Although born in New York of North American born parents,
James Joseph Sheedy was as pure an Irishman as any man, woman, or child walking the streets
of Dublin. All his grandparents were born in Ireland. Rose Theresa Swain's ancesters were
a more culturely diverse lot - French, Mohawk Native American, Dutch, and English or Irish
on the Swain and Murray sides.
Rose Swain's family was pretty well established in Kemptville,
Ontario. Her maternal grandfather and great-grandfather had both managed the Tanney and Sloan
Foundry there. By the time Rose was born, in December of 1879, her family had been in Kemptville
for over forty years. James Sheedy's parents moved around more. His father was born in New York,
his mother in Ontario. They met and settled first in Oswego, New York, then moved to Canada,
and later returned to live in Ogdensburg, New York. While his family was living in Canada, James
Sheedy met Rose Swain, and the rest, as they say, is history. They were married, probably in
Kemptville, June 18, 1908. She was twenty-eight, he twenty-five. They stayed in Canada, probably
in Kemptville, for a year and a half. Their first child, Collette was born there in April 1909.
Not long after that, they moved to Buffalo, New York.
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John H. and Collette Sheedy, around 1912.
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Why Buffalo? The Queen City was, at the turn of the twentieth
century, the pre-eminent flour milling and railroading center in the United States. But still,
why Buffalo? I think that James and Rose came to Buffalo because of the presence there of James'
uncles, Alexander and Thomas McFaul. Tom McFaul had settled in Buffalo sometime before 1900, and
Alexander settled there between 1900 and 1910. Did they attend the wedding in Kemptville
and regale the young
couple with tales of streets paved with gold? Probably not. But having family in Buffalo made it
easier for the newlyweds to move there. The strongest evidence for the importance of this
connection is the fact that when the Sheedys settled in Buffalo in 1910, they rented a home
at 135 Congress Street just two doors from Alexander McFaul's family, who lived at 141 Congress.
Congress Street runs one block either side of West Delavan Ave in the "Black Rock" section of Buffalo.
James found work as a bookkeeper in a manufacturing plant -
Rose kept house. In November of 1910, my father, John Hubert Sheedy arrived to join the
Sheedy family. He was followed by Mary Margaret in May of 1912, Mary Elizabeth "Betty", in
September 1913, and James Swain Sheedy, July of 1915. If the Sheedy kids needed playmates, they
could find their second-cousins Catherine and James McFaul just two doors down the street.
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James J. Sheedy, 1921.
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Sometime before 1916 the Sheedy tribe
moved a couple of blocks to 338 Parkdale Ave., probably motivated by the need for larger
quarters. Parkdale Ave. was still in "Black Rock". James was then working as an accountant.
The family continued to grow. Francis Edward, called "Ted"
arrived in December, 1916, followed by Rosemary Monica, March 1919, and Joseph Vincent in
December of 1920. Just feeding and clothing eight children would have strained the resources of
most working men.
The Sheedys were devout Roman Catholics - their children attended parochial school, Annunciation
Elementary School to be exact. It must have been an extraordinary expense with six of the Sheedy
kids at Annunciation at once.
In 1921 James was working at Shea's Hippodrome Theater.
The Hippodrome, located on Main Street near Chippewa, was, when it opened in 1914, the finest
motion-picture theater between New York and Chicago.
In the mid 1920's the Sheedy's moved again - to 102 Rees Street.
Rees Street was off Forest Avenue - still in "Black Rock" and probably still in Annunciation Parish.
James and Rose's children were growing up. The older children were completing Elementary School.
