The Keliher/Kaylor's

The evolution of a family through the generations, by definition requires two families to merge and become as one. Mergers of families such as those between James Kaylor and Ellen Garrity, Richard James Kaylor and Annie Doyle; Richard Thomas Kaylor and Virginia Florence Ducey; Richard James Kaylor and Constance Palmisano; Brian John Kaylor and Aileen Marie Kehoe; Patricia Kaylor and Jack Noguiera; Jennifer Kaylor and Thomas Lawrence; Brooke Kaylor and Robert Niederpruem; Travis Kaylor and Molly Lawton; and, Brendan Kaylor and Victoria Mihulka, are only a few of the many branches to make up the expanding Kaylor family tree. Although not envisioned by our ancestor, James Keliher, upon his arrival in America on March 14, 1851, the continued generational expansion of his family would have made him most proud.

Kaylor, is a more anglicized version of Keliher (Kelleher) or O'Ceileachair. Actually, although we call it anglicized, 'Kaylor' was a surname awarded to James Keliher while being processed by U.S. Custom officials at Castle Garden, then the main immigration processing center, prior to Ellis Island. To put it more bluntly, our ancestor, left Ireland as James Keliher, but after passing through the portals of U.S. Customs, he became James Kaylor. The difficulty in transcribing names of those who spoke with a foreign tongue led to the unintended anglicization of surnames for millions of immigrants entering the United States.

Edward MacLysaght, in his book 'The Surnames of Ireland', Dublin, Irish Academic Press 1980, states that 'Kelleher' is part of the large Celtic group known as the Delcassian Clan which migrated to County Kerry and County Cork in the 14th century. Originally, the Delcassian Clan was known as the Dal gCais Clan.

In ancient times, a clan was a group of families, the Keliher's (Kelleher's) being one of those families. A sept was a group of clans and their families who were descended from the same ancestor.

From Keliher to Kaylor; from Killorglin to Roxbury

We can trace our Kaylor/Keliher ancestors back to Denis Keliher and Ellen Murphy, who were married on February 19, 1833, in the *townland of Glaunagilla, Parish of Killorglin, Barony of Iveragh, County of Kerry, Ireland. Keliher, has also been spelled Kelliher and Kelleher,* the later being the more common spelling today in America.

A townland like Glaunagilla, also spelled Glannagilliagh, is a small geographical division within a parish. The average area of a townland in Ireland is around 350 acres. The townland of Glaunagilla, is rather large, close to 1,000 acres. The 1901 Irish census showed that there were 60,462 townlands throughout Ireland.

The townland system is of Gaelic origin, pre-dating the Norman invasion and most have names of Irish Gaelic origin. However, some townland names come from Norman manors. Until the 19^th century, most townlands were actually owned by the ruling Anglo-Irish landlords and populated by poor papist tenant farmers, like the Keliher's -- our ancestors.

The antiquity of Killorglin is captured in Samuel Lewis' 1837 publication entitled 'A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'. The land of the Keliher's is described as follows:

Killorglin, a parish, partly in the barony of Dunkerrin, partly in Magonihy, but chiefly in the barony of Trughenackmy, county of Kerry, and province of Munster, 3 miles (S.W.) from Milltown, on the road from Tralee to Cahirciveen; containing 7919 inhabitants, of which number, 893 are in the village. The Moriarty family anciently possessed this district, from which they were expelled by McCarty-More. It was subsequently the property of the Fitzgeralds, who bestowed the castle and manor on the Knights Templars; on the dissolution of that order it reverted to the Fitzgeralds, by whom it was forfeited in the Desmond rebellion, when it was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Capt. Conway, after whom it is sometimes called Castle-Conway. The village comprises 163 houses, and close to it a bridge on the great line of road. Fairs are held on August 11^th and November 19^th; the former is called Puck Fair, at which unbroken Kerry ponies, goats, are sold, and a male goat is sometimes ornamented and paraded about the fair.

The Puck Fair

The Puck Fair (Irish: Aonach an Phoic, meaning "Fair of He-Goat", 'poc' being the Irish word for a male-goat), is one of Ireland's oldest fairs. The fair takes place in Killorglin, County Kerry -- the land of the Keliher's.

Many Irish scholars believe the origins of the Puck Fair reach back into pre-Christian Ireland and emanates from the ancient Celtic festival -- Lughnasa. The Lughnasa festival was held at the beginning of the harvest season, the goat being a pagan fertility symbol. Our Keliher ancestors over many generations were most certainly part of this celebration since it's pagan beginnings. Over a thousand years later, the people of Kerry still gather to celebrate in August and November.

When Denis Keliher married Ellen Murphy in 1833, their wedding sponsors were Timothy Murphy and Daniel Fitzpatrick. On January

22, 1834, eleven months after their marriage, Ellen gave birth to the couple's first child -- James W. Keliher, our ancestor, in the townland of Glaunagilla. The child's baptismal sponsors were: Patrick Lynch and Johanna Shea.

Not uncommon for Irish immigrants from the 19^th century, James' birth year was always in question. The chiseled engraving on James' tombstone at the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, in the town of New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, states that he was 85 years of age at the time of his death on June 23, 1905, giving us a birth year of 1820. The 1880 Federal Census gave James' age as 56, giving us a birth year of 1824. Family tradition, long held that James, was born on February 22, 1825. Based on Killorglin church records, we now know that James Keliher, was actually born on January 22, 1834. He was 71 years of age at the time of his death.

Asenath Nicholson visits Killorglin in 1845

When James Keliher, was eleven years of age, the infamous Famine fell upon James, his family and his native country. As hundreds of thousands fled their native land for America, a widow from New York, by the name of Asenath Nicholson, decided to journey around Ireland, mostly on foot, to study the plight of the poor immigrant Irish. She had been inspired to do so by the mass exodus of the Irish from their native land.

