Wedding Wednesday: Thomas and Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis

Thomas Eugene McGinnis

     (1855 - 1927)

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis

     (1858 - 1940)


The photograph below comes from a page from the scrapbook of my great-aunt, Benita (McGinnis) McCormick, in honor of her parents, Thomas McGinnis and Mary Jane Gaffney.   They were married on May 19, 1884, in Conneaut, Ohio.  According to Benita, this photograph was taken on their honeymoon in Cleveland, Ohio.

Thomas Eugene and Mary Jane (Gaffney)
McGinnis, Cleveland, Ohio.  Could this photograph
 have been taken sometime after their 1884 marriage?

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Copyright ©  2013  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Gaffney, McGinnis, or McCormick, families? Share your memories and comments below.

Sentimental Sunday: A Token of Their Love

Thomas Eugene McGinnis

     (1855 - 1927)

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis

     (1858 - 1940)

Face of Mary Jane McGinnis' love
 token. What did the "M" stand for?

Reverse side of love token shows it is a
Seated Liberty quarter dated 1854.

Good things come in small packages.

Some years ago, my second cousin, Benita Jane (McCormick) Olson, gave me a small brooch that had belonged to my great-grandmother, Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis.  The brooch had been made from an old coin that was planed on one side, where someone had etched the letter "M" and bordered it with an embellishment of double linked curves.  On the reverse, they had soldered a hinge, through which they had threaded a gold nail that tucked under a C-shaped catch.

Benita Jane (McCormick) Olson
Circa 1960

My late cousin, who I knew as Jane and was named for her mother and grandmother - Benita McGinnis and Mary Jane Gaffney - had received the brooch from her mother.  All she knew about it was that it had belonged to her grandmother.

Neither of us had ever seen anything like it before, and our questions were many.  Who made it, and why? Did the "M" stand for Mary Jane's name? Did  it stand for "Mother"? Had it been a gift from one of her four children?  Or did it stand for her married name, McGinnis, and did it come from her husband, Tom?  

As it turns out, the brooches such as this one were quite popular in the 1800s.  They were called "love tokens."

Although love tokens can take many forms and date back to Roman times, the practice of engraving a symbol of one's love began in Wales in the 15th century, when young men carved intricate designs on spoons as tokens of their love and affection for their intended.  

The tradition expanded to include coins in 17th century England and reached the height of their popularity in the United States during the Civil War.  Sailors also made them for their sweethearts as a promise of their return. Until the early 20th century, all were made by hand.  The practice continued through World War I, when soldiers made them for their mothers and girlfriends, sometimes by hand, but mostly with machinery.

Love tokens were often substituted for engagement rings, understandably so as a young lady would likely wear the brooch near her heart.  The coins either had holes punched through the top to wear on a chain, or they had hinges attached with thin bent nails to wear as a brooch. Typically, they bore the initial of the beloved, but they also could be quite ornate.  Some love tokens were engraved with names, messages or symbols and other embellishments.  

Most love tokens were made from Seated Liberty dimes or nickels.  The dimes, in particular, were the easiest to plane and engrave because of the softness of the silver.  The dimes and nickels were the most popular denominations to use, as they were less costly than quarters and dollars.  Still, these factors could not diminish the love shared by the giver and the recipient of such a heartfelt gift.

Mary Jane Gaffney
Engagement portrait, about 1885
Conneaut, Ohio

So who gave our Mary Jane her love token, and why?  The more expensive denomination of the Seated Liberty quarter suggests that it might have been more affordable for a young man to give his beloved than as a gift from a boy or girl for their mother.  The year under the hinge is 1854; could that be of any significance?  It would be less likely for one of the children to possess a coin from that date. 

Could 1854 have alluded to Thomas McGinnis' year of birth?  I have been unable to find his birth certificate. His death certificate notes he was born in 1855.  Various census records put his birth between 1855 and 1858, so it is hard to tell for sure.

Thomas McGinnis,
Engagement portrait, about 1855
Conneaut, Ohio

Thomas had run away to sea as a boy, so he could have learned how to carve love tokens as a sailor.  If in fact he was the giver, as I suspect, the "M" could have stood for Mary Jane.  The romantic in me thinks it also could have stood for McGinnis, which would become Mary Jane's new last name - and in a single initial would have signified both of them coming together as one.

I treasure this lovely and very sentimental brooch.  It is something both of my great-grandparents touched lovingly.  I marvel that something so small has endured through four generations - from Mary Jane to her daughter, Benita, to her granddaughter, Jane, and now to me. It symbolizes so much love between husband and wife, mother and child, and beyond.  I am very grateful to Jane for her special gift, and I look forward to passing it on to my own daughter, Erin, one day.

I wear Mary Jane's brooch on special occasions, Mother's Day being one of them.  I will wear it today, in honor of her marriage to Thomas on this day, May 19th, some 128 years ago.  I also will wear it tomorrow to remember my dear cousin Jane Olson, on her birthday.

As small packages go, this is the best kind: the gift that keeps on giving.

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Copyright ©  2013  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Gaffney, McGinnis, McCormick, or Olson families? Share your memories and comments below.

