WHO AM I
I am a native St. Louisan, Armywife and Mother of 3 boys. I love visiting, exploring and getting to know the many communities around St. Louis. I am enticed by the research, history, architecture and commUNITY improvement.
I am intrigued by the TRUTH of now and then... Aware of the harsh lessons of the past... And hopeful for the opportunties of the future.
My Story
Hezekiah Evans aka Melkye Evans was born in (TBD) on December 25, 1880.
He married Mary Dunbar in Mississippi and had 2 children, Estella and Charlie Evans.
After relocating to Arkansas in (TBD) he married Pearl Hoard and had 2 more children, Ethel and Robert Evans.
After changing his name to Sam Easley he married Everlee Brown and between 1912 and 1940, they had 9 children: Nora, Roosevelt, Jessie Theodis, Willie, Margaret, Madlyn, Cornelius and my grandfather, James Easley in 1929.
James Edward Easley was born November 15, 1929 in Widener, Arkansas. Upon leaving Arkansas after high school he enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Korean War. Upon discharge from the Army he resided in Joliet, Illinois where he met my grandmother, Irene Harris. They were blessed with one daughter together, my mother!
In 1954, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he remarried and died in 1993. My mother was left in the care of his sister, Estella, who would raise her. She was lovingly known as "Mother Dear" or "Ma' Dear".
It is unclear why Irene was unable to care for my mother as she did her other 7 children.
But I believe it was FATE.
My mother's seven brothers and sisters died in a
housefire in Joliet, Illinois in 1965. My mother
was 11 at the time, but since she had been given to "Ma Dear" to be raised she was not in the house.
(My only surviving aunt was also given to a family member and was not at the house at the time. My only other uncle, James - or "Uncle Jimmy" - died of AIDS in 1996.)
For more on this tragedy, click here.
Her giving my mother away saved MY life!
*Everything happens for a reason.*
My strong and courageous mother ran away
to St. Louis at 15 years old to start a new life on
her own.
Family plot marker ‘LOVETT - MAHONEY" in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, Section 014, Lot 0773*****
Catherine Kelley was born in 1838 in County Galway, Ireland.
Andrew Mahoney was born in 1838 in County Cork, Ireland.
Catherine married Andrew Mahoney at the St. Louis Cathedral on November 7, 1859. The wedding was officiated by Father P.J. Ryan.
Andrew was a riverboat captain, and had returned from the Civil War where he was a gun boat pilot for the Union Army. They had 6 children, including Margaret, who was born in St. Louis in 1862.
Margaret married William Lovett (born in 1858) in St. Louis in 1880. They had a son, John Lovett, born in 1882.
Meanwhile, Edward Corrigan, born in Ireland in 1838, had started a family with Kate Derryberry**, also born in Ireland. They had _ children including Dennis Corrigan, born in 1870. Dennis married Mary Veronica Callahan on June 30, 1891. They had 8 children including my grandfather, Edwin Aloysius.
Thomas Colfer born in 1837, immigrated from Ireland in 1864. He married Mary Colfer and had 4 children including John Colfer, born in 1882**. John married Ellen Walsh, born August 20, 1891* and had a daughter in 1888 named her Henrietta.
Henrietta Johanna Colfer married John Lovett, a US Mail carrier, in 1913. They adopted my grandmother, an orphan from Ireland, Ann Ellen, born August 14, 1924. They lived at 5644 Cote Brilliante.
My grandmother, Ann, with her father, John Lovett
Click on an image to expand it
My grandfather writing home from war to the Wagner Electric newsletter.
He was 7. These are my his parents and sisters.
My grandfather writing home from war to the Wagner Electric newsletter.
My grandparents grew up just a few houses down from each other on Cote Brilliante.
There they met and fell in love.
My grandmother lived with her adopted parents a 5644 Cote Brilliante.
My grandfather settled with his parents at 5743 Cote Brilliante.
My grandmother lived with her adopted parents a 5644 Cote Brilliante.
They had 4 children.
5743
5644
Cote Brilliante Avenue
My grandmother, Ann
A Love Story
Shortly after arriving in St. Louis, my mother BONITA HARRIS was adopted by a family in St. Ann. She graduated from my alma mater, Ritenour Senior High School.
After graduating from Aquanis Mercy Catholic School, my father, DANIEL CORRIGAN joined the Army.
Upon returning he bought a motorcycle and enjoyed roaming the streets of St. Ann with his buddies.
One night, while leaving a party,
he offered my mother a ride home
and the rest is hiSTORY.
They married in 1979 and
started a family with my older
brother, Daniel, and I in St. Ann.
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
My Dad
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
Aja Estella Corrigan
Grand -Father
Daniel Joseph Corrigan
Father
Bonita Joyce Harris
Edwin O. Corrigan
Grand -Father
James Easley
Grand -Mother
Ann E. Lovett
Great - Grandparents
Henrietta
Colfer
Great - Grandparents
Sam
Easley
Johnny Ray Johnson, Jr.
b. 1882 - 1895
Elijah James Foggy
Grand -Mother
b. 1949 & 1954
b. 1924 - 1939
Irene Harris
TBD
TBD
Mary M.
Reagan
Edwin A.
Corrigan
John
Lovett
My Family Tree
Rock King Johnson
Mother
Great - Great - Grandparents
Great - Great - Grandparents
Everlee Brown
Daniel Robert Corrigan
Brother
Dennis J.
Corrigan &
Mary V.
Callahan
b. 1860 - 1875
Andrew
Reagan &
Bridget
Pace
William
Lovett &
Margaret
Mahoney
John
Colfer &
Ellen
Walsh
Great - Great - Great Grandparents
To Be Determined
Great - Great - Great Grandparents
Parents of Dennis Joseph Corrigan
Edward Corrigan (1838 - 1908, Ireland) Catherine Derryberry (1773 - 1896, Ireland)
Parents of Mary Veronica Callahan
Thomas Callahan
Mary Callahan
Parents of Margaret Mahoney
Andrew Mahoney (1838 - 1894, Ireland)
Catherine Kelley (1838 - 1910, Ireland)
Parents of John Colfer
Thomas Colfer (1837, immigrated 1864, Ireland)
*Mary Colfer (1859, Ireland)
*****Also in this plot:
LOVETT, HENRIETTA burial date: Aug 11 1952 age: 64 ~AND ~
LOVETT, JOHN A burial date: May 28 1966 age: 83
LOVETT MARGARET A (nee Mahoney) burial date: Jul 15 1918 age: 55
MAHONEY WILLIAM A. burial date: Feb 15 1923 age: 56
MAHONEY CATHERINE (nee Kelley) burial date: Jan 13 1910 age: 67 ~AND ~
MAHONEY ANDREW burial date: Mar 09 1894 age: 59
CODY MARY burial date: Nov 08 1896 age: 0 INFANT
MAHONEY JOHN FRANCIS burial date: Jan 01 1911 age: 49