Looking for a Mary maiden name Brennan in Mobile Alabama

[cmcmull]

Hello,
I am hoping someone can help me find a missing relative who hopefully got married somewhere in the vicinity of Mobile Alabama as that is all I have to go on other than New York or she may have married in New York and travelled to Alabama with her husband.

I have a copy of a letter written by Mary on 1 Jun 1908 to her brother in Brisbane Australia.  There is no attached address and no surname but it is sent from Mobile Alabama and makes mention of the fact she is not well enough to travel "  My health is like that, it is poorly. I would like the best in the world to see all, but to take that trip would be impossible for me. I am too weak to undertake the trip alone."  I hope that means she stayed in Mobile Alabama and death records may list parent names.  Her parents were James Brennan and Ellen McAuliffe.
The letter also mentions a brother Jeremiah and asks if the Australian family has heard from him and whether he is still living so she has obviously lost contact with him. The letter is in reply to a letter sent by her niece on behalf of her brother in Brisbane, Australia as it mentions his son recently married in Australia and another sister who had died in Brisbane.  It does not mention any other family with her in Mobile or in America.

I found a shipping record which I am hoping is them
Jeremiah Brennan, labourer, aged 30, and Mary Brennan, labourer, aged 24, listed as passengers departing from Cork, Ireland, on board the ship “Lawrence,” arriving in New York on 11th May 1852.
 Dunbrody Irish Emigrant Records
This indicates she was born c 1828 which would fit in with what I know of other siblings.  I assume she was born in the area of Scarteen, parish Newmarket, Cork, Ireland.

I would love to know if there are any records in Alabama that could shed some light on this although without a married name I know it could be very difficult.
Thanks for any assistance.

[Lisa in California]

Are there any other little clues in the letter, please?

Were any names handed down in the family - perhaps if Mary had children, she may have passed down first names as well?

[cmcmull]

Hi and thank you for your interest in helping me.  No there are no other clues in the letter but I should have thought of family names.  The names I know of for her siblings are Ellen, Julia, Kate, Daniel, Jeremiah.  Julia my 2xgreatgrandmother stayed in Ireland, Ellen, Kate and Dan all came to Australia and Jeremiah went to USA.  Parents James and Ellen.  Father had a relative possibly brother who was also in same locality in Ireland and his family had Dennis as well as Dan, Elizabeth, Margaret, Johanna & Florence. Kate and Ellen in Aust didn't have children.  Dan named his Mary, James, Ellen, Patrick, Michael & Julia Bridget. These followed the traditional naming pattern until Michael who should have been Dan after his father.
There is a Jeremiah in 1860 census in Charlestown, Mass who could be her brother and he has 2 children Mary and John.
Thank you again. Regards, Carmel

[willsy]

I don't know if this is worth pursuing, his birthdate might be a bit too early but 1860 in Illinois

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX4Z-J8J

is a Jeremiah who is a tailor with children born in England. The reason it caught my eye is that his first son listed is Dennis

Just found 1850 New York, just realised there is a bit of a gap between children

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCB8-1P9

[cmcmull]

I suppose it is possible since I don't know much about them but wouldn't fit with the Jeremiah & Mary siblings arriving together in 1852 as I mentioned in my first post.
Cheers, Carmel

[patrexjax]

Hi! Her letter seems to imply she is alone in Mobile,Alabama. In the 1910 US census there is only one Mary Brennan in the Mobile area. That is a Roman Catholic Nun born in 1857 in Ireland.  Is there a possibility that she could have been a religious? If so, this nun died in Mobile and her cemetery details are on findagrave.  I'm not sure if this helps, but I thought I should pass it along :just in case".....   patrexjax

[cmcmull]

She could have been a nun but the born 1857 doesn't seem right.  I wonder if the age is recorded incorrectly.  I will have a look into that on Findagrave.  Thanks.  Carmel

[Jomot]

According to the details on his son's marriage, Jeremiah the tailor was born in Dublin

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01k2w/

[cmcmull]

That would discount my Jeremiah then as he would have been born around Newmarket, Scarteen townland, Cork county.
Thanks, Carmel