Once upon a time in Ben Lomond

Good day, and once upon a time, long, long, ago there was a house in the mountains..........

Summertime in the late 50's and early 60's, and Steve and I would be driven by Papa. He picked us up at 1499 San Jose Ave., and from 741 Cottonwood, and we would be whisked away to Ben Lomond, Ca., and then head up Alba Road. It was a magic place that is still there but I am not the same, and someone else owns the land, and I am sure the old house is gone and a modern house has taken it's place. It's more comfortable now, and the furniture is newer, and the appliances work, all the time!

It was Nana, back in the 60's she was only about seventy years old, and she talked a lot and she cooked a lot, and we visited. She'd talk about New York City, and she talked about Baden Street in San Francisco where they lived in a three story house on a hill that overlooked the city. Her children lived there as did her retired husband, formerly a Sergeant with the New York PD, and formerly a postal employee in San Francisco. My father grew up there, and he'd spend the summers at the property in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Steve and I swam in the old pool, and we hiked up the hill, and up to the first, and the second spring. There were pipes that went from both springs to the house, and the pool, and we drank and swam in that clear, fresh, cold water. We'd play catch with the baseball, and throw the football around. Dad would cook hamburgers, and Nana would make spaghetti at night, and there were afternoon naps, during the heat of the day. At night there was TV, and the reception was terrible, and it was still wonderful to watch the same shows we saw at home in the "big city". Going to bed on the porch, that faced down the mountain, and had worn out screens that kept no bug outside but welcomed them in-but the air was so fresh! I remember waking up in the morning and watching the fog recede down the hill; it seemed to walk slowly, and then the morning light would shine on the redwoods, and the bushes, and we'd hear the dogs that lived up and down that hill. It got so dark, when we slept in Dad's room, the house would be so incredibly black and putting one's hand in front of your face was a useless practice; we did it to prove to ourselves that it was the blackest place on earth (it really wasn't; once I was in the Oregon Caves, and when they turned out those lights now that was black). It was magic, it was our land, and it was our woods, and it was our grandmother and father that made the magic, and of course that old pool. The rocks would cut into your feet if you weren't careful of the loose pieces, and if you dragged your foot it would happen only once, and the lesson was learned.

We stayed up very late one night, or it seemed that way to me. We laid down on the roof, and looked up at the sky. There was no light from neighbors, and the ranch house lights were off, and there were uncountable stars that hung in the air and as I'd stare into one area for a long time there would come the occasional "shooting star", and the night had become so unique, and we had a telescope. Dad got it for Steve, my brother, the budding scientist. I looked through it at the moon, and the stars, and thought I was very blessed to take part in the discovery, and of course, I was. We played "hearts" a card game and we would fight to be the winner, and most of the time the older and perhaps luckier, or maybe more skilled Steve and dad would treat me like the black sheep and destroy me! Perhaps there is still a little hurt feelings going on, and yet, yes I think they actually cheated me, and laughed full throated at my discomfort.

Today I watched baseball, golf, did dishes, and spent time with my family. We, Lynnette and Jennifer and Liz, all went to the ranch many years ago, and Lynnette remembers the ranch and Nana, and we occasionally discuss the old days. Today I spend time with this woman and these people and I am happy. Yesterday was remarkable and today seems like a dream. Walking hand in hand through life with people that only make you happy, not a bad thing to happen to somebody who has walked a "fer piece" and seen a few things. I'm having more fun today then back then. But some memories only cause me to smile. The bruises, and scratches and hurt feelings aren't remembered. Just the magic remains, and the memory of a younger man who loved his Dad, and his brother, and still does today.

Have fun, and always remember tomorrow is a bright thing, and there can be magic even in the future.

Love, and hugs,
Larry

This introduction and recognition was omitted from the Nerney & O’Shea ancestors history
So far I have published a family tree and issued it to Nana’s heirs in 1992.1 have updated and will lend copies to any who will want to Xerox it and return it back. Contact me! About 2 years ago I digitalized Nerney documents, deeds. Photos. letters and 1940’s film, plus Jimmy Nerney’s camcorder tapes (1980’s) INTRO A 2 PART dvd disc that 8 of you helped me to partly finance. If you want a free copy, ask me or one of your cousins. Will I complete my trilogy by publishing all I know about the ancestral history of JAMES C NERNEY and MARGARET H 0’ SHEA, I don’t know. I need to do for my STACK kin what I have done for my mom’s parents
But in the ensuing months I will recap the research highlights of both of our g’parents lineage. Also let me acknowledge the contributions of MIKE NERNEY & PAUL ROGERS Whether it was the use of the internet, letters to governmental agencies, searching directories, etc ... .their efforts have vastly increased our family history. So the recap is a shared venture, words and errors are mine. Contact me about mistakes, omissions or new info.
Done Dec. 2009 but for some mistake was not included on my 1 postings and neither was NANA’S Maternal side, Part I
MARGERET HELENA O’SHEA’s Maternal Side, PART 1
Ann Spratt marries Philip Sherlock about 1 857.The guess is in Penn. because Lucy is born there (June14 1859 says family bible).
Aug.11 1860 US Census states that Ann(25) &Phillip(27) are Irish born and Lucy(l) born in Penn. Philip has a farm at Manchester, Wayne Co., Penn
Dec.3, 1862, Mary Alice Sherlock (Nana’s mom) is born.
History of The Spratt’s and Sherlock’s
The 1850 US Census shows no Sherlock’s in Penn., but some in nearby New York. Ship immigration records on July14, 1850 show the ‘Jacob A Westervelt’ arriving in NYC from Liverpool,IJK carrying a Phillip Sherlock (25) and 3 sisters, ages 23-24. It is highly likely that this is our Phillip!
Spratts have been here prior to the 1 census of 1790, but we do not find them in NE Penn until 1820/30’s close to Wayne Co. In the 1840’s 3 fanning couples from Ireland are working the land in Manchester, Penn they have kids born in Penn, but no one named Ann. Then the ship”Perserverance’ arrives in NYC with Mrs. Spratt(45),Michael(l6),Miss Spratt(19) and a Miss Spratt(I6) TillS JIBES WITH WHAT Nana told me about her great g’mother,Mary Alice Stapleton Spratt having 2 girls close in age and this lady came to the USA and died in or near NJ /NY. Also having a Michael in the group adds weight to the thinking that this our family Also the ship leaves from Dublin, Ire. and that is where Nana said was the town from which the Spratts came
Early 1860’s Ann has a Lizzie (Nana said)
Then disaster strikes the Nation-April 1861 the Civil War starts and immediately Michael
Spratt enlists in the 6th Reg’t,Penn. Reserve Infantry(35th Volunteers), joining 10 other
Spratts from Penn.
Second disaster is personal Under 2 mo’s pregnant Ann learns her spouse ,Phillip, has
drowned while going from Equinunk, PA to Lordville,NY, while crossing the Delaware
R..On Dec.3, 1862, her 3 child is born-Mary Alice Sherlock