The observations made by Nicholson in 1844 and 1845, were published in 1847, by Baker and Scribner, of New York. Her book is entitled Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger. Nicholson spent two years touring Ireland, visiting hundreds of Irish towns and villages. One such town was Killorglin, the home of the Keliher's - our ancestors. At the time of Asenath Nicholson's visit to Killorglin, James Keliher was only 10 years old. Although we don't know if young James Keliher or his parents, Denis Keliher and Ellen (Murphy) Keliher, actually saw the celebrated American visitor, Asenath Nicholson, during her Killorglin visit on Wednesday, March 19, 1845, it is most probable and almost certain that they heard of her visit to their home town.

Nicholson, made an unkind reference to Killorglin, as "the miserable dirty town of Killorglin". After spending time with some of Killorglin's residents, however, she made an observation of their people in a rather kind way: "This shrewd Kerryman displayed much of that common-sense observation, and inquisitiveness, so peculiar in the peasantry of all Ireland, but especially in the Kerryites".

A rather interesting observation was made by American traveler, Nicholson, on page 310 of her book - "The Kerryites are said to have a mixture of the Spanish, who many years ago found their way among these mountains, and the Kerry women have black or dark hair, and in general are quite handsome. Ten year old James Keliher, of Killorglin, would one day have a great grandson (Brian John Kaylor) and great great grandchildren (Ashley Kaylor and Travis Manning Kaylor), whose appearance and black hair would suggest that the Spanish did indeed find their way into the Kerry mountains.

The Famine: 'The Great Hunger'

The potato arrived in Europe about 1565 and flourished in Ireland, where wet weather and soil conditions made it the staple crop. Half the 8 million Irish folk of 1842 subsisted on potatoes and buttermilk.

Beginning in 1845 and lasting for seven years, a fungus destroyed the potato crop throughout Ireland. The spores of the fungus that caused the blight, apparently originated in Mexico's central highlands. The spores ultimately reached New England before spreading to Flanders and Belgium. Wet, gloomy weather, unusual even for wet, gloomy Ireland, propagated the blight with stunning effect, and the starvation was on.

The late syndicated Boston Globe columnist, David Nyhan, in his last column, wrote, "The thing I'll miss most is the chance to shine a little flashlight on a dark corner, where a wrong was done to a powerless peon". Nyhan, chose "The Great Hunger" of 1845, as a favorite topic. Some of his commentary on "The Great Hunger" is set out below:

For every square mile of Irish sod, 30 peasants lay buried, weakened by starvation, finished off "by what was collectively known as famine fever -- louse-borne relapsing fever and especially louse-borne typhus, whose victims give off a characteristic, awful smell in the last stages before they die".....The Great Hunger of 1845 lasted seven years, killed 1 million Irish people, prompted another million and a half to flee in the notorious "coffin ships". Ireland is the only country in Europe to have fewer people today than it had 150 years ago.....the fungus 'Phytophthora infestans' caused the blight of the potato in Ireland, but it was the injustice that caused the famine.....The British government allowed merchants to continue exporting food from Ireland to paying customers elsewhere even as thousands perished from want. The powerful grain merchants' lobby persuaded Parliament to ban the import of grain to help the Irish.....The Irish wouldn't have commandeered Boston the way they did, or captured the politics of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, had it not been for the tiny fungus spores that made their way from this country to the Auld Sod in the dank hold of a potato-bearing sailing ship. Jack Kennedy might have been naught but a Dublin publican's son, or an Irish dandy coaxing favors out of the Bloomsbury set, were it not for the migrate-or-die imperative spawned by a spore.

The Keliher's and Murphy's of County Kerry saw their friends, neighbors and family members die during "The Great Hunger", or during what the Irish would say in their native language -- An Gorta Mor. We know for a fact that young James Keliher, our ancestor, witnessed the starvation of his people. He like a million other poor Irish who survived "The Great Hunger", ultimately fled in "coffin ships" to America.

Was it Famine or Genocide

David Nyhan, of the Boston Globe was correct when he stated that, "it was the injustice that caused the Famine". The Public Record Office in London, has records that indicate the names and locations in Ireland of the British Army's "food removal regiments" during the Famine years. Those troops were deployed only where local resistance to the removal of food was too stubborn. British troops forcibly removed and seized from Ireland's producers, tens of millions of head of livestock; tens of millions of tons of flour, grains, meat, poultry and dairy products, enough it is estimated to sustain 18 million people - at the same time the blight was hitting the Irish potato crop.

The reasons for this seizure of food from the starving Irish was twofold. First, blight had also hit the English potato crop. They too were overly dependent upon the potato. They had to import vast amounts of alternative food. The British Army didn't merely grab Ireland's surplus food; or enough Irish food to save England. It seized more, for profit and to exterminate the people of Ireland. Queen Victoria's economist, Nassau Senior, expressed his fear that existing policies, "will not kill more than one million Irish in 1848 and that will scarcely be enough to do much good".

In Killorglin, County Kerry, our ancestors Denis and Ellen Keliher, had their dairy products and livestock taken from them. The British Army's 1^st Dragoons, which were stationed just East of Tralee, provided the necessary fear and force to steal Irish food. The 1^st Dragoons then transported the food to the West coast where the British warships the Dee and the Merlin, ferried the food to England.

Denis and Ellen Keliher's son, James Keliher, as an eleven year old, watched the 1^st Dragoons execute their military duties flawlessly. James Keliher, also watched his neighbors starve to death.

All of our ancestors fled Ireland to come to America. They never would have had the opportunity to flourish in America were it not for "the migrate-or-die imperative spawned by a spore" -- and the British Army.

