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The Rooney Family
Prepared by: Linus Joseph Dewald Jr. 
E-mail:      dewald@prenticenet.com
Newsletter:  www.prenticenet.com/home/news/
Date:        29 October 1997 and Revised 13 Nov 2008
Source:      From a Roots3, Rooney Database

INTRODUCTION: The Rooney name originates in Ulster but is equally common in Lienster and Connacht, its greatest concentrations in Ulster is in Co. Down. The O'Rooneys, (o' Ruanaidh "hero/champion") were a Co. Down sept who were based in the modern parish of Ballyroney to the north of Rathfriland. The name appears often in the ecclesiastical annals and history of the diocese of Drumore. Ceallach O'Rooney who died in 1079, was styled chief poet of Ireland. Anciently, O'Rooney served as hereditary bards and poets to the McGuinness family.

O'Runaidhin, a name which originates in central Down but which later became associated with south Donegal and north Leitrim. There are two different origins for Rooney in Co. Fermanagh and adjacent areas, the Maolruanaigh were kings of Fermanagh before the Maguires, there names were Anglicised as Mulrooney, then Rooney.

A good website for researching the Rooney surname can be found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nirdow2/rooney.htm#Rooney_Researchers .

1. PATRICK[1] ROONEY. Born, circa 1789 (?), in Co. Down?, Ire.[1]. He emigrated to the US at some date before 1850 when he appears in Rochester Ward 1, Monroe Co., NY, age 61 years..

Almost nothing is known about Patrick Rooney. His date of birth is a guess based on the known birth dates of some of his grandchildren. It is likely, although not proven, that he was born in County Down, Ireland and it is probably in Ireland that he died, possibly at County Down.

By email of 30 Dec 2004, we received the following information from Mary McClure which may, or may not, relate to this same family:

He m. 1st Jane McBenus, b. c. 1786, Ireland per Ancestry.com: Cunningham/Chambers Family Tree . Children:

  1. Edward "Ned" Rooney, b. c. 1810, Co. Down, Ireland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [2]
  2. James Rooney, b. 1813, Ireland.
  3. John Rooney, b. 1817, Ireland.
  4. Peter Rooney, b. 1820, Ireland.
  5. Patrick Rooney, b. 1825, Ireland.
  6. Michael Rooney, b. 1828, Ireland.

SECOND GENERATION

2. EDWARD "NED"[2] ROONEY (PATRICK, 1). He was b. c. 1810, in Co. Down, Ireland, and d. c. 1896, in Ireland.

Edward, known as Ned, is the only presently known child of Patrick Rooney, although in those days of large families it seems likely that there were other siblings whose identities have not yet been ascertained.

His birth date is unknown, but his eldest child, his son Patrick, was born in 1830. That would suggest that perhaps Ned was around 25 at that time which would place his birth date at about 1805. Neither is his place of death known for certain. In his letter of 11 Jun 1990, Carlisle Ganz writes: "I have no information that he immigrated to the States - I understand that he died in Ireland..." Ned married twice during his lifetime. By his first wife, Margaret (O'Hare), whom he married about 1829, Ned had five sons and a daughter. By his second wife, Mary (Cannon), who he married after Margaret passed away, Ned had two more sons.

The following information is from information excerpted from a letter by Mary Elizabeth Cunningham:

The Isle of Man is a large island situated in the Irish Sea about 50 miles straight east of County Down and about 35 miles from the coast of England, the nearest point on the English coast being the port city of Whitehaven, the city to which Elizabeth's letter probably referred. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's letter did not identify the product in which Ned was a "dealer." Her choice of the word, "dealer," is interesting. The dictionary defines a "dealer" as one engaged in buying and selling; trading, as a "fur trader." Given that time and place, perhaps he was a dealer in livestock such as cattle or sheep. Carlisle Ganz's letter of 11 June 1990 affirms that Ned was a cattle dealer.

In his son's (Hugh) 1882 Marriage Certificate, the son is identified as a fisherman residing in the Town of Peel on the Isle of Man.

Ned died about 1896 at about the age of 91.

