O'Donnell Homestead, located in the townland of Cleendra which is 4km north of Dungloe, County Donegal.

How the O'Donnells are connected to a famous Aborigine, Hitler and an American Film Actor

My grandfather, Hugh O’Donnell, was 1 of 10 children. One of his brothers, Jim O’Donnell married Ellen O’Donnell (an O’Donnell marries an O’Donnell). Jim and Ellen had 5 children. One of their sons, Jimo O’Donnell, married Katie Sullivan. Katie Sullivan was one of the 10 children of Vittorine Julia Robinson and Cornelius Sullivan. A brother of Jimo O’Donnell, Daniel O’Donnell, also married one of the Sullivan sisters, Coral Sullivan.

Cornelius Sullivan, father of the two Sullivan sisters who married into the O’Donnell family, was an Australian of Scottish-Irish descent and a “take all comers” boxer and gambler. Julia Robinson Sullivan’s mother was part Aboriginal and her grandmother was a full blooded Australian Aborigine. Julia was said to look “unmistakably aboriginal”.

The 10 Sullivan children were trained as circus performers under the stage name Colleano. From late 1918, “Colleano’s All Star Circus” toured Queensland by special train. With their “sable” features, the children endeared themselves as “The Royal Hawaiian Troupe” and performed in the center ring as tumblers, acrobats, jugglers and clowns. Two of the siblings, Con and Winnie, became a famous high wire act. In 1919 Con perfected the almost impossible feet-to-feet forward somersault on the tightwire. Winnie was a famous high trapeze performer and “catcher”, an unusual role for women at the time.

During hard times, the Colleanos joined other circuses. In the early 1920s the Colleanos joined the Tivoli Circuit. It was in the Tivoli Circuit that Con met his future wife, also named Winnie (Winifred Constance) Trevail. She was a vaudeville soubrette (front line dancer) who claimed descent from the Earls of Derby. Winnie helped Con to refine his act by teaching him how to dance on the wire. Before long, Con was the hit of the show, so the Colleanos and Winnie Trevail decided to try their luck overseas.

South Africa was their first port of call after leaving Australia. Here they had to be careful of the Colleano’s Aboriginal background because people of color were treated very poorly and their background was socially unacceptable. This may have explained some of the rationale behind Con developing a Spanish persona. He adopted a name that sounded good for the bills, good for the advertising, good for the public but at the same time, helped to obscure any taint of Aboriginal ancestry.

At Johannesburg, South Africa, in April 1924, Con adopted the Spanish costume that became his trademark. Soon after a successful American debut at the Hippodrome, New York, he joined Ringling Brothers. Entering the center ring, he made the traditional passes of a bullfighter; on mounting the wire, he gracefully performed tangos, jotas and fandangos; he concluded his 12 minute act with the dangerous forward somersault.

In July 1926 he married Winnie, who taught Con elements of style, dress and dancing and was eventually his compere (master of ceremonies at an entertainment). Billed as the “Wizard of the Wire”, Con remained Ringling Brothers principal star into the 1930s. Each winter he toured the vaudeville houses of Europe. The Spanish flavor of his act as well as his Latinate appearance and name, beguiled many into presuming that he was a Spaniard. During the summers he and other members of his family used his farm in Pennsylvania as a practice ground and holiday retreat.

Con Colleano performed before Hitler and he and Winnie were taken to meet him after the show. Hitler reportedly said that Con was his favorite act and could come back to Germany any time. He issued him a special Reichspass to allow Con to enter Germany any time he wished. Hitler would have been surprised to know that his favorite act was far from Aryan.

Con was born December 26, 1899, became a U.S. citizen in 1950 and died November 13, 1973 at his home in Miami, Florida. His last performance was in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1960. Con Colleano is included in the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida since 1966 and the Guinness Book of World Records for performing the first toe-to-toe forward somersault and his famous wire dancing. There is a play about his life called “Skipping on Stars”. The actor who plays Con Colleano is himself Aboriginal. A book, available on Amazon.com about his life is also available: “The Wizard of the Wire: The Story of Con Colleano” by Mark St. Lion.

Jimo O’Donnell and Katie Sullivan O’Donnell had 5 children: Jim, Julie, Winnie, Philip and Kitty. Kitty O’Donnell married John Stehlin. Kitty O’Donnell Stehlin is part of the second generation of Colleanos to join the famous circus act. Under the moniker “The Juggling Colleanos”, Kitty performed a juggling and tumbling act with her two brothers and two sisters. Besides traveling the United States with the Ringling Brothers Circus, the Juggling Colleanos were often seen on popular TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Sid Caesar’s Hour.

