Sibling Saturday: The Gaffney Sisters of Conneaut, Ohio

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis

     (1858 - 1940)
Margaret "Maggie" Gaffney

     (1860 - 1949)

Elizabeth "Lyle" Gaffney

     (1862 - 1934)

Delia "Di" Gaffney
     (1864 - 1952)
Frances "Frank" (Gaffney) Cherry
     (1870 - 1953)
Agnes Gaffney
     (1872 - 1952)
Clara Gaffney
     (1877 - 1877) (died in infancy)

Scrapbook page shows (at left) a group photograph Cabinet Card of the
Gaffney sisters, taken by Lou Naef Studios, Conneaut, Ohio; center top,
photograph of  Thomas "Tommy" Gaffney; at right, Cabinet Card
photograph of John "Jack" Gaffney,  by Robinson & Roe Studios,
71 & 79 Clark Street, Chicago and New York.

In the scrapbook of her life, my great aunt, Benita "Detty" (McGinnis) McCormick, paid homage to her mother, Mary Jane McGinnis and Mary Jane's five sisters and two brothers Thomas and John. This week, we'll take a brief look at her mother's younger sisters, Elizabeth, Margaret, Frances, Delia, and Agnes Gaffney.  

Not included in these descriptions were two babies, Edward and Clara Gaffney, both of whom died in infancy.  According to my mother's recollections, they were always fondly included by their brothers and sisters in conversations about their family.


Aunt Detty begins her description, above, of her mother and "the aunts," as they were collectively known to the family:

Where is this world could a girl have found six such wonderful women to watch over and guide her as my mother (Bottom Left in photo) and her five delightful sisters - two dressmakers, one milliner, a school-teacher, one lady, one clown and all of these marvelous cooks!

Elizabeth Gaffney (Aunt Lyle)

          The milliner and woman 
          of the world.

Aunt Margaret

Maggie, the wise, the tactful, the wonderful friend!

  

  

Ladylike Frances -

           Aunt Frank Cherry

Aunt Delia

"Di" of cookie fame.  The practical joker of the town.

Agnes, the Lamb.  

With a beautiful soprano voice and a keen mind.  One of Ohio's leading teachers of Americanization and music in the Cleveland public schools.

Mary Jane McGinnis

Her straight eye kept my father's [illegible] in [illegible].

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Copyright ©  2013  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Cherry, Gaffney, McCormick, or McGinnis families? Share your memories and comments below.