Donovan Dooley mystery

[Arrant]

Hi all,

In the early hours of this morning, I had a dream in which I was sitting in an office, and my boss handed me an assignment. He told me it paid £5 per hour, which I pointed out was below the national minimum wage. Nonetheless, with a little bit of persuasion - I would be paid tax free, for one thing - and fearing that if I didn't agree, I might be sacked, I agreed. The job, I was told, was to look for a 69 year old ex-cop called Donovan Dooley (it may have been Dooley Donovan: I was unsure when I woke up). I remember being given a 'phone number to ring as a starting point in my enquiries, and started to write it down on the back of an old envelope, but the pen stopped working, and at that point I woke up.

It was 5am then. I immediately got out of bed and booted up the laptop, and googled the name. Many results were returned, but most of them were about current sporting personalities. However, I did manage to find records on the New York Police department for the period between 1860 and 1895. Both the names Dooley and Donovan are mentioned, but not together - at least not yet: I've yet to go through the entire records. Anyway, it sounds like a good Irish name, and the Irish population in NYC was then, and still is, significant. Not sure if I've spelt Donovan correctly, though: it can also be spelt D-O-N-A-V-A-N

Anyway, I wonder if this dream, if indeed that's what it was, can be a pointer to my identity in a previous life? Can anyone suggest anywhere else I may look in order to find out more, get some verification?

Thanks

 

[Nightrain]

There were also very large Irish communities in Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia and the Irish came to dominate the police forces of those cities as well. Unfortunately, not all rosters of such people have been digitized and made available on the internet, so your search may be rather daunting. But if a dream has revealed specific information before, it may be that more will come to you as your search continues. I have known genealogists who have had some rather uncanny events happen which provided critical information in their searches.

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Arrant,


I think you can eliminate a large part of those records, because you mentioned being given a telephone number. Well, the telephone didn't really come into use until the early 1880's, and it wasn't until the early 1900's that it was in more widespread household use, so you could in fact eliminate all but the latest of those records.


Also, if you could get access to censuses of the early 20th century from a geneology site, then you might find something there. And of course, there's always meditation and self regression to try and remember more information.


Good luck


Chris.

 

[Arrant]

Nightrain and ChrisR,


Thanks for your replies. Chris, I'm not sure what the significance of the telephone number is. The office I was in during my dream was a modern office; I was also offered payment in modern currency. I can't help but feel these facts are somehow allegories for something else linked to the past. Maybe more information will emerge in subsequent dreams. Nightrain, as you say my task could be daunting, but even in the dream I remember feeling a link with NYC.


All this may amount to nothing, but I am curious enough now to stick with it.

 

[ladonnacuriosa]

I am a member of Ancestry.com and did a few quick searches for you. I find more with the name "Dooley Donovan" than "Donovan Dooley". Nothing using Donavan as the first or last name. I find about 50 Dooley Donovans living between the years of 1850-1980 in the North East US. They all seem to be from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island with a few in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Only a couple in NY and they are female (based on middle names). A couple come up in England as well. Some documents have their jobs listed, and I haven't seen any police as of yet but I am just skimming through..


If you remember anymore details or have a request for a certain search, if it can help you, please let me know.


Here are some snippets:


"Name: Dooley Jos Donovan


Residence Year: 1915


Residence Place: Jersey City, New Jersey


Occupation: Clk"


"Name: Dooley William M Donovan


Residence Year: 1915


Residence Place: Methuen, Massachusetts"


"Name: Dooley Edward Donovan


Residence Year: 1876


Residence Place: Springfield, Massachusetts


Occupation: Emp"


"Name: Dooley Alice Donovan


Residence Year: 1903


Residence Place: Troy, New York"


"Name: Dooley James F Donovan


Gender: M (Male)


Residence Year: 1950


Residence Place: Greenwich, Connecticut


Occupation: Clerk


Spouse: Bertha Donovan"


"Name: Dooley Achille Donovan


Residence Year: 1964


Street Address: 111 Westminster St


Residence Place: Providence, Rhode Island"

 

[Arrant]

ladonnacuriosa,


Wow! Thanks for that. I'm hoping I'm going to get more insights over the coming weeks, but every feeling I had points to a life in the north-east US in the latter part of the nineteenth century. New York City still seems uppermost in my mind, but it could of course be any of the states you mentioned.


It may or may not be relevant, but when I was 24 (I'm now 49), I spent a number of weeks back-packing around the states, including NYC, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and I even spent time in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

[ChrisR]

It may or may not be relevant, but when I was 24 (I'm now 49), I spent a number of weeks back-packing around the states, including NYC, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and I even spent time in Boston, Massachusetts.

Can you remember how you felt when you visited those places? Did you feel like a stranger there, or did it feel like you where 'home'? It's not a deciding factor, but some people feel drawn to certain places, and feel that they're 'home', or a certain familiarity with the place when they're there.

 

[Arrant]

Can you remember how you felt when you visited those places? Did you feel like a stranger there, or did it feel like you where 'home'? It's not a deciding factor, but some people feel drawn to certain places, and feel that they're 'home', or a certain familiarity with the place when they're there.

I can't honestly say I felt at "home" there as such, but I did feel that the area held a fascination for me. Philadelphia, in particular, felt quite "comfortable." Ever since I was a young boy, I always wanted to go to America, and when I was at junior school, I even tried to convince my classmates that I was, in fact, an American - even though I obviously didn't sound it!


Now, whether that was due to the glamour we associated with Hollywood movies, or something deeper, I don't know. What I DO know is that I was the only one who tried to convince everyone else - i.e. my friends - I WAS American.