• Migration - Where the heck did these people come from?
• Donovan Family Tree - Some of the "characters" that make up Lisa's family tree.
• InterneTree -   My DONOVAN ancestors in "tree" format, rather than list format
  (located on my Family Tree Maker Web space)
• Web Sites - Links to Web sites helpful in tracking these Donovan "characters".

MIGRATION
Where the heck did these people come from?

My Donovan ancestors seem to hail from Cork, County Cork, Ireland. Rumor has it that in the early 1800's, probably about the time of the War of 1812, British troops forced my ancestor, JEREMIAH DONOVAN, onto a warship bound for the United States. When the ship reached Sydney Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada, Jeremiah and some buddies jumped ship, swam for shore, and made Nova Scotia their new home. Eventually, Jeremiah's brother, GEORGE DONOVAN (my great-great-great grandfather) joined him in Nova Scotia.

In the late 1880's, my Donovan ancestors made a brief pit stop in Boston, Massachusetts, before returning to Nova Scotia.  Then, in 1924, when jobs were scarce in Nova Scotia, John Albert Donovan (my grandfather) caught wind of the news that Henry Ford was paying factory workers an astounding $5 a day in Detroit, Michigan. So my grandfather and several of his brothers headed across the border in search of jobs. A year later, my grandmother and 9 children (!) packed up all their belongings and joined my grandfather in Motown. My grandparents had 4 more children once they got settled in Detroit, one of which was my father.... although my father has always claimed that he's really from MARS !

My father must have decided that 13 kids in one family was way too many, because my parents put the skids on their reproductive machinery after only 2 kids! Being from a small family definitely had its advantages when we were growing up - like always getting a window seat in the car on family trips, and having our very own bedrooms. But it also had disadvantages - like not having too many people to blame when grape juice got spilled on Mom's new carpeting!

Anyway, below is a brief synopsis of my Donovan ancestry. If you'd like more detail, I'd be happy to share it with you .... just zap me an e-mail message.

DONOVAN FAMILY TREE
Some of the "characters" that make up Lisa's family tree.

1. DONOVAN, (?), b. County Cork, Ireland, children: Jeremiah and George
   
2. DONOVAN, GEORGE, b. Cork, County Cork, Ireland, m. CATHERINE MOLLOY, children: John (Tim)
   
3. DONOVAN, JOHN (TIM), b. 1825 (Nova Scotia ?), d. Jan. 17, 1881, Ingonish, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, m. HANNAH (HANORAH) WALSH, 1845, Bras D'or, Nova Scotia, Canada, children: Elizabeth, Margaret, Ellen, Catherine, William Patrick, John J., Mary Ann, Selevin (Selina), Jeremiah, Timothy John, Thomas James, Johannah, and Edmond Arthur
   
4. DONOVAN, JOHN J., b. Nov. 1858, Ingonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, d. Sept. 5, 1936, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, m. LILLIAN CURTIS, children: Henry William, Joseph Harry, John Arthur, John Albert, Boyno Henry, James Luke, Thomas Ervin, Lillian Laurette, Kate, and Patrick (Paddy)
   
5. DONOVAN, JOHN ALBERT, b. Sept. 27, 1886, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, d. Aug 21, 1947, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, m. ANN Mac ISAAC, children: Kathleen Joseph, Herman John, Francis Xavier, Andrew Cavell, Ann Celeste, Patrick Albert, Gregory Leonard, Margaret, James Aloysious, Paul Alexander, Gregory Ignatius, Dennis Henry, and Mary Lillian
   
6. DONOVAN, GREGORY IGNATIUS, b. Oct 12, 1927, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, d. Nov. 10, 2004, Farmington Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, m. EVELYN JUNE SHEFFER, children: Lisa Caril and April Ann
   
7. (ME!) DONOVAN, LISA CARIL, b. Sept. 1, 1955, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, m. K. SCOTT FLEMING, children: Trisha Ann, Michael James, and Molly Ann

Web Sites
Links to Web sites helpful in tracking these Donovan "characters".

• NOVA SCOTIA
  Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
  The Nova Scotia GenWeb Project
  The Beaton Institute Archive (University College of Cape Breton)
  Lark and Victor's Cape Breton Pages (Lark Szick is the author of "Early Settlers of Ingonish")
  
  

• IRELAND
  The Irish Times
  Celtic Origins Irish Sites
  Irish History on the Web
  National Archives of Ireland