One might call it a genealogical "Hail Mary" pass.

A box from an unknown sender arrived by mail in 2009. Inside were mounds of paper including many hand-written letters--most dated in the 1980s--from people whose names I didn't recognize. Mixed with them were photocopies of hundreds of roughly-typed, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" sheets with names and BMD information. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of the contents. Since I already had most of the typed family history details I found pertinent, I eventually put the box away on a high closet shelf.

Stay with me because this story has a surprising Irish finish.

Background: While researching my paternal family line years ago, I'd learned my great-grandfather, Matthias Henrichsen, had two families. His first wife, with whom he had four children in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), died in about 1871. He and his children later moved to Föhr, one of the North Frisian Islands off the German coast. In 1874 he remarried and had seven children with his second wife, Carolina. My grandfather, Maurice Henrichsen, was their fourth child and the last to be born on Föhr Island before the family emigrated to the American Midwest in the early 1880s.

Over the years I'd attempted contacts with surviving family members. The sender of the box turned out to be Donald Harder, the 90-year-old husband of my half-second-cousin, Phyllis Hinrichsen Harder. Her grandfather, Martin Hinrichsen, and Maurice were half-brothers. (Note the two branches of the family opted for different spellings of their surname.)

I sensed Phyllis and her husband had thrown up their hands and mailed the box of records to someone they hoped would find value--a desperation move not unlike a Hail Mary pass in football.

Yesterday I took down the box for the first time in several years. At the very bottom I found two extensive family history narratives about Irish Famine emigrants: JAMES & ANNA McNERNEY and JOHN & JOHANNA DALY. The McNerneys originated in County Longford, the Dalys in County Kerry. 

Based on my review of the documents, I learned: McNerney and Daly descendants eventually settled in southern Minnesota. John McNerney married Catherine Daly in 1867. Their granddaughter, Marie Catherine Simser, married Hans Hinrichsen, oldest son of Martin Hinrichsen. Coincidentally the wedding date was 29 Dec 1915, 105 years ago today. Phyllis Hinrichsen Harder was a great-granddaughter of John & Catherine McNerney and John & Johanna Daly.

Unfortunately I never met the Harders; both are now deceased. Donald passed away in February 2020 at the age of 101. However, nestled in the box with Henrichsen/Hinrichsen records are stories of Phyllis' maternal Irish ancestors. I'm in no way related to her Irish line, but if you have a connection to the McNerneys of Longford or the Dalys of Kerry, please contact me at blog@irishgenealogical.org and I'll share what's in the box.