
Let’s search for Patrick Gallagher’s parents in County Donegal.
Continue readingKathleen Gallagher Teply died Monday morning, June 6. She was our mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend.


Tom Gallagher met Catherine Riley in Sedalia in 1920. By 1922 they were engaged to be married.
Before they marry, we’re going to take some time to meet Tom’s family.
Continue readingFamily Nibbles – Volume 8 is here! This book is about the lives of our Pensa and Riley ancestors, with a little bit of Gardella thrown in.

1920 was a leap year. It was the 20th year of the century and the 1st year of the Roaring Twenties. A lot of things happened in 1920. But then, a lot of things happen every year.

We think of Prohibition beginning in 1919 (18th Amendment ratified) or 1920 (Enforcement began), but it began years earlier.

What did the Rileys think? What were they going to do? How about the Pensa brothers in St. Louis?
Continue readingIt’s 1916. The Riley children were coming of age, with weddings, jobs, and school. Will and Josie Riley were enjoying the fruits of their labor. Will was age 53, Josie was 47.

It’s 1916. Let’s check in on each of the Riley children. Then we’ll see what Will and Josie are up to.

Sedalia’s growth slowed in the first decade of the 1900s, up slightly to 17,800. It was still a railroad center, but the new-fangled automobile was beginning to make itself known.
