His father, Edward Francis Farley, Sr deserted the family leaving my grandfathers mother alone to raise 5 children. I have no idea when he left the family but do have a few stories that were passed down. My grandfather, I will call him Jr. helped support the family by picking up coal found along the railroad lines. Jr was the 2nd eldest of the family.
Jr eventually started working for the railroad and his parents had to sign a permission slip for him to be able to do it. The family was living in Washington, D.C. at the time. Here is a copy of the release that had to be signed in order for him to go to work for the railroad. Jr was 16 at the time.
Edward Francis Farley Sr was the son of Edward Francis & Ellen (Cunningham)Farley. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa 2 September 1866. So that gives me 3 Edward Farley's to be searching for. Now I have most of the information on my grandfather and a fair amount of information on my great-grandfather but my great-great grandfather is the problem. I know that he and Ellen (Hellena) were both born in Ireland and they were married in Philadelphia. From the Census information that I have gathered and information from the church on the family I know there were 2 sons, my great grandfather and an older brother James, who I believe died in 1890. It is really hard to tell whether I have the correct James or not. Finding James, Edward & Ellen (Hellena) Farley will mean I need to do a field trip. There are many Edward & Ellen Farley's buried in Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia. The hunt will have to start there.
