Irish Third Cousin Found in Massachusetts

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As part of a renewed 2017 effort to work on the Irish branches of the family tree, I found a third cousin of the Tomans living in Massachusetts. His name is James Leavitt. Here is James photo from his 1967 Boston College yearbook.

James’s mother was Margaret (Toman) Leavitt. Margaret was a second cousin to Ellen (Toman) Marchisa and her 4 brothers. Margaret graduated from Manchester High School 2 years before Ellen. Margaret’s father was Thomas Joseph Toman who was a first cousin to Samuel John Toman, (Grandpa Toman). Thomas lived with his family in Manchester CT and worked at the Cheney Brothers Mills for 30 years. The mystery for me , (and for James Leavitt as well), is why the two families did not get together for family occasions. Ellen (Toman) Marchisa mentioned distant cousins living in Manchester but did not provide any details about them in her memoirs.

I have spoken to James and will invite him to join us at a future Toman Family history party in CT.