He married, first, MARGARET O'HARE, circa 1829 (?), in Ire. Born, circa 1804 (?). Died, circa 1856 (?).

Margaret apparently died after her son, Patrick, had immigrated to America in 1856. Approximately six months after her death, her husband, Patrick, married Mary Cannon. Children: 

   3       i.  PATRICK "PAT"[3] ROONEY.
          ii.  Edward "Ned" Rooney. Born, circa 1838, in Kilkeel, Down, 
               Ire.[2]. Died, circa 1856, in Great Lakes. 
                     Ned was a seaman. Ned came to America Patrick and was
               working on the Great Lakes on a ship. Concerning his death,
               one version by Joseph R. Prentice he drowned in a storm in 
               Lake Michigan. Another version from Mrs. Edgar Jay Sherman 
               (Annie Rooney) says he came to America with his brother 
               Patrick and drowned at age 18 in an attempt to swim across 
               Lake Michigan. Based on that account, Ned has tentatively 
               been given a death date of about 1838. In another letter by
               Anne (Rooney) Mieback to Mrs. Edgar Jay Sherman purporting 
               to correct the Sherman letter, Anne says Ned came at a 
               different time from Patrick, was homesteading land in 
               Michigan, and drowned while swimming in Lake Superior. 
               Finally, the Eleanor Seberger book says that he was born in
               the year following his brother Patrick's birth which would 
               make his birth date 1831.

He married, second, Mary Cannon, circa 1856, in Co. Down, Ireland. Born, circa 1831 (?), in Co. Down, Ire. Died, 1918[3]. Burial in Alexandria, NE. Joseph R. Prentice write that Mary lived with her son, James, after her husband died and she immigrated to America. Children: 

   4     iii.  Hugh Rooney.
   5      iv.  Mark Rooney.
   6       v.  John "Punch" Rooney.
          vi.  Edward Rooney. Born, 1 Nov 1863, in Co. Down, Ire.[4]. 
               Died, 1946. Edward never married. 
   7     vii.  Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rooney.
   8    viii.  James "Jim" Rooney.

THIRD GENERATION

3. PATRICK "PAT"[3] ROONEY (EDWARD "NED", 2). Born, 12 Aug 1830, in Bally Veamore, Down, Ireland. Died, 2 Dec 1914, in Horton, Brown, KS. Burial in Fidelity Cem, Fairview, Brown, 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:

"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.

He married ROSANNA LEVINGS, daughter of JOHN LEVINGS and ALICE MARGARET HIGGINS, 7 Feb 1853, in Ballyveamore, Ballymartin, Down, Ire.[5]. Born, 20 Mar 1828, in Kilkeel, Down, Ire. Died, 5 Aug 1924, in Sabetha, Nemaha, KS[6]. 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. Children: 

   9       i.  Albert Edward "Ed"[4] Rooney.
          ii.  (stillborn child) Rooney. Born, 1856 (?), in Galesburg, 
               Knox, IL[7]. 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 
  10     iii.  MARGARET JANE ROONEY.
  11      iv.  Mary Alice Rooney.
           v.  Rosanna "Annie" Rooney. Born, 19 Feb 1861, in Leavenworth, 
               KS[8]. Died, 29 Apr 1862, in Leavenworth, KS[9]. Burial in 
               Fidelity Cem., Nemaha, KS.
  12      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., Nemaha, KS.
  13    viii.  William "Will" Tecumseh Rooney.
  14      ix.  George Bernard Rooney.
  15       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[10].
               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.

4. Hugh[3] Rooney (EDWARD "NED", 2). Born, 15 Sep 1856, in Co. Down, Ire. Died, 7 May 1936[11]. Burial in Fidelity Cem.

Hugh is Edward "Ned" Rooney's third child, and the first child of his second marriage to Mary Cannon about 1856. He is a half-brother to Patrick "Pat" Rooney, above. His 14 Feb 1882 Marriage Certificate, issued when he was 25 years of age, identifies his "Rank or Profession" as that of a Fisherman and says that he had lived for the preceeding two years in the Town of Peel on the southwewst coast of the Isle of Man. That would indicate he was 23 when he moved to Peel, perhaps from County Down.

