Off the Farm

3rd Great Grandfathers (known)
John Keenan b. 1785, Antrim, Ireland; d. 1871, New York; oc. Stone Mason?
John (Jack) Leary b. unknown; d. unknown; oc. unknown
Cornelius Leary b. 1799, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer

2nd Great Grandfathers
Bernard J. Keenan b. 1829, New York; d. 1891, New York; oc. Farmer
Patrick Leary b. 1831, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer
Denis Leary b. 1835, Canada; d. unkown; oc. Meat Market?
Michael Barry b. 1839, Kerry, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer

Great Grandfathers
Walter Leary b. 1874, New York d. 1960, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer
James J. Keenan b. 1865, New York; d. 1955, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer

Grandfather
Hubert Keenan b. 1907, New York; d. 1984, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer

Census records tell me that most, if not all, of my male ancestors that lived in America on my mother's side - my grandfather through my 3rd great grandfathers - were farmers. I say most, if not all, because there are three of whom I cannot confirm (and as best as I can tell, the 5 great grandfathers not listed were born and lived in Ireland).

While the Keenan, Leary, Leary, and Barry households were farming - from as early as 1821 through 1960 - the rest of America was moving off the farms and into the cities. The graph below shows how fast the decline was. But we can also put it into perspective by looking at how much of the labor force were farmers while each generation of my ancestors were farming.

Source: Growing a Nation; The Story of American Agriculture. http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm

In 1790, before any of my maternal ancestors arrived, 90% of the labor population were farmers. In 1850, when Cornelius Leary is farming (and possibly John Keenan, too), 64% of the labor force were farmers. When my second great grandfathers (possibly excluding Dennis Leary) are farming in 1880, 49% of the labor force is farming. And in 1920, when James J. Keenan and Walter Leary - my great grandfathers - are dairy farmers, 27% of the labor force are farmers. By the time Hubert Keenan gives up farming around 1960 after his heart attack, with none of his children continuing in farming, only 8 percent of the labor population were farmers.

In 2000, when Hubert Keenan's children and grandchildren are spread across the country (having left behind our ancestral (if not actual) home of Franklin and St. Lawrence counties in norther New York State), working as (or retired from jobs as) managers, teachers, nurses, lawyers, engineers, technicians, accountants, analysts, etc - but no farmers, only 1.9% of the labor force are farmers (source: USDA).

For 200 years, many families in America moved away from farming - moving out of rural areas and into the cities. My maternal ancestors held on much longer than most, but in the end, we too moved off the farm.

*Note: Additional details and background will now be posted in the comments section.

Note the Functionality

Just a note on some additional features on the blog. On the top of the blog, you might notice that there is a header with links to other pages. Each of these other pages have additional features that I think add to this blog.

First, there is a page listing my history sources - aka Works Cited. I have this for two reasons. First, for transparency purposes - so that my readers can see which sources I am using when I include historical context with the genealogical information. I have also included it so that my readers can do further reading.

On a related note, my sources for my genealogy information are either from the research my father and uncles have done or, as often as possible, from what I have found on Ancestry. (I am debating whether to include more details on that in the comments - your thoughts are welcome.)

There is also a page showing my family tree - pedigree style (aka, just the parents). I have included this as a reference for my readers in case my descriptions of how a particular person is related to me is confusing.

Finally, I have added a page that shows two google maps I have made. The maps are of important genealogical sites for the Cheney / Keenan family and the Eisenberg / Blake family. I'll update the maps with new locations as I find them. But feel free to suggest sites I have not yet included. And more importantly, feel free to click on the maps or the links and explore them.

Edward Eisenberg and DuArt

Edward Eisenberg
Born: October 23, 1921, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Died: October 17, 2010, Naples, Collier County, Florida
Relation to Author: Grandfather-in-Law
Paternal Grandfather of Rebecca Eisenberg

I met Edward Eisenberg one month before Becky's and my wedding in 2009 (and one of the biggest joys of our wedding was that Edward and his wife Gloria - Grandpa and Grandma - were able to attend the wedding). We visited Edward and Gloria at their home in Naples, Florida. As a new acquaintance, I was able to ask Edward about his life story. He told me about the many different jobs he had.

When asked what his favorite job was, he said quickly and emphatically that it was working at DuArt. Located in midtown Manhattan, New York, DuArt was / is a film processing lab for motion pictures - perhaps the premier film processing lab for motion pictures on the east coast.

