John, brother of Owen,  left Queenstown for New York in 1909, arriving on 23rd April aboard the SS Adriatic. On the passenger manifest he is described as 6'2", a labourer and heading to stay with his brother Michael at 555 Greenwich St NYC. The manifest shows he travelled with Letitia Conlon ( aged 16) and Delia Mullen (24) both from Gleann.

John joined the US army sometime before 1918. He became a naturalised citizen that year and was discharged on 15 July 1919. According to the records I found he served with 7th Company 28th Engineers in Virginia

He married Mary Coen on 12th November 1922 ( just a few days after his brother Owen married Belinda back in Ireland) and they had 3 children Kathleen, John & James. He is listed as a foreman of a sewer construction company in Census records. The 1940 Records can reveal a lot more information for us. John earned $960 in 1939, the year before the census. They are living in the same house since before 1935. Rent for the house is $28 p.m. Kathleen is in Year 1 of High School while James is in 8th Grade Elementary school.

 James was tragically killed in 1941 aged only 15. He was attacked and stabbed by a gang of youngsters in Harlem, close to where he lived. A number of the boys/youths were later sent for trial. Click here to get a document with newspapers reports of the killing and subsequent trial of the offenders.

Mary Coen's family came from Galway . Mary travelled over on the RMS Baltic in 1906 alongside her sister Bridget to stay with their sister Nora at 224 West 69th Street. Mary became a naturalised citizen in 1932.

The grave in Calvary Cemetery