COOGAN GENEALOGY

By
Clarence V. Coogan

Introduction

I DEDICATE THIS GENEALOGY TO MY GRANDCHILDREN

and

THEIR CHILDREN WHO WILL FOLLOW THEM

My deepest regret is my late incentive to begin this work. I, being the oldest surviving Coogan could only depend on hearsay, memory and archives such as the Albany State Library as my major source of information. Since then I have been joined with equal enthusiasm by my son Charles and his son Mark.  Our safaris have carried us into Canada Provinces that have opened a treasure chest of Coogan history.

I realize erroneous entries may be found by persons closer to a source than the writer. I will appreciate and attempt to correct such entries before going to print.

The emotions and satisfaction I experience while writing this work keeps changing as I progress. It was begun with the quest for past history which I still believe the grandchildren, especially, will enjoy. However, reviewing with appreciation the Joys and hardships these people have encountered has brought me into their world. I feel I have been met at the front door and welcomed in with the greeting, "We are so glad to meet you personally. We were afraid you would never come."

Now, each new name that I enter becomes a new friend and I want to know more of that person's past life. I can feel the hardship of their depression years. The struggle to keep a roof over their heads, to provide food for the table, the necessity to move families across the nation to where work could be found. I have found a deep respect for these miners, farmers and laborers who, if they had the education or the opportunity, might have become the country's leaders. They certainly had the drive for accomplishment.

Each time I enter a death date, I feel a depression and ask myself, "why did such a person have to die." I feel I have lost a friend.

An original genealogy was composed using "Personal Ancestral Files", a software program devised by the Mormons in Salt Lake City. It was very helpful in organizing chronological histories. Although, the Mormons have the largest genealogy library in the world, I could not find anything of my Coogan lineal ancestors. I have sent the Mormons a disk of the Albany Coogans with the information of how and where the facts were recorded. In return I received a warm "Thank you" and was assured these records will be available to anyone who may request them.

Since then I have read a McRobie Genealogy composed by Raymond I. McRobie of  Fairfax, Virginia. I  was impressed with his format, so I have decided to write a second work using a similar format. Much of the "Wilt" chapter of this book was taken from the McRobie Genealogy.

Tidbits of remembrance can be valuable as the search progresses.  One case in point is a statement made by my grandmother Coogan who at one time said, "The name Coogan was spelled with a K until she changed the insurance papers to read C". I tried to disprove this statement by visiting graves and headstones previous to that era in time and concluded that Coogan was always spelled with a C.  However, Thomas R. Coogan, for some reason,   recorded his Son Clarence as Koogan along with his own name.  My grandmother would have none of that and changed it back to Coogan.   Bravo for grandma!  I have found also, all Coogans from 1700s were Protestants from  northern Ireland and fought for the King of England;  Grandma was Catholic.  

When future information is forth coming, I will update these writings. Until then I can only relate unproved assumptions. Such assumptions will not be stated in the chapters of this book. Instead, they will be discussed here in the introduction.

My search for the background of Thomas R. Coogan has been very elusive. I procured a copy of the death certificate of William Coogan, Thomas Coogan's second son. The certificate listed Thomas's birth place as New York (City?).

However, the death certificate of Victor Coogan says his father's birthplace was Canada.  Victor's wife was the informant and the more knowledgeable person at the time.  

In 1999, the following letter was found by Charles Coogan in the Canadian National Archives. It had been written by Thomas R. Coogan to the authorities in Manitoba, Canada.