Frank Fray (1870 - 1931) a portrait by J.B. Yeats

Various Desmond siblings heard our mother, Dorothy Donar Desmond (1911-1970) state over the years that “the actor, Frank Fay” was her cousin. What she probably meant was that he was her father’s  (Peter Donar’s) cousin since the write-up in the Desmond photo album specifically stated that Frank Fay’s father and Dorothy Donar’s father were brothers. If true, I believe that would mean that Frank Fay and my mother, Dorothy Donar, were first cousins, once removed.

To confirm this family legend I have been researching the Fay-Donar connection but, thus far, have had mixed results.

It seems there were two male actors, both of Irish descent, who were named Frank Fay. They were born 26 years apart on two different continents but lived during time periods that overlapped. The first Frank Fay (1871-1931), a dramatic actor, was born in Ireland. The second Frank Fay (1897-1961), a comedic actor, was born in the U.S., in San Francisco, California.

 The Irish-born Frank Fay (1871 to 1931)

The Irish born Frank Fay (1871-1931) worked with his  brother Will G. Fay (1872-1947) to form the Irish National Theatre, an amateur acting group founded on the conviction that only Irish actors could perform Irish plays.  They were both members of the National Dramatic Society, which merged with the Irish Literary Theatre to become the Irish National Theatre Society. That acting company formed the nucleus for the development of the Abbey Theatre, which was established by Frank and Will Fay in Dublin, Ireland, in 1904. Frank’s brother, Will Fay was its guiding force. That theatre is still in operation today.

In 1908 the Fay brothers left the Abbey Theatre to work in England and America. Eventually they emigrated to the U.S. where they appeared in a repertory of Irish plays. I found a reference on the internet to a book titled “The Fays of the Abbey Theatre” written by W.G. Fay and C. Carswell in 1935. It was reprinted in 1971,  but alas, it seems it is currently out of print.

Silhouette portrait of Will Fay (1872-1947) from the Desmond family photo album

One problem:  If the Irish born Frank Fay (1871-1931) was my grandfather’s cousin, why didn’t we also hear our mother mention that Frank’s brother, Will Fay, was her cousin as well?  We only heard about Frank Fay, not Will Fay.  Why?  Is this the wrong Frank Fay?

And yet…

The Desmond-Donar family photo album contained an original, old fashioned silhouette portrait of Will Fay inscribed with the words:  “To my kid brother with love, Will Fay.”  Why would we have this original artifact from the brother of the Irish born Fay if we were not somehow related? Was it handed down the Donar line? Was it purchased at an antique store? Found at a garage sale?

Hmm…

 The American-born Frank Fay (1897-1961)

A young Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay, (courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

The younger Desmond siblings heard a different story about Mom’s “cousin” the actor Frank Fay.  We heard that he was the Frank Fay (1897-1961) who was once married to screen siren Barbara Stanwyck.

This Frank Fay got his start in vaudeville, worked in radio, and went on to become famous for his portrayal of Elwood P. Dowd in the play Harvey, as a boozer whose best friend was an invisible rabbit.  (Note: Jimmy Stewart played Elwood P. Dowd in the movie version of Harvey.) This (American) Frank Fay penned a not very revealing book billed as an “autobiography” in 1935 entitled How to be Poor.  My sister, Dorothy Desmond Vaughan, purchased the book online and found it contained next to nothing in the way of useful biographical data. It was mainly made up of humorous anecdotes and adventures that occurred throughout Fay’s  life in the theatre.

However….

A look at Ancestry.com shows a private family tree for “Frank Fay (1897-1961) Hollywood Walk of Fame”. The owner of this tree is “orrigami”. Because that family tree is “private,” we have no way of getting a look at it short of messaging the owner through Ancestry.com and hoping he or she would respond.

But…

There is another clue to pursue that offers a glimmer of possibility that the American Frank Fay is a relative. Elsewhere in my research, on a website called whosdatedwho.com, I came across biographical data indicating that Fay was a stage namefor the American Frank Fay. According to the California Death Index, 1940-1997, this man was actually named  “Francis Anthony Dooner” at birth but took the name “Fay” when he went into acting. Is “Dooner” a mis-spelling of the name “Donar”?

Frank Fay (1897-1961) Photo courtesy of whosdatedwho.com

One other question: If his mother’s maiden name was Dooner why was Frank’s surname at birth Dooner?  Was she unmarried when she gave birth to Frank Fay? If she was married, it seems like the child would have been given his father’s surname at birth rather than his mother’s maiden name.

In addition I have seen a variety of spellings for the surname Donar on Ancestry.com including Donar, Doner, Dooner, and Donner. I suppose it’s possible that any of those spellings could have been the original spelling of the American Frank Fay’s name at birth.

Future Research

I have no names or dates for the parents (mother OR father) of either Frank Fay. Therefore, at this time I am unable to make a genealogical link between either one of them to my grandfather Peter Donar. Peter’s father—my great-grandfather—was named William Donar and lived from 1826 to 1899. If we had the names and dates of the parents (fathers AND mothers) of both Frank Fays, I would have a little more information to go on to try to connect one of the men named Frank Fay to my grandfather Peter Donar and my great-grandfather William Donar.

Could I be related to an actor named Frank Fay? If so, which one? The Irish-born dramatic actor (1871-1931) who began the Abbey Theatre in Dublin or the American-born comedic actor (1891-1961) who was once married to Hollywood's Barbara Stanwyck?

At this time it’s still unclear which (if either) of these actors named Frank Fay, is the cousin of my grandfather Peter Donar.

The mystery continues….

