My Old Ohio Home

Mildred Gaughan,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the second young woman from our left in the back row as Mildred Gaughan. There was a Mildred Gaughan living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Mildred Gaughan was born January 17, 1916, in Cleveland, the youngest of three children of Edward Gaughan and Sarah Kelly. In 1920 the family was living at 7818 Vineyard Avenue. In the household with Mildred and her parents were her older brother Henry John, and her older sister Geraldine.

In 1930 the family was at 15805 Chatfield Avenue on the far West Side, and in 1940 Sarah and the children were at 11107 Detroit. Henry and Sarah seemed to have separated about 1939. Sarah died in 1948 in Cleveland and Henry in 1950 in Florida.

For her part, Mildred married Leroy Carl Frank sometime about 1964. This might have been her second marriage, since her Social Security record says that she was known as Mildred Anna Boatman in April 1958. She died October 17, 1990, in Lakewood.

The Gaughans

When I saw that Edward had registered for the Draft in World War I as "Edward Heraty Gaughan", I had a feeling that knowing his middle name would be helpful sooner or later, and I was right. But the key to finding his home in Ireland was his petition for naturalization in August 1913. There he said that he had been born April 13, 1882, at Lurgacloy, Ireland.

On the 1901 census of Lurgacloy, Binghamstown South, County Mayo, there is only one Gaughan household, that of Hugh and Honora Gaughan. Hugh's mother in law, Bridget Heraghty living with them. Although I didn't find Edward's birth or baptism record, I am fairly certain this is his family. In addition, there is a Mary Gaughan who died single in Cleveland in 1926 whose death record said that her parents were Hugh Gaughan and Honora Herity. Mary's place of birth was listed as Belmullet, the nearest town to Lurgacloy.

The Kellys

Edward Gaughan's petition for naturalization also informs us of his wife Sarah's birthplace: Newport, Ireland. And Sarah's death record said that her parents were Owen Kelly and Julia McLaughlin. Newport is also in County Mayo, and house 4 on the 1901 Census of Roskeen North, Newport West, County Mayo, includes a Sarah Kelly, daughter of Owen and Julia.

Conclusion

Having been successful at finding their county of origin in Ireland, I was a little disappointed that there doesn't seem to be any living descendants of Edward Gaughan and Sarah Kelly. Mildred married late in life, her sister Geraldine died single, and their brother Henry's obituary did not mention children. Perhaps a descendant of one of their relatives in Co. Mayo will be helped by this research to find out what became of Edward or Sarah.

Sources and more information for the Edward Gaughan family are in the Ohio Families tree on this site.