Since he was married in the Roman Catholic Chapel in the port town of Douglas on the southeast coast of the Isle of Man, he presumably was Catholic.

There is no specific information presently available concerning Hugh's immigration to America, but it was some time before the birth of his daughter, Eva Catherine Rooney, on 7 Aug 1897 at Oneida, KS.

He married Isabella "Isabel" Sarah Cunningham, 14 Feb 1882 (?), in Isle of Man[12]. Born, 26 Aug 1858 (?), in Town of Peel, Dist. of Peel, Isle of Man. Died, 16 May 1932. Burial in Fidelity Cem.

Isabel's birth date is unknown, but her Marriage Certificate says that at the time of her 1882 marriage she was a "Spinster" of "Full age". One would suspect that term "Spinster" was used in the since of an unmarried rather than an elderly old maid since her husband was but 25 years of age at the time of his marriage to her.

Her Marriage Certificate states that she lived in the Parish of German in the District of Peel, and that she had lived her entire life in the Town of Peel on the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. In view of the fact that the Marriage Certificate states that the marriage is to be solemnizedin the Roman Catholic Chapel in the Town of Douglas on the southeast coast of the Isle of Man, one can reasonably assume that she was Catholic. Children:

  1. Mary E.[4] Rooney. Born, 1883, probably England. Died, 1899, probably in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS. Burial in Fidelity Cem.
  2. John E. Rooney, b. c. 1884, England. 1900 census in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS. Residence in Stratton, NE[13]. It is unclear whether he is the John E. Rooney shown in the 1910 census in Lincoln, Jefferson Co., NE, as b. c. 1884 with his wife, Minnie L., b. c. 1885, Germany, and children. They later appear in the 1920 census in Burntwood, Rawlins Co., KS: Children:
    1. Leola Rooney, b. c. 1908, NE. At home in 1910 and 1920
    2. Mary E. Rooney, b. c. 1908, NE. At home in 1910 and 1920
    3. Eva M. Rooney, b. c. 1909, NE. At home in 1910 and 1920
    4. Marjorie J. Rooney, b. c. 1912, KS. At home in 1920 census.
    5. John E. Rooney, b. c. 1914, KS. At home in 1920 census.
    6. Anna L. Rooney, b. c. 1915, KS. At home in 1920 census.
    7. Patrick H. Rooney, b. c. 1917, KS. At home in 1920 census.
    8. William Lloyd "Lloyd" Rooney, b. 17 Mar 1919, KS, obtained his SS# in KS, and d. 16 May 1988, Trenton, Hitchcock, NE, per SSDI. Bur. in Atwood, KS, per Chad Rooney, email, 27 Jun 2009.
  3. Mark Rooney, b. 3 Dec 1884, England per 1900 census for Powhattan, Brown Co., KS. . . . . [16]
  4. Anna Rooney. Born, 30 Apr 1886, in Isle of Man, England. It is unclear whether she is the Eliza Rooney shown in the 1900 census at home and as b. Apr 1887, England. Died in Denver, CO. Burial in Mt. Olivet Cem., Denver, CO. Occupation: Catholic Nun.
  5. Hugh Rooney, b. Oct 1889, England. 1900 census at home in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS. Residence in Davenport, IA[13].
  6. Sara Rooney, b. Feb 1891, England. 1900 census at home in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS. . . . . [18]
  7. Patrick J. Rooney. Born, 1893. Died, 1893.
  8. Daniel P. Rooney, b. Dec 1894, KS. 1900 census at home in Powhattan, Brown Co., KS.
  9. Eva Catherine "Catherine" Rooney, b. 7 Aug 1897, Oneida, KS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [17]
  10. Charles Rooney. Born, 14 Aug 1900, in Unk., Brown, KS. Died, 6 Jan 1984, in Topeka, KS[13]. He married Alice Smith.

5. Mark[3] Rooney (EDWARD "NED", 2). Born, 29 Jan 1857, in Co. Down, Ire.[14]. Died, 16 Jan 1950[15]. Immigration: 23 Apr 1885, in New York.

