This book could not possibly have been printed without a great deal of help from many people. In the first place, Sheila O'Leary provided the basis for the research. Without her "Holy Grail", I could not have possibly made any sort of progress. Her brother Kevin O'Leary helped me significantly by filling in a side of my family which I never really got to know. By pure coincidence, I met a fellow genealogist named John Bayle on the Internet. After a series of fits and starts, not to mention a little bit of luck, we were able to connect two of the O'Leary brothers, thereby filling out a relationship which would unquestionably have been lost in time. As to the Civil War research, Crandall's vertical files were helpful but a Floridian called Bob Farrell helped point me to where the dead were buried and I had the good fortune of being able to photograph their graves and tell their stories. That work will probably not get to Crandall until after I'm gone, because it is so precious to me. During this pursuit, I met yet another tremendous resource, Hon. John Austin. He is a most amazing genealogist and a great source of fabulous information. His late wife is one of my kin. John provided me with a wide array of documents and finished work which took literally months to sort through. Then, there is another cousin, Mary Levack. Her prodigious research on an absolutely vast family was incredibly helpful. Her scroll like printout of the family tree (I call it the torah), which measured an enormous 87 feet! She caught the genealogy "bug" from her mother, Mary Teresa McDonnell, whose memory and powers of recollection have proven to be absolutely flawless. Unquestionably, the hardest worker and most giving person I have met over the many years I've been involved in this endeavor is my dear cousin, Mickey (Buckley) Cunningham. Her countless hours of researching; hundreds upon hundreds of dollars spent (dime by dime in the copy and microfilm machines in Glens Falls' Crandall library), not to mention postage, were given freely. Mickey is the heroine of this tale and I am simply the scribe. Without these wonderful people, there would be absolutely no possibility of completing this tome for posterity.
The work of a genealogist is never truly done. To those of you who read this book, feel free to add on to it or make corrections if you are certain of your facts.If you do make corrections, please make a comment on the cover page; with a reference to the page number you want me to see. I plan to check back on your progress once each year and will gladly make corrections to my database and / or correspond with you if I am able to.
This continues to be a thoroughly invigorating pursuit. I hope that you will find it useful, informative and of some help to you in your family research.
Erin go Bragh!
Stephen B. Mischo
80 Circle Drive
Syosset, New York
August 8, 1999
e-mail address: creuser2000@yahoo.com
