Son of Eugene and Bridget O'Neil.∼
son of Jeremiah Darby Burns 1837–1864
BIRTH 1837 • Kilkenny, Ireland
DEATH 6 MAY 1864 • The Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia
==
After Jeremiah's death, Bridget married Eugene O'Neil. Eugene adopted all three of the children: John James;
Honora "Hannah", and Margaret.
Contributor: Kerry (48011981)∼
John J. Burns' oldest half-brother was Daniel "Dan" O'Neil (Find-a-Grave ID #179665114). Like his older half-brother, John, Dan also worked for the Great Northern Railway; he was a chief engineer in Havre, Montana. (I posted several photos on Dan O'Neil's page of Dan and his wife Margaret "Maggie" Mae [Kelly] O'Neil. The photos came from my father's collection.)

Another of John's half-siblings was Julia (O'Neil) Crane. (She was married to WF Crane). Julia's Find-a-Grave memorial is ID #44077743. They had several children.

John's last remaining sibling was his youngest Burns sibling, Margaret "Maggie" E.(Burns) Otis. Maggie's Find-a-Grave memorial ID is #179068131. She married John Wesley Otis of Antigo, WI; they had one son—a boy named Leo Lyle Otis…but referred to as Lyle L. Otis. Lyle's Find-a-Grave memorial ID is #179067325.

Maggie Burns was the most difficult sibling to locate until I stumbled across the newspaper clipping of Mary "Mamie" (or "Mayme") O'Neil Hudson's funeral notice from The Spokane-Review (Spokane, WA) 27 Aug 1938, page 26. [Newspapers.com]. It was like the Rosetta Stone! All O'Neil and Burns siblings and half-siblings are listed in the article, except for Katherine "Katy" O'Neil, who had died previously in 1896 at age 20. (Note: I included each married woman's first name and maiden name in the caption.)

Both of John J (Burns) O'Neil's parents—Jeremiah "Darby" Burns (also Burnes) and Bridget (Graney*) Burns (see below)—were born in Ireland, as was John's stepfather, Eugene O'Neil. But John and his sister Honora "Hannah" (Burns) Hannigan were both born in Connecticut, according to the copy of an 1866 affidavit I have. The third and last Burns child, Maggie, was born in Wisconsin.

John and his wife, Josephine Frances (Breher) O'Neil (c.1860-1929), were married by a Catholic priest in Ramsey County in 1888, according to their marriage license and certificate. (Marriage certificate witnessed by Leonard S. and Lena Breher. O'Neil was spelled there with two "L's".) Josephine is listed as John's wife in the U.S. Census from 1910 as well as the Minnesota census from 1905. The children's names are listed: Virginia, Madeline, Frank, Esther B., Leone M., and Laud. Josephine passed away in 1929; unfortunately, I cannot locate Josephine's grave on Find-a-Grave to link her with John James (Burns) O'Neil. May M. McCaffery is listed as John O'Neil's wife here, but I do not know when they were married.

Submitted by Janet O'Neil Clark
(Great-granddaughter of Dan O'Neil, J. J. O'Neil's older half-brother in Havre, Hill County, Montana. Dan named his youngest son John James O'Neil! Called "Jack" O'Neil--except by "Aunt Hannah," who had a dog named "Jack" and insisted on calling Dan's son "John".)

*Mary (O'Neil) Hudson's Washington State death certificate lists her mother Bridget's maiden name in typeface as "Graney". On the affidavit from 1866, many letter a's were left "open" in the abysmal handwriting and look like "ee," so the name appears at first glance to be "Greeny". However, after studying the rest of the document, I'm inclined to believe the name "Graney" typed on Bridget's daughter Mary's death certificate might be correct. --JOC
Contributor: Janet O'Neil Clark