The O'Shaughnessys from Ireland
For years, the only Shaughnessy ancestors I knew of were Dad’s parents, John A(dams) Shaughnessy (April 16,1847-October 3, 1903--gravesite at right) and Rose Butler (October 13, 1865-June 7, 1920). Who were these people? Dad never told me anything about his father, who had died when he was only 7, but his cousin, Aunt Dorothy (Butler) Schweitzer, Dad's cousin--2 years younger than he, told me that John had a brother Thomas Jefferson as well as several sisters--Lena and Lizzie (and) Rosa Hager. She also said that John was a sculptor, that one of his pieces was in the Smithsonian, and that he was a water boy in the Civil War. Was that true? Thanks to Fern Allen and Barbara Butler and my own research, the Shaughnessy story has come to light.
John's father was Thomas (O')Shaughnessy, born in Ireland, as was his mother Bridget (Abt. 1814). They immigrated to New York in the 1830's and had nine children in New York: Lena (Abt.1833), Daniel (b. 1838), Rosana and Elizabeth (Abt 1841), James (Abt.1843), John Quincy Adams (b. April 16, 1847--probably 1845), Thomas Jefferson (Abt 1847), George W(Washington? Abt 1850), William H. (Abt 1852) When the great wave of Irish immigrants arrived during the famine years (1850-52), finding work was harder in New York--"No Irish need apply." The O'Shaughnessys decided to move on.
They moved from New York to Chicago around 1853. .
Where could Thomas find work to support his growing family? A new city only several decades old--Chicago--was quickly rising beside Lake Michigan. Railroads were being constructed--the Chicago & North Western and the New York Central and the Illinois Central lines were all built in the 1850's. The Illinois Central RR yards on the south side attracted Irish workers to the district known as Carville and nearby Bridgeport. Thomas and Bridget moved the family to Chicago around 1853 (probably thinking they could do better somewhere else, once New York was overrun by the famine Irish). Probably there was a relative, perhaps the O'Shaughnessy who had a saloon on Canal Street, near Harrison, who had come to Chicago in 1843. (It was to him that Bridget turned to shelter her sons briefly in 1858.)
Thomas Shaughnessy is listed as a laborer (in the city directory for 1855-56), with a home at 15th and State. (He was the only "Shaughnessy" but there were several O'Shaughnessys.) The family probably attended St. John's Church at 18th and Clark. In 1856-57 Thomas Shaughenessy "tinman" who had lived in Chicago for 3 yrs. was listed at Canal nr Harrison (right next to the O. Shaughnessy, saloon, at Canal nr. Harrison, who had lived in Chicago for 13 yrs.) Somehow Thomas was working as a tinsmith for his relative. That year Bridget O'Shaughenessy, who had lived in Chicago for 3 yrs., was living at State St. bt. 12th and North. (That year, every Shaughnessy was given an extra "e").
Thomas died in 1857 or 1858..
The Shaughnessys must have found that life was hard in Chicago too. Epidemics of cholera, small pox, dysentery, "fevers" arrived as well as floods of immigrants.
Public conditions were equally noxious and threatening. Odors, or “miasmas,” were widely believed to cause disease, and in Chicago, the slaughterhouses were “diffusing the odors of animal putrefaction throughout the city,” especially in summer. In the North Branch of the Chicago River, “the water remaining standing with the yearly accretions is, during the hot months converted into a cess-pool, seething, boiling and reeking with filth, which fills the north wards of the city with mephitic [noxious] gases.” The South Branch had become “fully as foul.” (Encyclopedia of Chicago, "Epidemics") Thomas died in 1857 or 1858, leaving Bridget at 45, a widow with nine children to support, aging from about 5 (William) to 24 (Lena). Lena worked as a dressmaker; the boys as "laborers", even though underage.
The death of the father caused a disruption in the family. From the 1859 city directory, it appears that a relative, Michael O'Shaughnessy, a saloon-keeper, took in some of the boys as boarders and listed them as laborers--John (14) and even William (7) were living with him at 251 S. Canal; another John O'Shaughnessy was living next door at 247 S. Canal. (This John may have been an orphaned relative; he moved with the family. ) Thomas J. (12) was boarding as a "laborer:" on S. Clark, near North. The 3 girls must have remained with mother, Helena and Elizabeth working in their home as dressmakers.
