Seeking info on James Sheely and Ellen (O'Brien) Sheely married in Watertown Wisconsin around 1878/80. They moved to Howard around 1908/09. James is listed in his obituary as being the city marshall for 10 years in Howard. James is buried in the St. Joseph's Cemetary along with Ellen. They were members of the St. Agatha Catholic Church. In Ellen's obituary listed are their six children: William of Howard; Joe of Portola, CA; Mrs. Fank Feldhaus and Miss Elizabeth Sheeley of Howard; Mrs. Earl (Catherine) Brashear (my ggrandmother) of Kansas City, MO; and Mrs. George Christianson of De Smet. Can anyone help me with info on anyone listed?

My great, great grandfather (David O'Brien) and his brother (Michael O'Brien) moved to Watertown, Wisconsin in the 1840's from Pennsylvania. While David and his family moved on to Iowa (Buchanan County and Ft. Dodge, Webster County) in the 1850's, Michael and his family remained in Watertown. There's a possibility that David and Michael also had other brothers (James O'Brien? William O'Brien?) who joined them in Watertown. Do you know anything more about Ellen O'Brien? There's some chance that she's tied to my O'Brien family.

Jim O'Brien
Chandler, Arizona
jobrien473@aol.com

Hi Jim!
Ellen (O'Brien) Sheely was born near Watertown, WI b 7Mar1851 d 24Jul1936 in Howard,Miner,SD info from obit. On her Death Certificate her father is listed as Pat O'Brion (Ireland) and her mother as Mary Hart (?). 1880 Census --Family Search--has Ellen 29 yrs, her husband James Sheely 34 yrs, & son William 6 mos living with Ellen's mother Mary O'brine a widow 69 yrs b. Ireland and Mary's son John s 35 yrs b. NY. Does any of this connect please let me know either way. Karen

Karen:
I live in Portola, CA. and knew Joe Sheeley very well and can give you quite a bit of information on him.
Earlier, I had found Joe (Joseph) in the 1900 South Dakota census. His parents and 8 siblings are listed in that census report (including your G/Grandmother - listed there as "Kate")
Ray Donnenwirth

Hi Ray
I was very happy to see that you answered my message. I live in Maine and have very little info about Joe Sheeley except for the fact that he is my g-uncle. I have often wondered why he went to CA and everyone else stayed in the mid-west. I would be very happy to have more info on him rather than just a name. Thank you so much for answering the message it really means a lot to me. Karen

Hi Karen:
My e-mail is: rcd236@psln.com
Send me your e-mail address and I will be glad to give you information and photos of Joe Sheeley who was a dear friend of our family. I would like to know more about Joe's family.
Ray

Hi Karen, I was searching on the internet tonight for relatives and was excited to see this post. William Sheely was my grandfather and I recall my great uncle Joe who died when I was a small child. I have some information on the Sheely family, this was posted several years ago but hopefully you will see this post. Tim

Hi Tim, Thank you for answering my post. I would love to know more about the Sheely family.

My email is: skowgen@yahoo.com

Happy New Year!

I recall messages/discussions on the Sheeley family. Apparently it wasn't this thread, but from discussion i ended up tracking down a Sheeley descendant. It was Jim Feldhaus, grandson of Frank & Mary(Sheeley) Feldhaus. I'm guessing it was well over 5 yrs ago, but in the phone conversation I found Jim really interesting, with lots of family stories. I especially recall him telling about "Marshall" Sheeley. I would suggest you try contacting Jim. He was, and is still listed as living at Canistota, SD. His phone # is available on Whitepages.com.
I am not a relative, but do genealogy work, particularly at Howard, Miner Co, SD. Photos of all the gravestones in Miner Co, obviously of Sheeleys' included, are online at www.southdakotagravestones.org .
Bill Feller