"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 2

As I said, I'd discovered names of children I hadn't known about
in the family of my maternal great grandparents John and Annie (Kelley)
McFarland. Let's look again at the birth or death records I found at
FamilySearch. The new discoveries are in red:

2Aug 1882 Michael McFarland 44 Berlin St
7May 1884 Mary McFarland 44 Berlin St
Nov 1885 Catharine McFarland 37 Coventry St 
10Dec 1885 Catharine McFarland 37 Coventry St (d. meningitis)
30Jul 1886 John McFarland 37 Coventry St (d Indigestion w/Convulsions)
24Nov 1886 Francis McFarland 171 Vernon St
 6Mar 1888 John McFarland  171 Vernon St
19dec 1889 Robert McFarland 171 Vernon St
17Oct 1891 Joseph McFarland 6 Tremont St
8Sep 1892 Joseph McFarland 5 Albert St (d. marasmus  )
12Jun 1893 Thomas McFarland 5 Albert St
24Mar 1895 Annie McFarland 9 Albert St
18Oct 1896  Annie McFarland 9 Albert St
7Oct 1898   Agnes McFarland 9 Albert St
5Jul 1900 Sara McFarland (no address) (d  diphteria)
20Oct 1900 Winnie McFarland 9 Albert St
8Jun 1903 Margaret McFarland  9 Albert St

But there were other children I knew of that I couldn't find
records for on FamilySearch and I had learned about from 
my cousin John V McFarland.:
Annie McFarland  Mar 1885-7Jun 1887
George McFarland 1Jan 1919-13Jan 1919

Looking over the new list I was struck by how close the  births
were to each other(except for George) and by the recurrence
of some names like John (twice) and Annie(three times). I also
realized that all the new births and dates had fallen between
the U.S.Censuses. The only reason I knew about the first Annie
and George was because of the information my cousin John had
provided to us in a letter years ago.

I'd found birth and death records for some but for others there
were only one or the other. Given the sad condition of the page
with Catherine McFarland's birth record on it, those missing
records may no longer exist:

 

As I said, I was working on this last week. On Saturday I went to the New England
Family History Conference where I heard Michael Brophy's talk on "Genealogical
Materials at the Boston Catholic Diocese". Inspired by that, and by what I had
found at FamilySearch, Saturday night I decided I'd visit the Archdiocese Record
Center. I would also finally send away for the birth certificates of my great
grandparents .

Then Sunday I made contact with another McFarland descendent who would
help provide some answers.

  (to be continued)