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EAST COAST U.S.A.
II a. Peter J. McCrohan, Princeton, N.J. -Peter, a retired chief of police for
the Princeton force, has done extensive research about his McCrohan ancestors
and about the McCrohan clan in general which he was good enough to share with
me. He was born in New York city, but his immediate ancestors came to
this country around the turn of the century from the County Kerry. Pete generous-
ly has offered to be my representative on the east coast, a part he's well
suited for. Some of the attached correspondence indicates something of a depth
of his studies.
II b. James Joseph McCrohon, Shrewsbury, Mass. -Jim McCrohon of western
Massachusets is one of those unfortunate McCrohans who spell the name with
two O's. The McCrohan name, as we all well know, is often subject to much more
barbarous treatment than the mere substitution of an "0" for an "a". So we
shant complain too much. Indeed, back in the old days there were a great many
widely used variations - MacCrohan, McCroghan, and so on -and so we should
probably be grateful that we're as standardized as we are.
Jim is a fourth generation Irishman and is able to trace his lineage back
to a John McCrohon, a native of Cahersiveen, County Kerry, who as a young man
took service in the British Army, saw duty in India and South Africa, was
invalided out of the service and died a relatively young man. Copies of his
soldiers pay book and other documents were among the materials sent me by Jim
and are reproduced herein. Jim himself is a man of many parts. He, along with
his wife Marie have reared a splendid family while continuing on with the family
piano tuning business. As a pastime, he plays the Bodhran in a four man Irish
folk music group known as the Jug of Punch. They make mighty music, I under-
stand, in the tradition of the Irish countryside, which should forgive them many
a sin otherwise when the day of judgement comes.
II c. John L. McCrohan, Marshfield Hills, Massachessetts -It was John who wrote
me of a report identifying a McCrohan as a member of Caesar's Imperial Guard.
(Perhaps confused with a staff position with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.)
John, originally from Canada, sent excellent information on the McCrohan
habitat back in the old country, noting correctly the family difficulties during
the Penal times in the 17th and 18th century which caused many McCrohans to
leave the country for Spain and other continental locations. His own grand-
father had emigrated to Ontario, Canada in the mid 19th century, and his father,
Patrick, by name, had spent much of his life in the Calgary, Alberta area.
During a stay in Boston, however, father Pat was one of the founders of the
Boston Public Market. John, the son and letter writer, has been a resident of
the Boston area and thereabouts since 1912-1913. I especially appreciated
John's writing because he was not feeling too red hot at the time, in fact
under 24 hours oxygen. I hope he's feeling better now.
II d. Timothy (Ted) McCrohan, Manhattan, N.Y., N.Y. - Ted is a native New Yorker
who lives in mid-town Manhattan, proving the great adaptability of the clan
McCrohan. He's kept in touch with a number of McCrohan relatives of his who
live in the greater New York city area. He was also good enough to send me a
detailed genealogy chart prepared by a relation of his, a Father Clifford from
Australia. The chart shows these McCrohan's through several generations out of
the Caherciveen area and over to the U.S., including several who became members
of religious orders. Which vocations are relatively rare among those of the
McCrohan name in my observation, although I would stand to be corrected on
that if someone has facts otherwise.
II e. Elizabeth O'Sullivan McCrohan, Newport, Rhode Island - Elizabeth is the
widow of the late James A. McCrohan who was born in Rhode Island but whose
parents came from County Kerry to this country back before the turn of the cen-
tury. (James is also the uncle, I believe, of Peter McCrohan from Princeton,
New Jersey.) Several years back James and Elizabeth had the opportunity to
return to the old country and track down many of their McCrohan relations, al-
though there was no one of that name even living in the vicinity of the old
family farm. James loved books, and according to Elizabeth, read every evening
until 2 a.m. in the morning. Also music, poetry, and sports.
II f. Anna Marie McCrohan, Brooklyn, New York - Anna is another McCrohan who's
kept up an interest In tne family name and associated research over the years.
Her parents are both from Ireland, the father from the Renard area near
Cahersiveen which, as is well known, was the site of the McCrohan ancestral
castle back in the good old days, levelled by the guns,of the Cromwellians during the
unfortunate events of the 1640's and never restored. Now I understand it's hard to even find traces of the castle. Anna is a dedicated telephone book researcher, scouting out the McCrohan name in the directories of cities she travels to.
II g. Edwin Bryce McCrohan, III., Liverpool, New York - Laura, Edwin's wife is
the correspondent here. Edwin is a computer engineer with General Electric
in upstate New York. His father, Edwin Bryce, Jr., was a naval architect.
His grandfather, Edwin the original, was a tailor, but more, also a fashion
designer and an inventor who became wealthy by patenting a technique to size
men's clothes. He is alleged to have squandered his wealth on the proverbial
wine and women and was found to be incorrigible, even in the nursing home.
A rare McCrohan.
II h. Richard McCrohan, Clifton, New Jersey - Richard is a native of Passaic
New Jersey. His father was John McCrohan, born in Millville, Mass., while his
mother, Cecilia, is from Czechoslovakia. Richard has a pretty good grip on
his McCrohan ancestry in this country, with a lineage he can trace back to a
Bartholomew McCrohan, who was born in 1833 in the old country and came to the
U.S. , during the evil times of the famine. His grandfather, Maurice, was born
in Freehold, New Jersey, one of 11 children. John, Richard's father, was one of
eight children, good sized families like that beinq commonplace just a generation
or two ago. Incidentally, should ever a McCrohan be in trouble with a street
bully, Richard may be the man to call on. He's a qualified Karate instructor
and has competed on the international level with a U.S., select team.
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