RUTH CLARK'S NOTES ON FAMILY RELATIONS

My family archive is not at all organized just like my ROOTDRINKER archive but I have one box that has collected various stuff that I think of as family history. I have just a family breakdown done by Ruth Clark for my mom, which she later gave to me. This traces the Overrockers back to County Meath Ireland and to America in 1837 by John Reilly (1800-1890). I would scan it but I think might be better to put in a typed form and post on my Casline Family Blog.

by Ruth Clark to Georgianna Casline (Overrocker). Add one generation for Alan Casline, Janis Overrocker, Jamie Casline, Jeff Casline, Fred G. Overrocker III

---page one

Georgie your family History      

Georgiann, this is your great Grandfather and grandmother on your mother’s side.

John Reilly --  Mary O’Brien

1800-1890         1805-1908

Born in County Meath Ireland.

They lived on a farm in County Meath.

They had five children born in Ireland

John Reilly now left Ireland in 1837 for America.

His family stayed in Ireland until he was settled in the New World.

They came in 1840.

His Childrens Names were

Your Grandfather   James Reilly-      Born 1828 – Meath Ireland

                                John Reilly-        Born 1829 – Meath Ireland

                                Rachael Reilly – Born 1832 – Meath Ireland

                                Susan Reilly --    Born 1833 – Meath Ireland

                                George Reilly –   Born 1834 – Meath Ireland

John Reilly arrived in New York at Castle Garden and was sent up the Hudson River to Port Jackson, N.Y..

Port Jackson was where Amsterdam was first settled and all my people lived in Port Jackson until 1856 when Amsterdam was settled on the other side of River.

--page two

My Great Grandfather John Reilly and Great Grandmother Mary O’Brien Reilly had two more children in America

Garret Reilly &

Catherine Reilly (My grandmother)             Ruth Clark’s grandmother

The Reilly that I am talking about now, are my Mother’s Reillys. Georgiann these are all your Reillys also.

Now I have Reilys on my Father’s side who are no relation to the Reillys on my Mother side. They came from the West Coast of Ireland.

James Reilly born 1828

Mary Young his wife – had three children (Florence Reilly, Georgiann Reilly, Walt Reilly)

John Reilly born 1829

Mary Zeiser – His wife had two children (Annie Reilly, George Reilly)

Rachel Reilly born 1832

Ned McClary her husband

Had four children. Lived in Cohoes, N.Y.

-page three

Susan Reilly born 1833

 Died during Civil War. Never married.

George Reilly born 1832

Married and went to Grand Rapids, Michigan to live. Had a large family.

Garret Reilly born 1841 - Switzer Hill

Catherine Reilly born 1843- Switzer Hill         

Switzer Hill is a local address, I believe, within Amsterdam, N.Y.

Garret Reilly – Married a girl in Schenectady (N.Y.) and went there to live.
  Had a large family.

Catherine Reilly My (Ruth Clark’s) Grandmother

Patrick Cassidy Her husband.

They had Mary Cassidy, Annie Cassidy, Elizabeth Cassidy, 
                  Laura Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy

--page four

Children of James Reilly & Mary Young

Florence Reilly

Dave Whalen her husband

Georgianna Reilly married Fred Overrocker

Walt Reilly never married

Florence Reilly & Dave Whalen

children Elizabeth Whalen and David Whalen

Georgianna and Fred Overrocker had two children 

Georgiann Overrocker and Fred Overrocker 

Elizabeth Whale married Oscar Clark

David Whalen married Anna Wolf

Elizabeth & Oscar Clark had four children. 
Ruth, Florence, George, Warren Clark

Georgiann Overrocker + Married 2 children

Fred Overrocker = ? Georgianna Overrocker             

What this note means I do not know. I don’t think my mother’s     

mother was Georgiana Reilly.. It was Pearl Cole. There are      

multiple generations of Fred & Georgiann. My Great 

Grandmother Reilly is who I mention when I tell my Irish     

friends I am Irish too. Seems Fred Overrocker son of

Georgianna Reillyand Fred Overrocker is my Grandfather

Fred Overrocker who married Pearl Cole and had my mother

Georgianna and Fred Overrocker. Who was Fred G.
 Overrocker II and his son Fred G. Overrocker III. I had the      
 conversation with my mother that the reason my cousin Fred

