St. Patrick's Day is coming right up, which got me to considering people buried at Oak Hill cemetery who were born in Ireland. Actually, there aren't all that many, especially compared to English, Scottish, and Norwegians - and certainly fewer than the Germans who came much later. The majority of Irish Catholics are buried next door at
Mount Olivet Cemetery - some people confuse the two places. If you'd like to see a list of the born-in Ireland folks at Oak Hill, so far as I know, check out
this link. I know the folks in this area love their Irish roots.
Part of the challenge in putting together a list like this is that cemetery records do not indicate where a person was born. For that, one needs to check census records or find old obituaries, or hope that a relative sees the memorial and adds information. The challenge in putting together a walk is to find stops that have interesting stones, interesting stories, or best, both. The burials also need to fall into some sort of reasonable route. So, I end up assembling a suggested walk that a person might do in an hour or so. Here goes!
1.
Edith West Barry (block 7) Mrs. Barry is buried along with her husband Edward, and sisters Mary and Jane, on the hillside behind the chapel. I thought obituary in the local paper was interesting, especially her father's government job as U.S. consul to Dublin. The Honorable William B. West was appointed by President Lincoln, and went back to Ireland with his wife Esther and three other children to serve. He died in Dublin in 1877. Edith was born in Ireland in 1842 and died April 16, 1902 in Janesville. I originally thought they had no headstones, but I recently found both the gray obelisk under a pine tree, and the small individual headstones.
Mrs. Edith T. Barry, residing at No. 62 Chatham street, passed away at 2:30 o'clock this morning after a brief illness.
Deceased
was born in Wexford, Ireland, and came to America with her family in
1851. Her father, Hon. Wm. B. West was appointed U.S. Consul to Dublin
when her family and two sisters returned to Ireland, leaving the
deceased, two sisters and a brother here. One sister, Mary, died in
1890, the other, Jane, in 1895, both now resting in Oak Hill. The
deceased was united in marriage to Capt. Ed Barry, 1867. He also died
19 years ago.
On Monday last the deceased visited her husband's
grave on the 19th anniversary of his burial and on returning on the same
evening she was taken suddenly ill with a chronic ailment with which
she had long been afflicted. But despite the best of medical aid death
conquered her, and her spirit sped peacefully to the realms above. She
was a member of Trinity Episcopal church from which her funeral will
take place on Friday at 10 a.m...
2.
Mary Coppin (block 13) I don't know much about her other than she raised a large family, and her husband was English. This is what her obituary said -
The Janesville Gazette, June 24, 1899:
Mrs. Mary Coppin, widow
of the late Henry Coppin, passed into the shadows yesterday forenoon at
11:30 o'clock, at her home, 153 Lincoln street, aged sixty-five years.
Mrs. Coppin had been ailing for a number of years, and for several weeks
had been suffering greatly with chronic nephritis. Mrs. Coppin had
been a resident of the city for many years. She was a lady universally
esteemed.
She leaves to mourn her death seven children, three daughters
and four sons, all of whom were at her bedside when the end came. The
children are Miss Mary Coppin, Edward Coppin and Mrs. Minnie Crouse, all
of Dallas, Texas; John Coppin of Denison, Texas; W.H. Coppin of
Milwaukee; Mrs. A.R. Wilkinson and Frankie Coppin of this city. Mrs.
Coppin, of La Crosse, only sister of the departed, was at the bedside
during the illness and at the time of summons from this material
world...
3.
Thomas McKey (block 23) Mr. McKey was born in County Mayo 1827 and died in Delavan, 1859. I like the tall obelisk under the trees that marks the McKey resting place. Apparently he married Eliza Toll in Racine in 1851. Their children included Thomas, Ada Jean, Roswill, and Charles. Thomas' mother, Maria, (also born in Ireland) is listed on the same monument. Thomas is a brother to the other McKeys on this walk, though I know nothing more about him.
4.
Joseph Churchill (block 135)
The Janesville Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, Mar. 7, 1908:
Joseph Churchill, who has lived in Janesville for the past nineteen
years and was an early settler in Rock county, died last evening at the
home of his daughter, Mrs. W.J. Hilt, No. 3 Riverside street. Mr.
Churchill, who was eighty-seven years of age, was born in Tipperary,
Ireland, and settled in Rock county in 1850 on a farm about four miles
north of the city.
Mr. Churchill's wife died about three
years ago. He leaves to mourn his loss three daughters, Mrs. Margaret
O'Neil, Mrs. Eliza Heller and Mrs. William J. Hilt, and five sons,
Joseph of the town of Harmony, John of Center, James of Porter, William
of the town of Janesville and Arthur of Center. He also leaves two
sisters, Mrs. Ward of Boscobel and Mrs. Fannie Brooks of Stoughton...
5.
Ann Irwin (block 87) From her death notice in the J
anesville Gazette:
Mrs. Ann Irwin, an elderly lady, residing in her home on the corner of Glenn and Maria streets, Second ward, was found dead in her bed this morning, by her nurse. She had been suffering for some years with heart disease, and for two or three days had been confined to her bed. It is said that the cause of her death was heart disease.
6.
Samuel, Jane, Isabella Cleland (block 71) Samuel and Jane Martin Cleland were born and married in County Down,
Ireland and came to the United States in about 1816. They farmed on
section 28 of Janesville Township. I did not locate an obituary.
7.
