As I continue to struggle to find proof that George Oakley Yerks is the son of William Townsend Yerks, I changed focus for a bit in hopes that something else might pop-up that would help me put the pieces of this family puzzle together. I decided to research the brothers and sister of William T Yerks. I’ll give you a little spoiler… I have more questions now, than I did before.
This article was published in the Newtown Register on Thursday, February 9, 1911. According to this brief article, on Saturday, Jan 28, 1911 there was a surprise birthday party for Reginald W Parrett. Reginald was married to Irene Tierney. Irene is a daughter of Mary Jane Kinneary and Thomas W Tierney. They lived at 9 Chestnut Street in Corona, Queens. Corona is a dense neighborhood in the former Township of Newtown in the New York City borough of Queens. It is neighbored by Flushing to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East Elmhurst to the north.
The following article was published on November 12, 1952 in The Brooklyn Eagle. It tells the story of Raymond A Tierney Jr sterlings high school sports experience and the sports successes of numerous family members. The article mentions that Raymond is the grandson of Police Inspector Frank A. Tierney. Grandfather Frank was one of the outstanding rowers with the Dauntless on the Harlem River and won numerous titles.
Jean Yerks, Mary Condos granddaughter, found this article in her keep sake box and gave it to me for good keeping. It’s surprising, because we really had no idea that Semne (now Mary) Konzia Condos was so popular in Stamford. She was born in Greece, immigrated to America circa 1900, bounced around for a while, but finally settled in Stamford. We knew she and the greek Condos family owned four Coney Island Restaurants in Stamford, but we had no idea of the impact they made on the community. Now we know.
This article was found in a box of pictures belonging to Speros Condos, brother of George Condos. George and Speros were twins and together they excelled in the sports arena around Stamford High School. This article looks back at a basketball team that kept Stamford thrilled.
This photo is of four generations of James L Yerks’. It was taken circa 1969. Based on a few early census records, James L Yerks appears to have changed his name from Leroy Yerks to James Leroy Yerks. James L Yerks Sr is the son of Annie Cutler and George Oakley Yerks. He had two brothers; Ralph who was killed in France during World War I and William Benjamin, who was gassed in World War I but survived and eventually returned to the United States. His decendents now live in the New Jersey area.
James L Yerks Sr (b. 21 May 1912 in Goldens Bridge, NY; d. 1 Oct 2007 in Cos Cob, CT)
James L Yerks Jr (b. 5 Nov 1892 in Mt. Kisco, NY; d. 20 Apr 20, 1973 in Cos Cob, CT)
James L Yerks III (Living)
James L Yerks IV (Living)
According to Lloyd Lewis’ genealogy notes, compiled from reports of various family members, Johanna Hayes and the rest of the family that had not yet emigrated to the United States, finally made the trip over the pond shortly after the death of her husband, Patrick Hayes. According to a biography of Edward Hayes, a son who had arrived in the United States circa 1869, his father Patrick died in Limerick on April 15, 1875. So far, I have been unable to find a Civil Death Record for him in that year. But using that date as a starting point for searching, I began looking for a ship manifest that contained Johanna and one ore more known children of hers. I soon found the following record.
Today, I was going through some old records which I had considered “duds”, when I came across a copy of a death record from England for a Robert John Beattie. I initially had discarded the record because the approximate birth year for the person did not match any Robert Beattie I had in the family tree. As I looked over the death certificate, I suddenly remembered an e-mail that Cousin Janice Beattie had sent me telling me that there was a Beattie family member who was born in Hong Kong, China and his name was Robert John Beattie. I didn’t have him in the tree yet, because I knew virtually nothing about him.
I was recently contacted by Peter Aubrey-Smith. He is my third cousin, once removed on the Lewis branch of my family tree. He had seen my research on ancestry.com and decided to contact me. We have since been sharing information back and forth, but the grand prize came the other day when he shared with me a portrait picture of a woman that his family firmly believes is Jane Lewis.
This the the marraige certificate for Harry McNeill & Jane Josephine Hayes. They were married at St Patricks Roman Catholic Church in Manchester, New Hampshire on September 27th, 1920.
