The history of the Gallagher's as I remember them... Part 1

Well, that is another nine months gone, as anyone still reading here can tell. I have stopped updating my genealogy blog. I haven't had time to write about all my adventures or misadventures for a while. Between school, work, and marriage, there was a thin line between sleep and staying up to blog. Then life hit. You know how it is. You are going along, working, living. Then a bunch of things happen all at once. Before you know it, you've been posting on your blog for nine months. 

So, that's why I'm here? Maybe. Has my life slowed down since I finished my genealogy studies at BYU-Idaho? Or is it because life has slowed down (definitely not). Or I'd like to leave my thoughts, cares, and prayers in a space other than Facebook. That's it. My hand-written journaling has also been slacking, so don't be jealous of actual pen and paper. 

Regarding genealogy, there are no significant finds, wall-breaking epiphanies, or groundbreaking records released on FamilySearch or Ancestry😞. However... This is my third senior service mission in the North American Operations of BYU at FamilySearch. In this capacity, I am assisting with the "chat" options to help people like you figure out their family tree, fix mistakes, and merge records that have been duplicated more than twice, I've seen up to six times so far. Also, guiding and introducing people to the basics of research. I am enjoying it so far. 

This is the third mission I have served for FamilySearch. I enjoy serving people by helping them find their family members. So I decided, and with prompting from the Holy Spirit, I applied for my 2nd tour and have been serving since June 2025.   

Something else I'd like to do is revisit Utah and see the Granite Vault (click link), built in the foothills of the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake Valley. However, there is no public access, but nonetheless, it would be cool to see. In the fall, it's too hot (now) to hike a mountain to see something you can't enter. 

Are you still doing genealogy?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is more complicated. It used to be that I logged on to FamilySearch, Ancestry, and my genealogy email multiple times a day. However, when school ended, I slowed down, really slow. Plus, with the uptick in prices in the economy, many people have put genealogy on the back burner. In my research, it appears there haven't been any significant finds, wall-breaking epiphanies, or any groundbreaking records released on FamilySearch or Ancestry. That is, since the 1950 census records 

When Charles Edward Gallagher was born on 11 September 1912 in Brooklyn, New York, his father, Edward, was 39, and his mother, Margaret, was 32. He married Florence Helen Harvey on 20 June 1941, in New York City, New York. They had eight children during their marriage. He died on 12 February 1985, in his hometown at the age of 72.
When I found my late grandfather's obituary, everything matched what I had on FamilySearch and Ancestry, except for one thing: "his late wife," Florence Harvey Gallagher. 1

The thing is, she wasn't deceased in 1985; when Florence Helen Harvey was born on 9 February 1923 in New York City, New York, her father, George, was 33, and her mother, Florence, was 23. She married Charles Edward Gallagher, and they had eight children together.
Then they divorced because of my grandfather's alcoholism and other destructive behavior. There were many times my Sister, who was five years younger than I, would look for grandpa, and the bartender would ask us to bring him home because he was passed out on the floor or on the bar. I'd have to call my dad and tell him where we were. When my father took the train home (which wasn't for free), he got to grandpa's stoop, because we couldn't lift him to walk four flights of marble stairs. Dad hollered at Grandpa as if he were a child. Drinking was and is a family-destroying habit. I felt horrible for Grandpa.


My Sister was contacted by Florence's son, John, from her 2nd marriage to Johan Dagfin Lindland Hansen, who was born on 3 September 1977 in Brooklyn, New York, and found out why Florence left, and how the children were split up to save them from going to orphanages. The two oldest boys stayed with Grandpa, while everyone else stayed with family members from Canada. One son went to an orphanage, and another son was mentally incapacitated, and he was in a hospital until he turned eighteen. Then he has lived in a personal care home since. Alcoholism is hard on everyone in the family, not just the person who is drinking, but even the baby in the family.


Florence died on 16 October 1995, in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 72

1. Obituaries; "The Courier; Bridgewater, New Jersey - 13 February 1985, Page 19, Section B-3, column 3." Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com: accessed 5 July 2021) entry for Charles J. Gallagher.

2. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, online database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901/records/39035112: accessed 5 October 2022) entry for Florence Helen Harvey Gallagher                                                        Hansen.