The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

as he watched the early days of
television. He watched wrestling
matches and his eyes would
sparkle at the jokes of Milton
Berle. He was an avid follower of
boxing. He and John Chechak
would sit around talking about
John Sullivan and Jack Dempsey
and the rest.”
Philip spent his whole life
along the Erie Canal. When he
was little he lived in Utica and
Little Falls; later in life he was a
lock operator on the canal in
Seneca Falls, Lyons and Rochester.
During his sober years,
Philip was a devoted husband,
wonderful father, deeply religious,
loving his church choirs,
delighting in his wife and children.
He was gentle and thoughtful.
He was content with Sadie
running the show ( a Callan trait,
it appears.) Sadie had a winning
personality with a great sense of
humor. She was very kind and
very strong. She could make a
dollar stretch to the limit. She
managed the family finances so
that every debt was paid off back
in Seneca Falls many years after
they moved to Rochester. Philip
died in 1956, and Philip’s wife
Sadie Dwyer Callan passed away
in 1958. Both are buried in Holy
Sepulcher Cemetery in Rochester.
Perhaps the warmest
memories of Cayuga Lake, for
our family at least, are not from
Philip or his farm at all. It
happens that our own parents,
John F. “Jack” Callan and
Margery Helene Byrd, spent
their honeymoon just a few miles
away at the lake house of Philip’s
brother Bernard. That was in the
waning days of summer, after
their marriage on Aug. 8, 1953.
Bernard, Jack’s grandfather,
died a year later, in 1954. A few
months after Bernard’s death,
Jack and Margery Callan named
their first born son after him,
Bernard James Callan.
Of the three sons of our
ancestor Bernard who came
from Ireland, Michael Callan
died in 1935, Bernard Jr. in
1954, and Philip Callan died in
1956. Little is known of Michael,
who died right around the time
Al Callan’s father, John F.
Callan, was born (1933).
Nor of Bernard’s sister
Mary, who died in 1959 and
would Al Callan’s father’s great
aunt.
However, it’s interesting to
note that since 1844, there has
been a Bernard in every generation
of Callans.
There was Bernard (1844-
1879) who came from Ireland.
His son Bernard (1875-1954),
his son Bernard (brother of our
Grandfather George Callan) and,
finally, Al Callan’s oldest brother
Bernard (1954-1980).
While visiting Al Callan’s
grandfather George Callan in
Florida in the early 1980s, Al’s
brother John asked “Gramp
Callan” why he had not named
one of his sons Bernard. He
replied, “There’s too many
Bernards as it is.”
Of course, he had to be
grateful for at least one of them:
his own father, Bernard, who was
wed in the little village of Seneca
Falls, New York in 1901.
~ 35 ~
The Callans and McClarys