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Story Four

How far back can you trace your family ancestry?

The quick answer is the mid-19th century when Father's German family and Mother's Irish family also arrived in America.

This will be a little bit about my Mother's family, the Irish Catholic Kirleys and Hollands, who settled in Louisville in the mid-19th Century. They weren't especially prosperous, but they were well-educated by the standards of the day and knew Shakespeare and Dickens and other stars. In those days many actors had drama companies that traveled from city to city playing classics and they got to see lots of them. And of course they read, in many cases aloud, and that's how they got to know Dickens and other great writers. Mother could quote poetry at enormous length and I'm sure Lib (Elizabeth) could too.

I should say here that Mother's family was composed of the oldest sister, Alma, who later died of TB in the early 30s when I was a child. Then came Mother (Dorothy), Elizabeth, Maurice, Mildred, and John. Granny (Alma Kirley Holland) was the star and I remember her with the greatest pleasure and lots of love. She took several trips with us, the best being Canada in 1939 from Toronto to Quebec, then down into New England with a stop at a resort hotel for a week and ending at the 1939 Worlds's Fair for a wonderful time. On that trip we started in Canada and went as far as St. Anne de Baupre (SP?) before heading down into New England where we picked up a boat in Boston for an overnight trip to New York City and a long visit to the world's fair. Father had great ideas about trips and Canada-NYC was just one, but it was terrific.

In the early part of the 20th century traveling acting groups were just as popular as they were in the 19th and Mother's family saw lots of performances of classics and popular plays. No TV, so that's what served instead. I consider that the Hollands and Kirleys were highly cultured and I just wish you could have known Granny.

When Mother was young, Granny and Aunt would each buy two tickets and then take one child. How they worked out that choice I have no idea except as I said Lib who was the family dancer got to see Pavlova.

And the Probsts were not nearly so literary although one of Father's jobs as a kid was to change Mom's library book every week. They were, however, much more prosperous, with a beautiful house and always a new Buick car. Mother's family all got educated in Catholic academies in their early years and after high school Mother and Lib went to normal school which fitted them to teach grade school. Father and his family also went to Catholic school for grade school. But Louisville had two men's high schools and Father went to the one that was not religious or literary.. Mother always blamed Pop for not sending Father to the U of K, but college was the last thing he wanted. His sister, Dorothy Probst Lynch was in normal school with Mother and had a fine career, ending up as a principal.

When I went to Europe after I graduated from college Father was interested in having me see Darmstadt in Germany which is where either the Probsts or Garths or maybe both came from. I should also mention Grandma Garth who was Father's grandmother and still alive when I was little. She must have been nearly a hundred — just like me today — but she was tiny. Father was very fond of her and everyone made a fuss of her, but she kind of gave me the creeps and I don't recall having much to do with her. She lived with a maiden daughter, Henrietta — Aunt Yetty — and Mimi and I were always taken to see them on our summer trips. I hope I've mentioned that when the German part of the family came to this country they arrived in New Orleans and got to Louisville by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I don't know about the Irish part of the family except Mother once told me that Jim Sullivan's family — Jim was my Aunt Elizabeth's husband — got to Baltimore during the Civil War and when the men found they were going to be taken into the Union army, they simply got on the boat and went back to Ireland. But some of the family stayed. Mother said one family story was about cousins who settled in Dayton at the time of Lincoln's assassination and neighbors lent them black decorations which apparently everybody used to decorate their houses.

With love always...

Glimpses of the Past

Anna Pavlova and 19th century Louisville

Anna Pavlova as "The Dying Swan"
Anna Pavlova performing The Dying Swan

The legendary ballerina in her most famous role — this is what Aunt Lib saw!

Louisville & the Ohio River

The river city where both Irish and German families arrived in the mid-1800s after traveling up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

Steamboats brought German immigrants from New Orleans; Irish fled the Potato Famine

Historical photographs from the era when the Kirleys, Hollands, Probsts, and Garths made Louisville their home