Kitty Stehlin and John Stehlin had a son named Jack Stehlin. Continuing the family’s performance tradition, Jack Stehlin accidentally fell into acting after taking an acting class at the University of South Carolina, where he attended school to play baseball. He quit university and moved to New York where he graduated from the Julliard School.

Jack Stehlin has had roles in the following films/shows:

Weeds (current), Monk, Navy NCIS, Without a Trace, The Practice, JAG, Strong Medicine, Crossing Jordan, Purpose, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Get Real, ER, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, Blackout Effect, General Hospital, The Client, L.A. Law and others.

This means that my father was a first cousin of Jimo O’Donnell and first cousin by marriage to Jimo’s wife, Katie Sullivan. This would have made my father a distant relative of Jack Stehlin, first cousin through marriage to Con Colleano and, fortunately, no relation to Hitler.

All the facts are straight and gleaned from research Aunt Pat O’Donnell Snyder did, notes I took on conversations and recollections from Libby and Hugh O’Donnell, a document on family ties put together by Father Tom O’Donnell and Con O’Donnell and 4 or 5 online sources. Added to the mix are my own dim recollections of Jimo’s visits and talks with Dad, summer time visits to Con Colleano’s farm and visits by Winnie, Kitty, Coral, and Katie to our house. I’m not sure I have the right designations about the cousins-in-law, am sure there is no relation to Hitler and doubt Jack Stehlin will invite the family to Hollywood, however, I hope you agree that it makes a good story.

Crossing to America in 1899

I like knowing about my family's history simply because they are family, clan, tribe, ancestors and, I like to think, good men and women worth knowing about. None, as far as I know, are famous or infamous. Rather they are noble, heroic and inspiring in the way that every day people can be. Based on a clue told to me by my Dad I searched the Ellis Island Foundation website and found a ship's manifest listing passengers Daniel and Fanny O'Donnell making a crossing from Liverpool, England to New York City on The White Star Line's ship "Teutonic" in October 1899. Read on to learn a bit more about them.

Daddy’s grandfather, Daniel, was born in Clindra, near Dunglow in Donegal, Ireland in 1847 to Daniel and Mary O’Donnell. Despite being financially relatively well-off and living in a two story stone house that they owned, life was hard scrabble and uncertain for the offspring of this union. Daniel, the oldest son and namesake, first left for America around 1873 at roughly 26 years of age. The first record of him available to us today is a record from Customs and Immigration at Ellis Island bearing his name on the ship’s manifest and documenting his arrival in New York harbor aboard the SS “Teutonic”. He sailed from Liverpool, England on October 19^th, 1899 with his wife, Fanny (Frances), and arrived in New York City on October 25^th. According to the Ellis Island records, both were 52 years of age. Daniel was further documented as follows: a skilled laborer, not a polygamist, able to read and write, had never been in prison, an almshouse or supported by charity, paid his own fare, was in sound mental and physical health, was in possession of more than $30.00, had no physical deformities, was an American citizen and apparently was returning home.

According to oral family history related by his grandson, my father (Hugh O’Donnell), Daniel arrived in America as an eager and strong young man. He was housed and fed by relatives who had immigrated earlier to Bayonne, New Jersey. There he found work as a laborer building roads alongside other Irish immigrants. Despite the legendary harsh treatment he and other Irish immigrants withstood, he became a proud American citizen. He was enamored of this country, the mix of people, and the wings-wide opportunities available to any man who was willing to work. He returned to Donegal to marry Frances (Fanny) Dugan, also from Clindra, whom he knew since childhood because their families were firm friends for generations. Together they came to Allentown, Pennsylvania where Daniel found work in the iron foundries that were the beginnings of the once great Bethlehem Steel.

His is the immigrant story of many millions who built this country with their backs. He was frugal, intelligent, hard working and shrewd, thus ending up with a row of houses on Liberty Street in Allentown. Daniel continued to work in the steel mills until he was too old to work and became blind.

As is the case for most immigrants who leave their homeland to find opportunity elsewhere and not to escape persecution, ties to home are strong and worthy of maintenance. Daniel and Fanny traveled back and forth to Ireland frequently and retained a life-long love for and loyalty to their native land.

