Patrick Sullivan Heirship Report and Addendum, 1881

Patrick Sullivan, son of Patrick and Rose, died on January 2, 1881 and his will is reproduced in the next post.  Patrick's wife, Elizabeth (McCanna/McKenna), died a few months later on July 22, 1881.  Since Patrick's estate had not yet been probated, an addendum to Patrick's heirship report was completed.  The third and fourth images below are the undated addendum.

What is so useful in this document is each child of Patrick and Elizabeth is identified with current ages as of the birthday in 1883.  So, it is possible to calculate the date of birth.  Since most of the children were born prior to the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, this may be one of the few places a reasonably accurate birth date can be located.

Proof of Heirship, Entered October 16th 1883 Probate #2-2175

The quality of the copies is poor, but readable.  If you click on the image, it will open in a larger window making it easier to read.

Probate records viewed May 2, 2012, Cook County Archives.

Michael Sullivan, Heirship Report, 1915

The Table of Heirship for Michael Sullivan, deceased, entered May 12, 1915 and supplemented May 19, 1916 identifies all known living direct relatives of Michael.  In the next blog posting, the addresses of the living relatives are listed.

From this document, it is possible to reconstruct the family unit, including in many cases grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Patrick and Rose Sullivan.  See also the Mailing Petition which contains addresses of heirs.

To view the document pages, double click on each image to enlarge.

Michael Sullivan, Certificate of Mailing Petition, 1915

For a number of years I tried to tie Philip J. Sullivan (1840-1915) to Andrew Sullivan (c1833-1881), both of whom were buried in the same gravesite at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston.  I believed they were brothers but could not located any document that proved this assumption.  Until..........

In Philip J. Sullivan's 1915 death notice, listed among his relatives was the line "brother of the late Michael Sullivan."  Now, who was Michael Sullivan?  In searching the Cook County probate records for a Michael Sullivan deceased shortly before Philip J. (since no other brothers or sisters were listed, I guessed that Michael had recently died), I located several Michael Sullivans, but one had information that helped reconstitute the senior Sullivan family.  Michael died without any issue so the heirship report listed the entire family.

The following Certificate of Mailing Petition is one of the documents from the probate file.  It identifies all known immediate relatives and their addresses at the time the document was drawn up on March 4, 1915.

The documents can be enlarged by double clicking on each one.  The pages are quite readable once they are enlarged.

Note a brother Matthew lives in Denbawn (Dennbane) County Cavan, Ireland.  Where Michael's siblings predeceased him, his siblings children are listed.  So this document, along with other documents from his probate file, provides a wonderful treasure-trove of names and relationships.