Who was James Keliher

Millions of Americans descend from the poor papist Irish like James Keliher, who fled their native Ireland to escape the Famine, as well as religious and economic persecution. The story of James Keliher, our ancestor, is our story:

James Kaylor, our ancestor, was born James Keliher, in Ireland on January 22, 1834, the son of Denis Keliher and Ellen (Murphy) Keliher, who were poor Irish tenant farmers. He was born in the rented Keliher farmhouse, located in the townland of Glaunagilla, parish of Killorglin, county of Kerry. The Keliher farmhouse where he was born would have been windowless with an earthen floor and little or no furniture. Both of his parents would have been born in the late 1790's or after the turn of the century.

James, was eleven years of age when the Famine took hold in Ireland. Britain, which was also undergoing the potato blight, sent Army regiments to Ireland to 'remove' Irish food and then ship that food to Britain. James Keliher, then had to watch as his neighbors starved.

James, became part of the Irish diaspora. He sailed from Ireland, from the port of Queenstown (now called Cobh), emigrating to America after the Famine. James was a teenager -- only 17 years of age. His ship, 'the Queen of the West', arrived in New York Harbor on March 14, 1851. The teenager from Kerry, was alone in a new land.

The Irish Famine had left it's indelible mark on Ireland, as well as on those who had to leave, like James Keliher. He was a farmer in Ireland, as he would become in the 'Good Hill' section of Roxbury, Connecticut - until his death in 1905. He was unable to read or write, a universal trait shared by poor tenant farmers who left their native Ireland along with almost a million of their countrymen who also had fled the infamous Famine.

While being processed in New York Harbor, James Keliher became James Kaylor.

James, married twice and had a child in 1866, Richard James Kaylor, who became our ancestor. In Ireland, he was referred to disparagingly as popish or papist by the English and the Anglo-Irish hereditary ruling class. In America, he continued to face religious intolerance. He and his family were even unable to celebrate the Eucharist.

James Keliher, who became James Kaylor, and presumably called Jim Kaylor by those who came to know him, courageously maintained his Catholicism, despite religious intolerance in his native Ireland as well as in his adopted homeland of America. Evidence of that religious loyalty is the continued faith of his descendants two centuries after his birth.

*James Keliher's Journey to America; Queen of the West***

James Keliher, was only eleven years of age at the start of the Irish Famine in 1845. All the evidence suggests that James, spent his adolescence trying to survive this horrific time in his native country.

James Keliher, left the port of Queenstown, now called Cobh, boarded the immigrant ship called 'Queen of the West' and sailed to America to start a new life. He had just turned age 17 in January of 1851. The 'Queen of the West' entered the port of New York on March 14, 1851.

New York's immigrant processing facilities

Keliher's sailing ship docked New York Harbor. New York's Port Physician examined James Keliher and others on their vessels. After routine checks and paperwork, tugs towed the ships to South Street Seaport on the East River, where James Keliher and other passengers disembarked.

Starting in 1855, immigrants like James Keliher set foot at Castle Garden, which became New York's first official immigrant processing center. It sat on a rocky outcropping off the southwestern tip of Manhattan and connected to the mainland by a long wooden causeway. Much later, after years of 'land filling", Castle Garden became firmly connected to Manhattan. Ellis Island wouldn't open until January of 1892. Castle Garden was located across from where the Statue of Liberty would be dedicated 35 years later - in 1886.

At the time of James Keliher's trip to America on board the'Queen of the West', emigrants spent an average voyage lasting 43 days at sea. Living conditions on board were primitive. Passengers slept in narrow, closely packed bunks located below deck. Conditions wouldn't have been any different for James.

Disease killed many Irish emigrants. Typhus, cholera and dysentery were some of the biggest threats. In 1853, 10% of Irish emigrants died at sea due to cholera.

New York Harbor played another important role in James Keliher's life. It was there that James Keliher, received his new name of James Kaylor. New York Harbor marked the starting point of the American journey for the Kaylor family. James Kaylor, became a farmer in America, just as James Keliher's family were in Ireland.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island opened as the nation's primary immigration center on New Year's Day in 1892. The immigration processing station from 1855 until that time, was Castle Garden. Castle Garden welcomed and processed 8 million newcomers to America from 1855 until the opening of Ellis Island. Between 1892 and 1924, the peak years of emigration, 12 million people passed through Ellis Island, or an average of 375,000 immigrants per year. Most of our ancestors were processed while still on board their sailing vessels in New York Harbor, or at Castle Garden, or were processed at Ellis Island. It was their 'Plymouth Rock'.

James Keliher marries Ellen (Conlan) Garrity

James Kaylor, appears in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1865. It was about this time that James married Ellen (Conlan) Garrity (1828 -- 1883), who is believed to have emigrated from Dublin, Ireland.

At the time of Ellen (Conlan) Garrity's marriage to James Kaylor, she was a widowed mother of four children, the two youngest of whom were, John Garrity (born 1857) and Bernie Garrity (born 1858). Ellen (Conlan) Garrity's first husband, John Thomas Garrity, had died in 1860, in Woodbury, Connecticut.

James and Ellen, had a son born to them on April 5, 1866 -- Richard James Kaylor, who was born on the family farm in Roxbury. Richard James Kaylor, is our ancestor. Richard and his step-brothers, the Garrity boys, were raised on the Kaylor farm and helped with its everyday operation.

When young farmer, Richard James Kaylor, was only seventeen years of age, he lost his mother, Ellen (Conlan) Kaylor. She died on September 18, 1883, at the age of sixty. Newly widowed James Kaylor, was only forty-nine years of age.

Good Hill

When James Kaylor began tilling the soil in America he chose an idyllic location to do so. He chose land in a farming community within Litchfield County, Connecticut. The Kaylor Farm covered 22 acres of land within the Good Hill section of the town of Roxbury.