In true Irish Roman Catholic fashion, Daniel and Fanny bore and raised 6 children. Nora, Frances (Fan), Patrick, Jack, Jim and the youngest and my grandfather, Hugh. Jim was born in Donegal while the family was there for a visit. Fanny was Great-Grandfather Dugan’s favorite daughter and, pregnant or not, when he wanted a visit, visit they all did. Also true to the immigrant pattern, these great-grandparents settled near other Irish, did business with other Irish, worked alongside other Irish, married other Irish, ate and drank with other Irish and fought with other Irish.

If you know more about them or others in the family, or have photos and memories, please be a contributor and post to the blog!

More Users

Thanks for the great feedback on progress to date. It keeps me motivated to continue! I think anyone can post when they are invited to do so. If you have email addresses of any of the cousins, send them to me (hvod@verizon.net). I will send them an invitation to let them know about the blog and invite them to sign on as users. I have a hand-drawn family tree from the Schwarz side which I will try to put into a document and post. Hilary

Hello to all

Hilary,
You've done a great job. I've enjoyed reading all the info. I have a lot of data from census, naturalization papers and such. If ever I get out of this hospital and rehab situation I'll try to add it all.
I also have a son, Andrew to add to your list. He is in the Air Force stationed in NM and is in close touch with Michael and Julie . That really pleases me.
Aunt Pat

You did a great job Hilary. Gosh I did not know some of those things about Dad. I bet Aunt Pat could add some to Dad's story. I know the Brewery that he worked at was Horlacher not Lager.
I do have some Schwarz history that I had gotten from Paulie Wildgen before Mom died. I will try to post some stories about Mom and my memories as a child especially about Nanny Schwarz and my days as a ballerina in Somerville, N. J. in Aunt MaryLou's ballet slippers when she was at school! For now I will gather my thoughts and then post soon.

Hilary - this is amazing!  What a great idea.  I interviewed Nanny on video a number of years ago.  I will translate it or see if I could somehow download the video to the blog.

Thanks for doing this.  Hope all is well.

Love,

Maureen

Hugh O'Donnell History (Partial)

A few years before Dad (Hugh O'Donnell) died I interviewed him about his childhood memories. Here are my notes from that interview. Enjoy!

Where did your ancestors come from?
They came across the ocean from Ireland in the mid 1800's. My father's people settled in the Bayonne New Jersey area where they had relatives. I don't know too much about my mother's people's origins, but they wound up with a hotel on the corner of Front and Liberty Streets in Allentown PA. They had regular people who rented rooms by the month. My grandmother made these regulars lunches to take to work with them. Some of the regular boarders were very faithful and decades later when my grandparents left the hotel business, these regulars were still renting rooms. One in particular was a Swiss man who made the dyes at the dye works used in dying the fabrics at the local mills. He continued to visit us long after both grandparents had died. I remember him very well. He always came with a bag of candy and a couple of quarts of ice cream, so he was very popular around our house with us children.

My father's relatives came from Donegal, Ireland. They came first to Bayonne, NJ and then they moved to the Lehigh Valley to get jobs in the foundry.

My Mother's family name was Leber, Helen Leber. Her people came from Germany somewhere. I remember my grandmother. She was a little old lady. We lived with them when I was about 10 years old. She was widowed. Nanny O'Donnell (Hugh's mother) had step-sisters because her mother married twice. Leber was the name of the second husband and he already had several children. Then my grandmother gave birth to Lena, Louise, Franz and Helen, my mother.

They became American citizens and were really enamoured of America. They had no desire to go back to Germany at any time. They were Roman Catholic and, as I said, ran the hotel.

What about your Grandparents on your father's side; what do you know about them?

They came from Donegal Ireland and my Grandmother's name before she married was Dougherty. She married my Granddad and became O'Donnell. They had a passel of kids: Jim, Jack, Patrick, Fan (Frances) , Nora and Hugh, my father, your grandfather, although you never met him. Now interestingly, both Fan and Nora were diabetics.

I don't remember much about my Grandmother or the Doughertys. My Grandmother died when I was very young and we lost contact with that side of the family. My Grandfather went blind. It is quite possible he was an undetected Diabetic. Aunt Fan's husband was an Osteopathic doctor and Grandfather lived with them. Because my Grandfather was blind, I personally was a little strange with him. I wasn't even very old when he died, maybe 10 or 12. My father had a habit of taking me wherever he was going so we made plenty of visits to my Grandfather. I remember only sitting very quietly and listening to the adults talk during the visits.

