When
Patrick Joseph Eagan was born on May 7, 1877, in Providence, Rhode Island, his father,
Michael Eagan (1849-1930), was 28 and his mother,
Catherine (nee Trainor) (1850-1927), was 27.
Joseph (as he was known) married
Mary Ellen Duffield on February 4, 1902, in his Providence. At the time of the marriage, Joseph's occupation is listed as "Operator, Screw Factory."
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| Marriage Certificate (image via Rhode Island archives) |
When
Mary Ellen Duffield was born on June 11, 1880, in Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland, her father,
Samuel Duffield (1857-1900), was 22, and her mother,
Elizabeth (nee Robinson) (1856-1896), was 24.
Joseph and
Mary Ellen had six children in Providence over the course of 14 years:
- Alice Elizabeth Eagan (1903-1947) married George Leonard Archibald McPhail (1898-1948)
- John Christopher Eagan (1903-?)
- Mary Eagan (1906-1906)
- Catherine Mary Eagan (1909-?) married Carl Bernard Benson (1911-?)
- James Joseph Eagan (1914-1945) married Mildred Ansell
- Josephine Mary Eagan (1917-1997) married Frank Buddin (1915-?)
Alice Elizabeth is the couple's firstborn child, on January 3, 1903. A little more than 11 months later, on December 18,
John Christopher is born, making the first two children "
Irish Twins"
Daughter
Mary Eagan was stillborn on November 1, 1906. Her death record suggests that the child had spina bifida. She is buried at
Grace Church Cemetery in Providence. If there is a marker for the child, it's not recorded. At the time of her death, the family was living at "88 Stockton." I didn't locate this address in Providence, but there is such an address in
nearby Middletown.
A birth record for
Catherine Mary hasn't specifically been located. Later records indicate she was born on March 25, 1909.
Some of the children were captured in the
Rhode Island Birth Index (1901-1910), volume 14(1), page 362. You can see
Alice and
John C. From the record below, it is possible that
Catherine's original name was Gertrude (I have ordered the certificate to see if I can verify). The parents of Gertrude in this record are "Patrick and Mary" (although middle initials are not provided like the previous records), and the date is off (Gertrude was born six days prior to the date Catherine claimed as her birthday).
Mary likely isn't listed in this index because she was stillborn and a certificate of live birth would not have been issued.
On the
1910 US Federal Census, the family is still living on Stockton Street. We see
Joseph and
Mary and all their living children, along with
Michael (Joseph's father) and
Alice J. (Joseph's unmarried sister) with whom he must have been particularly close as he named his eldest daughter after her. It is from this record that we discover Mary's family emigrated to the United States in 1883. Joseph
's occupation is listed as an Operator at a screw factory.
Michael is not working at the time of this census.
James Joseph is born next on October 14, 1914. His birth is recorded in the
Rhode Island Birth Index (1911-1920), volume 17(1), page 430.
In 1916, a border crossing is registered at Niagara Falls.
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| Border Crossing (image via Ancestry.com) |
This is possibly when the family emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, where
Josephine is born in 1917.
The
Selective Draft Act was passed on May 18, 1917. A draft card for
Joseph indicates that his "home" address is
239 Branch Avenue in Providence, but at the time of the draft, he is living at
583 Catherine Street (North) in Hamilton, and the Draft Card is signed in Hamilton.
Joseph's occupation is listed as "screw machine expert" at the
Steel Company of Canada (later known as Stelco).
No birth registration has been located for
Josephine, likely related to the timing of her birth related to the timing of the move. (She does have an American Social Security registration despite settling in Hamilton, so she was likely registered as an out of country birth.) Later records suggest
Josephine was born on September 23, 1917.
By 1921, the family is on the
Canadian census at
9 Cluny Avenue in Hamilton.
Joseph's job is "machinist" and the eldest two children also appear to be working (but their occupation is illegible). Oddly, this record suggests that the entire family emigrated in 1913 (odd because we know that James was born in Rhode Island).
Joseph died of bronchial pneumonia on August 29, 1932, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 55. He is buried at
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. The family was still living at 9 Cluny at the time of his death.
 |
| The Hamilton Spectator |
Mary Ellen survived her husband by over eleven years. She died on December 31, 1943, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 63. Most of the pallbearers at her funeral were in-laws of her daughter Alice. Mary Ellen was buried with her husband.
 |
| The Hamilton Spectator |
The Children
Alice Elizabeth Eagan married
George Leonard Archibald McPhail (Nipper) and had several children. She and her husband died tragically young as a result of a car accident. Their younger children were raised in the house on Cluny.
It's not clear where
John Eagan ended up. I've found no record indicating that he was married or that he had any children.
Catherine married
Carl Bernard Benson and had one child. Hamilton phone book/voting records indicate the family continued to live in Hamilton. The dates of their deaths are unknown.
James Joseph worked at the Steel Company of Canada, like his father. His death record indicates he was struck in the head at work and died as a result of his injuries at the young age of thirty. I haven't located any records other than the death record and his obituary. He and his wife lived at
130 Central Avenue at the time of his death, and they had no children.
Josephine also married (to
Frank Buddin) and had one child. Hamilton phone book/voting records indicate that the family continued to live in Hamilton (and in fact lived at the Cluny Avenue address for some time). Josephine died in 1997.
Special thanks to the website One Rhode Island Family without whom I would not have easily located the birth/death records for this post.
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