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The Levings Family
By Linus Joseph Dewald Jr.
Revised 15 Aug 2011

Introduction: With the help of a great many folks, including most recently Nora (Cunningham) Dufficy in Ireland, we have prepared the following Levings family tree:

1. James Levings, perhaps b. circa 1765-1770 in Ireland.

While James was quite probably born in Ireland, his birth record has not yet been located. It is likely that he was born at, or near, Bally Veamore, Kilkeel, in County Down where his son, George, was born and where a number of his son John's children were born. The year of his birth is presently estimated to be about 1770 or so based on the 1823 birth date of his oldest known grandchild, Elizabeth "Eliza" Levings.

The date and place of his death also is not known. He might have died at or near Kilkeel. On the other hand, his wife, Catharine, died in Kansas and is buried at Fidelity Cemetery, Sabetha, Kansas.

He married Catharine O'Hare c. 1800. She was b. 1773, in Ireland[1]. Died, 5 Feb 1876, in KS. Burial in Fidelity Cem., Sabetha, KS.

Little is known about Catharine. She may have been born at or near Kilkeel in County Down, Ireland where a number of the children of her son John were born. Current family sources say she was born in 1773.

There has not yet been found a marriage record, but it was probably about 1800 based on the birth dates of John's children.

Catharine probably had several children, but only two are presently known: her son John, born about 1800, and her son, George, born in 1819 at Kilkeel in County Down.

At an unknown date, Catharine immigrated to America. Perhaps it was about 1857, the approximate date when her son George immigrated. She died at or near Sabetha, KS on 5 Feb 1876 at the age of about 100. Children: 

   2       i.  John Levings, b. c. 1792.
   3      ii.  George Levings Mar 1819, in Bally Veamore, Kilkeel, Down.

2. John Levings. Tom Cunningham's email of 15 Aug 2011 contains copies of John's Death Certificate. It shows that "John Livins" was a farmer, b. c. 1792, probably Co. Down, Ireland, and that he died on 15 Feb 1864, Bally Veamore, Co. Down, age 72 from "Bronchittis" The "Informant" on the Death Certificate was "George B. Livins," probably is son, #7 below.

John is one of the two children presently known to have been born to James Levings and Catharine O'Hare. His birth date is not certain, was about 1800 based on the 1823 birth of his eldest known child, Elizabeth. The place of his birth is also not known, but was probably at or near Kilkeel where Elizabeth was born. The date and place of his death are not known. He may have died in County Down, or he might have immigrated to America with his brother George and other siblings, or with the rest of his children who settled at or near Sabetha, Kansas.

He married Alice Margaret Higgins c. 1825 in Co. Down. Tom Cunningham's email of 15 Aug 2011 contains copies of Alice's Death Certificate. It shows that Alice died 2 Apr 1869 andwas then a widow (her husband having died, 5 years before in 1864. Cause of death was "chronic bronchitis." The "Informant" on the Death Certificate was "George B. Livens," probably is son, #7 below.

Alice is known to have had at least five children, all born at Bally Veamore in County Down. Of those five children, John died of TB at about the age of 21. The rest, except for Jane who is said to have died in Ireland, eventually moved to America and settled in Brown and Nemaha Counties, Kansas. Most are buried in Fidelity Cemetery at Sabetha. It is not yet known if Alice also immigrated. Perhaps she died at County Down. Children:

  1. Elizabeth "Eliza"[3] Levings. Born, 5 Apr 1823, in Bally Veamore, Down. . . . . [2.10]
  2. Kathryn Levings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [4]
  3. Jane Levings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5]
  4. John Levings[3]. Born, circa 1826, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ire. Died, circa 1847 (?), in Ire. According to the 29 Aug 1986 letter of Joseph R. Prentice, John was the only one of the siblings who did not immigrate to America. He died of TB at about age 21.
  5. Rosanna Levings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [6]
  6. George Levings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[7]

2.10 Elizabeth "Eliza" Levings. Born, 5 Apr 1823, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ire. Died, 22 Apr 1892. Burial in R/C Cem., Alexandria, NE. Elizabeth is the eldest of the five children of John Levings and Alice Margaret Higgins. The date of her immigration to America is not presently known.