Nancy's Family Tree

Four generations from Ireland and Germany to America

Grandma Garth
Nearly 100 years old!
Lived with Aunt Yetty
MATERNAL (Irish)
Granny
Alma Kirley
Holland
Grandfather
Holland
PATERNAL (German)
Pop
Probst/Garth
Mom
Probst/Garth
Mother's Siblings
Alma
Died of TB
Lib
Saw Pavlova!
Maurice
Mildred
John
Dorothy
"Dot"
Nancy's Mother
Teacher
∞
Louis
"Pop"
Nancy's Father
Factory owner
Father's Siblings
Dorothy Probst Lynch
Principal
Henrietta
"Aunt Yetty"
NANCY & MARIAN
Nancy
The Storyteller
m. Peter
Marian
Nancy's Sister
Phi Beta Kappa
■ Irish (Kirleys & Hollands) — ■ German (Probsts & Garths)
Thicker borders = direct ancestors • Lines show lineage • ∞ = married • m. = married

Tracing Her Roots

From the rolling hills of Ireland and the valleys of Germany to the banks of the Ohio River

Irish Immigration to Louisville - The Kirleys & Hollands

Nancy's mother's Irish Catholic family—the Kirleys and Hollands—arrived in Louisville during the great mid-19th century wave of Irish immigration. Between 1845 and 1855, over 1.5 million Irish fled the Potato Famine, with many settling in American cities along rivers and canals where work was plentiful. Louisville, situated on the Ohio River, became home to thousands of Irish immigrants who worked as laborers, domestic servants, and eventually established themselves in trades and professions. By 1850, Irish and German immigrants together constituted 11,000 of Louisville's 36,224 white residents—nearly one-third of the city's population.
The Irish faced intense discrimination and violence. On August 6, 1855—a day remembered as "Bloody Monday"—armed Know-Nothing Party members attacked German and Irish Catholics at polling stations, ransacking and burning immigrant homes. Between 20 and 100 people were killed, including a German priest attempting to visit a dying parishioner. Thousands of Catholics fled Louisville in the riot's aftermath, though no one was ever prosecuted. The Know-Nothing Party, fueled by anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment, believed Irish Catholics could not be trusted because of their "allegiance" to the Pope and their "clannish" tendencies. Signs reading "Help Wanted. No Irish Need Apply" were common throughout American cities.

German Immigration to Louisville - The Probsts & Garths

Nancy's account of her father's German family is historically precise: "When the German part of the family came to this country they arrived in New Orleans and got to Louisville by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers." This was indeed the primary immigration route for German settlers heading to the Midwest in the 19th century. The first native-born German arrived in Louisville in 1817, and by 1850, Germans represented nearly 20% of Louisville's population. They established thriving businesses, churches, and cultural organizations, becoming more prosperous than their Irish counterparts. The Probsts, with their "beautiful house and always a new Buick car," epitomized this German-American success.
Darmstadt, Germany—the city Nancy's father wanted her to visit—is a real city in southwestern Germany (in the modern state of Hesse). In the 19th century, many residents of Darmstadt and surrounding regions emigrated to America seeking economic opportunity and to escape political unrest, particularly after the failed German Revolution of 1848. These "Forty-Eighters" were often well-educated and brought skills in trades, brewing, and craftsmanship. Unlike the largely rural Irish fleeing famine, German immigrants often had resources and education that allowed them to establish businesses and accumulate wealth more quickly.

Traveling Theater Companies - Shakespeare & Dickens Come to Louisville

Nancy's description of her mother's cultured family—"In those days many actors had drama companies that traveled from city to city playing classics and they got to see lots of them"—captures an essential feature of 19th and early 20th century American cultural life. Before radio, movies, and television, traveling theater companies brought Shakespeare, popular melodramas, and dramatic readings of Dickens to cities and towns across America. These touring companies often performed in opera houses, town halls, and purpose-built theaters. Louisville, as a major river city with a prosperous population, attracted many of these companies. Families like the Kirleys and Hollands, though not wealthy, considered attending theater a mark of cultural refinement and education.
The practice of reading aloud—especially Dickens—was immensely popular in the 19th century. Nancy notes: "And of course they read, in many cases aloud, and that's how they got to know Dickens and other great writers. Mother could quote poetry at enormous length." This was typical of educated families of the era, when literacy was valued and books were shared communally through oral reading. Charles Dickens himself toured America in 1867-68, giving dramatic public readings of his works to packed audiences. The tradition continued well into the 20th century, when radio dramas and theatrical performances remained central to family entertainment.

