The Sinnott and The Lafferty Families...

I'm sitting here, with scraps of papers from genealogy sites, old newspapers, and hand written notes spread across my lap... trying to make some sort of order of the little bits of my ancestry. I've been able to piece together who my paternal great-grandparents were, but not where they hailed from in Ireland, when they immigrated to the States - heck! IF they immigrated to the States or to Canada.  I am searching for the Sinnotts and the Laffertys. I've been researching them on and off for about ten years now and as I plan a third trip to Ireland in September of this year (2012), I've renewed the search with great determination.  I *WILL* find this information before I leave in September... come hell or high water, as my Dad used to say.

But let me start out with information I *do* know.

My name is Janice Beth Coffinger and I was born in Glens Falls Hospital, Warren Co., Glens Falls, NY on June 2nd, 1958 to Paul Harlan Coffinger (born May 10, 1925, died February 4, 1985) and Marian Louise Toleman Coffinger (born November 1, 1926, died June 1, 2013 in Saratoga, NY).  I was their third child, my brother, Paul Ernest, born October 3, 1948, and my sister, Carol Ann, born October 10, 1951.  I realize as I type this info that I am expecting some relative to find this information on the blog and find it fascinating and the key to unlocking someone they have been searching for as I have my great-grandparents. (I'm also aware that my sister will probably want to kill me because I just included her birth date!)

50th Wedding Anniversary ~ August, 1958:
Anne, (Julia's neice whose name I don't remember), Julia Sinnott Coffinger,
 Paul (my Dad), Earnest Abram Coffinger, Vi, Julia "Judy", (Margaret missing)

February, 1999 in Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland

It is my Dad's mother's side of the family that I am searching for.  It is not that the Sinnotts and Laffertys are any more important than the Coffingers or the Tolemans or the Hannas... it is just that Grandma Coffinger's parents were born in Ireland and the very first time I stepped onto Irish soil in February of 1999, I felt like I was "home". There is definitely Irish blood in my veins.

During that same trip I took a train ride from Killarney to Dublin and on the ride I was chatting with an older couple who asked me about my ancestors.  "Well, I know there were Sinnotts from Ireland", I said to them.  "But from where?", the man asked me with great interest, "Sinnott isn't a common name in Ireland but it isn't uncommon, either. You need to know what village they lived in."  "I think my Aunt told me County Cork", I said to him, hopefully.  "Maybe Cobh." he said and then began another topic.  I felt defeated and like I was a bad great-granddaughter for having no idea where they were from when here I was - the first in my immediate family - to visit 'Eire'.  It was then and there, on that train from Killarney to Dublin, that I decided to learn more and find where they were from.  "Come out, come out, wherever you are!", I thought to myself!

More of What I Know:

My grandmother was born in New York City in 1885 (according to her tombstone in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Schuylerville, NY) but some NY Census records state 1886.  I've sent away to NYS for a copy of her death certificate but have not yet received it.  My cousins, Gene and Bill Phillips, both confirmed that she died in 1964 in Middletown, NY Hospital where their Mom, my Aunt Margaret Phillips, worked as a nurse. I'm hoping the death certificate will state her exact date of birth and location of birth and - what I am really praying it reveals - is where her parents were born in Ireland!  Long shot, but I'm always hopeful! : )

For years I searched for the names of Grandma's parents... I knew Sinnott was her maiden name, but didn't have the first name of her Father.  I had been told by my Aunt Anne Coffinger Miner that Lafferty was great-grandmother Sinnott's maiden name, but I didn't know her first name.

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Olly! Olly! Oxen free!

Many of these questions were solved with the finding of one piece of paper from my grandparents' marriage in Salem, NY in 1908.  It reveals that my great-grandparents were Edward Sinnott and Mary Lafferty, both born in Ireland.  EUREKA! 

When my grandparents were married, my grandfather, Earnest Abram Coffinger, was a milkman, and my grandmother, Julia Agnes Sinnott, was a book binder. (I love that because of my own fascination with Victorian era books with their gold gilt and beautiful engravings!) They were both 23 when they married and - here is the 'it is a small world' fascinating finding - their Marriage Certificate was signed by the Salem Town Clerk, F. W. Toleman, my great-grandfather on my MOTHER's side!  The families had no reason to know one another in 1908, but less than 40 years later would be united when my parents wed.

I will admit to crying when I found this important piece of family history. Not only did it unlock the correct names of my great-grandparents, it also shows the signatures of three of my great-grandparents - from both sides of my family, and I treasure the comparison of my Grandfather Coffinger's signature to that of my Grandmother.

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The book to the right is the Washington County Record of Marriages in 1908.  I find the names fascinating as I recognize so many from growing up in Salem.


