Burkes of Oklahoma

The Burkes, Flemings and Nihills lived in Cushing, Oklahoma, during the latter part of the 19th century, and sometime before 1905 moved to Leavenworth, Kansas.  We know that a few family members remained in Cushing, including John W. Burke and several cousins (a son and daughter of Dennis Ryan).  Over time most of the remaining cousins left Cushing and migrated to Canada or the western United States.  Outside of the James Ryan family, John Burke appears to be the only other relative to remain in the Cushing area long-term.

John Burke's parents were Daniel Burke and Nancy Ryan.  Nancy, whose real name was Honora, was the daughter of James and Ann Ryan of Allamakee County, Iowa.  Daniel Burke was born in Ireland, and his parents were also among the original pioneers of Union Prairie township in Allamakee County - the same township that the James Ryan family took root.

In Ancestry.com, a family line has been built for John W. Burke by several of his descendents.  They recently wrote to us about their family:

... "our Nancy maiden name is believed to be Ryan and all I have is that both of her sons initials were J. W..  The one son we know is John W. Burke but not sure of the other son."  

Interestingly, their family believes that he was born in County Cork, but records we have show he was born in County Galway.  The following comes directly from our rootsweb.com site (if you haven't been here, take a peek...):

Daniel BURKE (b. Dec 1851, d. 1939)

Daniel BURKE was born Dec 1851 in Galway, Ireland, and died 1939 in Leavenworth, Kansas. He married Nancy RYAN in date unknown, daughter of James RYAN and Ann CAMPBELL.

More About Daniel BURKE and Nancy RYAN:
Marriage: Unknown.

 Marriage Notes for Daniel BURKE and Nancy RYAN:
1900 US Census shows Daniel and Nancy Burke were living in Payne County, Oklahoma. According to the census it showed Daniel immigrated to America in 1873. Although this census shows Nancy also immigrated in 1873, she actually immigrated to America with her family 10 years earlier (1863). The had 8 children all of them were living as of 1900.

Children of Daniel BURKE and Nancy RYAN are:

1. Emma BURKE, b. Feb 1881, Kansas, d., Unknown.
2. James E. BURKE, b. Jul 1883, Nebraska, d., Unknown.
3. George F. BURKE, b. Oct 1885, Nebraska, d., Unknown.
4. Daniel J. BURKE, b. Oct 1889, Nebraska, d., Unknown.
5. Anna BURKE, b. Apr 1891, Nebraska, d., Unknown.
6. +Mary E. BURKE, b. 21 Apr 1873, Nebraska, d. Dec 1971, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas.
7. J.W. BURKE, b. 1875, Nebraska, d., Unknown.
8. +Catherine (Kattie) BURKE, b. 20 Feb 1879, Marshall County, Kansas, d. 04 Oct 1949, Snoqualmie, King County, Washington.