When filming a movie, the film negatives from a day of shooting were sent to DuArt for processing (motion picture film, like still camera film, needs to be developed from the negatives). After processing, the developed film (I think they call this the "dailies") was sent back to the film crew (director, producers, etc) to review the day's shooting. This all had to happen quickly so that the film crew could watch the dallies and make decisions about the next day's shooting.

Edward talked about retrieving the negatives from the airport (the negatives having flown in from the picture shoot from somewhere on the East Coast), having them processed, then sending them back for review by the director and staff. He loved the job and I can see why. To know you are involved in movie-making, at a time when Hollywood was probably even more glamorous than it is now, must have been terribly exciting.

Unfortunately, there is still a lot I don't know. The conversation with Edward was pretty general. So I don't know exactly when he worked there, what specifically he did, and what movies the studio worked on while he was there. I will see if I can get that information.


DuArt is still in operation today, providing picture and sound support. From their website:

Picture: Since 1922, DuArt has been a leader in the field of moving image post. From black and white to color, from 16mm and 35mm to Red Camera workflows, from nitrate film to Blu-Ray and file-based delivery, we enjoy being present at the creation.

Sound: From our own sound printing process in 1929 to the 7.1 audio of today, the path to great sound has always led to DuArt. We provide sound design, mixing, scoring, dubbing for localization, and digital restoration services that are second to none; our highly skilled audio staff crafts the sound for your project to the highest standard.

So they have changed with the changing technology to continue to support the industry. But one thing has changed - Du Art has gone digital. Gone are the days of traditional film processing, as Edward knew it.

Keenan Pre-Famine Immigration Updated

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States 1789-1945

In a previous post I speculated about why the Keenans came to the US when they did. I want to update you with some more details and to say that after doing some more research, the picture is still mostly the same.

First, as you've noticed, I have attached a graph showing immigration from Ireland to the US from 1820 through 1880 (In future posts I'll include a graph that goes all the way to 1940). You can see how it starts small during the 1820s and 1830s and then peaks during the famine years of 1850s. I think this puts in perspective even more how the Keenans were very early (1821) compared to the bulk of Irish immigration.

Second, I have been reading parts of Coming to America (Second Edition): A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels. It identifies three different periods of Irish immigration: pre-famine, famine, and post-famine. When talking about reasons for immigration pre-famine, the author does indeed say it is a result of overpopulation following the Napoleonic Wars.

This book only talks about it from the perspective of available land and doesn't explicitly talk about food prices, as the Irish history books did. But I think it is still presenting the same picture. Basically, Ireland was becoming overpopulated and in an agricultural society, this means that there isn't enough land available for families to grow enough crops to make a living.

The Napoleonic Wars and the associated increased food prices meant that the reckoning of overpopulation and smaller and smaller plots of land could be postponed - in other words, families could divide up and pass on smaller plots of land but still make money to sustain themselves. But after the war, prices stagnated or declined and so suddenly farmers found their plots weren't enough to survive, or if they were, would not be enough to divide and pass on to their children.

Daniels says that emigration was the only solution to the overpopulation (since industry was nonexistent at the time). And he says that the people that left would have been low income, but not the poorest of the poor. If this is right, the Keenans were poor enough to want to leave, but not so poor that they couldn't afford to leave. So they sought out a new country with land aplenty.

Works Cited:
Coming to America (Second Edition): A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels

We Remember: Helen Keenan (nee Leary)

Helen Keenan
Born: November 4, 1909, St. Lawrence County, NY
Died: May 1, 2004, St. Lawrence County, NY
Relation to Author: Grandmother

To me she was Grandma. When I was born, she was approaching her 71st birthday and would live to be 94. I was her 15th grandchild and though there were lots of us grandchildren, I never felt like she was bored of us by the time I came along. I knew she loved us and loved the times we visited. Though we lived six hours away, we visited probably 3 times each year, which meant we were able to know her pretty well.

I remember most her humor; she was easy to laugh although not goofy or silly. She enjoyed talking to us kids. She smoked in moderation - or should I say in secret, at least from the grandkids. And I remember her always working on a crossword. I also remember cards - playing cards was a serious but fun activity at grandma's house.