Fifteen years after the death of his wife, Ellen (Connlan) Kaylor, farmer James Kaylor, executed his Last Will and Testament. That was on October 26, 1898. At the same time, a Reciprocal Will was executed by Ann Coyle (sometimes spelled Coil). The Wills stated, that "Whereas James Kaylor of Roxbury, Connecticut and Ann Coil of Washington, Connecticut, intend marriage, therefore with a view to and in consideration of said marriage, they do enter into the following covenants and agreements and said Kaylor makes the following conveyance. James, bequeathed an undivided half share of his two parcels of land 'situated on the highway leading from Roxbury to Hotchkissville" (the road or 'highway' ultimately became known as Route 317), on which sat his family's farm house. James, described his parcels by naming the owners of those parcels that bordered his two properties. In his 1898 Will, James stated that he owned 30 acres of land. The Probate appraisal done after his 1905 death, identified only 22 acres of farm land.

James Kaylor's remarriage

Only four days after signing his Last Will and Testament, 64 year old James Kaylor remarried - on October 30, 1898. At Washington, Connecticut, a Roman Catholic priest from New Milford, Connecticut, Rev. A.F. Carrigan, married James Kaylor and Anna Lynch Coyle. It was a second marriage for them both.

When Fr. Carrigan, signed the couple's marriage certificate on October 30^th, he certified that he was marrying "60 year-old James Kelleher and 42 year-old Anna Lynch Coyle". Two days earlier, James Kaylor, had applied for the issuance of his marriage license at Washington Town Hall, and signed using his mark -- 'X'.

In the19^th century, as in any period of human history, it was most common for people to enter into relationships like James Kaylor's and Ann Coyle's. Those relationships were born out of necessity. Ann, was able and willing to provide support and care for Jim Kaylor. Jim Kaylor, was able and willing to provide financial security to Ann Coyle -- as well as a home for she and her children. By 1898 it was known that James, suffered from chronic kidney inflammation, which in the 18^th and 19^th centuries was called Bright's Disease.' Today, it is referred to as nephritis. Jim' Kaylor, passed away on June 23, 1905, in Roxbury, Connecticut. Jim Kaylor, was 71 years of age. The cause of his death was Bright's Disease. He is interred at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, in New Milford, Connecticut, next to his first wife, Ellen Kaylor.

Jim Kaylor, born Jim Keliher in Killorglin, Ireland 71 years before, who outlived An Gorta Mor; who witnessed genocidal acts on his family and friends by a foreign power -- the British Empire; who fled to a new country as a teenager; who lived the American Dream; went to the other side in June 1905. His faith survived him, as did his story, which is now our story.

James Kaylor and the celebration of the Eucharist

The anglicization of James Kaylor's name would only hide his Irishness and his papist beliefs for a brief moment. The celebration of the Eucharist in his adopted homeland was as difficult as it was for his ancestors during the Penal Days in Ireland which lasted from 1695 to 1829. The era known historically as the Penal Days were framed by the enactment by the British of laws against Irish Catholics and which made them outlaws in their own country.

In the year 1800 it was still illegal for a Catholic (papist or popish) in Connecticut to even own land. The prohibition on Irish Catholic land ownership in Connecticut wasn't lifted until 1833, the year before James Kaylor's birth in Ireland. Anti-Catholicism was still on the rise, however, when James Kaylor, settled in Roxbury, Connecticut.

Finding and producing food was far easier than finding spiritual nourishment. It wasn't until 1848 that Bishop William Tyler, of Providence, Rhode Island, brought three priests from the College of Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland, "to serve places where there are bodies of poor Catholic laborers, and in some of these places there is not the semblance of a church."

In 1848, the Irish community of Norwalk, Connecticut, founded St. Mary's Church. With anti-Catholic sentiment at a fever pitch, their small wooden church was set on fire and the cross on top torn down. The structural impediment that James Kaylor and other Irish immigrants in Connecticut faced -- a place to celebrate the Eucharist -- would take many years to overcome.

Until 1890, James Kaylor and his family prayed, or if they were fortunate to get a Catholic priest, celebrated Mass in the privacy of their Roxbury farmhouse, just as their Irish ancestors had done during the Penal Days in Ireland. In 1890, Catholics in the local towns of Roxbury, Woodbury, Litchfield, Kent, Warren and Washington, became vibrant enough in their numbers that that were able to build their own church. The first public celebration of the Eucharist took place in the town of Washington, in a small wooden church located where the Hickory Stick Bookshop is located now. The wooden building was ultimately given to the town.

On March 17, 1940 (St. Patrick's Day), the grandsons of James W. Kaylor, stood proudly in front of their new church, in Washington, Connecticut -- Our Lady of Perpetual Help - at its opening and then one month later, on April 21, 1940, at the church's dedication by Bishop Maurice F. McAuliffe.

James Kaylor, through his grandsons, including Richard Kaylor (1909 -- 1986), had finally succeeded. James' descendants had secured for future generations of Kaylor's, a home to celebrate and receive the Sacraments. James' great grandson, Richard James Kaylor, (born in 1934), of 12 Judea Cemetery Road, Washington, Connecticut and his wife, Connie, labored to continue that mission through their active support of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish.

Richard James Kaylor weds Annie Doyle, of Ireland

Richard James Kaylor (DOB: April 5, 1866), son of James Kaylor and Ellen (Conlan) Kaylor, married Annie Doyle (1871 -- 1953), in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1897.