(Rocky) was not  Fred G. Overrocker  IV was because the first

 did not share the same middle name

--page five

My mother married Peter Riley (my Fathers Rileys)

We always lived in New York. We had five boys and myself.

Georgia I married Bill Dufresne. He lived in Fort Johnson. 
He had nine children who are all living. 
I now have 42 grand children & 54 great grandchildren.

Here is how we are related to you people

—page six

Here is how we are related to you people

John Reilly – Mary O’Brien     John Reilly & Mary O’Brien 
                                                      my Great Great Great Grandparents

   James Reilly – Mary Young  James Reilly & Mary Young
                                                       my Great Great Grandparents                      

   John Reilly – Mary Zieser

   Rachael Reilly

   Susan Reilly (died)

   Garret Reilly       first generation Irish in America 1835

   Catherine Reilly  first generation Irish in America 1835

James Reilly – Mary Young (Indian Mohawk)

     Florence Reilly – David Whalen

     Georgianna Reilly – Fred Overrrocker   Georgianna Reilly & Fred Overrocker 
                                                                           my Great Grandparents

     Walter Reilly never married

John Reilly – Mary Zieser (German)

      Annie Reilly

      George Reilly

Rachael Reilly – Ned McClary

      (Had four children) lived in New York City

Susan Reilly  Died during Civil War

--page seven

Garret Reilly – married?

Had a big family lived in Schenectady,  (N.Y.)

Catherine Reilly – Pat Cassidy

       Mary Cassidy – Will Faulds

       Ann Cassidy – James Swan

       Elizabeth Cassidy – Peter Riley  Married 1896  Mother died 1957, Father died 1939   
                                                                                        (Ruth Clark’s)

       Laura Cassidy – Addison Clohasey

       Pat Cassidy – Gen Thayer

        Rachael Cassidy – Bill Briley

Georgia this brings the relations down to my times.

I was born 1905 –

All the rest of my family are dead. (My mother & father & five boys.)

Georgia let someone go to the Old Court House in Fonda (N.Y.). 
Ask to see when John Reilly from County Meath Ireland came to 
this country & what ship he came on.

You can find a lot about them at Fonda

Some information which must be incorrect is since Bessie Overrocker, Mary Overrocker 
and Hazel Overrocker are all identified as sisters of my grandfather  
Fred Overrocker (who was my mother’s father)  then Georgianna Reill y and Fred Overocker 
must have had more than two children or “the Aunts” must be differently related?

This the document  by Ruth Clark in its entirely. I cannot date it except to think 
it was written in the 1970s. I interviewed Ruth Clark for a Rootdrinker article
 that appeared in 1979

                                                                                                           -- Alan Casline   3/2/2013

Although my family archives are not at all in order at least I did do a bit of research 
(before it is too late) In the same plastic sandwich bag as the hand written note from 
Ruth Clark I have a genealogy I did with my Mom, Georgianna Casline. 
(Notice for Ruth Clark it is “Georgiann”)

                                                                                           John Reilly (civil war)

                                                                                                              *

                                                                                                              *

                                                                                                              *

                                                                                                              *

                                                                                                              *

            Albert Cole – Ada Getman      Fred Overrocker—Georgianna Reilly                 

                                *                                                       *                                                     

                                *                                                       *                                                     

                                *                                                       *                                                      

                                *                                                       *                                                     

                            Pearl Cole ---------------------------Fred Overrocker, Sr. 

