Thomas and Ellen (Whalen) Shinners
Great grandparents Thomas Shinners (1856-1920s) and Ellen Whalen Shinners (1859-1920s) were both born in the town of Erin in Washington County, Wisconsin. Thomas and Ellen were each a descendant of Irish immigrants who had initially settled Erin as an Irish, Catholic farming community in the 1840s. Thomas grew up on his family's farm near the village of Thompson, while Ellen lived with her family on their farm on the outskirts of the village of Monches.
Thomas Shinners and Ellen Whalen married in the late-1870s and, according to a family history, "settled a block west of St. John's Church" (in Monches). Thomas reported himself as a farmer, and a platt map from 1892 shows T. Shinners owning a small 27-acre farm next to Monches. So, this Shinners family apparently spent much of their adult lives in the Monches area.
The number and names of Thomas and Ellen Shinners' children are a bit unclear. One family history indicates that they had four children: Bessie, Frank, Ralph, and Joseph. However, in addition to these four, census records from various time periods identify many other children, including Patrick, Lucy, Mary, Loretta, and Marion. I don't know which is correct, so I offer both for consideration. Importantly for our story, all lists include son Joseph, born in 1881, who would become our Grandpa Joe.
We know that Thomas and Ellen Shinners remained in Erin until at least 1910. However, by 1920, while in their early-60s, Thomas and Ellen and several of their kids had left Erin and relocated to Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, they lived at 234 N. 13th Street, not too far from their son Joseph and his growing family.
Thomas Shinners died in Milwaukee in 1922, and Ellen Whalen Shinners followed a year later in 1923. Both are buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Thus, our mom would have had a very limited opportunity to get to know either of her grandparents on this side of her family tree.