The eldest son born to Kerney & Mollie, Daniel James McCarthy arrived 18th November 1884. This we know from his draft registration cards for both World Wars, not from any entry in the birth register index. Either his parents never bothered to register him[1] or he was one of many omissions in the index.

When he was 13 he appears to have been in a competition to win a bicycle. The contest was one of many promotional gimmicks employed by M Kain in his grocery store on Gaston Street, Baldwinsville. It would seem anyone making a purchase at the store could cast a vote, at one point Daniel was in second place with 20,000 votes, Charles Hosier was ahead by 500 votes. The competition ended the evening of 14th August (1897), Daniel ran out the winner with a total of 94,860 votes, beating his rivals by 85 votes. Later that year he received as a Christmas gift a copy of Robinson Crusoe which we have in our possession. He has inscribed the frontispiece
"Dannie Mc Carthy
Dec 25, 1897
Smokey Hollow

Presumably he used his newly won bicycle, weather permitting, to journey from his home on Smokey Hollow to school in Baldwinsville. The Baldwinsville Academy had been opened in 1867 as part of the amalgamation of several school districts under the 1864 State legislation and was located on Elizabeth Street. It later evolved into the Charles W Baker High School. Here Daniel appeared to excel at Geography and Advanced English and in 1900 acheived his Preliminary Certificate[2]. A career in teaching seems to have been replaced by one of electrician as the 1905 census describes him as such.

What happpened in the course of the next five years is still a mystery but possibly involved events that led to the family myth that Daniel disappeared and no one knew where he was[3]. Possibly due to a family arguement or seeing an advert in a newspaper, for whatever reason Daniel headed west, ending up in Colorado where on the 10th August 1910 he married Cora Leota Place at Greeley. Cora was a divorcee and a Methodist, two facts that probably didn't go down well with Molly and perhaps part of the reason she was told he had disappeared. As far as we are concerned he certainly had just prior to his marriage for no record of him in the 1910 Federal census can be found. The 1915 census report of him being at Smokey Hollow is utter nonsense, what appears to have happened is that (probably Molly) when asked, just listed all the children irrespective of whether they were at home or not. It might have been her not understanding the question or that John W Montague, the enumerator didn't make the question clear enough.

From his WWI draft registration card we learn that Daniel and Cora had moved back to her home State of Ohio and in close proximity to her parents, her father being a farmer. The newly weds also took on a farm, the address being a classic example of the total inability to properly name any where in the 19th and early 20th centuries. RFD[4] 2, Bx 62, Vincent, Washington, Ohio. By 1950 this finally got named as Seely Ridge Road, though the farm wasn't numbered, just referred to as "1 mile on left". In order to make ends meet Daniel was also doing contract work for J. S. Swartz who was based in Colorado Springs. From newspaper reports we know Swartz bid on various public works projects, in 1926 he was involved in laying water mains in parts of Fort Collins and he and his wife rented an appartment from a Mrs. Elsie Boulton whilst the work continued. We also know that he bid for various projects in Wyoming. This may be why that the 1920 census finds Daniel and Cora renting a farm in in Lingle, Goshen, Wyoming.

By 1930 though they were back in Ohio, having bought the farm Daniel was also working at the Parkersburg Mill which although being in West Virginia was about a 15 minute drive from their farm. There they lived until January 1952 when Cora died of heart failure, tragically Daniel died just a month later when he fell off the roof of the house. They are both buried in Rockland Cemetery in Belpre, Washington County, Ohio.

Footnotes:
[1] Only 3 of Kerney & Molly's children appear in the birth index, Louis, Marie Veronica & Teresa Ann. Louis is only recorded as "male", Teresa as "female" and Marie as "Varonica"
[2] A preliminary certificate in New York is a type of teaching certification that allows individuals to begin teaching while they complete the requirements for a full certification.(Source Search Assistant).
[3] When Cornelius' obituary was written in 1939 someone had a vague idea where he was because it mentions him being in Colorado.
[4] Rural Free Delivery

QUESTIONS NEEDING ANSWERS:-

1) Where was Daniel in 1910