My Trails into the Past

The last post was about John H. Sullivan (1854-1932). His parents were Jerry and Mary Sullivan. I wrote about the proof for my BCG certification portfolio. His death certificate named his father as John Sullivan. However, through researching his brother, Michael J. Sullivan, I found documentation that helped prove Jerry was John’s father. H ere is what I know about Jerry. His birth date is a bit fuzzy, not uncommon for illiterate Irish immigrants. His tombstone gives the date of death of 6 November 1888, with his age of 77 years, which subtracts to 1811. [1] However, his age ranged all over the place in records he created or were created for him during his life in the United States. I’ll create a table showing the birth years at the end of this piece. 1870 Census in Michigan The first record of Jerry found was the 1870 census, where the family was living in Franklin Township in Houghton County, Michigan, along with his proposed wife and four children. He was a miner with personal prop...