P.H. Sullivan - another generation found
6 Comments Published by Jane on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 11:00 PM.
After posting the 1888 articles about the Alfred D. Snow shipwreck my Mother did a little research at the library and discovered that a Maine historian had recently presented a lecture on the subject - The Alfred D. Snow! She asked me to do some emailing to see if any information might be found and the following email message was received this evening: Hi Jane!
You should have been in Thomaston, Maine last September when we presented a lecture on the Alfred D. Snow at the Thomaston Historical Society, which was repeated at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum this winter.
We were given a model of the Ship Alfred D. Snow, which had been crafted by a crewman aboard the vessel on a passage from Thomaston to CA. At that time Captain Willey and his family were aboard and the model was presented to the Captain's daughter, Lizzie, named in her honor.
This gift prompted a research into the vessel's past and the Thomaston men, who were part of her crew. We found the houses belonging to those men, who lost their lives in the tragedy. We didn't have much information on Patrick H. Sullivan's family. According to our genealogical sources, Patrick Sullivan came from county of Waterford, Ireland; m. Jane Brady of Thomaston on Aug 18, 1851. Patrick H. was the son of Patrick Sullivan.
Patrick's brother, Timothy, b. abt 1810 in Ireland and his wife Ellen were in Rockland, ME (neighboring town) at the same time. Timothy died suddenly on Feb 26, 1863, but left children.
I have attached a photo of Patrick Sullivan's house, which is on the same street of Captain Willey's home.
Sincerely,
Margaret McCrea
President, Thomaston Historical Society
These exciting nuggets of information had me searching my scans of old slides and I came up with this image taken in 1976 or 1977 of my Mother (Suzanne Deedy) and my brother (Conal Deedy) and myself (Jane) in front of the Sullivan family gravestone (My Mother's mother was Helen Sullivan) in Thomaston, ME. 
This close-up of the gravestone lists Patrick Sullivan (1820-1888) and his wife, Jane Brady (1830-1913). These are my great-great grandparents. The painting that started this whole research quest has been in the family for as long as my Mother could remember, but she had been told it was the ship of an Uncle who was lost at sea. It was only as we read the articles found on the back of the painting that more details emerged.Thanks to Margaret McCrea's information I can now confidently say Patrick Sullivan on the family gravestone is the Father of P.H. Sullivan, first-mate, who died in 1888 on the shipwreck of the Alfred D. Snow on the Irish coast.
The sea appears to have been both kind and cruel to my ancesters. My great-aunt Jane Austin Sullivan (daughter of Maurice Sullivan who was the brother of P.H. Sullivan) left behind some notes about her family history. They reveal that P.H. Sullivan's Father, Patrick, immigrated from Ireland with his Father and three brothers. He and two sons died of ships fever and are buried in Nova Scotia. G. Father Patrick Sullivan, after death of Father and two brothers made his way to Thomaston, ME. Stayed there working for Capt. Watts. The notes from my great-aunt continue with this: Gr. Mother Jane Brady born June 1830 died Oct. 7, 1913. She came from Ireland, June 1847 in the Brig. General Tailor commanded by Capt. Lilly of South Warren, her Father Maurice Brady her Mother Margaret Caraway of the Town of Sligo County Sligo Ireland.
In the notes Jane crossed out a paragraph. This is what I can make out of the scratched out notes:
Gr. Mother Jane Brady an orphan was going to be adopted by the Protestant side of the family the Cordways. The Bradys decided to send her to … The Brady’s in Maine Captain Lilly of South Warren Maine was looking for a nurse maid for his child on the voyage home. Jane came to Thomaston and lived with the Elliot’s. From these pieces of information a tale is starting to emerge. Patrick Sullivan, having survived the crossing from Ireland to Nova Scotia with his brother Timothy buried his Father and other two brothers and made his way to Thomaston, ME to work for Capt. Watts. In Thomaston, ME he met and married Jane Brady, who herself survived the crossing at age 17 - paying for her passage by working as a nursemaid for Capt. Lilly. Their son, P.H. Sullivan, later found work as a sailor for Captain Willey.
Patrick and Jane's younger son, Maurice, left Thomaston and moved down to Boston to work as a police officer. One of his sons (Lawrence Timothy Sullivan) became a Captain and loved the sea. He, like his uncle P.H. Sullivan, died at sea. His ship was torpedoed in World War II. More on that history later...
Labels: Sullivan
My great grandfather as Maurice Sullivan BPD.My Grandfather was William,Lawrence's brother.
William married Anna Hayes and they had 11 children,six girls Ruth,Louise,Helen,Mary,Anna and Gertrude.The five boys are Maurice[my Dad]Timothy,Eugene,William and Lawrence.William,Eugene and Lawrence grauated from either Mass Maritime or Maine Maritime and spent their careers as engineers or captains.
Lawrence's daughter also graduated from Mass Maritime.
William and Anna had over fifty granchildren.
Welcome Kathleen!
I am so glad you found my blog and for providing the family information. My Mother remembers her Uncle William - he used to visit his sister Jane Austin Sullivan frequently. She also remembers visiting his home and playing with the chickens?
I will work on finding photos of William in the various scrap books and photo albums and try to post something soon.
Regards,
Jane Deedy
jane@deedy.com
Hi,
I am Russ Markgren, Louise Sullivan Markgren's son. She has just passed away in February and will be buried in Blue Hill Cemetery with her husband and her parents, Maurice and Anna. She often spoke of going to Thomaston to visit her Grandmother. My wife and I have just been there to see the cemetery and the home. We are so excited to see all of this info. We have been trying to find more history of the Sullivans. How do we find it?
Hi Russ,
I am so sorry for your loss.
Welcome and thanks for finding my blog. I have been slowly researching, scanning, and cateloging the family history. Recently I put together my efforts to date on a CD for my Father's side of the family (Deedy, McDonough) but I plan to do a similar effort for my Mother's side (which will include the Sullivan info).
However, I do have a number of interesting family finds and would be happy to share and see if I have any info you are lacking. Please contact me via my email at jane@deedy.com .
In the meantime, all of my Sullivan posts can be found here grouped together so you can filter out the other posts.
I look forward to hearing from you!
- Jane
Hi Jane
My Grandparents were actually William and Anna Hayes Sullivan. His parents were Maurice and Susan. My wife Nancy and I live in Wells, ME. Where are you from?
We have many family pictures, some of which we can't identify. My favorite is of Susan Sullivan christening the ship "Lawrence T Sullivan"
Email: rmarkgren@hotmail.com
Hi Russ,
I am located in Winthrop, MA and I have a LOT of Sullivan family info I would be happy to share. I also might be able to help you with some of those old photos. I will send you an email to discuss further!
Regards,
Jane