Finding I had a free minute or two for the first time in several weeks, I took a peek at Ancestry hints this morning.

The name at the top was Maria McKlveen Graham. Of course I recognized her maiden name, McKlveen, but I knew very little about Maria. Like many generations of McKlveens, she lived and died in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Today I followed Maria’s trail on Ancestry and saw photographs someone found in a thrift store in St. George, Utah.

But that’s getting ahead of the story. I’ll start my telling with Elizabeth McKlveen Stahl, my 3X great-grandmother, supposedly born in Ireland to Scottish-born parents in about 1792. They emigrated to the U.S. in about 1800, but from exactly where they came is a family mystery. They settled in Donegal Township, Westmoreland County. I assumed they followed other Donegal Scots-Irish, but it's only an assumption.

Elizabeth McKlveen had two brothers, John and Thomas. Maria McKlveen Graham was John’s granddaughter. I had never bothered to flesh out her life because she was such a distant relative but today I did, thanks to all the Ancestry hints. Maria (1853-1929) married Israel Graham (1847-1921) and had two children, Clarence (1875-1932) and Irene (1881-1960). Irene married a man named Clopp. Like their parents, siblings Clarence and Irene lived out their lives in Ligonier, Westmoreland County, PA.

Then I saw the pictures someone had posted on Ancestry with this note, “Found in box of photos in thrift store in St. George, Utah”:

Stamped on back: “C. W. Smith, photographer, Ligonier St, Latrobe, PA" -- Irene Graham?

Handwritten on back: “1 Ada Graham  2 John Smith 3 Nelli Graham 4 Irene Graham Clopp 5 Ethel Graham”

There couldn’t be more than one Irene Graham Clopp in that era, could there? Was she pictured with Graham cousins?

I backed up to look more closely at Irene’s father (and Maria’s husband), Israel Graham. Summarizing an Ancestry hint taken from the History of Westmoreland County, 1906:

Israel Graham, born 1847 to James and Louise Graham, had been a teacher and principal in Ligonier public schools before becoming owner and editor of the Ligonier Echo. Married Maria McKlveen and had two children, Clarence and Irene.

Then I read a more complete bio from the 1906 Westmoreland County History, which had been posted by another Graham descendant and included ancestral information:

"Israel M. Graham. The family of which Israel M. Graham, of Ligonier, is a representative, was founded in this country by Barney Graham, who came about 1804 from Donegal, Ireland, being of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a farmer, a man of limited education and a member of the Presbyterian Church…

George Graham, second son of Barney Graham, was 16 when the family came to the United States…

James Graham, son of George… was born in 1820… ”

Israel Graham was therefore Barney’s great-grandson.

Did the Graham and McKlveen families both come from County Donegal? Will the Graham name help me find where the McKlveens originated in Ireland?

Will a clue from a thrift shop in St. George, Utah, enable me to break through my research wall?