While working with Mr. Van Ormer in the courthouse and library, we have painted a small picture of this family's life here in Glynn County. What we are not sure of, is how all of the Minehans are related to each other.

Mr. Van Ormer's father was also E.T. Creamer-Van Ormer, Jr., and his grandfather was Eugene T. Creamer, Sr. Eugene Jr. had his last name changed to Van Ormer (his stepfather's name) upon his mother's request, Mrs. Ada (Warren) Creamer Van Ormer during his graduation from school.

Eugene Sr. was the child of Patrick and Mary (Minehan) Creamer, and this is where the fun begins. According to census records Mary was born in New York, and from what we have pieced together we believe this to be so. In Glynn County, by 1860, there 4 Minehan families in Glynn County.

1. Timothy Minehan and wife Bridget with children Mary C., James R., and George H..

2. Michael Minehan and wife Mary who apparently never had any children.

3. Jerry Minehan and wife Bridget Calnan, with their one and only child Mary who married Rosendo Torras.

4. Bridget Minehan with children Kate, Mary, and Timothy and lodgers Owen Creamer and family which included Patrick Creamer. It is believed that Bridget may have been married to a Patrick Minehan. According to Kate's death certificate, her father is listed as a Patrick Minehan.

Later, Mary (Minehan) Creamer's parents, Thomas & Ellen Minehan, removed from New York and settled in Brunswick. Most of the Minehans are interred in Oak Grove Cemetery and it is presumed that the whole family is as well; unfortunately there aren't any tombstones or unmarked graves within the family plots to confirm this theory.

Owen Creamer may have arrived in New York 17 December 1849 from Liverpool on the "Queen of the West."  However, the ages of this Owen and Mary do not match the Owen that was in Glynn County in 1860, which doesn't mean anything, it could very well be them. The question remains, why did they show up in Glynn County with the Minehan family, and how did their son Patrick marry a Minehan from New York?

Now, Mary who  married Patrick Creamer, was living in New York with her parents, Thomas and Ellen Minehan. By 1873, Thomas and Ellen were in Glynn County according to a tax exemption filing in the probate court.

So, why did they move south?  Are all the Minehans related?  It is quite coincidental, don't you think?  But how are they related?  Were all of the Minehan males brothers, cousins, etc.?  Confusion reigns in this line, as the children were named repeatedly Mary, Bridget, Katie, James, Timothy, etc.

According to Bridget Minehan's will, she being the wife of Jerry Minehan, her maiden name may have been Calnan. Also according to this will, we learn that they only had one child, Mary (Minehan) Torras. After Mary died, her husband Rosendo Torras, married a Katie Calnan, and according to Mr. Robert M. Torras, the grandson of Rosendo, Mary & Katie were cousins.

Michael Minehan's estate record reveals that he and his wife Mary did not have any children, but they raised a cousin as if she was their own, her name was Kate Powers. She was supposedly the daughter of Michael's cousin, Jack Powers. He also states in his will that he had a niece, Kate Fonda, who would be the daughter of Bridget Minehan, and possibly Patrick Minehan, as it stated on her death certificate. Further, Michael asserts that his sister was Mary Clancy of Savannah, Chatham Co., Georgia.

So, from this one document we know that Michael Minehan has a sister named Mary (Minehan) Clancy and possibly a sister-in-law named Bridget Minehan.

Now, according to marriage records, Kate Powers married a Mode Hodges in 1897. I mention this because, in the 1900 Glynn County, Georgia census, we find Eugene and James Creamer [children of Patrick and Mary (Minehan) Creamer] living with Mode and Kate Hodges, and they are listed as cousins to the head of household. Kate Hodges is the cousin of Michael Minehan therefore forming a relation of the Creamer children to the local Minehan family. According to research by another local genealogist Kate's father, Jack Powers, was married to a Mary Minehan. This has not been found by me, as yet.

Other documents in the courthouse reveal that Timothy Minehan did die in Glynn County, and his estate was probated here. A will has not been found by me as yet, but some bonds regarding his estate, stating that he is deceased, can be found in the probate court of Glynn County. This bond was dated 16 April 1868, so we know Timothy had to have died just before then.

A deed in the Glynn County Courthouse dated 1 June 1867 states that Bridget Minehan, widow of Timothy Minehan deceased, has children Mary Catherine (Minehan) Jones, James Richard Minehan, and George Henry Minehan. This document confirms the census information.

Then there is Mary (Minehan) Creamer's family. Her father was presumably a Thomas Minehan, mother's name was Ellen. This was first assumed from census findings, then upon a search of the probate court, two documents work towards confirming this. One was a document filed by Ellen Minehan where she is petitioning the court for a year's support for her two grandchildren, E.T. and James Henry Creamer. This document also states when Patrick and Mary (Minehan) Creamer died, which was in one month of each other.

Another document, filed by Ellen Minehan, was a Schedule of Property for exemption which places Ellen and Thomas Minehan in Glynn County by 6 October 1873. So we can assume that Thomas and Ellen are in fact Mary (Minehan) Creamer's parents, and that Thomas may very well be related to the other Minehans of Glynn County. Why else would he come down here from New York after living there for nearly 20 years?

I have compiled this data under the assumption that Mary (Minehan) Clancy, and  Michael, Jerry, Thomas, Patrick, and Timothy Minehan are all siblings. This has not been proven, and should not be taken as fact.