Once I had both of my great-grandparents' names, I was able to begin searching Census records and the first record I have found is the 1880 US Census. I don't have a photo of this Census. Listed in the household in New York City, NY were:

• Edward - Age 31 (DOB: 1849 appr), born in Ireland, occupation: Box Maker
• Mary - wife - Age 30 (DOB: 1850 appr), born in Ireland, occupation: keeping house
• Catherine - daughter - Age 6 (DOB: 1874 appr)
• Nicholas - son - Age 4 (DOB: 1876 appr)
• James - son - Age 3 (DOB: 1877 appr)
• James Sinnott - brother - Age 35 (DOB: 1845 appr), born in Ireland, occupation: Clerk in Grocery
• Guy Spears - a 39 year old 'box maker' born in Scotland, widowed, relationship to head of house (Edward): Other... my guess is the connection is their occupation or Guy Spears was the husband of a Sinnott sister (if there was one...) who died

I have not, to date, been able to locate NY State or US Census records for the next 20 years.  The 1900 US Census tells a very sad story of what happened to the young immigrant Sinnott family in the missing twenty years and also new provides information.  The Census record is penned over for the Sinnott household, where Nicholas, at age 23, is now listed as Head of Household - Mary being listed as a Widow.  Nicholas' birth is listed as July, 1876 and he is now listed as having the same occupation as his late father, a 'heavy box maker'.  Oddly, Nicholas' birthplace is listed as Brooklyn, NY while all others in the family (with the exception of Irish born, Mary) are listed as New York City.

Perhaps, to me, the saddest statistic on the Sinnott family census records, is for Mary and listed under the headings "Mother of How Many Children" (10), and "Number of These Children Living" (6).  This census also contradicts the 1880 US Census by listing Mary's birth as May, 1858 which put her at the age of 42 in 1900.  Having given birth to her first born (according to the 1880 census) Catherine, in 1874, she would have been only 16.  This census also states that Mary immigrated to the United States in 1872, which would have been (if the 1900 birthdate is correct) at the age of 14 as Mary Lafferty. So, by the time Mary Lafferty Sinnott reached her 42nd birthday, she had immigrated from Ireland to the US, married (I am presuming, although I have not found any record of their marriage), bore ten children (they were, after all, good Catholics), watched her husband and four of her ten babies die.  Such a tragic life for such a young age!

A 1900s NYC kitchen replica
Photo from Tenement Museum NYC
Photo by Amy Neiman

The Sinnott family lived at 445 West 32nd Street in New York City in 1900. I believe this area is today where Penn Station is located. I do not know if - in 1900 - this was an Irish tenement building or an apartment house and haven't been able to yet find historical references to that exact era.  

The 1900 US Census does tell us this about the Sinnott family in 1900:

• Nicholas, Head of Household, Single, DOB: July, 1876, Age 23, "Heavy Box Maker"
• Mary, Widowed, Age 42
• Edward, Brother to Nicholas, Age 18, DOB: May (?) 1882, "Assistant Shipping (?) Labor (?)"
• Mary, Sister to Nicholas, Age 16, DOB: January, 1884, "Cash Girl"
• Julie*, Sister to Nicholas, Age 13, DOB: October, 1886, "At School"
• Martin, Brother to Nicholas, Age 10, DOB: July, 1889
• and Joseph O'Donnell, listed as a 'border', Age 29, DOB: October, 1871, "Clerk in a Paper Store"
• NOTE:  Nicholas' older sister, Catherine, is not listed on this Census and would have been 25 or 26 years old

* Julia was listed as "Julie" in 1900 Census

When looking at the ages of the children, there is a noticeable gap after Nicholas' birth in 1874 and before Edward's in 1882.  One of the deceased children could be James, born in 1877 and listed on the 1880 Census but not on the 1900 census.  It is possible, too, that he had moved out of the home, being 23 years old.  I have also located a New York City Birth Record from 1887 for Joseph Miles Sinnott, born September 20, 1887 and son of Edward Sinnott and Mary Lafferty Sinnott. Joseph would have been 3 years old in 1900 and there is no record of him.  Martin was born in 1889 and has as a middle name his deceased brother's name.  Given this information, Edward, Sr. (my great-grandfather) must have died sometime between 1889 and 1900.

I also was able to verify Martin Joseph Sinnott's birth as January 25, 1889 in Manhattan, New York, NY and son of Edward Sinnott and Mary Lafferty. 

1890s children with toy train
Photo from thebirdfeednyc.com

Having opened hundreds of records with the name of Sinnott and having parents of "Mary" and "Edward", I have come up empty to date with any other possible children.








That, therefore, gives me the following list of children of Edward Sinnott and Mary Lafferty Sinnott:

• Catherine
• Nicholas
• James (deceased?)
• Edward
• Mary
• Julia Agnes (born October 26, 1885 according to SS#)
• Joseph Miles (deceased)
• Martin Joseph

Two Sinnott children and their names are still unaccounted for.  I hope to discover who they were as I continue to search for more concrete information.

May your neighbors respect you,

Troubles neglect you,

The angels protect you,

And Heaven accept you.

Next up: the Coffinger side...