Those Places Thursday: Gaffney House, Conneaut, Ohio

John Patrick "Jeff" Gaffney

    (1826 - 1892)

Bridget "Bridey" (Quinn) Gaffney

     (1843 - 1914)

Thomas Eugene McGinnis

     (1855 - 1927)

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis

     (1858 - 1940)

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick

     (1889 - 1984)

When my great-aunt, Benita "Detty" McCormick reached the "young" age of 92, she created a scrapbook of her life.  She devoted the first pages of her scrapbook to her parents and grandparents, Thomas Eugene and Mary McGinnis; and John Patrick and Bridget Gaffney.  

One of those pages contained a photograph (below) of the Gaffney House in Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio.  Located at 58 Mill Street, it was also known to some as the "Conneaut House." The house belonged to Mary Jane's own parents, John Francis "Jeff" and Bridget (Quinn) Gaffney.  

John and Bridget were Irish potato famine immigrants to America.  Both were from County Roscommon- he from Drumbrick and she from Boyle.  Did they know each other before crossing the Atlantic? It's hard to say, but the towns are about five miles apart, so it is possible.  It appears, though, that they married in America. 

John and Bridget lived for a time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Mary Jane, their eldest child, was born and baptized in 1858.  They arrived in Conneaut sometime between 1858 and the spring of 1860, when their second daughter, Margaret, was born.  

The United States 1860 Census indicates that John was a "peddler" who owned property in Conneaut valued at $300. The equivalent today would be over $8,000, an impressive amount of money for that era.  Aunt Detty believed he had been a traveling linen salesman, but it seems plausible that he would have sold other textiles as well, such as cotton.  The demand for cotton was far greater than for linen at this time, due to shortages of flax (needed to make linen) and the rising popularity of cotton as a less expensive and more versatile material.  The demand increased dramatically with the advent of the Civil War and the need for cotton to make soldier's uniforms and medical supplies.  These factors must have contributed a decent income to the Gaffney family and made it possible for John and Bridget to afford such a large home as the Gaffney House. 

The house apparently was big enough to house John and Bridget's growing family - they would have 10 children in all - plus additional rooms to rent to the young men who worked on the nearby Nickel Plate Railroad.  

Page from Benita (McGinnis) McCormick's scrapbook

The entry in my Aunt Detty's scrapbook (shown above), describes the Gaffney House:

The Gaffney House, famous Conneaut, Ohio landmark patronized especially by Nickle (sic) Plate railroad men.  About 1880 the hotel was the home of more than 30 unmarried young men under the age of 27 years. + The cross on the addition indicates the window to the "Priest's Room" built by my grandfather John Francis Gaffney to accommodate the circuit priest who came when he could to minister to the growing Irish-American population.

John and Bridget had no idea that one of those young men would become more than just a "renter" to them in the years to come.

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Copyright ©  2013  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Gaffney, McGinnis, or McCormick families? Share your memories and comments below.

Wisdom Wednesday: Scrapbook of a Lifetime

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick

          (1889 - 1984)

Phillip Columbus McCormick 

         (1892 - 1981)

From left to right: Phillip and Benita McCormick
with their tour guide, 1962, Piraeus, Greece.

One of the reasons my family moved to California in 1967 was to be closer to my great-aunt and great-uncle, Benita (McGinnis) and Phillip McCormick.  At that time, they were in their late 70s.  

We called them Aunt Detty and Unk Pill. I don't remember how Uncle Phil got his nickname, but I think my aunt's nickname originated when one or more of her siblings could not say "Benita" when they were young children.  "Detty" must have been as close as they could get. The name stuck.

Aunt Detty and my maternal grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, were sisters.  My grandmother having died in 1963, Aunt Detty was my mother's closest relative in California. She and Unk Pill lived about a 30 minute drive from us at Woodlake, a large apartment complex at 820 Delaware Street in San Mateo.  

Our family usually visited them on Sunday afternoons. As youngsters, my sisters and I loved ringing the doorbell by their apartment number on the building directory.  Aunt Detty's warm "Hello, there!" would greet us through the speaker, followed by a buzzer that automatically unlocked the door to let us enter the building. This seemed very sophisticated to us.  We would pile into the wood-paneled elevator for the ride to the third floor.  

My sisters and I often raced each other to see who could get to Aunt Detty's apartment first.  Our parents would remind us to not run round the corner and down the long hallway, but it was hard to resist.  There she was at the door, arms outstretched, dressed in her best clothes as if the most important people in the world were coming to visit. 

Uncle Phil would be waiting inside.  Looking debonair in his tweed golf cap and herringbone blazer, he was ready to take us back downstairs to the swimming pool or for a walk around the large complex if we were too giddy, so my aunt and my parents could talk.

Aunt Detty was a writer, artist, and entrepreneur all her life.  When she was in her 90s, she created a scrapbook of her life's memories, using an old Christmas card sample book.  The page below contains her introduction to the "skeleton" of her life.

Introduction in Benita (McGinnis) McCormick's scrapbook,
 dated May 2, 1982, San Mateo, California

This is the skeleton of my life

And the flesh of it the wonderful

people I met on the way.  They gave it

color and vitality, joy and sadness, poetry and

delight and peace of mind, gave me not only

love, but care and devotion.  For which I thank God.

I hope that in some way the joy of my life has

shown forth to others and served them in the

thought of living a full life.  There are so many more

things I hope to do.

- Benita McCormick -- age 92 / May 2, 1982

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Copyright ©  2013  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Huesca, McGinnis, McCormick, or Schiavon families? Share your memories and comments below.