She married Patrick Cunningham, 25 Aug 1842. He was b. 2 Sep 1819, Down, County Down, and d. either 1868 or 11 Jun 1881 in Ireland per Ancestry.com . He was the son of James Cunningham. It is unclear whether he is the James Cunningham referenced in Tom Cunningham's email of 15 Aug 2011 who was a "Labourer" and d. 12 Jan 1864 of "gangrene" which seems to indicate an accident of some sort. It is noted that the "Informant" on the death certificate of the the James Cunningham who w. in 1864 was his father, also named James Cunningham. 4

Children of Elizabeth and Patrick, per Ancestry.com :

  1. Mary Jane Cunningham 1846 – 1913
  2. Charlotte Cunningham 1847 – 1917
  3. Patrick Cunningham 1849 –
  4. Alice Cunningham 1851 –
  5. Elizabeth Cunningham 1853 –
  6. John Cunningham 1855 – 1942
  7. Ann Cunningham 1857 – 1859
  8. Ann Cunningham 1859 –
  9. Katherine Cunningham 1861 – 1950
  10. Arthur Cunningham 1863 –
  11. Patrick Cunningham 1866 –
  12. Nicholas Edward Cunningham 1868 – 1955

3. George[2] Levings (JAMES, 1). Born, 25 Mar 1819, in Bally Veamore, Kilkeel, Down, Ire.[4]. Died, 26 Sep 1922, in Fidelity, Sabetha, KS[4]. Burial in Fidelity Cem., Sabetha, KS. Immigration: circa 1857 (?)[4]. Occupation: Farmer.

George is the younger of the two known children of James Levings and Catharine O'Hare. Born in 1819 at Kilkeel, County Down, he immigrated to America about 1857 or earlier. He lived for a time at or near Rome, NY where his daughter, Rose was born about 1858. His wife apparently died shortly thereafter.

George then moved to Kansas where, for a time he was a farrier in Leavenworth County. He remarried in 1859 at Leavenworth. After his marriage, George and his family moved to Powhattan, Brown Co., near Fidelity where they pre-empted land for farming.

According to his Certificate of Death, George died of "Senility" at 4:30 PM on 26 Sep 1922 in Powhatten Township, Fairview, Brown County, Kansas. His wife had predeceased him by four years. His age at death was 103 years, 6 months, and 1 day.

He married, first, Margaret McCordelle, before 1857 (?). Died, before 1958 (?). Little is known about Margaret, her birth, or her parents. She died shortly after the birth of her only known child, her daughter, Rose at Rome, NY. Children: 

	i.  Rose[3] Levings. Born, circa 1858, in Rome, NY[1]. Died
               in Atchison, KS[5]. Sister Philomena, OSB.   She appears in the 
               1875 census in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS census, at home, age 17.

George m. 2nd Mary Ann Tipperman, daughter of Gerhardt Tabermann and Unknown, 9 Oct 1859, in Leavenworth, KS[1]. Born, 2 Oct 1841, in Hanover, Ger.[1]. Died, 24 Oct 1918, in Fidelity, KS[1]. Burial in Fidelity Cem., Sabetha, KS. Dau. of Gerhardt and Mary A. Taberman Children: 

   8      ii.  Catherine Levings.
   9     iii.  James David Levings.
  10      iv.  John Levings.
           v.  Mary Levings. Born, circa 1867 (?), in Brown, KS. Died, 
               1926. Sister Merwina OSB. 
  11      vi.  Elizabeth Levings.
         vii.  Joseph Levings. Born, 7 Jun 1872, in Brown, KS. Died, 19 
               May 1912. Occupation: Priest.
  12    viii.  Henry Levings.
  13      ix.  William Levings.
  14       x.  Margaret Levings.
          xi.  Agnes Levings. Born, circa 1885 (?), in Brown, KS[1]. Died,
               1906.

4. Kathryn[3] Levings (JOHN, 2). Born, circa 1824, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ire.

Kathryn is the second child, and one of the four daughters of the five children of John Levings and Alice Margaret Higgins. She is said to have immigrated to America with her brother and sisters and settled in either Brown or Nemaha County, Kansas. Although her grave has not yet been located, she may be buried with a number of other relatives at Fidelity Cemetery at Sabetha, Kansas. Not in 1880 census.

Kathryn Levings m. Thomas McCartin. Children: 

	i.  (female)[4] McCartin. She married Clyde Thomas Swanson.  
		Apparently not in 1880 census.

5. Jane[3] Levings (JOHN, 2)[6]. Born, circa 1826, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ire. Died in Ire.

Jane is the middle child of the five children of John Levings and Alice Margaret Higgins. She is said to have died in Ireland, possibly County Down. She married John McKibbon. Children: 

           i.  Unknown [4].

6. Rosanna Levings (JOHN, 2). Born, 20 Mar 1828, in Kilkeel, Down, Ire. Died, 5 Aug 1924, in Sabetha, Nemaha, KS. Death(2) in Horton, Brown, KS. Immigration: May 1856.