Here is most of Fred and Mary's family this past Christmas.

Happy Birthday Nana

I think of her every year on this day...and many other days as well. She gave me so much. My character, faith, optimism, love of people. I am fortunate that Uncle Frank reminds me of her wisdom and humor. I am grateful to God for being her granddaughter, and for my heritage, legacy, family. May the Lord bless each of you.

Margaret Helena Nerney (cont.) Her Maternal side

Mike Spratt served 3 years in the 6th Reg’t, Penn. Reserve Infantry[35th Volunteers] from May 1861 to May 1864. He was wounded in the leg and shoulder, but survived and gets married to Cecilia - ? shortly afterwards. The 1870 Census in Wayne, Co, in Penn. shows he is a farmer with a wife and 3 kids. By 1890 Cecilia is listed as a widow in the Census. Michael seems to have died about 1887-89, leaving behind at least 9 children, one of whom is Louella and we have a photo of her.

Ann Spratt Sherlock’s story from 1862 birth of Nana’s grandmother, Mary Alice, till 1900 is not perfectly clear. What is obvious is that she could not keep her 3 kids with her. Though there is an 1870 Census of New York’s Cayuga Co. showing an Ann Sherlock with a Mary Alice but as part of a household with an older male and 1 month old baby – a coincidence or 2 separate families? Yet Nana had told me specifically that Ann had married a Fottrell, a widower, who was also a brother-in-law of Ann. They had at least one child. Nana called her” Aunt Maggie and Maggie married a David J Walsh” and just the other day I have found a record of the event. On 25 November 1896 in Manhattan, NYC, New York a Marguerite Fattrell married David J Walsh and her parents names are Ann and Matthew Fattrell.After a 20 year search I finally had found the missing couple, yet they don’t exist in any of the censuses from1870 to 1900. But the newlyweds would reside in Weehawken, Hudson Co. New Jersey and their census records from 1900 through 1930 can be found.

But only 1 event has surfaced in Ann and Matthew’s life. No records have been found in Penn., New Jersey or New York. When did they marry? Where did they live? How many offspring and when did they die{ Nana thought New Jersey}? What happened to Lucy and John T? The only evidence I have is the Mary Alice’s wedding certificate of her marriage to Richard O’Shea in 1884. The two signed witnesses to the event are her older siblings, Lucy Sherlock and John T. Sherlock. Otherwise from 1860 to 1900 they are lost. yet, suddenly Lucy appears in the next four federal censuses as a spinster living with David and Maggie (her half sister) Walsh. Nana’s maternal side definitely involved four families – Sherlock, Spratt, Fottrell and Walsh. This interweaving is noticed in the 1930 New Jersey census where 2 widowed sisters share an apartment; Olive Spratt and Mary Fottrell, living in the same city as the Walshes.

Conclusion: We think of and have heard about the lonely life of Margaret Helena O’Shea playing the piano, sequestered in the flat by Richard. But this does not mean social inactivity. She had a job downtown at “The Women’s Home Companion” She lived close to aunts and uncles in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania the latter had to be a vacation spot with lots of cousins in a farming region. After she got married at age 20 these same relatives became a part of her new life, helping to raise her growing family as her health during the mid 1910’s became a major issue Her relatives took turns taking care of her 6 kids. Her 7th pregnancy brought matters to a head. James had to resign his lieutenancy in the NY Police Force, sell the home and make a new life in California. Knowing Nana and her letter writing ability you would expect letters galore going back and forth to hear eastern family. In 1939 she was given a train trip to New York to visit some of her kin and to reminisce. One or two of them returned the favor and maybe some of us cousins have met them at the Ben Lomond Ranch. Madge Heinzmann (Walsh) ,who was Nana’s flower girl, and Aunt Margaret from Penn.were visitors. While company was nice, the second half of her life,as we know, she had more than enough to do with her husband and 12 kids On that would be added soon over 30 grand children By the time she died[1989] great g’ kids were crawling about .WHAT A GREAT LIFE1 WHAT A GREAT PERSON1 WE WERE BLESSED TO BE A PART OF HER AND RECEIVE HER LOVE1