The 1860 census shows them all living together in the 1st Ward, being supported by Daniel (a butcher) and two daughters (dressmakers). The combined family assets were given as $350 (more than $9000 in terms of today's purchasing power).
Nineteen year-old Rosana was not working in 1860; she was preparing to marry the Austrian Joseph Hager and move out. Their first son Francis W. was born in 1861.
Her husband became a successful fruit merchant and formed a company with Joseph Spies --Hager, Spies and Co. at 101 S. Water. Her twin sister Lizzie was living with them in 1871.
The Civil War, and more marriages in the 1860's
The
1860's was a crucial decade in their lives.
From 1861-1864 the Civil War was a presence in their lives. The 23rd Illinois Infantry or "Irish Brigade" was specifically recruited from the Irish, as was the 90th Illinois Infantry or "Irish Legion", whose chaplain was Father Kelly, the pastor of the local Irish parish of St. James. The big army camp--Camp Douglas was in their neighborhood, at Douglas (35th) and Kankakee (now King Dr.) The oldest son Daniel (23) could not have volunteered, as he was needed to support the family. James (18) also would have been needed at home. John was 16. He could very well have volunteered and become a water boy in the Civil War, as the family legend went. If he was with the 23rd, he would have gotten to Lexington, Missouri, very near Kansas City, and seen their celebrated defeat there at the hands of the Missouri State Guards and their reinforcements. http://civilwar.ilgenweb.net/history/023.html. He may have had his ambitions raised by that experience. He would later sculpt a bust of a Civil War admiral who was active in some of the same areas as the 23rd Illinois Infantry.
Daniel had been working almost from the time the family arrived in Chicago, and in 1865 he married Louisa and settled permanently in Chicago, working as a butcher.
On August 24, 1866 Helena married John McKinnell, a house painter from England (b. 1830) in Old St. John's Church. She was 33; he was 36. They had three children in Illinois--Mary (b. 1868), John T. (b. 1871) and Louisa (b. 1873).
1870's --a decade of changes.
By 1870, the Shaughnessys remaining at home with Bridget at 594 Wentworth, in Chicago, were George (20, carpenter), James (27, butcher), John (25, carpenter), Thomas (23, hammersmith Rock Island RR) and William (18, not working so not listed).
By 1871, the year of the Great Chicago Fire, Bridget had only one son (William) living with her on Shurtleff Av between 32 and 33 (3200 S. Wells). Daniel and Louisa Shaughnessy were living in ward 6 at 417 Archer with 2 males (himself and perhaps one of his brothers), 3 females (his wife and 2 young daughters, Lillian b. 1866 and Rosa b. 1867). Rosana and Joseph Hager had 2 boys, Francis S. b. 1861 and Walter J. b. 1864, and another female (probably Rosana's twin, Elizabeth) living with them at 46 Wisconsin Av. in Ward 16. In 1871 Thomas (abt 25), a hammersmith with the railroad, married Mary ? and started a family--Thomas J. Jr. (b. 1872) and Dennis (b. 1876).
Where were the other boys--James, the butcher (28), John, the carpenter (26), and George the carpenter (21)? Perhaps they were waiting for some opportunity.
Chicago was an exciting but also depressing place to live in the 1870's. Unprecedented expansion and enthusiasm (see the glowing description in the Appendix to the 1871 Edwards Census, which claims that "The great event of 1871 has been the pouring of the clear blue waters of Lake Michigan into the Illinois River.") The fire of October 8-9,1871 was followed by a huge inpouring of laborers to help rebuild the city. However, the financial Panic of 1873 threw most of them out of work and a subsequent decade-long depression took hold.
"The depression that followed lasted for the rest of the decade and temporarily slowed the city's growth. Industrialists and entrepreneurs lost fortunes. One in three workers lacked employment. Many workers had come to Chicago in order to take part in the city's reconstruction. Now many of these recently arrived, single male immigrants walked the streets as tramps."(Drew VandeCreek, 1873-1876, The Panic of 1873 from Illinois During the Golden Age ).
