John McGinnis – Many Branches, One Tree

Friday’s Faces from the Past: McGinnis Family Portrait

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis (1858 – 1940) Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Francis Eugene McGinnis (1891 – 1961) John Charles McGinnis (1894 – 1944) Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 – 1963) Some time during the late 1930s, the now-adult McGinnis children: Benita, Alice (my maternal grandmother), Gene, and John, gathered at the family home at 8336 Drexel … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: “The One”

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip C. McCormick (1892 – 1981) 93 years ago this week, my great-Aunt Detty – Benita McGinnis – mailed a rather flirtatious, if not somewhat mysterious, penny postcard to a certain Mr. P.C. McCormick: (Postmarked May 14, 1921) Mr. P.C. McCormick #112 W. Adams St. Chicago, Ill. Dear Egg, Just … Continue reading

Sentimental Sunday: Sunday Dinner

Making Memories Around the Table Left to right: John Charles McGinnis Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis, Alice McGinnis, Thomas Eugene McGinnis, (John’s wife) Edith (Hoag) McGinnis, cousin Eileen Kelly, and Benita McGinnis. Photo taken at the McGinnis home, 8336 Drexel Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, sometime between 1914 and 1920. Like many a family in the early twentieth century, my … Continue reading

Wishful Wednesday: Frances (Gaffney) Cherry

Frances (Gaffney) Cherry (1868 – 1953) I wish I knew more about my great-grand aunt Frances (Gaffney) Cherry. When I look at this picture of her, taken from a larger portrait with her five sisters, I see a dreamy young woman with faraway eyes and perfectly coiffed hair. I can’t tell whether she is happy … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: Wise and Loving Matriarch

Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis: (1858 – 1940) Friends and sometimes complete strangers often dropped by Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis’ home during the 1920s and 30s, hungry for a meal or even advice. Janie gave both quietly and generously, never asking for anything in return. She was a fervent follower of the Golden Rule: Do … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: From the Angels in Heaven

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) It was still early morning on the Fourth of July, 1928, when my grandfather, Ralph Schiavon, still half asleep, rolled out of bed to answer the telephone. Doctor Thomas Doyle, the McGinnis and Schiavon family physician, was calling with good news. My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, Chicago, … Continue reading

Born Going Up in the World

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) 1928 was a year of prosperity, hope, and bravado. It was the middle of the Prohibition era, and Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States. The U.S., along with 14 other countries, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, a treaty that condemned … Continue reading

Talented Tuesday: The Great Gene Sheebo

Francis Eugene McGinnis (1891 – 1961) Because both Irish immigrants and Irish-American were, in general, looked on with disdain during the late 19th century and even into the early 20th century, many are said to have taken to appearing in vaudeville as a way of gaining recognition and respect. It is said that by appearing … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: The Wonders of Modern Medicine

Francis Eugene McGinnis (1891 – 1961) It was one of those trying weeks some years ago, the kind most families experience, when our three children, at the time preschoolers, came down with colds that developed into ear infections and strep throat. Between calling the doctor and flipping through parenting books to check symptoms, my … Continue reading