(This is the  first in a series of Letters To My Ancestors that will be appearing from time to time on the GeneaJourneys blog.)

Oh, Edward–the things I have learned about you in just the last few months!

Eventually, I know more will come out, and then I can tell your full story.  For now though, this is what I can share about you–my mother’s grandfather and my own great-grandfather–whom I wish I’d had the privilege of knowing.

You were born in Ireland around 1845, blessed with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. You emigrated from Ireland a year later at the height of the Great Potato Famine when you were just a baby, to settle with your family in Albany, New York. You and the rest of the Kennedy clan were among the lucky ones though, traveling in steerage across the Atlantic to survive that horrific scourge.

What life was like for you and your family in America during the years that followed, I have  yet to discover. But I do know that on February 25, 1865, twenty years after your arrival in New York,  you enlisted as a Private in  the Union Army during the great American Civil War. I can picture you now, a 21-year-old fresh-faced recruit, standing proud at 5 foot 8 inches tall, being handed your bounty of $100 for the honor of serving in Lincoln’s army.

You were assigned to Company “L”, 1st Regiment, New York Volunteer Engineers. You signed on with the army for a three year stint and were quickly promoted to “artificer” (an archaic term meaning “skilled craftsman” or “inventor” in the armed forces.) That makes sense I suppose, for you Edward,  were a  stone cutter who signed on to practice your craft  with the Boys in Blue as they battled the Rebels.

According to a detailed regimental history produced by Jackie Budell, a descendant (like me) of  one of your comrades, your regiment was responsible for surveying, planning, constructing and repairing fortifications and defensive works. It performed military reconnaissance and formed an advance guard to remove obstructions from the battlefield and facilitate the passage of the army. Unit members who remained in the rear erected obstacles and destroyed roads and bridges to halt the Confederates’ pursuit. Which of these services did you provide?

You engineers were also known as “sappers”, “miners” and “pontonniers.”  The sappers dug trenches, the miners excavated areas to set explosives for the enemy, and the pontonniers built floating bridges across waterways to enable army and supply trains to get across.  That was your assignment, Edward. According to your military file you were a pontonnier!

Temporary, collapsible bridges like this one were erected during the Civil War by pontonniers like Edward Kennedy of the 1st NY Volunteer Engineers. Kennedy served in the Union Army in the final days of the war.

By the end of March of 1865 though, the war was winding down.  Even so, in those final days, it was your regiment, the 1st NY Engineers, that built and repaired roads and bridges during the army’s march that culminated in Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox courthouse.  According to historical records, with the fall of Petersburg and Richmond on April 2nd and 3rd, it was a detachment of engineers from your unit that marched into Richmond to help snuff out a fire that was swallowing everything in its path. Were you in one of those detachments of road builders or firefighters, Edward? I’d like to think so. It sounds heroic to me.

Despite your three-year commitment, you were mustered out with the rest of your company on June 30th, 1865, in Richmond, Virginia since the war was officially over. The nation, and soldiers like you were ready to start life anew.

I have yet to confirm it, but I suspect at the end of this brutal war you must have returned home to your native New York. That’s because records indicate that six years later, on May 4, 1871, that’s where you married my great-grandmother, Ellen Genoy, another Irish immigrant from the old sod.

The 1871 marriage certificate of Edward Kennedy and Ellen Genoy

When I scrutinized your marriage record I hit the jackpot, Edward!  Not only did it give expected details (ages, date, church, and location),  it actually served up the full names of both your two parents (Patrick Kennedy and  Mary Reilly) and your bride’s parents (Michael Genoy and Mary Kelly), all originally from the Emerald Isle.  A gift, Edward!  Another generation for me to pursue! Perhaps more of your story to tell!

Immediately, I sought to determine if  the site of your marriage, (The Church of St. Michael, 403 W. 31st St., New York City) is still standing today,  140 years after you and your beloved were married beneath its soaring rafters.

It is! It’s still there!

I even came upon a sketch of the church made in 1868, just three years prior to your marriage. It’s a beautiful church, Edward, and massive! Perhaps someday I will have the opportunity to visit it and imagine your union there with my great-grandmother, Ellen Genoy.

But alas, yours was a marriage that would last but 9 short years, though it did produce four children: my grandmother, Mary Agnes born in 1872, and her brothers John (b. 1873), Edward Jr. (b. 1875), and Philipp (b. 1877). It seems that despite surviving the War of the Rebellion, you just weren’t meant to live a long life–in fact, you had only 35 years on this earth from beginning to end.

What did you in at such a young age?  Nothing as romantic or dramatic as a mortal combat wound.  No, no, according to your death certificate it was  a form of diarrhea which you’d been suffering with for 3 years–a bit indelicate to refer to perhaps, yet all too common in an era when so many of your contemporaries succumbed to diseases and illnesses so easily cured today.

When you passed from this life on July 13, 1880, your widow Ellen, was left with no means of support, no property of her own, and four children to raise, ages 3, 5, 7 and 8.  The 8 year old was my grandmother.  How did she do it? How did your Ellen manage to raise four young children in New York City in the late 1800s? I know from your military pension records that she never remarried. Clearly, she was on her own to carry this heavy burden.

But that is another mystery to unravel and a question for another day.

In the meantime, I’ll be researching more about the 1st NY Volunteer Engineers and I’ll be starting with its website. It’s already led me to a book written by a comrade of yours entitled “Diary of a Yankee Engineer: A Civil War Diary of John H. Westervelt.” That may be as close as I  get to learning what daily life was like for you during the Civil War as an engineer in the Union Army.

So, I’ll sign off now, Edward.  I have a book to order and so much more to learn before we chat again.