Annie Doyle and her family had emigrated from Salterstown Parish, County Louth, Ireland. County Louth, the smallest of all counties in Ireland, is bounded on the east by the Irish Sea and on the north by the bay of Carlingford. The parish of Salterstown, is also one of the smallest in all of Ireland. (A photo of Annie Doyle, appears in the accompanying 'Family Photo History' album')

A short description of Salterstown Parish can be found within Samuel Lewis' 1837 book, 'A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland':

Salterstown, a parish, in the barony of Ferrard, county of Louth, and province of Leinster, 4 miles (N.E.) from Dunleer; containing 354 inhabitants, of which number, 93 are in the hamlet. It is situated on the bay of Dundalk, and comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 1047 statute acres, the greater part of which is excellent land. A lead and copper mine was formerly worked here. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Armagh, forming part of the union of Dunany; the lands are tithe-free, having formerly belonged to the abbey of Mellifont. In the R.C. divisions it is part of the district of Dysart and Clonmore.

It was in the bucolic and agrarian section of Northwest Connecticut, that Annie (Doyle) Kaylor, formerly of Salterstown and her husband, Richard Kaylor, started their own family. Richard and Annie, would continue what would become almost a two century Kaylor presence in this idyllic section of New England.

The area where the Kaylor's chose to raise their family -- Washington, Connecticut - had its beginnings in 1734, when Joseph Hurlbut, became the first of the European colonists to settle there. The area around the Hurlbut homestead came to be known as Judea Parish, a name preserved in the still active Judea Cemetery.

Richard James Kaylor and Annie (Doyle) Kaylor, had five children, all of whom were born at 12 Judea Cemetery Road, in the small town of Washington, Connecticut, at the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. The house of their birth, was built in the 18^th century. It was one of the local homes used in the "Underground Railroad". The children were: Ellen Kaylor, known as 'Nellie' (1898 -- 1973); George Lawrence Kaylor (1900 -- 1943); Mary Julia Kaylor (1902 -- 1975); Richard Thomas Kaylor, our ancestor (1909 -- 1986); and, John Vincent Kaylor (1912 -- 1964).

The 'Go-Betweens'

Inside the Ellis Island Museum, in New York, there are many displays dedicated to the immigrant experience. One interesting dimension of that immigrant experience involves that of immigrant children and the children of immigrants. They were referred to as the 'Go-Betweens'. They were children who had to walk a fine line between two opposing cultures. On the one side there were centuries of ethnic traditions. On the other side, there were new friends and a new culture that frowned on foreign ways. The children of Annie Doyle, of Salterstown, who were also the grandchildren of James Kaylor, of County Kerry, would have been considered immigrants. They were 'Go-Betweens'. They also resided in an area not very accepting of the Catholics.

Annie (Doyle) Kaylor, the young Irish girl who left the small parish of Salterstown, County Louth, Ireland; who married and raised five children in her adopted homeland; and, whose children and grandchildren flourished in that new land, died in Washington, Connecticut in 1953. Her husband, Richard James Kaylor, had passed away on November 6, 1932, at the age of sixty-six.

After Annie (Doyle) Kaylor's death, her daughter, Mary Julia Kaylor, took possession of the 12 Judea Cemetery Road property. Mary Julia, never married. After her death in 1975, her nephew, Richard James Kaylor and his family took possession of the property.

Richard Thomas Kaylor weds Virginia Florence Ducey

On April 6, 1909, Virginia Florence Ducey, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, one of eight children, born to Helen J. (Kelly) Ducey (1872 -- 1965) and William James Ducey (1871 -- 1955)

Virginia's father, William James Ducey, had emigrated from County Mayo. Mayo, is a maritime county within the province of Connaught, bounded on the east by the counties of Sligo and Roscommon, on the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by the county of Galway.

Richard Thomas Kaylor and Virginia (Ducey) Kaylor, married on June 2, 1931, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph's in Hartford, Connecticut. They had and four children, all born in New Milford, Connecticut: Richard James Kaylor, who was born on September 13, 1934; Thomas Joseph Kaylor, who was born on February 11, 1938, Kathleen Ann Kaylor, who was born on April 29, 1943; and Brian John Kaylor, our ancestor, who was born on August 14, 1947.

Richard and Virginia, built a home on Judea Cemetery Road, a short distance from where Annie (Doyle) Kaylor resided at 12 Judea Cemetery Road. It was at that address that they raised their children.

Richard Thomas Kaylor, died in Washington, Connecticut, on January 15, 1986. His widow, Virginia (Ducey) Kaylor, died in Middletown, Connecticut, on August 4, 2007.

The four Kaylor children graduated from Washington High School. The oldest of the four children, Richard James Kaylor, married Constance Palmisano. Richard and 'Connie', had three daughters. The second oldest child, Thomas Joseph Kaylor, married Sharon Fitzsimmons. Thomas and Sharon, had a daughter and a son. The third child, Kathleen Ann Kaylor, married Floyd Pfaff. The Pfaff's had four daughters and a son. Kathleen (Kaylor) Pfaff, passed away suddenly in November of 2022.

The youngest of the four Kaylor children born to Richard Thomas Kaylor and Virginia Florence (Ducey) Kaylor, was Brian John Kaylor, our ancestor. Brian, would marry Aileen Kehoe in 1978.

Brian John Kaylor

Brian Kaylor, was born at New Milford Hospital, in New Milford, Connecticut, on August 14, 1947, the son of Richard Thomas Kaylor and Virginia Florence (Ducey) Kaylor. He grew up in Washington, Connecticut, graduating from Washington High School. Brian, earned a degree in Economics from Windham College in Windham, Vermont, in 1969. (Many photos of Brian John Kaylor, appear in the accompanying 'Family Photo History' album.)

August of 1975 was a turning point in the life of Brian Kaylor. While working for a company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Brian met his future wife, 21 year old Aileen Marie Kehoe, who was born on April 4, 1953. Aileen, was the daughter of Thomas John Kehoe and Aileen Frances (Manning) Kehoe.

