One set of my husband’s 2 times great-grandparents were Timothy Foley and Ellen Emperor. My husband’s uncle who had done research into the family had her name listed as Eleanor, but everything I have found has her name listed as Ellen. While Foley may be a common name, Emperor isn’t so it made researching them a bit easier. I found their marriage record in Irish church records online and the baptism records for Ellen and their children which expanded the number of people in this part of the tree.
Ellen was baptized Jan 17, 1836 in the Cloyne Diocese, Newmarket Parish, in County-Cork, Ireland. She and Timothy were married in August 1858 in the same parish.
I have found some Irish Petty Sessions records from October 1858 involving Timothy Foley and Patrick Emperor as defendants. Ellen’s father’s name was Patrick, so this could be him, or more likely her brother. The handwriting is very difficult to read, so I don’t know for sure what exactly the issue was, but it does mention “great bodily fear”. I need to see if someone else can help decipher what it all says.
I am not 100% sure what happened to Timothy and Ellen. I know their daughter Joanna Foley married George Henry Blizard. I have found an Ellen (Elenor, Eleanor) Foley living in Middletown, New York listed as a widow in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Censuses. This person is living with a son Patrick and a daughter Catherine. Our Ellen Emperor Foley did have children with those names, but the ages on the census records don’t match with the baptism records. Of course ages on census records aren’t always correct, so it could be her.
My mother-in-law has a close DNA connection to several people in the Day family who are descended from Mary Emperor who married Daniel McAuliffe. We think Mary may be Ellen’s sister, but we haven’t definitely proved that yet.
Here’s the small family tree for the Emperor/Foley family https://myfamgen.com/emperorfoley-families/
Very interesting. Thanks.