The extended family of Mrs. O'Leary whose cow was blamed for tipping a lantern starting the 1871 Great Chicago Fire met at a church that survived the blaze.

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Distant relatives of the Oleary's convened at Holy Family Catholic Church Thursday to commemorate the 150 year anniversary of the church, the Chicago Tribune said Friday.

John Lester Nesson, the great-grandson of Catherine O'Leary, visited the church ahead of Sunday's memorial services. Records show Neeson's grandfather and great-uncle received baptism at the church founded in 1857.

Church officials said the family linkage showcases the church's tumultuous past, the newspaper said.

The church survived the 1871 inferno, which amateur historians actually blame on neighborhood drunk Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, and not the cow, a near closure in 1990 from dilapidation and a fire in its basement in 2003.

Parishioners see the church as a symbol of hope and persistence among condemned public housing, town houses and new developments at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"It became an effort that all of Chicago got involved in," Rev. Jeremiah J. Boland, administrator of the church said. "This became part of our collective history."