Anna Pavlova - "Lib Got to See Pavlova"

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) was the most famous ballerina in the world during Nancy's mother's youth. Born in St. Petersburg and trained at the Imperial Ballet School, Pavlova became known for creating the iconic role of The Dying Swan. After leaving Russia, she formed her own company and became the first ballerina to tour the world extensively. Pavlova made her first American appearance in February 1910 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, performing with dancer Mikhail Mordkin. She returned to the United States multiple times throughout the 1910s and 1920s, making five major American tours in ten years. A 1920-21 tour represented her fifth visit to the U.S.
Pavlova traveled an estimated 400,000 miles by boat and train and gave over 4,000 performances, bringing ballet to audiences who had never seen classical dance. She performed not only in major cities but also in smaller towns, making ballet accessible to ordinary Americans. When Nancy mentions that "Lib who was the family dancer got to see Pavlova," this was likely during one of Pavlova's American tours in the 1910s or early 1920s when Nancy's Aunt Elizabeth (Lib) was a young woman. For a working-class Irish family in Louisville, attending a Pavlova performance would have been a special cultural event—expensive enough that Granny and Aunt "would each buy two tickets and then take one child."

Normal Schools - Training Teachers in Early 20th Century Kentucky

Nancy explains that "after high school Mother and Lib went to normal school which fitted them to teach grade school." Normal schools were teacher-training institutions that flourished in America from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The term "normal" came from the French "école normale," meaning a school that set the standard or "norm" for teaching. These schools typically offered one or two years of training beyond high school, focusing on pedagogy, child development, and subject matter knowledge. For women in the early 20th century, teaching was one of the few respectable professions available, and normal school provided an affordable path to economic independence.
Kentucky established several state normal schools in the early 1900s: Eastern Kentucky State Normal School (1906), Western Kentucky State Normal School (1906), Morehead Normal School (1922), and Murray Normal School (1922). Louisville also had normal school programs and teacher-training institutes. Nancy's mother Dorothy and her sister Elizabeth (Lib) likely attended one of these programs in the 1910s or 1920s. Dorothy Probst Lynch—Nancy's father's sister who "was in normal school with Mother and had a fine career, ending up as a principal"—exemplifies the opportunities normal schools created for women. Becoming a school principal was a significant achievement for a woman in this era.

Civil War Conscription & Irish Draft Evasion - The Sullivan Family Story

Nancy's story about Jim Sullivan's family is historically plausible: "Jim Sullivan's family—Jim was my Aunt Elizabeth's husband—got to Baltimore during the Civil War and when the men found they were going to be taken into the Union army, they simply got on the boat and went back to Ireland." The Enrollment Act of March 3, 1863, required all male U.S. citizens and male aliens who had applied for citizenship (aged 20-45 for single men, up to 35 for married men) to register for the draft. Irish immigrants arriving at ports like Baltimore, New York, and Boston were immediately eligible for conscription upon declaring their intention to become citizens.
Many Irish resented being drafted almost immediately after arrival, viewing the Civil War as "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight." The draft allowed wealthy men to pay $300 for a substitute or to buy their way out entirely—far beyond the means of poor Irish immigrants. Recruiters often waited at immigration depots like Castle Garden in New York, offering bounties to new arrivals to enlist. Some Irish men did exactly what the Sullivan family reportedly did: upon learning they would be drafted, they returned to Ireland rather than fight in America's war. This was particularly true in Baltimore, which had significant Southern sympathies and a large Irish population. The decision to flee draft conscription was not without precedent—draft evasion and resistance were common, culminating in the New York Draft Riots of July 1863, when Irish protesters killed at least eleven African Americans and burned the Colored Orphan Asylum.

Lincoln's Assassination & National Mourning - Dayton Cousins

Nancy recounts a poignant family memory: "Mother said one family story was about cousins who settled in Dayton at the time of Lincoln's assassination and neighbors lent them black decorations which apparently everybody used to decorate their houses." President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 (Good Friday), and died the following morning. The nation went into official mourning, and cities across America draped buildings in black crepe and bunting. For many immigrant families—particularly Irish Catholics who had served in the Union Army despite their grievances—Lincoln's death was a moment of profound national tragedy that united Americans across ethnic and class lines.
The practice of hanging black mourning decorations was widespread and expected. Homes, businesses, churches, and public buildings displayed black crepe, flags at half-mast, and black wreaths. For newly arrived immigrants in Dayton, Ohio, borrowing black decorations from neighbors would have been both a practical necessity (they likely couldn't afford to buy their own) and a gesture of solidarity with their adopted country. The story Nancy's mother preserved illustrates how immigrant families navigated their new American identity—participating in national rituals of mourning even as they struggled to establish themselves economically. This small act of civic participation helped integrate the family into their new community.
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