Policeman John James Fennessy of Jersey City, N.J.
John's billy club engraved 12207 John was born in Brooklyn on May 11, 1875, to Irish immigrant parents Daniel Fennessy and Mary Mullany. [1] Dan and Mary were both baptized in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, but immigrated several years apart. [2] John was the oldest of their five children. He married Mary Kinane at St. Bridget’s Catholic church in Jersey City in 1895 and lived there until his death in 1944. [3] For the first few years of their marriage, John worked as a clerk. They lived on Mercer St. in Jersey City, moving up and down the street to different apartments. Back in the days before television and radio, people would come watch handball tournaments on Mercer St. There are newspaper articles online giving his score in those tournaments. [4] In 1901 and 1902 he acted with an amateur theater group at St. Bridget’s. [5] At the same time, “Johnny” became one of the experts in a new sport, ping pong, at the church. [6] But maybe after Daniel Joseph was born in 1897, a...