Person in this family
Joanna Meaney
Born 28 December 1889; death not recorded
Joanna Meaney was born at Bayonne on 28 December 1889, a daughter of Thomas Francis Meaney and Catherine Roland, and was baptised at St. Mary Star of the Sea a fortnight later. On 14 January 1913 she married Henry Smith in the same church — the “Harry” by which this archive knew her, and by which it knew nothing else about her at all.
Proved by a record
Joanna Meaney was born at Bayonne on 28 December 1889, a daughter of Thomas Francis Meaney and Catherine Roland, and was baptised at St. Mary Star of the Sea a fortnight later. On 14 January 1913 she married Henry Smith in the same church — the “Harry” by which this archive knew her, and by which it knew nothing else about her at all.
Born at Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
Recorded as: Mrs. Harry Smith — the only name this archive held for her until 11 August 2026
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s no single word covers it — connected through Dennis C. Leahey, who is a great-great-grandparent's sibling
Gina D. Cacace’s connected in this tree, but not by a line this tool can name
Abigail Ann Leahey’s no single word covers it — connected through Dennis C. Leahey, who is a great-great-great-grandparent's sibling
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s connected in this tree, but not by a line this tool can name
Kevin Leahey’s no single word covers it — connected through Dennis C. Leahey, who is a great-grandparent's sibling
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
Life
A written life story has not been added for this person yet.
Death and burial
Evidence distinction: [RECORD] means text read from the photographed stone. [COMPILED] means volunteer-typed memorial information and is only a lead.
Find a Grave memorial 184119540
Why this memorial is attached
Matched by spouse Matthew Sylvester Leahy and the archive’s 1889 marriage report naming Matthew Leahy and Catherine Meaney. Find a Grave memorial 184119540 (findagrave.com).
Spouse Matthew Sylvester Leahy 1866–1934 (m. 1888)
[COMPILED] Volunteer-typed memorial fields
These fields are leads, not civil or church records, and do not replace documented dates. Find a Grave memorial 184119540 (findagrave.com).
Name: Catherine Elizabeth Meaney Leahy Birth: 13 Nov 1871 Death: 16 Aug 1939 (aged 67) Cemetery: Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA Plot: Blk-F Sec-JA Gr-38 1E Family links: Parents: Thomas Francis Meaney 1849–1917; Catherine Meaney unknown–1937. Spouse: Matthew Sylvester Leahy 1866–1934 (m. 1888). Sibling: Ann Meaney Leahey 1875–1894. Children:Show the full recordHide the full recordFull record, about 100 words
Dennis C Leahey 1890–1968; Catherine Elizabeth Leahey Quinlan 1893–1940; Anna Estelle Leahey McNelis 1895–1964; Ellen Teresa Leahey 1897–1933; Helena Veronica Leahey 1900–1900; Thomas F Leahey 1902–1906; Bertha Marie Leahey Blackwood 1905–1953; Jean Cecilia Leahey Leary 1907–1981; Matthew Sylvester Leahey Jr 1912–1984; Matthew Leahey 1914–1914.
Photograph status: a photographed inscription is available and shown below. Find a Grave memorial 184119540 (findagrave.com).
[RECORD] Photographed inscription, transcribed verbatim
LEAHEY
Citation: Find a Grave memorial 184119540 (findagrave.com); monument photograph credited below.
Family
Parents
Siblings · birth order
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
- Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City Cemetery or burial place
- New York
- Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey Cemetery or burial place
- St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York
The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.
The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. 1 of the places listed above are recorded only as a county or country, so they are not pinned. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Baptised at St. Mary Star of the Sea
Her sponsors were William Smith and Joanna Finnan — and she was given the sponsor's name. The register annotates its own baptisms with the marriages that followed, decades later and in the same parish — which is how a woman recorded here only as her husband's name gets her own back. Her mother is entered as Cath. Rohling in one register and Cath. Rohlan in the other: the clerk's spellings of Roland, and an independent confirmation of Thomas Meaney's wife. The priest, A.M. Egan, is the same Rev. Andrew M. Egan who married her sister Catherine to Matthew Leahy in 1889. [2]
Proved by a record
Married Henry Smith at St. Mary Star of the Sea
Added to her baptism entry twenty-three years afterwards. The archive carried her as “Mrs. Harry Smith”; Harry is Henry, and the register has him in full. [2]
Proved by a record
What the records say
2 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
Catherine Elizabeth Meaney Leahy memorial, Holy Name Cemetery
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Catherine Elizabeth Meaney Leahy, born 13 November 1871 at Brooklyn, Kings County, New York; died 16 August 1939 at Bayonne; buried Holy Name Cemetery, plot Blk-F Sec-JA Gr-38 1E. Parents Thomas Francis Meaney 1849-1917 and Catherine Meaney d.1937. Spouse Matthew Sylvester Leahy 1866-1934, married 1888. Sibling Ann Meaney Leahey 1875-1894. Children: Dennis C 1890-1968, Catherine Elizabeth Quinlan 1893-1940, Anna Estelle McNelis 1895-1964, Ellen Teresa 1897-1933, Helena Veronica 1900-1900, Thomas F 1902-1906, Bertha Marie Blackwood 1905-1953, Jean Cecilia Leary 1907-1981.
Record exhibit
St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne — baptism of Joanna Meaney, 12 January 1890
This is an entry in a church book, often naming a child, parents, and godparents.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
10 | Joanna Meaney | Dec 28 - 1889 | Jan 12 - 1890 | Thomas / Cath. Rohlan | William Smith, Joanna Finnan | Married to Henry Smith. Jan 14 - 1913 at St. Mary's. A.M. Egan
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
Bayonne and the Industrial Waterfront, 1870–1920
The Bayonne in these family records was a new city built around water, rails and heavy industry. Bayonne Township was formed only in 1861, uniting older settlements on Bergen Neck; it became a city in 1869. The…
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
What we still don't know
- [A WILLIAM SMITH STOOD SPONSOR AT HER BAPTISM IN 1890, AND SHE MARRIED A SMITH IN 1913] That is suggestive and it is not evidence. The Smiths were already close enough to the family to stand godparent twenty-three years before the wedding, and her sister Caroline married a Louis Smith in 1911. No Smith has been created as a person on the strength of it.