Daniel and Julia Donovan

The little we know about Daniel and Julia Donovan comes from two sources, the city directories of the cities they lived in and their obituaries. The notice of Daniel's death printed 8 February 1891 in the Oakland Daily Tribune states:

DONOVAN - In this city, February 8, Daniel, beloved husband of Julia Donovan and father of Lizzie and James Donovan, Mrs. J.D. Cramer, Mrs. J.J. Nunan, Mrs. J.H. Kane(sic), Mrs. J.J. Feneran and Mrs. W.H. Aikeus(sp?), a native of Miltown, County Cork, Ireland, aged 72 years. (Boston Mass. papers please copy.)
Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend the funeral TOMORROW (Tuesday) at 8:30 o'clock A.M. from his late residence No. 760 Third street, thence to the Immaculate Conception Churh (sic), where a solemn requiem high mass will be celebrated for the repose of his soul, commencing at 9 o'clock A.M. Interment St. Mary's Cemetery. Please omit flowers.

Julia's obituary appeared in the Oakland Tribune 11 June 1905:

DONOVAN - in Oakland, June 10, 1909, Julia relict of the deceased Daniel Donovan, and loving mother of Mrs. J.H. Cain, Mrs. James J. Feneran, Mrs. Joseph Triest, the late Mrs. Margaret Cramer, Mary E. Nunan, Julia A. Martin and James Donovan, a native of Ross, County Cork, Ireland, aged 85 years.
Friend and acquaintance are respectfully invited to attend the funeral Saturday, June 12, 1909, at 9 o'clock a.m., from her late residence, 760 Third street; thence to St. Mary's Church, where a solemn requiem high mass will be celebrated for the repose of her soul, commencing at 9:30 o'clock a.m. Interment, St. Mary's Cemetery.

Thanks to Father Tony Dummer's research of the parish records at Old St. Marys' Church in Oakland we know the Donovan family lived in Washington D.C. in 1859, the year of the birth of their daughter Mary Elizabeth and where Margaret her sister, was also born. The family subsequently moved to Boston, Massachusetts where James, Catherine, Agnus and Josephine were born. The place of birth is included in the marriage and baptism records of the Donovans at Old St. Marys' Church. We do not know when the Donovans moved to Oakland but it must have been prior to 1881 when the first Donovan marriage is recorded in the church records.

The Boston City Directory shows two Daniel Donovans living in that city as early as 1859. In 1867 there was a listing of a Daniel and James Donovan living at the same address, 2nd Corner I in Boston. We could speculate this is the correct family if son James reached working age in that year, but we will need more information before we know for certain.

The records of Old St. Marys' Church in Oakland show that Mary Elizabeth Donovan married John Joseph Nunan on February 2, 1881. She was 22 years old and John J. was 25. While it seems likely children may have been born earlier in their marriage, we have records for only three sons. Joseph Daniel was born in 1888 seven years after the marriage when Margaret was nearly 30 years old. The second son, John Francis was born in 1889 and the short-lived third son followed in 1890 when she was 31. The death at 4 months of baby Raymond must of been a great sorrow for the whole family. John Francis named his first child Raymond Francis in memory of his lost brother.

The church records show a marriage between J. J. Donovan and Anna Gavin on 16 June 1883. They had one son, Daniel born 9 July 1885. It is not certain that this James Donovan is the son of Daniel and Julia. According to the 1900 census, a daughter of James was born in Massachusetts leading to the conclusion that James was married in Boston. Additional research needs to be done to unravel this mystery.

The 1904 and 1907 Oakland city directories list a Daniel J. and Michael Donovan living at the same address as Julia Donovan. This may be her grandson and great-grandson. Michael was listed as employed by St. Mary's Cemetery in 1904. In 1907 he was employed as a gardener.

Catherine Theresa Donovan married Jacob H. Cain. The Cain boys were Harold, James and Warren and the daughters were Eleanor, Jewel, Katherine (Kate) and Alma. James J. (Jim) Cain married Florence and had two daughters, Florence and Georgia. The marriage of Warren Cain and Irene Reedy produced Claire and Warren. Kate married Lloyd Stanbrough and went to live in Stockton. Helen Nunan remembered a trip by riverboat up the Sacramento River to visit Aunt Kate. Eleanor Cain married William Robbins, a Captain of the State Steamship Line. They had two children, Eleanor and June. It was this connection that gave John Francis's son Albert Stanley Nunan his first job as a merchant seaman; the beginning of a distinguished career.

According to the baptism records at St. Mary's, Josephine F. Donovan and Jacob Fineran (also spelled Fenran and Feneran in the church records) had five children; Maria born 23 November 1883, Loretta born 5 June 1886, Clarence born 30 October 1888, William born 16 February 1896 and Jacob born 10 April 1898.

While there is a marriage record at St. Marys' for Agnus Donovan and George Martin, there is no record of any children baptized at that church. It appears that Agnus had previously been married for her name is Atkins-Donovan.

Margaret Donovan married John Cramer and the church records show two children Eugene born 13 July 1886 and David born 4 May 1888.

Mrs. Triest, whose first name may be Lizzie, is not found in St. Marys' records.

Helen remembered Irene Donovan, who must have been the daughter of Mary Elizabeth's brother James J. Donovan. She was listed living with her grandmother in the 1900 Census, born in Massachusetts and working as an apprentice bookbinder. She married a man named John Lutz and had four children, Connie Mae, Frank, "Tootie" and Jack.

Communication with this side of the family has been lost except for the Cains.

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