THOSE AUDACIOUS MEEHANS
A Peculiarly American Family's Website
"Audacity augments courage" Publilius Syrus
Meehan Family, Christmas 1913, In Front Of Their Sod House
Recklessly Brave or Audaciously Brazen?
Dennis Meehan became DeWitty's second postmaster in 1916 and promptly renamed the town Audacious, saying that “the people were audacious for having settled there.” (Perkey’s Names of Nebraska Locations).
The people who settled the Nebraska Sandhills were bold, daring, and determined to claim land.
But Charles and Hester Meehan sought more. Facing discrimination in Canada, where interracial marriages were legal, they dared to move their family to a place where interracial marriage was not legal. They journeyed with their Canadian friends and neighbors to Nebraska and lived in plain sight.
WELCOME
Those Audacious Meehans is the story of my paternal family.
Our matriarch, Hester, was of African descent and orphaned by age eight. Our patriarch, Charles, was of Jewish/German descent but was raised as Irish. He was abandoned as an infant. Hester and Charles met as children in the Elgin Settlement, near Chatham, Ontario, AKA the Black Man's Paris.
Our earliest family story originates from a burning ship in Charleston Harbor in 1821. By 1843, we were pioneers in Ontario's Queen's Bush. In 1859, an Anderson cousin and abolitionist joined John Brown at Harpers Ferry. When 1885 dawned, we were Nebraska Homesteaders and part of a core group whose small town became known as the "longest lasting and most successful African American settlement in rural Nebraska."
Many families and communities connect the ancestors and descendants of Charles and Hester. we are irrevocably bound. This website seeks to highlight and credit those families and communities as the Meehan story unfolds.
Whether you are just curious about your Meehan family heritage, are researching the Meehans or an extended family, or if you found this site by chance, I hope you enjoy it.
This site is updated continuously. Please visit again.
Catherine Meehan Blount
2011
AND FOR DAD WITH GREAT LOVE AND APPRECIATION
A LOVE POEM TO NEBRASKA
Dad loved this land and was never ashamed to say so. He was born in Nebraska where his family were Homesteaders in a community of farmers and ranchers. Thanks to Nebraska Stories for sharing the story of Nebraska's African-descended Canadian/American Homesteaders. I believe this presentation of his poem about Nebraska would thrill Dad.
From PBS's NEBRASKA STORIES Facebook post: "He was the son of Charles and Hester Meehan, a bi-racial couple who emigrated from Canada and eventually settled along the North Loup River near a place called DeWitty. William Meehan loved Nebraska and often shared his fond childhood memories with his daughter, Catherine, who now reads a poem her father wrote when he was a teenager."
Nebraska Stories
Follow the link below to Nebraska, a PBS Nebraska Stories presentation produced by Kelly Rush.
MEEHAN CHILDREN TOGETHER AGAIN
It's Been Too Long
This one picture seems to sum it all up - descendants of siblings Annie, Den, Rose, Gertie and Bill Meehan along with a Moses Speese descendant -- together again.
It is suspected that 2016 was the first reunion of descendants of all of the Meehan children since 1913.
Family Interview With Robyn Murray, PBS, Nebraska Public Media, 26 August 2016
LOST IN 1973 – MEEHAN-BOSWELL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM
FIRST PROJECT
My dad joined the angels in 1965. Between his death and 1972, many other family elders joined him. He left behind a wealth of family photographs. My mom also possessed an extensive collection of photos. My parents took many of the pictures, but they received a large number from their parents and grandparents
.
My first family history project was to sort and label as many pictures as possible. I separated out the "best," most exciting images, put them in an album, and pestered Mom and other family members to provide names. A year later, the project was complete. My brother loved it and took the treasure to California to share with family members. Little did I know that would be the last time we would hold the images of our past.
LOST BAGGAGE
In 1973, my brother traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles, excited to share the pictures in the album and hoping that family members would identify some of the unknown images. The cousins ooo'd and ahahah'd the pictures and added a few names. It was a great time!
It was a crowded flight back to Chicago's O'Hara Airport. Due to space limitations, they stored the briefcase holding the great treasure in the luggage compartment. When American Airlines loaded the conveyer belt for luggage pickup, the briefcase was not there! They filed a claim, but it was unsuccessful.
Several months after the trip, someone called my brother, said they were in Ohio and had mistakenly picked up his briefcase when flying from Los Angeles. They asked the person to return the bag to American Airlines. Unfortunately, the caller left no identifying information. The caller did not return the briefcase. 1973 was before caller ID, so the family could not contact the person.
The BEST, MOST INTERESTING pictures were gone!
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
The album is about 14 X 14 inches and has a dark brown cover. (Sample Above) A very faint image of the word "Maywood" was on the cover. I identify many pictures on the back, but most have a small handwritten label underneath the image. The labels are on lined school paper. (Sample On Right)
Some Surnames: Meehan, Freeman, Von Ohlen, Speese, Brown, Boswell, Handsor, and Prisby
The front is the Meehan (paternal) family, and the back is the Boswell (maternal)
family. The families are racially mixed.
Primary Photo Locations: Nebraska, Illinois, and Canada
Image Time Period: Mid-1800s to 1960s.
Types of Photographs: Tintype, Cabinet Card, Snapshots, Varying Sizes
WHAT IS 50 YEARS AGAINST HOPE
"Lost wedding album from 1956 found in New Jersey, returned to family 60+ years later"
Eyewitness News 7, March 21, 2023
That headline and others like it spur me on. There is high hope that the images of our ancestors will make their way home.
I would be grateful for the album, individual pictures, or any leads to help locate this item. Please get in touch with me if you believe you have seen the album or any of the photographs. Use "Contact Site Creator" at the end of this website or message Catherine Meehan Blount via Facebook.