Week 31: End of the Line (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 31 is "End of the Line." Do you have an "end of the line" ancestor -- one who you're convinced won't go any further back? What about an ancestor who lived at the end of a street, or one who lived in a small town where the train station literally was the end of the line? Check out all of the 2024 prompts here.

When I think of “End of the Line”, I think don’t think of my ancestors but of their descendants. Lines that end because they have no more descendants. Or what about lines that don’t have anymore sons who carry on the surname down the line. 

In my tree, I looked at my maiden name of Crinion. I have taken this line back to my 3rd great grandfather, Patrick Crinion and his wife Ann Dillon. I have found four of their children, don’t know if they had more. They had one son, my 2nd great grandfather and his three sisters. Thus, the surname only continues through his son.

James and his wife Mary Ann Mahon had 10 children with half being female and the other half being male. Their first three children died young and thus lost one of their sons. Their fourth child, my great grandfather David had two sons. The remaining three sons didn’t have children. Charles did get married but had no children. John, I believe had some sort of disability, such as being Intelligently Disabled, because after his mother died, he went to an Insane Asylum, which is not unusual for the time period for these individuals. Their youngest son, James, died at the age of 28, unmarried.

David’s oldest son Frederick had two children, one daughter and one son. While my grandfather, John Crinion had two sons. However, my father and his older brother only had daughters. Thus, the surname didn’t continue through John’s sons.

Looking at my grand uncle, Frederick and his son Harlan, who had two sons, however one died at three years of age. The youngest son, born in 1959, doesn’t appear to be married. None of Harlan’s daughters appear to be married either and they don’t have children.

Therefore, it might the “End of the Line” for the Crinion surname through Patrick Crinion. However, it isn’t the end of the Crinion surname through other lines. I made contact with someone who married a Crinion in Ireland. His family appears to descend through the older brother of my Patrick. Their line, inherited the family lands, and it goes from oldest son to oldest son. My contact’s husband has one older brother, who didn’t have any children. Sadly, he died and my contact and her husband have inherited the family homestead. They have two sons, who may or may not be married. However, they are at an age to easily be married or get married and have children.

I did a Google search and found a website (https://forebears.io/surnames/crinion) that claims there are approximately 656 people who bear the surname of Crinion. NOTE: you can change out the crinion surname with your desire surname and see results for that surname. I find this very interesting, and wonder what records they used to figure out this number. 

We all have “End of Line” branches to our trees, sometimes, this causes surnames to disappear for future generations. One reason, we can’t always use DNA based on surnames alone, I think we will have more surnames from our female relatives than our male relatives who are carrying on the surnames we recognized.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

 

Week 27: Planes (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 27 is "Planes." I sometimes think of my grandparents, going from childhoods where they often traveled by horse to adulthood where they could get on a plane and visit relatives on the other side of the country. What role do planes play in your family history? Click here to see all the 2024 prompts.

When my father, Robert Crinion also known as Chic, retired in 1989, he worked for Mercury Marine a Brunswick Corporation for 33 years. Mercury Marine started as a Kiekhaefer Mercury company.

My father worked in the service department at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for Kiekhaefer and in October of 1965 he became the Service Manager and thus was relocated to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. 

My father was one of the co-authors of the Maintenance Guides for various motors, such as: Mercruiser Stern Drives 60 Power Package Operation and Maintenance Guide; Outboard Pocket Service Guide; Kiekhaefer Mercury Outboard Mortors Master Service Manual; Mercruiser Rover Marine Installation Manual; and MerCruiser Rover Marine Operation and Maintenance Guide.

In 1974, he became the Export Service Manager and would travel the world every 3-6 months for 6 weeks straight. He taught people how to service the motors. 

My father is the one circled above

My dad flew all over the world and brought back many souvenirs, I still have some hanging in the foyer of my house. He also brought back small dolls, Barbie size and smaller for my two sisters and I to share and they were displayed in our bedroom. These small dolls wore traditional clothes from the country he purchased them from. I still have that collection, but the years haven’t been kind to them, with some falling apart because of the rubber bands that hold on the heads, arms and legs have deteriorated. They are currently in a box in one of my spare bedrooms. 

Through the years, when seeing plane crashes, such as the American Airline Flight 191 that crashed on May 25, 1979 in Chicago at O’Hare International Airport, made me realize how quickly my father could be taken away from us. He actually flew out the day before from O’Hare.

Once in London at the airport, a bullet whizzed by his head, because the police were chasing a terrorist through the airport. That just sounded too dangerous for me. 

In the beginning, he travelled First Class and later he was bumped down to business class. He could fit everything he needed in his carry-on luggage, because he didn’t want to waste time in the airport for his luggage. Plus, he never lost his luggage this way, either. He once brought back a large spinning wheel for my mother. He carried that onto the plane and they placed it in the closest that is reserved for first class coats and jackets.

My father even traded in his first-class ticket for two coach tickets and took my mother to Europe. They visited many countries on that trip, seeing England, France, Spain, Germany and more.  

In 1982, he was reassigned as Mercury Outboard Product Service Manager and his world travels ended. He made so many friends internationally, that when they came to Headquarters, they insisted on visiting my father and he would invite them to the house. I always enjoyed meeting these business men and asking questions about their home life.

On August 31, 1989 he officially worked his last day and a year later, my parents sold their home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and retired to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. My father died on January 13, 2011 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and was laid to rest next to my mother in the Crinion plot located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!