In 1874 William died (perhaps of TB?) His death prompted Bridget to buy a big plot in Calvary Cemetery (along Lake Shore Drive, dividing Chicago from Evanston), to erect an obelisk monument there for him and the family. She also moved the bones of Thomas from the old Lincoln Park cemetery. This must have been a big funeral, for all the family were still living in Chicago. Thomas even added the O' back to his name (briefly). By 1875 Thomas J. O'Shaughnessy was trying a new line of work--as a pipeman for Engine Company No. 1. Perhaps the Great Fire of 1871 had made him switch from hammersmith to pipeman. Rosana and Joseph Hager and their sons Francis W. and Walter J.lived on 33rd and had their fruit market on 101 S. Water; Daniel (a butcher) and his growing family lived at 35th and Indiana. John McKinnel, a painter, lived on Shurtleff (Wells). Bridget may have moved in with them, after William died.
The Shaughnessys begin relocating to Kansas City beginning in the late 1870s Kansas City, Kansas didn't even exist when Thomas O'Shaughnessy moved his large family from New York to Chicago in the mid 1850s. But since 1856, when squatters settled beside the Missouri and Kansas Rivers, the area had exploded. By the 1870's Kansas City was a land of opportunity needing laborers for its stock yards, packing houses, and rail yards. (For a good Kansas City Kansas history during those early years Cutler's History of Kansas (1883). Eleven Railroad companies had offices in Kansas City in 1877.
Whose idea was it to move to Kansas City? Probably it was Thomas the blacksmith who was drawn to Kansas City by the lure of the railroads, for he showed up there first, in 1877, working as a blacksmith for the Missouri River, Fort Scot and Gulf Rail Road and had already settled in his permanent residence--917 Wyoming, in "West Kansas" as the area of the bottoms between the Missouri and the Kansas River was known. He had with him his wife Mary (b. 1835) and 2 sons--Thomas Jr. (b. 1872) and Dennis (b. 1876). By 1879, the unmarried Shaughnessy brothers had followed him, working in K.C.I.W., the Kansas City Iron Works, a foundry: George Shaughnessy, as a laborer; James, as a teamster; and John as a molder. Thomas by then was working as a blksmith helper at K.C. Ft. Scott & Gulf RR. They were the only Shaughnessys in town at that time and briefly lived with Thomas and family at the 917 Wyoming address. John McKinnell and Helena moved there as well and found a permanent residence at 217 James St. John McKinnell worked at first as a painter, then became a butcher and opened a meat market in his residence. The 1880 census shows him owning a meat market and with two boarders--listed as laborers: John Shaughnessy (I assume this is my grandfather John A.) and another man. Both probably were employed in the meat market. My grandfather John went on to own a meat market and be the meat inspector.
Thomas Shaughnessy's line in Kansas City
Thomas continued to live at 917 Wyoming and to work as a smith for the railroads through the 1880s, with his wife Mary and their sons Thomas Jr. and Dennis who were first listed in the 1891 directory--Thomas as a butcher, and Dennis at the Wyoming address. They also had a daughter Laura, born in 1878, and all are in the 1880 census with the spelling "
Oshaunsey." The 1892 directory indicated that Dennis Shaughnessy died May 8, 1892 ( his headstone says April 8). Dennis was buried in Old St. John's Cemetery. In 1897; Thomas's remaining family were still at the home on Wyoming, but by 1900 they had moved to 1618 Penn, and Thomas Jr. was working as a butcher. They continued residing at the Penn address through 1905 when Thomas Sr. was still working as a blacksmith and Thomas Jr. as a plumber. Thomas died in 1905, and his widow Mary with her son Thomas J., butcher were still at 1618 Pennsylvania Av. Mary is listed as a widow in the 1910 census, with her son Thomas at home. She died in 1910 and her son buried her with her husband in the family plot in Old St. John's in KC, KS. Thomas Jr. is listed in the directory as a butcher at 1618 Penn until 1916, but after that he disappears. He must have died abt 1917. With no heirs and having lost contact with the rest of the family, I hope he was buried in his family plot in Old St. John's, but there is no headstone. What happened to Laura?
Daniel O'Shaughnessy's line in Chicago
Daniel's family in Chicago meanwhile had been steadily growing, adding a new child almost every other year. His wife Louisa (b. Ireland 1833) bore him 8 children-- 5 daughters--Lillian (1866-1945), Rosa (1867-1944), Louisa (1872-?), Alice (1873-1956) and Lucy 1879-1972), and three sons, Thomas (1874-?), Daniel (b. abt. 1881) and William (July 1883). Their residence was 255 Archer in 1866; 417 Archer in 1871, 151 Kossuth in 1880. Louisa died in giving birth to William in 1883 (she was only 37) and Daniel purchased Lot 28, Block 1, Section K in Calvary Cemetery for her and others in the family.
