Patrick Kennedy was born in Ireland around 1851, the son of Patrick Kennedy and Mary Flynn.
Patrick had a sister Bridget who married Joseph Burke at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Newark, NJ on October 20, 1881. They did not have any children. According to the 1900 Census, Bridget emmigrated to America from Ireland in 1860. This census also states that she was born in Ireland in May, 1852. Joseph Burke dies in 1908. Bridget died on December 13, 1918 and is buried with her husband in the Cemetery of Holy Sepulchre, East Orange, NJ, but we have not been able to locate her death certificate.
According to the 1880 census, Patrick Kennedy was also born in Ireland, abt. 1851. He dies in September 29, 1881 at the age of 30 in Harrison, NJ, leaving his wife, Mary Anne Thompson, with two children and a third on the way. Unfortunately, only their first born child survives infancy. Mary herself dies in 1888, leaving their son Patrick Kennedy, an orphan.
The details here are not clear. After a period of stay in an orphanage Patrick Kennedy moves in with his Uncle James Atwell, who is the husband of his mother's sister Alice Thompson Atwell (1857-1892). He is living with James in the 1895 and 1900 Census. Around the age of 18 he changes his name to George James Kennedy (to avoid anti-irish discrimination, according to family lore). He marries Mary Anne Higgins June 18, 1902 at St. Joseph's Church, Newark, NJ.
George James Kennedy and Mary Anne Higgins have four children:
Mary Elizabeth Kennedy bn: March 26, 1903. Married Thomas Curran June 26, 1926 at St. Leo's Church, Irvington, NJ. D: March 24, 1966, NJ.
George Thomas Kennedy bn: August 18, 1904. Married Rosemary M. Ferris July 1, 1931 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Newark, NJ. D: Nov 4, 1988 in Mesa, AZ.
James Andrew Kennedy bn: March 27, 1907. Married Dorothy Frances Van Cleve October 17, 1936 at St. Joseph's Church, Maplewood, NJ.
Francis Joseph Kennedy bn: February 15, 1917. Married Katharine Cassidy January 31, 1954 at St. Mary's Church, Plainfield, NJ.
George James Kennedy, Mary Higgins, Mary, George, and James, with Thomas E. Higgins and Elizabeth Jane Payne Morrison Higgins, at home in 659 Centre St., Nutley, NJ circa 1910.
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