John Francis Sheedy was born in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York in 1855. He attended school as a young boy, but by age 15 he was working as a mason tender or laborer. His father Michael was training young John in the family trade of brick and stone masonry. John F. lived at home until at least 1875. Sometime between then and 1880, John left the family home in Oswego.

Mary McFaul Sheedy and her brother, Tom McFaul sometime before 1937.

      He returned to Oswego around 1882 with his new bride, the former Mary Cecelia McFaul of Port Colborne Ontario. How does a young man from Oswego, New York meet and marry a young woman from Port Colborne, Ontario? One answer might be that John left New York to work on the Welland Canal. The third revision of the canal was then under construction - it would be completed in 1887. The locks were built of mortared limestone blocks - work that was right up John F.'s alley. New locks were constructed in and near Port Colborne, where the canal met Lake Erie.

     In any case, John F. and Mary were living at 323 W. Fifth Street in Oswego in August of 1882, next door to John's parents' home, when their son James Joseph, my grandfather, was born. John was working locally as a stone mason. In the next few years John would try his hand at contracting. Things may not have worked out for him because by 1886, John, Mary and their children were living at 321 W. Fifth with Michael and Mary, John's brother, James J. and sister Catherine.

The little house at 323 W. Fifth Street where John and Mary lived in 1882.

     Between 1886 and 1888, John and Mary's family moved across across W. Fifth and Tallman Streets to a home at 314 W. Fifth. The family grew as Mary, called "Molly", son Francis and daughter Colette followed James Joseph. Between 1888 and 1890, Mary's widowed mother Celia would move in with her daughter and son-in-law. Sometime before 1892, John, Mary and family would move again, to somewhere in Canada. They returned to the United States in 1912. In 1920 John and Mary, and daughter Colette were living in a rented flat at 16 Pickering Street in Ogdensburg, New York. John described himself as a General Contractor, Colette worked as a saleslady in a department store. Colette would marry Edward Ewart and settle in Ogdensburg.

     John Francis Sheedy died July 20, 1924 in Ogdensburg. He is buried in the family plot, with his parents and sisters Catherine and Margaret, in St. Peter's Cemetery in Oswego, New York. Mary Cecelia McFaul Sheedy passed away November 24, 1937, also in Ogdensburg. She is buried beside her husband.

• John Francis SHEEDY
  • b. after 5 Jun 1855 in the Town of Hounsfield(Brownville), Jefferson County, New York
  • d. 20 Jul 1924 in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York
  • bur. St Peter's Cemetery, Oswego, New York
  • married about 1880
• Mary Cecelia McFAUL
  • b. 1856 in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada
  • d. 24 Nov 1937 in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York
  • bur. St Peter's Cemetery, Oswego, New York
• Their Children
  • Emmet SHEEDY
    • died in childhood
  • James Joseph SHEEDY
    • b. 8 Aug 1882 in Oswego, New York
    • d. 21 Nov 1966 in Clarence, Erie County, New York
    • bur. 25 Nov 1966 in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Tonawanda, Erie County, New York
    • married 18 June 1908
      • Rose Theresa SWAIN
        • b. 14 Dec 1879 in Kemptville, Ontario, Canada
        • d. 8 Apr 1962 in Buffalo, Erie County, New York
        • bur. 11 Apr 1962 in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Tonawanda, Erie County, New York
  • Mary C. "Molly" SHEEDY
    • b. 15 Nov 1884
    • married
      • John McGARREL, lived in London, Ontario
  • Colette SHEEDY
    • b.24 Oct 1891(?) in Canada
    • married
      • Edward EWART, lived in Ogdensburg, New York
        • b. 24 Mar 1887
        • d. Jul 1964
  • Francis T. SHEEDY
    • b. 8 Nov 1893(?)
    • lived in San Mateo, California