Family story
William Henry McManus: four clippings and a disputed death date
Newspaper notices name Ella and Ethel McManus and point to an Oakland funeral, while dates and ages conflict with the family tree.
From Roscommon to the wider world
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Follow the McManus story through people, places, photographs, documents, DNA research, and the memories that connect generations.
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Connect the Kilronan McManus branches
Four R-FT194071 paternal match lines. Explore the known names, investigate the missing generations, and share what you know.
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Companion research projects
These independent resources preserve source material and support the DNA research connected with this archive.
Original research and recordsMcManus YDNA Project at Mexlist
Read Michael McManus’s research and consult the original Kilronan record pages and images.
Visit Mexlist →Genetic genealogyFamilyTreeDNA McManus GroupExplore the surname project and DNA research connecting documented McManus family lines.
Visit FamilyTreeDNA →Search the archive
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Across the generations
A timeline of family history
Move through the archive by era, from early Irish lineages to migration and life in new communities.
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Latest articles
Family story
Whisky the Bear at Frank McManus’s Union Hotel
The Examiner’s illustrated 1893 story of the shorn bear of the Potrero.
Family story
The brothers’ later years
An episode in From Murhaun to Potrero, adapted from the original family narrative.
Family story
The Blue Mud Wars of the Potrero
Frank and Cornelius McManus, the Welch rivalry, and an illustrated Examiner account from 28 February 1892.
Family story
James McManus: an Oakland undertaker at 844 Castro Street
His funeral parlors, sudden death in 1906, burial at St. Mary’s and the McManus & Freeman successor advertisement.
Family story
From Murhaun to San Francisco
An episode in From Murhaun to Potrero, adapted from the original family narrative.