These Grandparents were also Roman Catholics and had a great love for Ireland. They went back several times. Their son Jim was born there while they were making a visit. Whether pregnant or not, when Grandpa wanted a visit, they went.

Their original cottage still exists today in Donegal. It was an unusual house in Ireland because it was 2 stories. It was a large house. In all probability they came to America for work.

My Grandfather was pretty smart and he wound up with a whole row of houses on Liberty Street. There was a fight between Uncle Pat and Aunt Fan, who was the Executor of the family estate. Pat accused Fan of plundering the estate and they didn't speak to each other for years and years. My Mother had no use for Uncle Pat either; she really hated him. He was a heavy drinker at one time. Uncle Pat was always nice to my wife Libby though. When Lib was in the hospital and had given birth to Kate, Uncle Pat brought her a big bouquet of flowers.

My Father was born in 1883. He died in 1933 and was only 48 years old.

Did your Mother share any stories she knew about her parents' childhoods?

Not really. In the years when I would have been young enough to be included in these stories, I was away with my Father in Vaudeville.

We did have to pay our expenses (hotel bills, train fare, food, and so on) but we got paid about $500 a week. That was a great deal of money in 1920. My Father was very frugal. He never had a drink in his life. I never drank either because I saw what whiskey did to people.

My Grandfather O'Donnell worked in the iron foundries in the Lehigh Valley which grew up there because of the existence of local iron ore. This was the beginning of the Bethlehem Steel. My Grandfather worked in several iron mills until he was too old to work anymore. That was about the same time he became blind. He was also on the school board. Grandfather did a good job on the school board. He loved his drink though. Manys the time he and a buddy who had both drunk too much would put their shoulders together, lean into each other and walk down the street as if nothing was wrong with either one of them.

His son, Jim, organized a band. Jim was away for weeks at a time doing electrical work for PG & E (Pennsylvania Gas & Electric). Once he came home expecting to lead his band in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Allentown, but Hugh Curley undercut him. Rich Hugh Curley promised to buy the band uniforms if they would repudiate Jim as leader. When Jim came home, still in his work clothes in which he had a big pair of pliers and found out about the uniform promise, he knocked on the door of the Curley Mansion. Hugh himself came out, they got into an argument that led to a fight. Jim was a reknown street fighter who could lick anyone drunk or sober. Jim chased Hugh Curley down the street.

Jim's friends cooled him down and took him home. The pliers fell from his uniform during the scuffle. Hugh Curley later found the pliers and claimed that Jim used it on him in the fight. Jim was sentenced to jail. The family went to the Democrats but when the Democrats wouldn't intercede for Jim, the whole family promised to vote Republican and the Republicans got Jim out of jail. This is the reason all the O'Donnells of Allentown are Republican and not Democrats like the rest of the Irish. It's very unusual for the Irish to be anything but Democrats. Uncle Jack was a politician who worked as a state factory inspector. My Mother worked on the Republican Committee. They never forgot who was on their side when the family needed help.

What memories do you have of your Mother during your childhood?

I remember she was always home. Usually we'd go out on a Sunday for an automobile ride. In the summer we'd go and visit my Aunt Louise and Uncle David in Mertztown. They lived on a farm with chickens, cows and all the rest of that stuff. When I got older, I'd stay there for a couple of weeks in the summer. I had one male cousin-David- and one female cousin-Louise. We would go there by train. We took the Reading Railroad.

My uncle, David, was a barber in Topton. He lived in Mertztown and I remember his funeral held in our house on Golden Street. Later on my Aunt Louise married a farmer whose name I can't recall. We visited often. Our only problem was getting to church on Sunday. We'd go to church by trolley, take the trolley back and then get on the train to go to Mertztown and take a different train back. My Mother also took us to an Aunt's house who lived only 4 blocks from us. That Aunt's husband was a Brau Meister for Horlager Brewing Company.

My Mother didn't work outside the home except for some gardening. She made all the meals and they were always on time. She cooked what my father liked and wanted to eat. I didn't care much for sauerkraut. She painted everything. She painted the kitchen floor green one time. She painted flower pots, doors, chairs, walls, even the toilet one time. She loved to paint stuff!

What else about Nanny O'Donnell do you remember?

She played the piano. She raised us to be good kids. She liked flowers. We had a lot of roses in the back yard and canna lillies. She loved to play cards, especially Pinochle. She had long black hair. As far as I know she only had it cut once and then she let it grow all back again. She loved to sew. She made doll clothes and dresses for the girls. She did a great deal of sewing. She loved to sew clothes for the girls.

