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In a conversation about brands yesterday, my husband Steve McManus (father James E, grandfather Patrick married to Elaine Burke all from Greeley) said something about his great grandfather C. Elmer Burke
I looked up the Burke family brand, it is CE (the E is sideways) and it is registered to Lemoine (Bud) or his wife Maybelle Burke (who live in Greeley). Steve said that they called his great grandfather Elmer and that his first name was Clarence. From some conversation probably 20 years ago, I had thought that his name was Charles Elmer............and that led us to looking up Greeley County history.
I'm hoping that you can read through the information below and answer a few Burke Family questions.
I found in the 1930 Federal Census these Greeley residents
Elaine E. Burke born abt. 1916 (Steve's grandmother, deceased, married at 15 or 16 to Patrick McManus, 3 children Ann, James E. & Jerry)
Lemoine E. Burke born abt 1918 (that's Uncle "Bud")
Lillian T. Burke born abt 1920 ( married Don Wheeler lived in Council Bluffs)
Martina E. Burke born abt 1921(married to Robert Rover lives in California)
Doris M. Burke born abt 1923 (married Jim Wood from Greeley, lived in Arizona now lives in California)
Lucette G. Burke born abt 1928 (that must have been Lucille?deceased, married to Gene Jensen from St. Ed)
These are the siblings, Steve's grandmother and her younger brother and younger sisters.
Next on the list must be the parents ???
Elmer C. Burke born abt. 1891 (so, unlike the brand, this says Elmer C not C. Elmer - I assume he was born in Greeley? )
Esther T. Burke born abt 1981 (where did she come from? maiden name?)
and then is the next name Elmer's father?
Clarence P. Burke born abt 1853
There are 3 more Burkes in Greeley County in the 1930 Federal Census, but I'm thinking they're not related. The Burke's above were Protestant Swedish and the names below are typically Catholic. Do you know if there is any family connection? For that matter Burke is not a typical Swedish name, I can't help but think a J was dropped at immigration and that the original name was Bjerke or Bjørke
Eileen C. Burke born abt. 1916
Catherine E. Burke born abt 1880
Mary Frances Burke born abt 1870
I don't have access to The Pioneer History of Greeley County, but it is referenced on a web site I found yesterday. There I found the following Burkes.
C.P. Burke page 127
(I assume that's Clarence P. Burke born 1854 Steve's great great grandfather. Can you confirm? Where was he born, there weren't many people in Nebraska in 1854?)
John Burke page 58
Mary Burke pages 35, 58, 173
(since she and John Burke are both mentioned on pg. 58 I assume they're related to each other. But, are either of them related to us? Mary is not a typical Swedish first name)
T.G. Burke page 123, 126
(page 126 is the page before 127, is there any connections?)
Thomas Burke page 35, 61
(related to Mary? - on page 35?
Thomas Burke page 166
From an 1884 list I found
Charles P.W. Burke Freeman Valley, Greeley County
James J. Burke, Freeman Valley, Greeley County
First question, where was Freeman Valley? I can find Leo Valley on an old map, but I can't find Freeman Valley. And then the obvious question, Charles PW cant be the same person as Clarence P can it?
M. Burke, O'Connor
Thomas G. Burke, O'Connor
Is this the same T.G. Burke found in The Pioneering History of Greeley County? If it is then I assume it's another Burke family.
There are a few McManus Questions too.
According to my father-in-law (James E. McManus, born 1934), the story goes that his grandfather McManus lost his wife and three children all in the same night, after that "the man was never worth a damn." Did they die of "consumption" - tuberculosis? What year was this?
From the website reference to The Pioneer History of Greeley County I found
Anna McManus page 174
James McManus page 169
Are these the parents? Was Anna the wife who died? Was James Sarah's twin brother? Were they once in the newspaper as Nebraska's oldest living twins? Is this Patrick's father, James E.'s grandfather and Seve's great grandfather?
Maggie McManus page 174
Is she one of the children who died? Neither Steve or his father have ever heard of Maggie.
Mary McManus page 174
(Is this Aunt Mary Wood who married Orin? )
Miss Sarah page 133
(Is this another one of the children who died that night?)
Patrick page 62, 133
(I assume this is Steve's grandfather and James E.'s father, married to Elaine Burke - he would have been born about 1910 and he died when Steve & I were in 11th grade, I think-1972 or 1973)
Sarah page 169
(Is this the third child who died that night?)
And Aunt kate is missing from this list. She is the youngest of Grandpa patrick McManus' siblings. When she was a girl, during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl days, the story is that her parents couldn't afford to keep Kate with them in Nebraska, so they sent Aunt Kate to a relative in California. Kate had a son named Dan. No one seems to know the scoop there. Kate did end up marrying Karl Edwards who was a hunting guide and worked the oil fields in Wyoming. My father-in-law, Jim, his father Patrick and Steve used to go up to Wyoming to hunt with Dan in the 60's and early 70's. Karl & Kate had 2 adopted boys of Indian decent, Shando & Wando (spelling?) - one of those boys died. Kate is still alive today, she lives in Lafayette, Colorado. Dan Edwards died about 10 years ago, he was only in his 50s.)
In the 1884 List I found
Hugh McManus, Fish Creek
Hugh McManus, Center
J. McManus, Center
Steve's dad James E. was born in Fish Creek. Is there any connection between Hugh and Patrick McManus? Steve's grandparents Patrick & Elaine moved to Denver during the late 30s. They both milked at a local dairy and Patrick worked for Gates Rubber Co. When he was about 5 or 6 years old, Jim went back to Nebraska and lived with relatives. According to Steve it was because of a combination of the polio epidemic in Denver and the fact that the rural school was going to be closed down because there weren't enough students. Steve isn't sure whether his father went back to Fish Creek or if he lived with Uncle Bud & Maybelle.
Thanks for being involved with this project. As families move away, valuable history and great stories are lost.
Debbie Jacobsen-McManus
7007 E. Bayou Gulch Rd.
Parker, CO 80134
303.387.4083
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