Stewart B. Heddles (block 268) Once more, his local obituary tells everything:
Funeral services for the late Stewart B. Heddles, who died at the Mayo
brothers hospital in Rochester, Minn., late Wednesday afternoon,
following an operation and sickness of two weeks, will be held at the
home on North Jackson street Saturday afternoon at two-thirty o'clock.
Rev. Melrose will conduct the ceremony and interment will be made in Oak
Hill cemetery.
Prominent in social and civil life, the deceased
had gathered about him a host of friends who will indeed be sorely
grieved to know of his departure from worldly life. He was prominent in
city affairs, having been at one time an alderman and later mayor of
the city. In business he was actively engaged in the leaf tobacco
business. For many years he acted as elder and trustee of the
Presbyterian church and was a member of the Masonic lodge, Knights of
Pythias and the United Commercial Travelers.
Born of Scotch-Irish
ancestry he was married to Jennie Hadley in Janesville on October 16,
1879. At the time of his demise he was sixty-three years of age.
Besides his sorrowing wife he leaves to mourn his loss one daughter, Mrs. Stanley G. Dunwiddie of this city...
8.
Andrew and Margaret Hayes Lowery (block 142) Andrew's obituary:
After a short sickness, Andrew Lowry, an early settler and extensive
land owner in Rock county, passed away, at his home in the town of
Janesville, last night. His death was not unexpected for it had been
realized some time ago that the silver cord was almost broken. Mr. Lowry
was an extensive land owner and his property has always been considered
very valuable. During a part of his residence in the county he made his
home in the town of Center only moving into Janesville a few years ago.
He was born in Ireland in 1823 and came to America in 1840, locating in
New York. In 1853 he came to Rock county and has lived here ever since.
He leaves a wife but no children.
And Margaret's newspaper notice:
After a brief illness, Margaret Lowery, widow of Andrew Lowery, passed
away at Palmer Mercy hospital. Mrs. Lowery was born near Belfast,
Ireland, on December 24, 1828, and was the youngest child of George and
Sarah Hayes. When a child she came with her mother, eight brothers and
sisters, to the United States and settled at Newburgh, New York, at
which place she resided until her marriage to Andrew Lowery in October,
1847. In the fall of 1856 Mr. and Mrs. Lowery moved to Wisconsin and
located on a farm in the town of Janesville, at which place she resided
until the death of Mr. Lowery in 1886; since which time she has been a
resident of this city. Mrs. Lowery was a member of the First
Presbyterian church and was a woman much loved by those who knew her...
9.
Mary McKey Stevens (block 179) From the Janesville Gazette, March 6, 1922:
Announcement of the
death of Mrs. Fenton F. Stevens, formerly Miss Mary McKey of this city,
has been received by relatives here. Mrs. Stevens, an old resident of
this city, died in Chicago Saturday after a lengthy illness. She had
moved to Chicago to make her home only a few years ago, having lived
until that time in this city at 120 St. Lawrence avenue. George McKey,
Colonial club, is a step-brother, and Mrs. Harriet Smith, Milwaukee, who
visited here for several months recently, a step-sister.
Mrs. Steven's memorial on Find a Grave indicates George and Harriet were cousins.
10.
Edward McKey (block 179) The tall gray granite McKey monument is an impressive final stop. One more obituary from the newspaper: From the
Janesville Gazette, August 14, 1875, which indicates where the family acquired the wherewithal to purchase such a beautiful family stone. Edward had a twin brother, Michael. The family emigrated to the United States as a result of the potato famine in Ireland.
This morning,
Edward McKey died of paralysis of the vital organs. His physician says,
"His vital forces had been failing for more than two years which
predisposed him to bilious attacks and temporary congestion of the liver
and stomach, resulting in an enervation of the sympathetic nerve
centres and consequent sudden death. When he experienced the neuralgic
pain in his side one week ago today, which was the commencement of his
illness, he suffered much pain, continuing for two or three days, but
latterly his suffering had ceased and he passed away quietly and
unconsciously."
Mr. McKey was born in the County of Mayo, Ireland
in 1821, and early in life commenced business as a merchant. The
famine of 1846 and the losses which in consequence thereof fell upon all
classes of business, induced him to emigrate to this country, and in
1847, in company with his brother Michael F. McKey, he commenced
business in Little Falls, New York. In 1849, the brothers removed to
Racine and shortly afterward to Janesville.
For a quarter of a
century, there has been no other firm more widely known to the people of
Wisconsin than the McKey Brothers. Some years ago, Michael F. McKey
died, and the estate which, by their sagacity and industry had been
accumulated, has wisely remained undivided under the direction and
control of the surviving brother until his death.
As a
businessman, Edward McKey possessed unusual capacity and foresight. He
rarely ever made a mistake in the management of the large and
complicated affairs which his genius and industry had brought under his
control. For many years, the surplus profits of the home business were
invested, with rare sagacity, in real estate, when property was low, in
nearly every important town from Chicago to Lake Superior, and he thus
laid the foundations of a fortune which, in the the development of the
country, has grown to large proportions.
The sons of both the
brothers have, for some time past, been growing into the direction of
details of business; but the place which is left vacant by the sudden
removal of the presiding genius of the fortunes of the family, is too
large to be filled. In the full tide of success and in the enjoyment of
the maturity of comprehensive intellectual powers, he has been called
to test the realities of the unseen life.
His death came
suddenly, and the news was received with sorrow mingled with surprise by
the community, scarcely anyone outside of the family knowing that he
was unwell. The funeral services will take place on Monday afternoon
next, at Trinity Episcopal Church.