Brian and Aileen, left the State of Florida and returned to Connecticut. They married on October 21, 1978, in Washington, Connecticut. Ron Schultz and his wife, Sandy Schultz, performed the duties of 'best man' and 'matron of honor.' The Kaylor wedding reception was held at the Curtis House in Woodbury, Connecticut, one of the oldest continually operating Inns in the United States.

While residing and working in Florida, Alieen (Kehoe) Kaylor, gave birth to Travis Manning Kaylor, on November 13, 1979, at the Broward General Hospital, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Brooke Ashley Kaylor, was born on March 1, 1981, also at the Broward General Hospital. Ashley Marie Kaylor, was born on February 14, 1984, also at the Broward General.

Brian and Aileen Kaylor, moved back up North in 1984. Initially they moved in with Aileen's mother, Aileen Frances Kehoe, who was residing in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, Queens County, New York City. While in Rockaway, young Travis Kaylor, attended kindergarten at PS (Public School) 114, which was located on 135th Street in Rockaway.

In the Spring of 1985, the Kaylor's moved back to Connecticut, purchasing a home at 76 Carter Road, in the town of Warren, Connecticut.

Travis, attended the Warren Elementary School, in Warren, Connecticut, finishing kindergarten and then matriculating through grade 6. Brooke Kaylor, attended the Judea Nursery School in Washington Depot, Washington, Connecticut. All four Kaylor children attended K through 6 at the Warren Elementary School.

The youngest of the four Kaylor children, Brendan Andrew Kaylor, was born on January 29, 1987, at the New Milford Hospital, in New Milford, Connecticut.

The children of Brian and Aileen Kaylor, all attended WAMOGO Regional High School in Litchfield, Connecticut. The school district included the towns of Warren, Morris, Goshen and Litchfield. Travis Kaylor, graduated from WAMOGO in 1997; Brooke, graduated in 1999; Ashley, in 2001; and, Brendan, in 2005.

Not long after arriving back in Connecticut, Brian Kaylor, decided to do what few people have the courage to do. He and his wife, Aileen, started their own business. It was 1991.

Owen Canfield, a columnist writing for Litchfield County's largest newspaper, wrote a Sunday column on May 4, 1997, about the 49 year old Brian Kaylor. Canfield, was impressed with Kaylor's ability to start his own extermination company in Litchfield County "with Aileen doing the books." The well-known columnist, Canfield, was impressed with the dashing Kaylor, "with a thick shock of prematurely white hair flowing from under his cap". There were many in Litchfield County who were just as impressed.

Brian and Aileen Kaylor, were enjoying great success while watching their four children flourish. In January of 2004, they had just purchased a home that had been in the Kaylor family for many years -- on Judea Cemetery Road, in Washington. Brian's parents, Richard Kaylor and Virginia (Ducey) Kaylor, built the home after their June 2, 1931 marriage at the Cathedral of St. Joseph's, in Hartford, Connecticut.

In one of the most idyllic locations in the State of Connecticut, there were few homes that had a view of the valley below like this location. From the Kaylor home you can see the white steeple of St. John's Episcopal Church, founded in 1794. The church and the small town below was Washington Depot, called by the locals -- "The Depot."

The new Kaylor home was just "up the road" from the home of Dick Kaylor, Brian's older brother, who resided at 12 Judea Cemetery Road, with his wife, Connie. The home "up the road" had additional significance. It was there that Brian and his three siblings were raised. Brian, never had a chance to raise his own children there, however. In March of 2004, a tragic and unforeseen event changed everything for the Brian and Aileen Kaylor family.

Tragedy befalls the Kaylor Family

After working all day at a Warren Lions Club St. Patrick's Day fundraiser on March 13, 2004, Brian Kaylor, fell in the basement of his home, striking his head on the concrete floor. He slipped into a coma as a result of the head injury he suffered.

Hundreds of people rallied to help the Kaylor's during Brian's rehabilitation. The Republican-American newspaper did a story in 2004 about the community response to Brian's injury. The article which was written by Akiko Matsuda is set out below:

WASHINGTON, Conn. -- George Auchincloss wanted to help a friend who was in trouble.

So Auchincloss, a member of the Washington Lions Club, spearheaded a benefit golf tournament last month for Brian Kaylor, 57, of Warren, who was badly injured after a fall in his home earlier this year. "He's been around a long time and he's very popular," Auchincloss said of Kaylor, a member of the Warren Lions Club. Auchincloss said many people also appreciated Kaylor's work as a termite and pest control specialist. One day in March, Kaylor came home after working all day for a Warren Lions Club St. Patrick's Day fundraiser. When he went down to the basement, he fell, banged his head on the concrete floor and slipped into a coma. Kaylor is recovering, but he needed months of therapy, and medical expenses for his family have escalated, Auchincloss said. "His friends in the Lions Club in Washington thought we knew this person very well, and it would be nice if we could raise a little bit of money to support paying for his treatments," Auchincloss said. So Jack Young, Frank Adams and Dick Kaylor, Brian's brother, helped Auchincloss organize the event. Seventy-two people participated in the benefit at Lake Waramaug Country Club to play golf and compete in games. Brian Kaylor was there to welcome his friends, Auchincloss said. The event raised $15,000. "It was great," said Dick Kaylor. "That's the way it is in Washington. People look after their own, but look after other people too. If something happens, they are there to help out." During a phone interview Monday, Brian Kaylor said he was recovering fine. "I can talk and I'm walking. All sorts of good things," Kaylor said. Dick Kaylor said he was pleasantly surprised by his brother's recovery. "The doctor didn't give us any hope at all," Dick Kaylor said. "But he's doing remarkably well."

After a long heroic struggle to overcome the traumatic brain injury he suffered at his home, Brian Kaylor, finally succumbed - on March 25, 2008.