After Louisa died, Bridget moved in with her son to help care for Daniel's 8 children. She returned to Chicago to help Lillian (17) and Rosa (15) look after Thomas (9), Alice (6) and Lucy (4). Daniel may have been ill himself; after the death of Louisa and the disruption of his family, he died in 1886, three years after Louisa, to the day, and was buried next to Louisa in Lot 28, Block 1, Section K of Calvary Cemetery. He was 48, about the same age as his father Thomas when he died. When Helena came for the funeral, she returned to Kansas City with Louisa (11), Daniel (2) and William (newborn) to Kansas City to live with her. Louisa (the next oldest daughter after Lillian and Rosa) would have been charged with looking after the two youngest, while the two oldest daughters remained in Chicago to look after the elder children. Fortunately Lillian and Rosa both married around the time their father died, so they had homes to take in Thomas, Alice, and Lucy. Rosa (1867-1944) married William Deto in 1885, and their son Robert was born in 1889. She probably took in Thomas and Alice. Lillian (1866-1945) married Corydon Lewis Ford in 1887 and their daughter Louise was born in 1889. She took in Lucy, the youngest.
The sisters presided over the Chicago Shaughnessys and took over the plots in Calvary Cemeter when they needed them. Lillian died in 1945 and was buried in her aunt Rosa Hager's plot in Calvary, and her husband Corydon was buried next to her in 1953. (By that time all the Hagers had died--see below). What became of Daniel's youngest child Lucy married John Wymond about 1905 and their son John L. was born in 1908. She and her husband and son were living with Lillian and her husband Corydon and their daughter Louise in 1910. Louise married John I. Cochennett around 1917, and their daugher Mary Louise was born in 1918. She married a Carney and had two daughters Patricia and Joan. Mary Louise buried her mother in 1865 and her father in 1966 in the Hager's grave as well. Alice married William Robeson who died in 1935, age 62. They are buried together in Bridget's plot. Rosa died in 1944 and she and her husband were buried with the McKinnells in Chicago.
Two John Shaughnessys
City directories show that John A. Shaughnessy continued to board with his sister Helena (Lena) at 219 James in KCKS from 1880-1885. By 1885, he was probably still working for John McKinnell, but had been upgraded to a "packer." By 1886-87, he no longer lived there and may have changed the spelling of his name to Shannessy because another John Shaughnessy had appeared, a close relative, whose middle name was probably Michael (as his middle initial is M in the funeral receipt). When he moved in with Helena, John A. moved out (he was 40!). The newcomer needed the family's help more. The longtime railroad worker Thomas probably helped the newcomer John to get work with the railroads for he was listed a laborer at M(issouri) .S(outhern). R(ailwa)y Co. in 1887 and also as a smith helper at the U.P. Railway shops in 1886-87. He resided with Helena. He was still there in 1887-88, but no occupation was given, probably because he had contracted TB, of which he died in January 1888.
Helena McKinnell--Matriarch
Helena
was the heroine of the family in Kansas City. In addition to her own three children, Mary, John and Lulu, Helena looked after other family members as they needed her. Her husband's meat market must have done well, for he needed helpers--John A. Shaughnessy worked there as a butcher, and later son John T. McKinnell would join his father as a butcher. Daughter Mary ran a dry goods store probably in the same building. John needed more help, so his younger brother William joined him as a clerk for the businesses, and he moved in to 219 James. Then in 1886, when Daniel died in Chicago. Bridget, who had stayed with Daniel and looked after the children after his wife Louise died in 1883. moved to Kansas City with three of Daniel's orphaned children --Louisa (12), Daniel (4) and William (2). Helena gradually assumed the role of the matriarch of the family.
