Thanks for your speedy reply to my comment. I will persue the NYPD for any servie information. It’s interesting about the Keegan connection as my Dad has often said there’s some Scots connection there. I believe he was 8 when my grandfather died and his grandfather on his mother’s side moved in with his family. My Dad turns 80 tomorrow.
I’ve bookmarked this blog and looking I’m forward to reading more of your finds and to make discoveries of my own.
Thanks,

Steve

Thanks for the comment! It was very easy to get the service info from the NYPD – You can find a complete thread I contributed to on the topic over on the Ancestry forums here.

I’ve copied the relevant info of my comment for you below for easier reference. I’m planning to get in touch with the Police Museum when I have time one of these days and see if there are any papers or photo archives researchers can look through and see if I might get lucky again and find my great-grandfather.

By the way – my wife has Keegans on her side – her great-grandmother came down to New York from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where there were quite a few Irish and Scottish immigrants.

“I sent a request into the following address:
New York City Police Department
Personnel Resource Unit
1 Police Plaza Room 1014A
New York, NY 10018

I suggest you include as much information as you can – all I had at the time was his name, a possible death year and his addresses from the 1900 and 1910 censuses.

I also sent in a self-addressed, stamped envelope – not sure if they prefer it or not. They did not use mine and sent the info back in a large envelope.

I’m very happy with just the cards I got back as it tied a few things together for me. But, one of my cousins received a package back from the NYPD with his great-grandfather’s records and they were a few inches thick and had a photo – so you never know what you’ll get!

By the way – don’t forget to search for your GGF in the NY Times historical papers as well as try looking him up in Google Books.

The municipal services published roster and assignment changes in the Times, so you may get some extra hints at his precincts or time taken off in those.

On Google Books I found some old almanac listings with my GGF’s name as the secretary of the Traffic Police Benevolent Association. It turned out they still exist and a current board member was actually able to send me a photo of their first muster. Neat stuff.

Best of luck!”

I came upon Part 2 and worked my way back to part 1 and I thouroughly enjoyed your post. I found them as I was searching for ways to trace the NYPD service records for my Grandfathers.

My parents are both turning 80 this year and both of their fathers were NYPD officers. My father’s dad, Joseph Keegan, was a NYPD officer who died when he was a little boy. I am think around 1940 or so. He left behind a wife and a total of 3 children. I really have no other information about his service record.

My Mom’s Dad, Andrew Dillon, lived thru the early 1960′s. His NYPD career included a stint as a traffic cop in the “insurance district” of Manhattan. I have found Andrew on Census Records but other than that nothing relating to his NYPD service.

What do you suggest about finding out service information for both? What do you say when you write the police? I appreciate any tips you may have. Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, I have lost several Aunts and an Uncle who could have provided some more information.

Thank you and thank you for the contribution of your Great-Grandfather who paved the way for other Irish Police officers, like my Grandfathers, and for the other Irish-New Yorkers in the greatest city on earth.

Here’s hoping we both have some breakthroughs soon.

Have you had your DNA tested to join the Tierney and McTiernan projects on Family Tree DNA yet? I had mine done this spring and have some connection to the McTiernans in Roscommon and Leitrim apparently.

Great to hear from you! Unfortunately I believe mine is a different Michael. Also, some family stories have his middle name as Joseph, but I’ve no documentation on that yet.

Is your Michael W. the one who worked with Theodore Roosevelt when he was cleaning up the Municipal police force? He has turned up often in my newspaper research of the time. (Also saw him as a character in Caleb Carr’s period book “The Alienist”)

My great-grandfather Michael died in December, 1913, Certificate 34658. He was still a patrolman when he retired in March of that year. You can see the certificate on my Flickr account here.

He’s buried with his wife Anna (McDonald), son Thomas Francis and granddaughter Winifred at Calvary Section, Range, Plot, Grave: 43-13-BB-18. Photo of the grave is here.

Right now I’m working on turning all of the Tierney pages in the NYC directories into a database that I can map out and see if I might find any other related Tierneys. I’ve been having a tough time trying to get my Tierney’s location back in Ireland and am trying alternative approaches now.

I’d be glad to discuss any ideas you have or compare notes – you never know, we might end up with a connection!

Love hearing from Tierneys –