Rosanna, born in 1828, was the youngest of the six known children of John Levings and his wife, Alice (Eliza, Kathryn, Jane, John, George, Rosanna). (It may be noted that the 1828 birth date tends to corroborate the information provided about her husband's birth date.) The Levings had money enough so Rosanna was sent to France to become a teacher in the hedgerows (underground). (According to one authority, it was illegal in Ireland at that time to teach Catholics how to read or write.) She returned in the early 1850's and married over family's protests; apparently Patrick was a man who could not read or write, had no steady job, no home, and no prosepects and they felt such a well-educated young Irish girl deserved better. She, obviously, felt otherwise and must have found in him many other admirable and redeeming qualities. After marriage their marriage in 1853, Pat and Rosanna moved in with Rosanna's parents. (Note: other versions of the story say they moved in with Pat's parents; that seems more likely, given her parent's hostility to the marriage.)

According to Joseph R. Prentice's letter of 29 Aug 1986, after Patrick had gone to America to earn money for her passage too, he was just about ready to return to ireland when he received a letter from Rosanna saying, "Do you know what that old fool of a father of yours has done? His wife hardly cold in her grave and he ups and marries a 20 year old girl, Mary Cannon."

Concerning Rosanna's family history, the following is an excerpt from a 1962 letter from Mrs. Edgar Jay Sherman (Anne Rooney) of San Anselmo, CA to Bernard Rooney III of Dodge City, KS:

Anne Mieback wrote: "...mother always signed her name as Rosanna, never Rosanne, but Father always called her Rosanne." Rosanna died at Sabetha, KS in 1924 at the advanced age of 96 years.

She married Patrick "Pat" Rooney, son of Edward "Ned" Rooney and Margaret O'Hare on 7 Feb 1853, in Ballyveamore, Ballymartin, Down, Ire.[7]. Born, 12 Aug 1830, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ireland. Died, 2 Dec 1914, in Horton, Brown, KS. Burial in Fidelity Cem, Fairview, KS. Immigration: 1856 (?), in Galesburg, IL. Occupation: Farmer.

Pat's gravestone says he was born in 1828. Not true, says Anne (Rooney) Miebach. She says Pat added 2 years to his age because he did not want anyone to know he was younger than his wife, Rosanna.

Concerning Pat's immigration to America, Joseph R. Prentice, a family genealogist living in Annandale, VA, wrote as follows: "Pat spent his youth on the Isle of Man while Ned followed the sea," and "things god bad for potato farmers after the famine of about 1847. Pat went to work on the Isle of Man. Pat came back in late 1852, met and married Rosanna Levings. (I) used to hear my grandmother Prentice, nee Maggie Jane Rooney, tell how Pat migrated to America leaving wife with baby, Ed (Albert Edward Rooney), she was a very proud woman. A week or so after he (Patrick) left, she (Maggie) discovered that she was pregnant. Pat wanted her to wait until he had earned enough to set up a proper home for her. She refused to await a child who might be born more than nine months after Pat had left, if she ran a long term. Scandal, you know! So, against his wishes and without telling him, she packed the baby and her few belongings and left for America. Believe that this is the child who was still born and Pat blamed her stubbornness for it especially as the next three were all girls."

There is, however, a problem presented by that story. According to information received, the first child of Pat and his wife is Albert Edward Rooney who was born 24 Dec 1853 at Bally Veamore, County Down, Ireland, rather than in America. Their second child, Margaret Rooney, was born 1 Apr. 1858 at Galesburg, Knox County, IL. Pat is said to have married his wife in 1853 and immigrated to America in 1856.

Albert Edward Rooney must be the "Ed" to whom the story referred. If she was thereafter pregnant, and given Margaret's 1 Apr. 1858 birth date, she probably became pregnant about July, 1857. Assuming that Pat is the father, that would place Pat's immigration to America as the latter part of 1857 rather than 1856.

Joseph also relates another story about Pat's immigration which follows the same general time frame, but from a somewhat different perspective: "(Pat and Rosanna) had been married...and were living with grandfather's people and jobs were scarce for the great famine in Ireland had been just a few years before. They were invited to a dance this nite and stayed until early morning. When they got home, the door was locked and grandfather was so angry he kicked it in and had a quarrel with his parents, and they told him to leave. He went, and sold a horse he felt was his and bought a ticket (sailing vessel) to America. He lacked 5 pounds for enough to bring grandmother and no one could or would lend it to him. Grandmother was pregnant when he sailed.