1888 was an especially difficult year for Helena.-- Her own husband was ill, and she was also looking after John M. Shaughnessy, (also born in New York). On January 17 he died of consumption. Helena took charge of his remains, had him interred at the Union Cemetery vault. In April, her husband John died. Helena had his remains and John Shaughnessy's buried in Chicago's Calvary Cemetery, Lot 63, Block 16, Section O, a plot she had bought in 1886, (possibly when John first became ill) and where she intended to be buried. On top of all those losses, her mother, the matriarch, Bridget O'Shaughnessy, died in Excelsior Springs (considered a TB resort then) on September 9,1888. Helena had her body returned for burial beside Thomas in Calvary Cemetery, Chicago.
After the death of her husband John, the meat market and dry goods stores both closed, and John T. went to work as a carpenter, while daughter Mary E. became a city clerk. Besides the house at 217 N. James, Helena also owned the house at 222 N. James (either that or both are the same address?) She still had her own three and Daniel's three, but as the rooms emptied, she rented rooms and the two buildings became a boarding house. Brother-in-law William, a laborer, continued to board at 222 N. James in 1890 Happy days were still ahead for Helena. Mary married Cornelius Morley and had a son Joseph Clifford. . In 1892 the McKinnells moved their residence to Grandview, corner of Lyon (later numbered 49 Grandview), and used the James property as rental (furnished rooms) and ran a restaurant there in 1900. This was a common arrangement in those days.. Her son John never married stayed with her. He often changed his profession, working as a packing house foreman in 1903 and as a painter in 1905. He died in 1935. They all lived with Helena. Mary died in 1897 and was buried in Old St. John's Cemetery.
The family line continues through the descendants of Helena's daughter Louisa, "Lulu," who married Roy W. Irvine in 1903. They had two children. One son Roy Bernard who married Agnes P. Bronson. They had a daughter Helen (b. 1937), who married a Mr. Mosher and had twin boys. The other son Raymond A. Irvine had a daughter Lida Lou, who lives in Arizona and has two children, John Douglass and Kathrine. She has helped me fill out Helena's line.
Daniel's 3 children who grew up with Helena all married. The girls married and moved out, but William, who married Mammie Lucas and had a son George, lived with Helena in 1910. Mammie died, leaving Helena in charge of baby George. Matriarch Helena died in 1912, leaving a big gap in the family. Her obituary in the Kansas City Star called her a "pioneer." She was buried in Calvary in Chicago with her husband, John.
After Helena's death, William could not look after son George, the last of Helena's charges, and turned him over to an orphanage in Kansas City, where he was raised by the Sisters of Charity. He married Lynn Herbert and his line went on and he has a grandson--Michael Brian O'Shaughnessy.
Back in Chicago, Rosa's husband Joseph Hager died in 1884 and she buried him in Lot 49, Block 1, Section R in Calvary Cemetery, which she purchased at the time of the burial. Rosa stayed in Chicago with her sons, Francis W. and Walter S. (who continued to work in their father's fruit store with Spies). She died in 1892, and after burying her next to her husband, her sons moved to Kansas City, where all their uncles had gone. They were both there on the Missouri side in 1897. Francis married Katherine Doran in the late 1890s. Their daughter Mildred Ruth Hager was born in 1899. Mildred married Leo N. Williams in Kansas City in 1925. Mildred Ruth's uncle Miles Doran had a daughter Maurine Doran who married Fritz Henkle, a newspaper editor in Kansas City in 1930 (possibly providing a connection for Mildred Ruth to hold a job as assistant editor of a KC newspaper in 1930.)
1850s - 1870s
Records tell the story of 20 years in Chicago-- .
1855-56 Chicago directory lists Thomas Shaughnessy, laborer living at State St. near Springer (now 15th St.)
1856-57 Chicago Directory: Bridget O'Shaughnessy, living at State between 12th and North. From Ireland, 3 y (in Chicago)
1859 Chicago Directory: Bridget O'Shaughnessy, wid of Thomas, home at Michigan ave. n R.R. crossing.
1860 Census lists Bridget O'Shannessy 47, living in Cook Co. Ward 1 with Helena 23 dressmaker, Daniel 22 butcher, Rosana and Elizabeth 19 dressmaker, James 17, John 15, Thomas 13, George 10 and William 8.
1866 Chicago directory shown Bridget O'Shaughnessy 60 widow of Thomas, residing on Stewart Ave, near 22nd, Chicago.
1870 census shows that Bridget Shaughnessy 60 b. Ire. living in Cook Co. Ward 6 with James 26 butcher, John 23 carpenter, Thomas 20 hammersmith, George 17 painter, William 15 painter.