Two particular card game memories stand out. First, was a game with many of the grandkids - maybe around Grandma's 90th birthday. The game was so competitive, it resulted in one of us (I won't mention any names) using one of the more egregious curse words (I'll give you a hint, it starts with the letter 'f'.) Of course, grandma didn't flinch and laughed as all the grandkids - most of whom were well over 25 - held their breath.

The other game was with just grandma and my two siblings. We seemed to play all afternoon - so distracted were we that the sun set and we didn't turn on any lights. I could never remember the name of the game, but a quick internet search tells me it was Michigan Rummy. I still remember the green tray and the penny antes and the excitement when one of us collected a bit pot. And I remember that grandma was equally happy at our happiness.

While those two games stand out, there are countless others that blend together into general warm memories. She never turned down a game of war or poker. Grandma was sharp mentally until the end (though aging and sickness definitely weighed on her). She loved us, she was proud of us. And I sure miss her.

The Next Generation (No, Not Star Trek)

My goal for this blog is to blend genealogy and history - to write about family and the amazing lives each generation has lived. And this month, this family added another generation; Eamon, my son, was born. Let's talk a bit about the world he is entering.

Eamon was born, and will spend at least the first two years of his life, in New York City (born at Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side but will be living in Harlem). The Mayor is Michael Bloomberg, who is serving his third term - which is having some rough patches at the moment - and the Speaker of the City Council is Christine C. Quinn (Eamon's dad's boss). His Congressman is none other than the Harlem legend, Charles Rangel, who faced some ethics issues, but was re-elected in 2010. The governor is the newly-elected Andrew Cuomo.

At the national level, Barack Obama is president and since the Republican congressional victories in 2010, he has moved to the center and made some compromises. The big issue for discussion now (after health care legislation and financial reform were passed during Obama's first two years) is on long term budget deficits.

Internationally, the US bombed to protect citizens in Libya, is slowly leaving Iraq, and is starting to debate how much longer to stay in Afghanistan. The world is still reeling from a significant recession caused by excessive consumer debt and a housing bubble (in both Europe and the US). Israel and Palestine are no closer to a peace deal. But north Africa and the middle east are witnessing pro-democracy demonstrations.

The cover of the NY Times on Eamon's birthday covers the downfall of the president of the Ivory Coast and budget negotiations between Congress and the President. The National Geographic for his birth month talks about the Inca, a volcano in the Congo, ocean acidification, the High Line park in NYC, and Crimea.

The question is how much of this will be meaningful 20 years from now when (if) Eamon reads back on it. Will the democracy demonstrations have led to lasting change? Will history record a deal on long term budget deficits?

Politics aside, Eamon is also entering into a time of rapid - exponential even - improvements in technology. We now have smart phones replacing cell phones; we have the iPad, the Nook and the Kindle. Digital cameras get smaller and add new features (Eamon's mom's SLR camera is already obsolete) and personal computers get faster.

We also talk a bit about occupations on this blog. And as far as I can tell, his options are unlimited. While many generations back, all we see is agriculture, more recently there is good variety. His grandparents occupations include: a doctor, lawyer / judge, engineer, and librarian. His aunts and uncles occupations include lawyers or technology. And his parents are a teacher and a government policy analyst.

This is an exciting time, and we look forward most to just getting to know him, but also to seeing how he interacts in this world.

The Youngest, But Also the First

Bernard Keenan
Born: November 7, 1829, Hogansburg, New York
Died: April 8, 1891, Hogansburg, New York
Relation to Author: 2nd Great Grandfather

Bernard Keenan was the first of my direct Keenan ancestors to be born in the United States. He was the youngest of John Keenan and Elizabeth Hammill's 9 children. John and Elizabeth were both born in County Antrim, Ireland and of their children, 5 were born in Ireland and the other 4 were born after the family emigrated from Ireland in 1821.

As the first in my direct Keenan line born in New York, I think it is worth considering the world he was born into. In 1829, Andrew Jackson was sworn in as president and the next year would sign the Indian Removal Act, sending Native American tribes east of the Mississippi to west of the river. Four years before Bernard's birth the Erie Canal opened, connecting the interior of the country (great lakes region) to the port cities of the east coast.

So Bernard is born during a period of transition. The American Revolution and War of 1812 are long behind and the Civil War is more than 30 years away. And while there was seemingly enough land for John Keenan's family in upstate New York, clearly there were enough land troubles in other parts of the country to make the Indian Removal Act popular.