I am a descendant of George O'Shaughnessy, who was born in Ashford Killeedy, county Limerick Ireland in 1785. He married Johannah Murphy and they raised a family in a home called "George's Garden" in Glannduff, county Limerick. Of their 9 children, I am a descendant of their son William O'Shaughnessy, who was born in 1829 in Glannduff.
After immigrating to the USA, William first lived in WI but soon moved to Mississippi. He married Julia Lynch and had two sons - one of which was William O'Shaughnessy.
William A. O'Shaughnessy was born May 1, 1858 in Jackson, Mississippi. He married Jennie Herbert on July 19, 1881 and in August of 1883, Jennie gave birth to my great grandmother: May Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy.
May O'shaughnessy grew up in Mississippi and later married my great grandfather Eugene Lafayette Loper (original "Lowber" was Dutch). May and Eugene had 7 children, one of whom is my grandfather, Leonard "Bill" Lafayette Loper.
Bill Loper survived the great depression and would tell his grandchildren stories about getting an orange and a peppermint for Christmas when he was a child. He was a tall and handsome man who was a gentleman to others. He was a bombardier in WWII and after the war he married little Nell Shelton - who was the youngest of 10 in the Shelton family. Nell and Bill lived in Jackson and had 3 children - one of whom is my father James Leonard Loper.
James "Jim" Loper was born on February 7, 1949. He married Susan Lynelle Goodwin (b. June 26, 1950) on June 10, 1972. They had two children:
Sarah Joy Loper (born January 23, 1974) and John Shelton Loper (born October 12, 1978).
Sarah Loper was a natural redhead with freckles - something the family hadn't seen in a few generations! She favored her Irish ancestors - the O'Shaughnessy's. Sarah grew up and married the very handsome Jimmy Reid Jackson (b. July 8, 1970) of Montevallo, AL.
Sarah and Jimmy have 3 beautiful children:
Aidan Reid Jackson (b. January 21, 1999)
Gannon Elizabeth Jackson (b. January 16, 2001)
James "Quinn" Jackson (b. December 29, 2003)
Gannon is named Elizabeth after her great great grandmother May Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy. Our family has enjoyed studying our ancestry together and our children take great pride in their heritage. It is our goal to attend the annual O'Shaughnessy reunion in Ireland sometime in the near future. We are curious to see who (and if) we favor anyone!
Our ancestry includes the O'Shaughnessy's, the Keeners, the Sheltons, the Goodwin's, the Loper's (Lowber), the Festivans (Festervandt), the Wynn's, the Beene's, and many more.
SarahJackson O'Shaughnessy 
