Click on the photo to see it full size This photo shows Rose Ann McGee at about age 15. Born in 1855, she was the eldest child of Catherine Drew McGee and William McGee. |
Two pictures of Rose Ann, labelled "Grandma Sullivan" were found in the James Family collection in Phoenix. These will be scanned and posted in the near future. |
We have no document to show when Rose was married; but we know it was before 1880; for she does not appear as a memeber of the McGee household in the 1880 census. We know that she married Patrick Sullivan; and that their first child, Gertrude Ellen Sullivan, was born in 1881. As far as we know, there is no picture available of Rose Ann's husband, Patrick Sullivan; but there is a tradition that he might have been brother or cousin to Eugene Sullivan, who married Rose Ann's sister, Margaret McGee.
| The photo at right
shows Rose Ann's three eldest children, Gertrude Ellen in the middle,
flanked by her two brothers,
Daniel
and William.
The family apparently lived in Pettis County, Missouri, while the children
were growning up.
Little is known about Patrick Sullivan's occupation; but it is assumed he grew up on one of the many farms near the McGee farm. The early plats of the county have been studied and it is noted that there are a large number of farms near-by owned by Sullivans. Sometime near the turn of the century, and before Oklahoma became a state, Patrick and Rose Ann Sullivan and their children moved to the town of Wagner Oklahoma. At that time it was called Wagner, Indian Territory. Some 40 years after this picture, Gertrude Ellen Sullivan's second cousin, Daniel Greenen Drew, also named his first two sons "Dan & Bill." The photo at right has been "shrunk" but can be imported in full size and resolution. The caption reads: "1892, Sedalia, Missouri. |
Click on the photo to see it in full size |
Click on the photo to see if full size |
The picture
at left shows the youngest of Rose Ann McGee and Patrick Sullivan's four
children, Margrete Sullivan.
Both she and her sister, Gertrude, were beautiful young ladies. I do not know much of her story except that she Married a man named Thomson and, I believe, had no children. She was active in the Red Cross as the United States prepared for World War One; but then died a young and unexpected death. I believe I heard it was from typhoid fever. Her death, in January of 1913, was in the same month as her grandmother, Catherine Drew McGee; and, it is said that her grandmother and all her McGee and Drew cousins were very proud of her. Her death is recorded in the McGee family bible. We need to get more information about this most interesting lady; and I will try to do so from the James family. |
GERTRUDE ELLEN SULLIVAN
|
In time, Gertrude Ellen Sullivan and her children, grandchildren, and decendants will warrant a separate web page. Until I am better organized and have more information we will have to be satisfied with the FABULOUS collection of pictures the James family has collected. In fact, there were so many awesome photos of this woman, I had a hard time picking out the best ones to pass on in digital format. This cousin of James H. Drew and our parents was obviously a beautiful woman... and tradition has it that people "loved" to take her picture. It is also a tradition that she "loved" to have her picture taken! Tradition also has it that she "sowed some wild oats" in her day; [as some of the photos suggest] but the James family has not yet let us in on the details. Since this is a photo based history, I feel obligated to post these pictures even though we do not have a complete history researched and prepared to accompany them. I am posting the photos in full size and resolution; but, because they are such AWESOME photos and some of them a century old, I think it will be worth the time it takes to import them in the year 2000... realizing, of course, that our grandchildren will be able to import such things in the blink of an eye. |
Gertrude is shown here, at right, at about age 13. Actually, her mother was first cousin to James "Harry" Drew, but because of "circumstances" [Gertrude was an "oldest child" and James H. was a "youngest"] they were just a year apart in age... and hundreds of miles in geography... but they knew each other well.
This photo may have been taken in connection with some sort of "play" or stage production... or it may have been just "playing around" ...which Gertrude was said to be very good at!