Dan Shaughnessy 32 butcher born in NY was living in Cook Co. with Louisa 27 born in Ireland, and children Lillian 4 and Rosa 2.
John McKinnell 40 house painter, born in England, living in Cook Co. with wife Lena 33, daughter Mary 2 and son John 6 mo.
1870 Chicago directory shows that at 594 Wentworth Bridget Shaughnessy 60 b. Ireland was living with children James 26 butcher, John 23 carpenter, Thomas 20 hammersmith on the railroad, George 17 painter. William was not listed--probably not working at the time.
1871 Edwards census shows Bridget Shannessy b. Ireland, widow of Thomas, resided at es Shurtleff Ave, between 31 and 32, Ward 6, with 1 male and 1 female. Daniel a butcher resided at 417 Archer Ward 6, 2 males and 3 females.
Hagers Ward 16 46 Wisconsin, 3 m 2 f.
1875 Chicago directory: Daniel OShannessy, butcher r. 64 Napoleon Pl. The Hagers are listed again at 33rd. John McKinnell, painter, resided on Shurtleff (Wells). Bridget is not listed.
1880 Chicago directory has Daniel Shannessy, butcher, in a house at 151 Kossuth. Hagers in house 3538 Indiana.
1880-1900 records show the Shaughnessy have relocated to Kansas City
The 1880 US census shows John McKinnell 50, born in England, owner of a meat market, living at 217 James St in KC,KS with his wife H(elena) 43, born in New York, with two children, daughter Mary 12 and son John 9, both born in Illinois. With them was a boarder John Shaughnessy 30, laborer, born in New York.
1881 Kansas City directory shows these Shaughnessy brothers living at 917 Wyoming (not far from the McKinnells at 219 James): Thomas J. 31, James 37 teamster, John a molder 34, and George laborer 28.
1883 Hoye's Kansas City Directory shows Thomas Shaughnessy, smith, at 917 Wyoming. John A. Shaughnessy, laborer, r. sw corner 3rd Armstrong, KCK.
1885 Kansas State Census shows John McKinnell 55, butcher from England, living with wife Elenore (Helena) 48, and their children Mary, John T. Louisa, as well as two Shaughnessy children Daniel 4 and William 2 (probably orphaned) plus a boarder, John Shaughnessy 35.
1886-87 KC,KS directory shows John McKinnell, dry goods, with Bridget Shaughnessy widow of Thomas, and John Shaughnessy blacksmith helper working at Union Pacific rail shops.
1889 city directory--Thomas Shaughnessy r. 917 Wyoming.
1892-3 Hoyes Directory for Kansas City, KS shows John A. Shaunessy, real estate. at 16 N. 8th.
1895 city directory: John Shaughnessy lived at 16 N. 8th with his wife and their daughters Nellie 4, Ruth 2.
1900 US census shows John A. Shannessy 52, sculptor, living at 16 S. 8th St., KC,KS with his wife Rose T. 34, their daughters Nellie D 9 (b. Mar 1891), Ruth A 7 (b. Mar 1893), their son Joseph J (should be B) 3 (b. August 1897), and Marguerite 1 (b. Sept 1899).
A few houses away at 10 S. 8th lived Joseph A. Butler 30, journeyman cooper (b. 1869 in Ohio) with his wife Mary E. 28 (b. Mar 1871) their children Loretta 6 (b. Jan 1894), Marie E. 4 (b. Dec. 1895) and Joseph A. 1 (b. June 1898)
Admiral Schley by John A. Shaughnessy
Butler Family
Jeremiah Butler (1827- 1895)--"Jerry" for short
Rose T. Butler (1865-1920)
Joseph B. Shaughnessy (Christening)
Joseph B. Shaughnessy
(at his Confirmation- age 12)
Rose Shaughnessy and Wm. J. Sullivan--1905
Joseph B. Shaughnessy Sr.(college graduation?)
I continue the story of Dad's life in Memories of my Father
Joe Shaughnessy 16? at Conception Abbey
Malachy Sullivan, OSB
O'Shaughnessy monument in Calvary Cemetery, Chicago
Thomas Shaughnessy family monument in Old St. Johns', Kansas City, KS.