He got work putting the railroad through at Galesburg, Ill. at $1.00 a day. He saved enough money for her pasage the first year but the ship was lost on which it was sent, then again he sent it and the bank broke through which it was sent. The third time it was sent Uncle Ed was (illegible: 3 1/3?) years old. Her people with whom she lived (felt?) that he had deserted her and were very mean to her. She supported herself and the baby by doing embroidery work. Her mother was the village school teacher. .p .p Mother (Margaret) was born 9 months after Grandmother landed in Galesburg, IL, April 1, 1857." There are some minor discrepencies. He says Rosanna was pregnant when Pat sailed, and says she gave birth 9 months after arriving in America, yet it is hard to imagine how that could be with the intervening period needed to earn enough money for passage three different times. .p .p In other letters, Joseph mentions the possibility that the child with whom Rosanna was pregnant was stillborn. Based on that statement, which seems to be the most reasonable way to reconcile the story, a stillborn child has been listed with a birthdate of 1856.

Another anecdote concerning Rosanna's immigration to America: It is said that her son was over two and one-half years at the time she received the money to sail to America. When she got to the boat, she was informed that children over age two would be an additional half fare. She lied and said that the child was not yet two. This little white lie bothered her in her later years.

The family story is also told that the journey on the sailing vessel which took six weeks and you had to have your own food. One day, while walking on the deck she met the Captain and he said, "Well, Mrs.Rooney, how long has your husband in America?" She said, "Over three years." Then she wondered why he smiled...until she figured it out. Good story, but with a flaw; it assumes that her then current pregnancy did not show and for her to have been pregnant Pat would have been gone less than 9 months so there was no reason for her to have said over three years. The story obviously relates to the "child under two free fare" mentioned above and may just be a family joke.

Pat and Rosanna moved to Leavenworth, KS in 1858 and to Brown Co. near Fidelity, KS in 1869 where he engaged in general forming for 25 years. In 1894 his family moved to Horton, KS. Pat and Rosanna owned Lots 21-28 in Block 125, CK&N Addition to the City of Horton.

Joseph R. Prentice writes: "When I was a little boy (around 1920, give or take a couple years), we used to visit my great grandmother (Pat's wife, who would have been in her late 80's or early 90's)...She had a favorite refrain that went about as follows: 'Pat, the dirty devil, him and that whisky! Killed him, it did, right in the prime of his life and left me with the big family to raise and the farm to run.' I used to imagine (Pat) in his 30's from what she said. After I became interested in genealogy, I hunted up his grave in the old Fidelity Cemetery, Nemaha Co., KS. It reads: Patrick Rooney, died at the age of 84 years, 3 months and 20 days. I wonder to what age he might have lived had it not been for the whisky. He was an extremely handsome man even when in his 80's."

Pat predeceased his wife Rosanna by 10 years. Children: 

  15       i.  Albert Edward "Ed"[4] Rooney.
          ii.  (stillborn child) Rooney. Born, 1856 (?), in Galesburg, 
               Knox, IL[8]. No record of the child's birth has yet been 
               found. The baby's birth and early death is assumed based on
               family traditions. from 
  16     iii.  Margaret Jane Rooney 
  17      iv.  Mary Alice Rooney.
           v.  Rosanna "Annie" Rooney. Born, 19 Feb 1861, in Leavenworth, 
               KS[9]. Died, 29 Apr 1862, in Leavenworth, KS[10]. Burial in
               Fidelity Cem., KS.
  18      vi.  John Francis Rooney.
         vii.  Patrick Rooney. Born, 19 Feb 1864, in Leavenworth, KS. 
               Died, 5 Aug 1865, in Leavenworth, KS. Burial in Fidelity 
               Cem., KS.
  19    viii.  William "Will" Tecumseh Rooney.
  20      ix.  George Bernard Rooney.
  21       x.  Arthur Patrick Rooney.
          xi.  Elizabeth Anne Jane Rooney. Born, 7 Feb 1872, in Fidelity, 
               Brown, KS. Died, 17 Jul 1966, in Los Angeles, L.A., CA[11].
               Burial in Fidelity, KS. She married Harry Ernest Miebach, 
               21 Jan 1902, in Horton, Brown, KS. 
                     A 1962 letter by her says she and her husband moved 
               to Horton, KS to live about 1894 or 1895. After her husband 
               died about 1925, she moved to California, living in 1962 at
               1124 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, CA.

7. George[3] B. Levings (John-2) was b, 20 Mar 1828 in Kilkeel, Co. Down, Ire.[12]. Died in Ireland. George and his family did not immigrate to America.

We have conflicting information about George's marriage: