I am looking for more info on my Kenna relatives. Patrick Kenna and his brother, Nicholas, came to Newfoundland from Ireland prior to 1828. Patrick married Elizabeth Whalen in 1828 in Harbor Grace Church, Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. I don't know what happened to them. Nicholas brought the girls (Patrick's daughters) to Wisconsin. The girls were Mary (James Furlong), Elinor or Ellen, Catherine (Hugh Cunning), Bridget (John Harding), Anastasia or Theresa, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was in mental institution in Wisconsin. Nicholas never married. Mary, Catherine, and Bridget located in Chicago after marriage. Hugh Cunning was an attorney in Port Washington, WI and in Chicago. Anyone know anything about Patrick's Irish home and/or Elizabeth Whalen's family and origin?

I too am researching this family. I am a descendant of Bridget Kenna and John Harding. I would be very happy to exchange info on this family.
John Harding's parents died of cholera on the way from Newfoundland. They were close friends of the Kennas. I think that possibly Patrick and Elizabeth Kenna died too on the boat or soon after coming to Port Washington. That is why Nicholas Kenna raised his nieces. I have more info on this family and will gladly share.
Vicki Reynolds Mazur
iampilot@sbcglobal.net

Hi Vicki..I have joined the Newfoundland/Labrador Genealogical Society and have placed an inquiry in their quarterly...hoping to find out something more. Information on these families are hard to come by. It will hopefully be in the next edition. I got a print out on Kenna and Whelan families but the dates are past the time our relatives were there. My info has William Harding dying in Port Washington in 1849 and his wife (whose name I do not have) dying on board ship between Carbonear and Port Washington. I would not be surprised if Patrick and Elizabeth died on the ship,too. I wonder if they kept any records on these deaths. Is 1849 about the time you figure they all came to Port Washington? I had someone research in St. Johns but he didn't come up with much. I am thinking of trying to get someone else to research there again. I will keep in touch.

Bridget Kenna married John Harding. John Harding had a sister Mary Harding. Do you know whether this Mary Harding was the Mary Harding (also born in or about 1831 in Harbour Grace Newfoundland) who married James Grady (1821-1882) in or about 1851 in or near Chicago? In or about 1856, this James Grady and Mary Harding moved to Minnesota. James died in 1882 in St Paul MN. Mary died in 1887 in St Paul MN. Her St Paul obit requested that Chicago papers copy.
Tom Ross
San Diego CA
tross666@san.rr.com,

Hi TomI.I have looked through all my stuff on Kennas and Hardings and found nothing. I also checked the Illinois marriage records online to no avail. I have lost my e mail addresses when my computer crashed but I do have an snail address for a Harding in Illinois and I am going to send her a note to see if she can help you. I will keep in touch. Winnie Koukol koukol@cbcast.com

Winnie. Thanks for your assistance. I had wondered how your Kennas and the Hardings reached Port Washinton from Harbour Grace. I think I found out last night -- see http://www.linkstothepast.com/waukesha/newfound2wis.php#top
The 1849 route desribed in the article in the link was by ship from Harbour Grace to New York, then by boat up the Hudson to Albany, then by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then by ship to Milwaukee and then overland to Port Washington. Note the discussion of cholera in Buffalo. This route avoided the rapids on the St Lawrence upstream from Montreal and Niagara Falls. Tom