Sister Mary Sweeney, IHM – Long Lost Connections

by Dominique Vaccaro, Archival Assistant

Recently the Archives received an unusual research inquiry that almost made it to the spam folder. Luckily, it avoided that fate, and the research that ensued has led to a fascinating family connection.

As the world was still coping with the brutal devastation of the First World War, another threat emerged that no amount of fire power could silence. The 1918 flu pandemic also known as the “Spanish Influenza” infected roughly 500 million people and caused 50 million deaths, double the number of deaths in WWI. The disease reached Scranton, Pa, tragically altering the lives of many people. Mrs. Vera Sweeney Murphy, a newly married mother of two young children, lost her husband Frank Murphy during the autumn of 1918. Two years later, in unrelated circumstances, she lost both her brother Thomas and father John Sweeney. Her stepmother was the sole beneficiary of her father’s estate and Vera was cast aside to fend for herself and her children. According to a 1930 census, Vera was living near St. Cecilia’s in Scranton.

Vera’s grandson and family reached out in hopes of filling in a genealogical blank. It boiled down to three names; Sweeney, Murphy, and Fadden. These were names associated with Vera Murphy, and there was an inkling among the family that a religious sister was connected to Vera.

Vera’s children attended St. Cecilia’s Academy and recalled how the nuns would care for them while their mother worked. With that information we set out to uncover if there were sisters bearing any of those surnames on mission at St. Cecilia’s Scranton during the 1920s and 1930s. Fair enough, right?

Well, during that period in the congregation, the sisters were predominantly of Irish heritage, and those happen to be some of the most common Irish names. After overcoming the initial daunting dread of weeding through countless possibilities, we uncovered Sister Mary Sweeney who was the best fit.

Born Cecilia Teresa Sweeney on June 28, 1877, in Archbald, Pa., Sister Mary was the youngest of six children of John and Sara Fallen Sweeney. A graduate of St. Cecilia’s Academy, she entered the IHM congregation in 1896 and professed her vows in 1898. A music teacher, she served in several Scranton-area schools and spent more than 30 years at St. Cecilia’s, beginning in 1921.

The connection was finally confirmed: Sister Mary Sweeney was Vera Murphy’s aunt, the younger sister of Vera’s father, John Sweeney.

We also uncovered that Vera had another aunt, Mary Sweeney, who was a nurse at St. Joseph’s Foundling Home. These connections to two IHM institutions help explain why Vera remained near the sisters during such a difficult period in her life.

Fortunately, we discovered a 1903 group photograph celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Mother Cyril Conway that captured Sister Mary holding a mandolin. That detail proved especially meaningful to Vera’s family. They have an identical mandolin displayed in their dining room that once belonged to Vera. Although its history cannot be confirmed, it is possible that it belonged to Sister Mary, who may have taught Vera to play and eventually passed the instrument on to her. Newspaper clippings also document Vera’s own musical abilities.

In the Archives, fulfilling these inquiries has become our main avenue of outreach. At the same time as pursuing historical research for others, we shine light onto the lives of past sisters which ultimately enriches our IHM story.