The Fay Family: An Irish Branch: Nicholas, sons John, Patrick, Nicholas; gs. Cyril

THE FAY FAMILY HOMEPAGE

GENEALOGIES

IRISH GUESTS

Nicholas Fay
and his descendants

Family Obituaries: Joanne, wife of Cyril Fay

Family Obituaries: Ralph F. Fay

Irish Guest directory

map selection from S. G. Goodrich and Thomas G. Bradford, Massachusetts, 1841

image copyright by Cartography Associates and used with permission

Residing in Salem, Massachusetts, from the beginning of our records, this line proved relatively easy to track. One of the chief sources of information was the database of vital records of Salem at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. In addition, a census sometimes suggested the next step. For example, in the census of 1900, Nicholas and Sarah have a girl living with them. Her name is Nellie F. Fay, and she is listed as a niece. Who were her parents then, and why was she with her aunt and uncle? The question led me to Nicholas' brother.

But even with all that we do know about this line, there are mysteries, and the biggest one is the very first record we find. This is the record of two KENALLY marriages, and each appears twice, once under the groom's name, and once under the bride's.

Michael Kenally married Honora O'Connor on September 13, 1846. A little over a week later, on September 22, 1846, Fay Kenally married Ann Gill. So far is clear from the records of the marriage. NEHGS also has a direct record of the marriage:

This makes it clear that "Fay" is the groom's first name, not his last name. That is when the importance of the "intentions" record becomes clear. In the case of Fay Kenally, the intentions seem to have been published in the name "Nicholas Fay Kenally." Within a year, Nicholas had shortened his name to Nicholas Fay, and it is as "Nicholas Fay" that we see him in all the records after that. The baptism of his daughter Ellen "FAY Ellen, d. Nicolas and Ann, bp. July 12, 1847" shows her as a FAY and does not mention Kenally. There are many birth records for his and Ann's children, and they show FAY: Nicholas and Ann (Gill), as parents.

The published vital records for Salem for the period through 1850 list an entry under two last names, one under FAY and one under KENALLY.

There is a third marriage mentioned above, not KENALLY but KENNELLY. This is the marriage of Mary to Alexander Brown. I think that Mary was the sister of Nicholas and Michael. I have searched briefly for her and Alexander and I have found a couple of things. The most significant of these to me is that in 1870, Mary and Alexander share a dwelling with Ann, the widow of Nicholas, and her children. They are enumerated as a separate family in that building, but the dwelling number is the same. I did not trace them very far.

Nicholas' birth date is not known exactly. The death of a Nicholas Fay on April 21, 1863, seems to belong to this Nicholas. He was said to be 55 at the time of his death, which would place his birth in 1808. Census records place it between 1810 and 1815. There is no other evidence that I have been able to find. For Ann, we have even less information. The census records place her birth between 1810 and 1822. She is in the census of 1870, and she is not in the census of 1880 that I could find, so I believe she died between those two dates. Her death does not seem to be recorded in NEHGS.

There is another major mystery. On June 5, 1883, Nicholas Fay, born 4/8/1856 or 1857, married Sarah A. St. Croix in Salem. He and Sarah are listed in the censuses of 1900 and 1910 with their many children. In 1920, Nicholas is listed as head of house and his wife is named Charlotte. In 1930, Nicholas is gone and Charlotte C. is head of house. Charlotte is said to have been born in 1862 or 1865 in Newfoundland. Sarah A. was born in Newfoundland in 1862 or 1863. Did Nicholas have two wives or one? My feeling is that Sarah died soon after 1910, and Nicholas married Charlotte. In addition, I think perhaps Charlotte was Sarah's sister. But I have no evidence.

DESCENDANTS OF NICHOLAS AND ANN (GILL) FAY

.....2 Ellen Fay bp: 7/12/1847 ............... [cannot find her beyond 1870] .....2 Edward Fay b: 9/27/1849 ............... [death probably in 1891 or 1893] .....2 Catherine Fay b: 1/15/1851 ........+Charles J. Collins b: 1851 m: 11/26/1874 ............... [cannot find them beyond 1874] .....2 John Fay b: 11/25/1852 d: before 1886 ........+Catherine Cronin (Cronan) b: 1850 m: 9/23/1875 d: 1/26/1886 ..........3 Ann Fay b: 12/27/1877 ..........3 John Fay b: 11/14/1879 ..........3 Ellen Fay b: 3/15/1882 .....2 Mary A. Fay b: 7/30/1854 d: 5/22/1896 .....2 Nicholas J. Fay b: 4/8/1856 or 4/8/1857 ........+Sarah A. St.Croix b: 10/1862? m. 6/5/1883 ..........3 Joseph J. Fay b: 4/20/1884 ..........3 William Fay b: 8/20/1885 .............+Blanche A. b: 1891 ...............4 Phyllis L. Fay b: 1924 ...............4 William Fay b: 1925 ..........3 Francis Nicholas Fay b: 1/2/1887 .............+Mary G. Leonard b: 1890 ...............4 Shirley P. Fay b: 1912 ..........3 Albert Fay b: 12/7/1888 ..........3 Mary E. Fay b: 1893 [partly confirmed by NEHGS] ..........3 Loretta Agnes Fay b: 1894 [partly confirmed by NEHGS] ..........3 Charlotte St.Croix Fay b: 3/11/1897 d: 6/1971 ..........3 Isabel Ann Fay b: 1899 [partly confirmed by NEHGS] ..........3 Magdalen S. Fay b: 6/22/1901 d: 9/1970 ..........3 Angela K. Fay b: 7/20/1902 d: 8/18/1997 ..........3 Sarah Fay b: 4/14/1904 ..........3 Cyril J. Fay b: 4/14/1904 d: 10/1965 .............+Margaret V. b: about 1904 ...............4 Robert Cyril Fay b: 8/12/1928 d: 5/6/2007 ..................+Kay ....................5 line continues with 10 children ...............4 Cyril J. Fay, Jr. b: about 1933 ..................+Joanne F. b: 12/5/1933 d: 2/4/2007 ....................5 Melissa Fay .......................+Peter A. Riley .........................6 Owen Patrick Riley ....................5 Danielle Fay ....................5 Adrienne Fay ...............4 Frank Fay ...............4 David Fay ...............4 Peggy Fay (McGee) ...............4 Rita Fay (Donovan) ...............4 Betty Fay (McManus) ...............4 Noreen Fay (Selinger) ...............4 Doris Fay (Fitzmaurice) ...............4 Virginia Fay (Healy) ..........3 Ralph F. Fay b: 11/8/1908 d: 1/1982 .............+Mary Scott ...............4 Nanci Fay ...............4 Diane Fay ...............4 Susan Fay .....2 Hannah Fay b: 7/7/1859 d: 1888 ........+Jeremiah F. Cronin m: 1885 .....2 Patrick J. Fay b: 3/7/1861 ........+Mary Ann Heeney b: 3/1857 m: 1888 ..........3 Nicholas Joseph Fay b: 2/27/1890 ..........3 Elizabeth Fay b: 5/1894 ..........3 Anna Fay b: 1/1897 ..........3 Mary Fay b: 5/17/1899 d: 2/1975 .............+St Jean ...............4 Dorothy St Jean b: 1923 ...............4 Gloria St Jean b: 1924

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