Preface

A biography is a written history of a person’s life. This is a written history of a family’s life. Our family biography.

No one would disagree that all of us are the product of merging strands of DNA. There is less of an agreement about how the merging life experiences of our ancestors have helped shape who we are today. This book is my attempt at exploring how those myriad life experiences, both happy and tragic, helped shape and influence our children and grandchildren.

Just as we all leave a footprint on the lives of our children, so our ancestors have left a footprint on their own children and ultimately on our lives. This family history book is about those ancestral footprints. The first part of this work which is entitled ‘Our Family Biography’, consists of our family historical narrative going back to the 1500's. The next and last section of that narrative is entitled 'Family Stories' and consists of short personal stories written by family members. I hope as the years pass, our descendants will not only add to our family narrative, but will attach short personal stories of their own.

There is a separate volume entitled ‘Family Photo History’. My grandchildren and theirs will find the photographs contained therein most compelling. They'll also find a treasure trove of genealogical and family information within the historical narrative that attaches to each one of those photographs.

Those for whom this family history is written, are descendants of many or most of the families written about within the following pages. Those families are: the Cashman’s, Maloney’s, Corcoran’s, O’Brien’s, Ryan’s, Quinlan’s, Poudrier’s, Lupien’s, Callaghan’s, Lawton’s, Heaphy’s, Keeffe’s, Twohig’s, Long’s, Goodman’s, Reardon’s, O’Leary’s, Buttomer’s, Daylor’s, Cotter’s, Ring’s, Clifford’s, Healey’s, White’s, Daley’s, Burke’s, Cahill’s, Quill’s, O’Neil’s, Keliher’s, Kaylor’s, Murphy’s, Garrity’s, Doyle’s, Ducey’s, Cuddihy’s, Kehoe’s, Lunney’s, Mansfield’s, Dunn’s, Cahill’s, Hall’s, Manning’s, Hawkes’, Adams’, Moore’s and Giel’s.

To those who may read this book many years from now I'd like to end with this thought: Know that we lived like you, dreamt like you and loved like you. We, like you, wanted to succeed, but we all wanted so much more for those who would come after us. Learn from us what you can. Know that those who came before you are watching over you - always.