1879 Pennsylvania obituary, Mrs. Catherine Brew Schnell b. 1816 Clare

[smcarberry]

While browsing a historical Kansas (USA) newspaper database, I found mention of this decedent, whose adult son A.C. (Austin ?) apparently lived in Kansas, with a brother T.C. who was by 1879 a resident of Chicago, Illinois. The Kansas paper published an abridged version of the Pennsylvania obituary, under the heading of "Death of A.C. Schnell's Mother." Using the Library of Congress's Chronicling America newspaper database, I located the full original version, for which the below excerpt provides the "good stuff" without repeating the part reflecting a Protestant news writer's views on Catholicism. Decedent's location was Bellefonte in Centre County PA, where she lived out all her American years, apparently. I have nothing additional on this family.

Her Suffering Ended by Death

The final end of this life is not always looked to with dread...by those nearing its goal, but it is often hailed...as the close of a long period of suffering. Thus it was with Mrs. Catherine Schnell, who passed away from this earth last Friday morning at half-past eleven o’clock. It is seldom that one is called on to endure more than she...suffer[ing] more or less for the last thirty years, and for the fourteen closing years of her life...confined to her bed. During the past year her weakness had increased that she could not even move, and to this was added...blindness.
…
Mrs. Schnell, whose maiden name as Catherine Brew, was born in Springmouth, County Clare, Ireland, on the 16th of May, 1816. She was the daughter of Thaddeus and Mary Brew, and was one of a numerous and respectable family. There were four other daughters and two sons. This large family emigrated from Ireland to this county in the year 1831, and arrived in Centre county [Pennsylvania], on the 7th of June of that year…A large family has grown...Among them are Mr. Austin Brew, the youngest son; Mrs. Hamilton, the eldest daughter, now living on Howard street; also Mrs. Nolan and Mrs. McClain, residents of this borough. Mrs. Kelley, the fifth sister, now resides in Iowa.

Miss Catherine Brew was married in the year 1831, to Mr. Joseph Schnell, one of the overseers of the poor of this borough. A large family has grown up about them. But all of its members are so well known in this community that it is not necessary to mention their names. Among them is Mr. T.M. Schnell of Chicago, the first telegraph operator of this place. Mrs. Schnell was a lifelong member of the Roman Catholic church...

The Centre Democrat
25 Sep 1879, p. 8

[smcarberry]

As it turns out, Catherine's life in western Pennsylvania as the wife of Joseph Schnell is well documented in censuses (entirely within Centre Co.) from 1850 (the first census that would show her specifically, not just numerically as a member of the household head's family). As well, her 9 children, her siblings, their parents Thady & Mary, and their Brew grandfather (Thomas) are all detailed in a Familysearch.org entry easily located. Their family historian there (Julia P.) lacks any details other than a name for patriarch Thomas Brew's wife, listed as Ann O'Dea.
Before locating that FamilySearch set of entries for this Brew family in the U.S., I had used my own favorite resource (often previously posted by me here) for any Brew "Missing Friends" ad from the Boston Pilot, a newspaper well used by Irish immigrants but not included in the search engine at FamilySearch.org. Using a search engine, I can say there was only one ad placed by a member of this Centre Co. family. This Thady would be the one in the FamilySearch tree entry as Catherine's father b. 1786. The publication date for this version of his ad is 17 May 1856, although usually an ad would appear 3 times, for consulting when any one published ad contains a crucial typo (not needed here since the type nonetheless obviously refers to "county"):

Clare column:

Of Francis O'Dea, son of James O'Dea and Anne Stackpoole, of parish Kilmichael, Co_y Clare. Please address his near relative, Thady Brew, Bellefonte, Centre co Pa.

Kilmichael in that era was an alternative spelling of Kimihil, a civil parish in the Kilrush general area. "Near" relative refers to a biological connection and is not a reference to geographical location.

[Sduddy]

Hi Sharon,

Thank you for posting about Catherine Brew Shnell. Her mother, Mary, was Mary Curtin, a relative of Roland Curtin, who is the subject of a post made by me in July 2016, entitled “Roland Curtin born in Dysert, in 1764”: viewtopic.php?t=6798
Looking at the Brew One Name Study (https://www.mannincloud.info/Brew/brew_ons.html) and selecting the Data Base for “ The Descendants of Thomas Brew of Co Clare”, then scrolling down to No. IV, I see a Thaddeus Brew, born in Dysert, Co. Clare, in 1786. He married Mary Curtin at Dysert in 1811. They emigrated with their family in 1831 and settled in Bellefonte, where Thaddeus (Thady) died in 1831: https://www.mannincloud.info/Brew/thomclare.htm#Thomas.

Sheila

[smcarberry]

Great additional details for any Brew (or Curtin) descendants to have, so thanks very much Sheila. i do have to note that the FamilySearch.org entry made by Julia P. includes a death date of 1875 for Thady/Thaddeus b.1876, and that is supported by the censuses as well as this burial memorial which includes a brief biography of the man appearing in a local history book published 1883:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/827 ... adeus-brew

I was initially intrigued by the 1879 obituary's reference to "Springmouth" as this Brew family's Clare home. I see that there is no Kilmihil parish townland corresponding to that word as either a mangled English spelling made by the newspaper staff, nor (so far as I know) a translation of the location in Irish (other than maybe Feeard, but that's not in the civil parish of Kilmihil). Any guesses gladly received.

Sharon C.

[Sduddy]

Hi Sharon,

I'm sorry for confusing the matter by introducing Thaddeus Brew, who married Mary Curtin. It was the appearance of Catherine Schnell on that page of the Brew One Name Study that made me think I was on the right track. And I see now that I was mistaken in giving Thaddeus's year of death as 1831; it was 1875 - see https://www.mannincloud.info/Brew/thomclare.htm#Thomas.

There was a Thaddeus Brew living in Mollaneen house in Dysart parish (https://landedestates.ie/property/2546), so I looked for a place name in Dysart parish that might correspond to "Springmouth". I think the only place name there, that might have been anglicised as "Springmouth", is Tobereenagh which lies in the townland of Ballynagonnaghtagh: https://heritage.clareheritage.org/plac ... onnaghtagh ("Tobar" is Irish for "Well" or "Spring"). I also looked at the placenames in Kilmihil, but found nothing to suggest "Springmouth". Maybe that name was not based on any existing place name.

Sheila

[Sduddy]

I found another well, also in the parish of Dysert (or Dysert O'Dea), which is a much better match for "Springmouth". It is Tobar RabhartaÍ: https://heritage.clareheritage.org/plac ... a-kileenan. "Rabharta" means "overflow" or "gushing". It lies in the north of the townland of Killeenan and is marked as a Holy Well in the 1842 map: https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/cocla ... 6!5!12!767.

Dysert O'Dea is sometimes confused with the townland of Dysert which lies in the parish of Killimer, and on the boundary with the parish of Kilrush: https://www.townlands.ie/clare/clondera ... al/dysert/

Sheila