The dashing, popular businessman and great grandson of Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, was only 60 years of age. He would never meet his grandchildren. It is strongly believed by family members, however, that Brian Kaylor, played a pivotal role in the birth of his granddaughter, Vivian Oakes Kaylor, who unexpectedly was born on August l4, 2017, in Manhattan - on what would have been his 70^th birthday.

Vivian Kaylor's parents, Travis and Molly (Lawton) Kaylor, would, as all parents do, ask their young children "how old they are". It's one of the first of many questions asked by parents as they seek to train their children to communicate. When they first asked two year old Vivian, how old she was, Vivian responded, "61". For several months, her answer never changed -- the same age her grandfather was when he lost his life and went to "the other side". The Kaylor family believes that Brian Kaylor was communicating with those he left behind. If you calculate Brian Kaylor's age using the months that his mother, Virginia (Ducey) Kaylor was carrying him, his age was actually"61".

Upon the passing of Brian Kaylor, the burden of continuing the popular Kaylor name and reputation, fell upon a new generation of Kaylor's. Travis Manning Kaylor, was the oldest of Brian Kaylor's four children.

Travis Manning Kaylor

Travis Manning Kaylor, was born on November 13, 1979. He attended Marist College, located along the Hudson River, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He majored in criminal justice, graduating in the Spring of 2001.

In his senior year at Marist, Travis applied for a position with the United States Secret Service. One year later, in June of 2002, Travis was accepted into that elite group. His arduous training started almost immediately.

Travis' first training stop was in Brunswick, Georgia. For twelve weeks he was fettered to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where he underwent what is referred to as FLETC training.

Fifteen weeks of additional training awaited Travis at the Secret Service Academy, known as the James J. Rowley Training Center or RTC, in Beltsville, Maryland. Travis graduated from the Academy in October of 2002.

Upon Travis' graduation from the Secret Service Academy, he was assigned to the Uniformed Division attached to the White House. He served at the White House from October of 2002 to December of 2004.

Travis applied for the 'special agent' position within the Secret Service. He was accepted, and in January of 2005 started lengthy training back at FLETC and RTC. Travis graduated in August of 2005.

The Washington D.C. Secret Service Field Office was Travis' first assignment as a special agent. After six months, in December of 2005, Travis transferred to the New York City Field Office. He initially lived in Rockaway Beach, before moving to Weehawken, New Jersey, in May of 2006. In 2008, Travis purchased a condo in Hoboken, New Jersey.

In October of 2012, Travis was assigned to the President Bill Clinton Secret Service detail. He finished with the Clinton detail in October of 2018, when he sought and was granted a transfer to the Boston Field Office. It was during Travis' assignment to President Clinton that America experienced great political turbulence.

President Barack Obama finished his second term in January of 2017. The Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as their nominee. The Democrat's nominated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as theirs. Travis, traveled with the Clinton's throughout the 2016 presidential campaign.

The 2016 campaign turned out to be one of the most heated and unique campaigns in American history. Donald Trump, was eventually elected as our country's 45^th President, in spite of getting three million less votes than Hillary Clinton.

Moving to Hoboken, New Jersey, proved fortuitous for both Travis Kaylor and a young woman a few years younger than he, Molly Burke Lawton, who was also living in Hoboken. They met in Hoboken in 2009. On May 16, 2014, Travis flew Molly to Charleston, South Carolina, to celebrate her 30^th birthday. It was there at the southern-most tip of Charleston Peninsula, that Travis proposed to Molly. The couple wrote of their long walk to that end of the peninsula in a story entitled The Long Walk. The story appears in the 'Family Stories' section of 'Our Family History', as well as in 'The Family Photo History' volume.

Travis and Molly, married at St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle, Catholic Church, on Nantucket, on June 13, 2015. Fr. Jim Chichetto, a member of the Order of Holy Cross and a family friend, married the couple. Brendan Kaylor, stood up for his older brother. Timothy Lawton, stood up for his younger sister. The reception was held at The Nantucket Hotel.

On Monday, August 14, 2017, at 2:19 pm, at Mount Sinai West Hospital, in Manhattan, Molly (Lawton) Kaylor, gave birth to Vivian Oakes Kaylor, on what would have been her paternal grandfather Brian John Kaylor's 70^th birthday. The Kaylor's called Vivian's birth on her grandfather's birthday, "a wonderful birthday present".

Vivian Oakes Kaylor, was baptized on February 17, 2018, at Holy Cross Church, located at 225 Purchase Street, South Easton, Massachusetts. Fr. Jim Chichetto, performed the baptism. Maternal uncle, Tim Lawton and paternal aunt, Brooke (Kaylor) Niederpruem, stood as baptismal witnesses that day.

In 2018, Travis applied with the Secret Service for a transfer to their Boston office. His requested transfer was soon approved. Travis and Molly and two year-old Vivian Kaylor, moved from Hoboken, New Jersey to Duxbury, Massachusetts in January of 2019.

It didn't take long for Vivian Kaylor to get company. On May 14, 2019, Molly Kaylor, gave birth to the second Kaylor daughter, Quinn Frances Kaylor. Quinn, was born at South Shore Hospital, in Weymouth, Massachusetts, weighing 8 lbs and 21 inches long.

Quinn Frances Kaylor, was baptized in August of 2019, at Holy Family Catholic Church, located at 601 Tremont Street, Duxbury, Massachusetts. Fr. Jim Chichetto, bestowed the sacrament of baptism on Quinn, with Kaylor cousin Jack Nogueira and Molly's close friend, Sarah Cross, standing as witnesses to the baptism.

Travis' position with the Secret Service, required professional moves that although disruptive, were 'part of the job'. In June of 2022, Travis was assigned to a brief assignment at The Hague, in the Netherlands. Molly and the children: Vivian and Quinn, accompanied Travis on his new assignment. Travis' favorite mother-in-law, Patty Lawton, called 'Kiki' by her grandchildren, followed them. She happily became the nanny during the Kaylor Family's work assignment on the North Sea.

