Surname Saturday: CONCIDINE

The CONCIDINE surname belongs to my paternal grandmother's adoptive mother. My grandmother was an adoptee, and I have been highlighting both her biological and her adoptive families' surnames in my Surname Saturday posts. I use the letter B to distinguish between adoptive and biological families in my ahnentafel.

CONCIDINE is a surname from Ireland, being the equivalent of the surname CONSTANTINE. While this surname is often spelled CONSIDINE, in our family line it is quite frequently spelled with a C instead of an S.

Stories and History:

Ahnentafel #88B - Dennis CONCIDINE - (b. c. 1800) - little is know about this man except that he was born in Ireland (probably Ennis, County Clare), and that his wife's name was Nora GILLIGAN. They emigrated to Rochester, Monroe Co., New York about 1827, and then removed to Wyoming Co., New York four years later, where they lived out the remainder of their days.

Ahnentafel #44B - John D. CONCIDINE - (1823 - 1906) - Born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, I first found him in the 1850 US Federal Census in Allendale Twp., Ottawa Co., Michigan. By then he was married to Elizabeth McDIARMID; together they had a family of nine children. John was one of the early settlers and farmers of Byron Twp., Kent Co., Michigan, where he died in 1906. He is mentioned in the memoirs of Belinda Thompson Irwin here, as well as in the History of Kent County, Michigan.

Ahnentafel #22B - John Dennis CONCIDINE - (1854 - 1925) - Born in Byron Center, Byron Twp., Kent Co., Michigan, John first married Anna Matilda "Annie" HIGBY, with whom he had seven children, five of whom survived infancy. After Annie's death in 1903, he married the housekeeper, Minnie Belle FIELD. They had one son. Three of John's sons from his first marriage moved to Illinois, and John and Minnie moved there in his elder years. He died in Afton Twp., DeKalb Co., Illinois, but was buried in the family plot in Byron Township.

Ahnentafel #11B - Nellie May CONCIDINE - (1883 - 1953) - Nellie was John's only daughter to survive infancy. She became a school teacher, teaching in Kent and Muskegon Counties, the latter being where she met German immigrant Alfred Henry HOLST. They married in 1905, and had a set of twins in 1909, who died shortly after birth. Nine years later, they were finally able to conceive another child, a daughter. After moving from Muskegon County to Wisconsin, then back to Michigan, this time in Ottawa County, they decided to take in a foster child after some shirttail cousins adopted a little boy. The boy's older sister that they fostered was my maternal grandmother. They raised her and considered her their adopted daughter, although like most adoptive families at that time, no legal process took effect...until the underage girl wished to be married. In order to give their consent, they had to be the legal parents, and so Nellie and Alfred adopted my grandmother shortly before her 16th birthday and subsequent marriage the next week to my grandfather. Nellie died at the age of 69, just six months after her husband.

Ahnentafel #5 - my maternal grandmother - living

Ahnentafel #2 - my father - living

Ahnentafel #1 - myself

More about the CONCIDINE family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): CONCIDINE ancestors and relatives (no info on living persons available)

2. Some CONCIDINE obituaries

3. Posts about CONCIDINE ancestors and relatives on this blog

4. Some scanned CONCIDINE documents


My CONCIDINE immigration trail:

County Clare, Ireland > Monroe Co., NY > Wyoming Co., NY > Ottawa Co., MI > Kent Co., MI > Muskegon Co., MI > WI > Ottawa Co., MI > AK > Stevens Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA