer for a condensed milk company.  Joseph's parents are William (age 67) and Julia (age 68) Pickett, who in 1920 lived on Buena Vista Avenue with their other son, John, age 33, whose occupation is listed as machinist in a sugar refinery.  William was retired.  Both William and Julia were born in Ireland  William Pickett died before the 1930 census, which shows Julia Pickett, now 80,  living as a lodger with Peter and Beatrice Nilhon at 45 Prospect Street, Yonkers NY.  Beatrice, age 41, was born in New York of Irish parents, while Peter was born in Denmark.  The couple were married in 1926.  This census record indicates that Julia and William Pickett were married in 1881.

William Sherry Jr followed in his father's footsteps as a real estate broker, and even though retired, continues his work for a few old time clients.  William Sherry Jr and Elizabeth Pickett lived on DeVoe Road in Yonkers, first moved to White Plains New York, and later to Chappaqua, New York, coincidently on DeVoe Road!  Their children are

• Elizabeth Ann Sherry who married William Fisher

• William Sherry III who married Rheema Stephanic

• Robert Pickett Sherry who married Mary Ellen Schmucker

• Susan Marie Sherry who married William Barnett

• Peter Sherry who married Faith Cederburg
  
  Their grandchildren are listed elsewhere.
   

Peter Sherry's sister,  Catherine Sherry Kennevan

The 1870 census lists Alexan Kennevan and his wife Kate as living in Hunter's Point, Queens NY.   There was an exodus of Irish and German from Manhattan to Hunter's Point, which lies across east 34th street.  There was a ferry crossing to Long Island, and some long-time farmland had been converted to housing tracts.  Alexan's father had moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, just south of Newtown Creek.  He died in 1858, leaving a wife and several children.  We think James Sherry had also moved to Queens, as Dutch Kills is a channel leading north of Newtown Creek.  Peter's father, James Sherry, a wood turner, was killed in 1871 in a railroad accident at Dutch Kills. 

Alexan Kennevan died by 1890, and Peter Sherry is listed as living with Kate in 1892.  Since Peter was married by 1895, we may assume that he lived elsewhere, which was certain by the time of the  1900 census.  Alexander and Kate had at least one child, David Kennevan,  We were able to find a census record for David:

Walter Kennevan lived in Maryland, but recently relocated to Eugene Oregon.  His son, Steve, has studied the Kennevan branch, and knows lots of details about the McKeons and Sherrys. Further details on the Kennevan branch after I get more details from Steve.  Consult the Family Tree Branches for a short list of known Kennevan relatives.

Earlier Witt family history

The earliest entry I could find for George Witt was in the 1880 census.  The couple were living at 339 East Eleventh Street, New York, and had a son, Folderian, age 4, and a daughter Rosanna, age 1/2.  George's father-in-law, George Sharpf, a 56 year old tailor born in Germany was living with them.  George is described as 32 years old,  an upholsterer in a store,  born in Baern Germany.  His wife Kate, age 26, was born in New York of German parents.   Another tenant in the same apartment was John McKeon, age 54, also an upholsterer in a store, either a bachelor or a widower

By 1910, the Witts were living in Wakefield, Bronx, New York:

Another Witt group lived around the corner at 674 East 239th Street, between White Plains Road and Richardson Avenue:
 

The census record indicates that George came to the USA in 1868, and Anna in 1876.  Anna Lerner's parents were both born in Germany.  By 1920 George Junior was married to Isabella Sherry, as described in a table previously listed.

George's older brother, Andrew, remained in the Bronx and continued in government service.
 

The 1930 census records indicates that Andrew and Lillian were married in 1915.

William and Elizabeth Sherry's children can be found listed in the section "Family Tree Branches".  More details at a later date ...

References:

William J Sherry Jr and his wife Elizabeth Pickett     interviews April 2002 & June 2004
Social Security Death Index
notes developed by Joseph Foy
records at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Valhalla, New York
telephone interview with Aloysius Witt    April 2002
telephone interview with Steven Kennevan, Iowa,  28 March 2004
e-mail and snail mail correspondence with Steve Kennevan, Iowa
various census records
records at NYC Municipal Archives
                     

     most recent revision:   30 July 2006

     return to ===>>    home page       top of page       essays       photo gallery