There was never any question about Joseph Malachy Regan: He was the family patriarch.

One glance at this photo says it all:

The newly married couple is Cecelia Margaret Regan Cassidy and Francis Raymond Cassidy, my maternal grandparents. The setting is New Haven, Connecticut, on June 24, 1929.

And who is that white-haired gentleman sitting between the newlyweds? That’s Grandma’s beloved father, Joe Regan, called “Pop” by his descendants.

I guess the seating plan makes sense, as Grandma’s attendants (Grandpa’s sister Ethel, Grandma’s brother Joe’s wife Helen, Grandma’s sister May) are standing directly behind her. And Grandpa’s groomsmen (his brothers Walter and Jack, who flank Grandma’s brother John, the only one smiling) stand behind him.

But it still makes me grin, seeing the founder of the feast sitting right smack in the middle.

After six years of working on our family tree and blogging about discoveries, it’s hard to believe I’m still finding treasures saved by family members.

In this case, Grandma’s notes on an envelope:

Yes, Grandma’s father sent them a letter while they were on their honeymoon in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. And Grandma kept that letter with her other keepsakes.

Here it is, on his company’s letterhead:

Here’s what my great-grandpa wrote to the newlyweds:

Dear Ray & Cel

Your letter and p/c (postcard) received. All were glad to hear from you. We understand you will be home Sunday sometime. The folks are all feeling bad and disappointed at your getting away. Oh boy it was a good joke.

Peggy was operated on and is doing well. She as you know is at St. Raphel’s. Send her a p/c. Margarite is going to Hartford July 2 – (Tuesday). All send their love to you both.

Your loving
Old Man

My first question to Grandma, four decades too late, is: Who is Peggy?

I’m hoping a relative will chime in with a comment below or will email me with details, but until I hear otherwise, here’s my theory:

Grandma had a cousin Peggy. Their mothers – Maggie and Nancy – were sisters who’d emigrated from their homeland in the late 1800s. The Kelly sisters grew up together on a farm in Toomebridge, County Antrim, in what is now Northern Ireland.

Peggy married Henry Miller in 1923. He was a New Haven policeman. They lived next door to Grandma’s brother Tommy on View Street. Peggy was a few years older than Grandma and lived to be 74.

Back to June of 1929:

A second letter – a note, really, was tucked inside the envelope with Pop’s honeymoon letter.

It was from Grandma’s mother. I added a filter to this photo of the first half to make the note more legible. Don’t get me wrong – the handwriting is beautiful. But it’s in pencil and very faint:

Dear Daughter;

I was glad to hear everything went along alright, I suppose you will soon be coming home, take your time every thing is going as usual so don’t worry.

Tommy went up to see Marguerite last night he was tired when he came home. Mary McLaughlin had a little son born about (word missing due to torn paper). Nothing strange to write about.

Your Mother,
M. Regan

Marguerite was Gram’s namesake and oldest surviving daughter (little Mary died at age two in 1895). She was a Catholic nun, with the religious name Sister Amabilis. She was baptized Margaret Josephine, but no one seemed to spell or pronounce it that way.

Here’s a 1966 copy of her Baptismal Certificate:

When my grandparents returned from their honeymoon, their new house on Chatham Street wasn’t quite ready for them. Aunt Bunny told me Grandpa took an apartment and Grandma, who believed refinement was next to godliness, lived at her parents’ home for a bit longer.

Grandma would have been one heck of a genealogist. Her notes and letters have helped guide me in piecing together stories of these two Irish families joining together in their new homeland.

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