In honor of Mother's Day, I am focusing on one of the many fantastic Mothers in our family history. This year, I am choosing Bridget Creagh Keating, the mother of my dad's grandfather, Edward Michael Keating, and the mother of Mary Keating Motie, the grandmother of Ann O'Brien.
(For those of you who would like to know connections to Felicite, Bridget was the mother-in-law to two of Felicite's grandchildren, Eleanor and George. Did Bridget know Felicite? They could have overlapped in Davenport, perhaps crossing paths at the Catholic church, but...probably not.)
Bridget was born in Carrigaholt, County Clare, Ireland on February 1, 1838 to parents James Creagh and Margaret Gibson. Bridget had several siblings including Margaret, Martin, Mary and Michael. The big Irish famine was in 1847, so Bridget was a young girl when that happened. Far western County Clare was devastated by the famine, so Bridget and her family were absolutely impacted by that event and the famine was likely the motivation for four of her five siblings immigrating to the United States.
Ann O'Brien has a few remarkable letters written to Bridget from her father and brother who remained in Ireland. It seems that her brother Martin stayed in Ireland while the other children emigrated to the U.S. The sisters and Michael ended up living around Danbury, CT. Bridget went to Davenport, Iowa. We do not know why, there must have been a job opportunity to draw her to Iowa.
In Davenport, Bridget met and married Michael Keating in 1863 and had three children, Edward (1864), Ellen (1866) and Mary (1867). Sadly, Bridget's husband Michael died at age 36 in 1868. I have tried to find out why Michael died so young, but there are no records that I can find.
The photo at the top of the blog entry is of Bridget taken sometime after her husband's death. It was common for mothers to take photos with children in this era and it may have been she was taking this photo to send home to her relatives in Ireland to show she was doing okay. (Proof of life photos is what we say when texting our young people nowadays.) The child with Bridget is either Mary or Ellen. (The photo is unmarked and undated, so people....label your photos...please, your future ancestors will be grateful.)
We have no information about how Bridget Creagh Keating managed to raise three children as a widow in Davenport, Iowa--but she did. It is highly likely that she got help and support from her local church, St. Anthony's. It is also likely that she was able to work probably doing laundry or domestic work of some type. We know from census records she stayed in Davenport and her three children went to the local Catholic schools.
Bridget moved to Chicago around 1892 with her daughter Ellen. Her son Edward and daughter Mary had already moved to Chicago. Mary married George Motier in 1892 and Edward married Eleanor Motier in 1893.
We can tell that Bridget was involved as a grandmother and her two children had many children--Mary had five children before dying young at age 36. Edward and Eleanor had 9 children. Here's a postcard that my Grandpa, Louis, sent to Bridget in 1916 when he was training in Brownsville, Texas. Notice the mention of John, Grandpa's youngest brother who was a toddler in 1916.
For those of you who struggle to read cursive, the card says:
Dear Grandma,
How are you and Aunt Nell? I am getting along fine & am in good health. The weather is better here than in Chicago. There are fake reports of sickness in the paper. Do not believe those. Does John come over every Sunday? Give love to all from Louis.
Bridget died on July 30, 1921 in Chicago at age 83. She is buried in Davenport next to her husband Michael and their daughter Mary.
Happy Mother's Day to one and all!
Special Thanks to:
My Dad for his papers and editing
Ann, Tim and Anna O'Brien for showing me their wonderful papers and photos
Brian Keating for helping interpret the Motier/Creagh papers
The Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor.
Thank you for another amazing slice of our family history, Catherine. How rich it is!
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