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.
