Van Manen Family History

The furthest we’ve traced the “Van Manen” name is to Henry Van Manen, born in Holland in 1816, father of Thomas Van Manen (1866-1909). The name most likely indicates ancestral relation to the town of Manen in the city of Ede, Netherlands. Annie Murray (1840-1895), who married Henry Van Manen, immigrated from Ireland during the wave of Irish immigrants associated with the Potato Famine (~1845-1855). Anna Mackey (1872-1904) married Thomas Van Manen, and her parents were John Mackey and Ann Bailey. Three generations of Van Manens lived in the Sunset Park/Gowanus neighborhoods of Brooklyn, designated as the 22nd and 8th Wards of Brooklyn at the time.

Francis Joseph Van Manen’s mother, Gertrude Agnes Murphy (1902-1973), had ancestors that included the Murphys and O’Briens on her father’s side, and the Cosgroves and Cullens on her mother’s side. Upon arrival to New York in the 1860s, the Murphys lived in the Five Points area of lower Manhattan before living on 444 Degraw Street in Brooklyn’s 10th Ward, present-day Carroll Gardens. The O’Briens immigrated from County Kerry in southwestern Ireland, and lived in Five Points upon arrival. The Cosgroves descend from Ireland and spent most of their lives in Brooklyn.

Ancestor Tree

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KEY: *Birth / +Death 

Henry Van Manen
Francis Desales Van Manen

Mary Elizabeth Cosgrove