Mark is the fourth child of Edward "Ned" Rooney, the second by his second wife, Mary. According to an account by Mark's sister, Elizabeth, the two of them came to America together in 1885 and went by train the Sebetha, KS where their half-brother, Patrick, and his wife, Rosanna, were living.

Following his marriage, Mark and his wife apparently lived for a time in Brown Co., KS where his eldest child, Edward, was born in 1889. Some time prior to 1908 Mark and his family moved to Rawlins Co., KS where his eighth and last child, Alice was born. Mark's death date is not known, but it was probably some time after the birth of his last child, daughter Alice, in 1908 in Rawlins Co., KS.

He married Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Prentice, 11 Oct 1887. Born, 28 Dec 1868, in Nemaha Co., KS. Died, 26 Aug 1933. Burial in Cath. Cem., Beardsley, KS.

Sarah Elizabeth, known as "Lizzie", is the third of the eleven children of Joseph Rollin Prentice, the third by his first wife, Hester (Lunham). Margaret Rooney, Mark Rooney's father-in-law's second wife, was married to Mark's 28 year older brother, Patrick. Additional information about her may be found in the book, "Ancestors and Descendants of Valentine Prentice" by Linus Joseph Dewald, a great grandson of Margaret Rooney. Children: 

           i.  Edward J.[4] Rooney. Born, 24 May 1889, in Brown Co., KS. 
               He married Kattie.
  19      ii.  Hester Mary Rooney.
  20     iii.  Mark Patrick Rooney.
          iv.  Clara Marie Rooney. Born, 7 Sep 1896[14]. Died, Nov 1966. 
               She married Mr. Caram.
           v.  Ellen Rooney. Born, 15 Jul 1899. She married Cecil Tabler.
          vi.  Harvey P. Rooney. Born, 14 Nov 1902[14]. Died, 1952. He 
               married Alta.
         vii.  Infant Rooney. Born, 1906. Died, 1906.             
  21    viii.  Alice Rooney.

6. John "Punch"[3] Rooney (EDWARD "NED", 2). Born, 1861, in Kilkeel, Down, Ire.[16]. Died, 11 Oct 1937, in Topeka, KS[3]. Burial in Fidelity Cem., Nemaha, KS.

John is the sixth child of Edward, the fourth by his wife Mary. We don't yet know when he immigrated; all we know is that he died in Nemaha Co., KS in 1937.

He married Cecily/Cecilia McKibbon, daughter of Robert McKibbin and Mary Jane "The King" Cunningham, 7 Aug 1886 (?), in Brown Co., KS. Born, 10 Jun 1867, in Ballyveabeg, Kilkeel, Down, Ire. Died, 15 Aug 1936, in Topeka, Shawnee, KS[17]. Burial in Fid. Cem., Sabetha, KS. Occupation: Housewife. Children: 

  22       i.  Edward[4] Rooney.
  23      ii.  John (Jack?) Rooney.
  24     iii.  Florence Rooney.
          iv.  Robert Rooney. Born, 20 Nov 1893. Died, 30 May 1895. Burial
               in Fidelity Cem.
  25       v.  Cecilia Rooney.
  26      vi.  Robert Rooney.
  27     vii.  Jane Elizabeth Rooney.
  28    viii.  Josephine Rooney.

7. Elizabeth "Lizzie"[3] Rooney (EDWARD "NED", 2). Born, 15 Oct 1868, in Ballyvea, Down, Ire. Died, 1950 [11]. Immigration: 23 Apr 1885, in New York. 1910 census in Lincoln, Jefferson Co., NE.

Elizabeth, "Lizzie", was the seventh child of Edward "Ned" Rooney, the fifth by his second wife, Mary (Cannon). The following information is excerpted from a letter she wrote:

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Rooney were her half-brother Patrick and his wife, Rosanna.

She married Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cunningham, son of Patrick "Paddy, the King" Cunningham and Elizabeth "Eliza" Levings, 29 Jan 1891, in Sabetha, KS. Born, 29 Jun 1868, in Moneydarraugh, Down, Ire.[18]. Died, 10 Aug 1955.