Duxbury, Massachusetts

The town chosen by Travis and Molly Kaylor, to raise their family, was Duxbury, Massachusetts, a small Massachusetts coastal town of great antiquity. Neighboring Plymouth, was settled in 1620. In 1627, the Plymouth settlers (the Pilgrims) had reached the end of their contract with their financial backers in London, called the "merchant adventurers". Their termination agreement, called "the 1627 Division", dispersed some of the colony assets. Those who arrived on the first four ships, were called the "Old Comers" or the "First Comers'. Those first arrivals all qualified to receive colony assets. They were given a plot of land each. Those plots stretched their way along the Massachusetts coastline.

Some of those original settlers moved to a small nearby village called Duxborrow, now known as Duxbury, where they worked their farms in the warmer months and moved back to Plymouth for the winter months. However, the settlers in Duxborrow, soon demanded to be known as their own community with their own church. The town of Duxbury was incorporated in 1637. It was in this ancient town that Vivian and Quinn Kaylor - the great, great great granddaughters of Jim Kaylor, were raised; and, themselves became settlers. We could call them "the New Comers".

The Kaylor cousins

Brooke Ashley Kaylor, was the first of Brian and Aileen Kaylor's children to marry. In 2008, Brooke Kaylor and Robert 'Rob' Adam Niederpruem, met while working for the same agency. On August 30, 2013, they married at the Prospect Park Boathouse in Brooklyn, New York.

Robert Niederpruem, son of Susan and Robert Niederpruem, was born in Buffalo, New York, on August 2, 1982. He was raised in West Seneca, New York, with his siblings: Erin and Brian.

Brooke (Kaylor) Niederpruem, gave birth to Reese Margot Niederpruem, in Manhattan, on July 20, 2016. Reese, was christened at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church, in Brooklyn, New York. Reese's maternal aunt and uncle, Ashley and Travis Kaylor, were asked to be Reese's godparents.

On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018, Brooke Niederpruem, gave birth to her second child, Lula Niederpruem, in Manhatten.

The youngest of the Brian and Aileen Kaylor's children to marry was Brendan Andrew Kaylor. He and Victoria Luz Mihulka, married on Friday, June 16, 2017, at Lake George, New York. Brendan's older brother, Travis Kaylor, performed the duties of 'best man'. Brendan's sisters, Brooke and Ashley, were bridesmaids, along with sister-in-law, Molly (Lawton) Kaylor. Brooke's husband, Rob Niederpruem, served as a groomsman.

Victoria Kaylor, gave birth to Alessandra Luz Kaylor, at 8:20 am, at the NYU Winthrop Hospital, on Long Island, New York, on August 25, 2018, weighing 7lbs, 8oz and 21 inches long.

An individual who was not present for his children's weddings or the births of his grandchildren, was Brian John Kaylor. Those who knew Brian Kaylor, knew how important he was to his friends and family. Those who never met Brian needed only to meet a member of his family, especially Aileen or one of their children to understand that importance. The footprint he left behind was large and always will be.

Richard James Kaylor

Brian John Kaylor's oldest sibling is Richard James Kaylor. Richard, known as 'Uncle Dick', occupies a special place within the Kaylor clan. If there was a patriarch, it was he.

Dick, married Connie Palmisano, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, on September 2, 1961, in Buffalo, New York. Dick and Connie Kaylor, together with their children, occupied the ancient Kaylor family homestead located at 12 Judea Cemetery Road, in Washington, Connecticut, from 1975 until Dick's passing on May 10, 2020.

Dick and Connie Kaylor, had three daughters: Jennifer Lynn, Cynthia 'Cindy'and Patricia 'Trish' Marie Kaylor. They also had five grandchildren.

Jennifer Lynn Kaylor, the oldest of the three siblings, was born in 1964. She married Thomas Lawrence, who was born in 1965. Jennifer and Thomas, had five children. Their oldest child, Kaitlynn Lawrence, was born on July 4, 1988. Kaitlynn, only survived to the age of six months. She passed on January 16, 1989.

Jennifer and Thomas, had four more children born to them: Caroline, who was born in 1990; Virginia, who was born in 1993; Thomas, who was born in 1996; and, Mary Frances Lawrence, who was born in 1997.

Dick and Connie's second child, is Cynthia 'Cindy' Kaylor, who was born in 1966. Cindy, has lived in Syracuse, New York, for many years. She was a well-known and well respected PA -- Physician's Assistant. Her specialty was cardiology. Cindy, has become the Kaylor Family doctor.

The youngest of Dick and Connie's children is Patricia Marie 'Trish' Kaylor, who was born in 1968. 'Trish', married Jack Nogueira, who was born in 1971. Jack, became a nationally recognized women's soccer coach.

The Kaylor family lost their patriarch on May 10, 2020. Uncle Dick, died of complications from COVID-19, the coronavirus that had swept the United States starting early in 2020. He passed away during 'The month of Our Lady'. It was his father, Richard Thomas Kaylor (1909-1986) and two uncles who helped build the parish church of 'Our Lady of Perpetual Help', in located in Washington, Connecticut. It was Uncle Dick, along with his wife Connie, who continued the parish's work, until the time of his death in 2020. (There are several photos of Uncle Dick Kaylor, in the accompanying 'Family Photo History' album.)

Five generations removed

Two centuries and five generations removed from James Keliher's birth in Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, the children of this newest generation are: siblings Kaitlynn Lawrence, Caroline, Virginia, Thomas and Mary Frances Lawrence; sisters Reese and Lula Niederpruem; sisters Vivian Oakes Kaylor, Quinn Frances Kaylor; and, Alessandra Luz Kaylor.