1. Michael and Anne Whelan

The story of this Whelan Family begins in Ireland with a man called Michael Whelan and his wife Bridget. Born in County Cork about 1716, Michael joined a very early wave of Catholic Irish immigrants to Lord Baltimore's Maryland. Among the many children born to Michael and Bridget was Michael Josiah Whelan in 1756. He grew up to marry Grace Tennelly. She was of another early Irish settler family in Maryland. Her family can be traced back to American birth of Philip Tennely in Tennelly Town, Prince George's County, Maryland in 1695. 

Philip's son, Joseph Josiah in found in Maryland Records, Colonial Revolutionary County Church signing an Oath of Fidelity to the United States in 1778: The Oath states "I do swear that I do not have myself bound to yield any allegiance or obedience to the King of Great Britain, his heirs or successors; and that I will be true and faithful to the state of Maryland, and will to the utmost of my power support, maintain and defend the freedom and independence thereof, as the government has now established, against all other enemies and traitors and can______________and will use my utmost endeavors to disclose and make known to the Governor or some one of the Judges, or Justices thereof, all treasons and traiterous conspiracy attempts or combinations against this_____________on the Government thereof, which may come to my knowledge so help me God." 

Philip Tenely's will probated in 1772 states among other bequests: "I do give and devise unto my son Joseph Teneley all that Tract of land called Tenaley Chance and thirty acres of land called Hunters Kindness which I give unto him and his heirs forever."

Following the Protestant Revolt of 1649 which resulted in the death of English King Charles I and put Oliver Cromwell in power as Lord Protector of England, there was also a series of upheavals in Maryland. Protestants attempted to seize control of the colony through various means including armed uprisings, overturning the charter of the Baltimores and disenfranchising Catholic residents. Eventually, with the removal of the capital of the colony to Anne Arundel (Annapolis) in 1695, Protestant control of Maryland was complete and the religious freedom uniquely enjoyed in Maryland was ended. The first trans-Appalachian region subjected to massive settlement by the newly victorious Americans following the Revolutionary War was Kentucky, as it was largely devoid of permanent Indian settlements. Maryland Catholic settlers, who began arriving in Kentucky in large numbers around 1785, concentrated mainly in the area which now constitutes Nelson, Marion, and Washington Counties. 

Joseph Josiah Tennelly never left Maryland and died there in 1792. His daughter Grace Eleanor, named after her paternal grandmother, would marry Michael Josiah, Sr. in 1790 at age 17 to his 34. By 1801, they were living in Washington County, Kentucky. Michael Jr.'s brothers John B., Philip, James were born in Maryland. Brother Charles, sister Eleanor, Michael Josiah Jr, and younger brother, Edward Walter were all born in Washington County. Five of the Whelan brothers would move to Meade County. The 1850 Meade County Census shows widower James Whelan at the head of a farm in Meade County that was packed with family members. Besides James' children are Edward Walter Whelan, his wife Susan and eight children. Also included on this census record is 77-year-old Grace E. Tennelly Whelan, who is recorded one month before her death in September 1850. Her son and brother to James and Edward, Philip is also on this list at age 57 and is noted to be "insane."

The Meade County History notes about Flaherty, Kentucky: The first log cabins were built by J.I. (1821-1873) and Ellender Newton; Sylvester (1818-1865) and Sara Ann Wheatley; Dr. L.J. (1806-1886) and Louisa M. Berry; John B. (1791-1861) and Monica Whelan, and Michael (1806-1874) and Ann (Brown) Whelan.

Our story continues with Michael Josiah Jr. b. 13 Oct 1806, d. 7 Oct 1874, son of Michael Whelan and Grace Eleanor Tennelly. Michael was born in Washington County, Kentucky from whence he moved to Meade County after the 1850 Census. He and his wife, Anne Ellen Brown, were married at St. Rose's Church in Washington County in 1837, where several of their oldest childrens' Baptismal records can be found. Michael is the progenitor of most of the Whelans in the Saint Martin of Tours Parish today. His and Anne Ellen's children born in Washington County were Charles Kendrick Whelan, Mary Eleanor, John Alexander, Felix Thomas, Daniel O'Connor. After the move to Meade County, they had three more daughters, Sarah Ann, Susan Appalonia, and Francis. Charles Kendrick married Sarah Ellen Lancaster, but died in 1873 at age 35 after the birth of three children. Mary Eleanor might have died in her teens, but this is not certain. John Alexander Whelan married Mary Eliza Bickett. She died in 1876 after ten years of marriage and three children. He then married Sarah French, sister of Lucinda, who would marry his younger brother Felix Thomas seven year later. Daniel O'Connor also married Sarah Ellen Lancaster and after she died married Sarah Bryan. Younger sister Sarah Ann, called Sallie, died at age 14 and is buried in St Martin's Cemetery. Susan Whelan married Johnson Boone, but died in 1882 at age 25 after giving birth to two children. Francis never married and ultimately moved to Louisville where she worked as a seamstress until she died in 1921.

Stained Glass Window at St. Martin of Tours Catholic church. Donated

in honor of Michael Whelan by his second wife, Mrs. Isabella Sims.