Which of your Mother's characteristics did you inherit?

Longevity.

I don't ever remember being at loggerheads with my Mother.

Did your parents experience much sadness or tragedy when you were little? How did they deal with it?

My Mother was a rather stoic person. She accepted what happened and made the most of it. She just kind of moved on. Most everyone did that then. They had no choice.

I went on the road with my Father when I was 7 years old. I had to study my multiplication tables every day. He would listen to them and reward me. I don't remember him ever being angry with me. He was cool, calm and collected and my Mother was also. It must have been hard for my Mother to let her little boy and husband go away for months at a time but she never complained that I know of. She never tried to stop us or make us feel bad.

What else about your Mother's background do you remember?

My Mother was Catholic. She went to Parochial schools. We thought she was pretty smart. She knew all the answers to questions we asked her about our homework. Before she got married she was a weaver in the silk mills. She was a warper and that was the top of the profession. She work at the Weilbacher Silk Mills. The ailk mill was just across the alley from our house. At nights the looms would be working and I'd fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of the looms. On weekends I had a hell of a time getting to sleep!

I worked there myself for awhile as an electrician. I was in the Bull Gang. We set up machinery. We had a foreman. After awhile I was the electrician for the plant. I worked as a contractor for Uncle Jim for a year and picked up electrical skills. Then I went to work at the Weilbacher Silk Mill.

What are the most important things you learned from your Mother?

Well, I didn't learn to cook anything! It's a pretty hard question to answer because I left home 62 years ago.

Hilary's Introduction

This is the first entry in a blog that I hope will grow and become a way for "the cousins" to stay in touch over the years. I want to include all cousins on both the "O'Donnell side" and the "Schwarz side" of our family. We can add stories, notes, photos or videos to bring each other up to date on our lives from childhood to today.

I'll upload a few photos of me and my life if I can figure out how to do it. I figure if I've come this far, the rest can't be too difficult!

I realize it has been many years since most of us have seen or perhaps thought about each other. If any of us know the email address of other cousins, send the blog url on to them and encourage them to sign in and post a note or photo.

Here's a list of those of us that I can recall. I know there are more of us than I can recall, so please add anyone I've forgotten, forgive my ommissions and don't take it personally...I was just a kid:)

Generation 1 O'Donnells: Children of Hugh O'Donnell and his brothers and sisters (Rose, Ann, Doug, Francie, HelenMae and Pat):
Kathleen (Kate) O'Donnell-Gardner
Hugh O'Donnell
Nancy O'Donnell-Poist
Hilary (Mary) O'Donnell
Michael (Mike) O'Donnell
Patrick (Pat) O'Donnell
Thomas (Tom) O'Donnell
Daniel (Dan) Snyder
Bruce Snyder
Kristin Snyder-Branden
Mary Ellen Weider
John Weider
Joseph Weider
Hugh O'Donnell
Jane O'Donnell

Generation 2 O'Donnells = those children of the above generation:
Timothy (Tim) Burke
Maureen Burke-Grandcolas-Gevertz
Megan Burke Pollastrini (above 3 = Mom= Kate O'Donnell-Gardner)
Gregory (Greg) Poist
Andrea Poist-Bird
Michael Poist (above 3 = Mom = Nancy O'Donnell-Poist)
Molly O'Donnell-Frederick
Daniel (Dan) O'Donnell
Maureen O'Donnell (above 3= Dad= Hugh O'Donnell)
Nicholas (Nick) Cirocco (Mother = Hilary O'Donnell)
Patrick (Pat) O'Donnell
Ricky O'Donnell (above 2 = Dad= Pat O'Donnell)
Kelly O'Donnell-Baker
Ryan O'Donnell (above 2 = Dad= Tom O'Donnell

Generation 1 Schwarz's: Children of Libby Schwarz-O'Donnell and her brohters and sisters (Monica, MaryLou, Freddy, Theresa, Joe, George)

William (Bill) Albe
Fred Albe
Mary Kay Albe
Thomas Albe
Margaret Albe
Kenneth Salek
Richard Salek
James Boyle
Pat Boyle
Mary Teresa Boyle
Karhryn Ann Schwarz
Joe Schwarz
Raymond Schwarz
Jean Scvhwarz
Carol Ann Schwarz

Generation 2 Shcwarz's: Children of the above:

I don't know any! Shows how quickly the connections vaporize.

Ka