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                   Children  Fred Jr. & Georgianna

at the same time also did genealogy starting with Aunt Flo

                                                             ? – Flo Whelan (Aunt Flo)

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

                                                                *

    Children of Aunt Flo David Whelan  & Lizzy Whelan Clark—married Oscar Clark (Pop Clark)

                                                                                                        *

                                                                                                        *

                                                                                                        *

                                                                                                        *

                                                                                                        *

                                                                                          Children Ruth, Warren (hit by train) Florence, George

Fredrick George Rock Overrocker III

On August 17, 2010 a gathering to remember and honor Cousin Rock was held at the Fort Johnson, New York Firehouse. A last muster was held by the Firemen. Rock's daughter Ros read the fine tribute written by his sister Janis that was also read at Rock's Atlanta, Georgia Memorial Service on Sunday August 15, 2010. Here are some photos and a video I took at the event.

play video here

OLD OVERROCKER FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM

What you might call the OLD FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM is a falling apart, torn up album with some very old photos, ca. late 19th and early twenty century. Much is unknown about the people pictured. I do not know where the album came from, how it passed into my mother's hands. My best guess is it was in her father's possession and came to her when her father died. Whether he was the last of his siblings alive when he died. I also do not know. I did talk to my mother, Georgianna and she identified those photos she could identify. There is of course much historical fodder and some nice groupings of photos where the people are identified. I also have a family tree that I wrote out and will need to hunt up if I am really starting out on this family history recording task. What I want to do here is copy and post everything found in the OLD FAMILY ALBUM. I have been avoiding getting started on this work cause I suspect it will be time consuming and I have enough projects going on. Maybe other people will contribute and make the project better.

NOTE: If you click on any photo below it will expand in size.

This is the front cover of the album. It is leather with printed gold ink. There is a metal (brass) clasp on the right hand side of the cover. The back cover is the same as this but in reverse. The album is approximately 11 inches by 8 inches. There are 16 pages inside for mounting photos (both sides equals 32 pages). These pages have precut openings some with one opening of either an oval or square shape, some with four squares(six pages). I count 46 photos either still in place or stuck within the albums covers. Some of these may have come from elsewhere and ended up here. I do not think this is the case with only one or two exceptions. I think these photos are the photos that were in the album.


This is the frontpiece for the album. There is no identifying information for the album itself. It is not a customized book but manufactured as a standard product. No copyright, no name of printer, no dates, names.


I'm starting with this photo. This is Fred Overrocker and Pearl Cole. Parents of Fritz Overrocker and Georgianna Casline (Overrocker). Grandparents for my generation and Great-grandparents for the next generation. The back of this photo shows printing that makes it useable as a post card. Looks like a cigar in his right hand. Grandpa smoked cigars and chewed tobbacco.

This is my grandfather, Fred G. Overrocker II, at a younger age. Looks to be a teenager, perhaps as a very young man. This photo comes from The Wheaton Studio, 30 & 32 E. Main St., Amsterdam, NY. You can see that on front of photo. There is no identification on back.

I think there are other copies of this photo around. I remember seeing it when I was a child. The comment from Georgie was "He looks like a girl but this is grandpa when he was a child. They used to do that, not cut their hair and dress the boys like girls when they were young" The context here is before the Beatles and hippies came along this is scandalously long hair for a boy. My brother Jeff and I had cool crewcuts and later duck-tails given to us by our uncle Dick Shea, a barber. A few of our baldysours(somebody look up this word and report back to me) were cut by grandpa when we were even younger by placing a bowl on your head and cutting everything left that showed. I think Rock got a few of grandpa's baldysours as well? The sailor suit and hat, long curly hair, I'm not good at ages, would you say around five years-old? The printing on the front says Cohoes, NY and a name, which is hard to read Meinerth? The back has an address written in pencil: Miss Pearl Cole, Fort Johnson, N.Y.

These are the only three pictures of Fred G. Overrocker II from the OLD OVERROCKER FAMILY ALBUM.