A history of St. Joseph's parish of De Witt describes the first marriage of this couple from the newly founded parish:
The first marriage was in September when Thomas Reed and Mary Flannery were married. They went by stage coach to Dubuque and were married by Bishop Loras.
His tombstone reads ``Thomas Reed, d 11 Mar 1861, age 33y , native of Queens Co Ireland.'' Buried beside him is his son Thomas F. and Mary E., wife of Thomas F. The 11 Mar 1861 date is from a cemetery index. The stone is practically unreadable (1999).
Thomas's widow, Mary, remarried to Timothy Cranney.
I'm pretty sure Timothy is the same person as the Reed's farmhand in 1860. Cranney was born in 1826 according to his biography in the 1879 Clinton Co. history book, which isn't too far off from the 1860 age of 36. In the 1870 census, Thomas' children, Thomas Reed, age 14, and William, age 12, living with the Timothy Cranny household in Washington township. Timothy (name spelled ``Timma Cranny''), Mary and her son William Reed are together in the 1880 census along with Timothy and Mary's sons Charles and John Cranney.
According to Timothy's 1879 biography, he came to America in the fall of 1852; lived in Kentucky one and a half years; came to Clinton Co. in 1854; bought the farm he now owns in 1860;
Timothy Cranney is buried at Villa Nova. I never noted who is buried with him there, but it would be worthwhile.
Sources for this individual: @S537@ @S596@ @S1308@ @S787@ @S134@ @S154@ @S166@
