Emily & Nellie--Two Female Ancestors

We had a fun Zoom call on Sunday, September 28, 2025 to discuss two female ancestors who both had very interesting, long lives.  Both of them were born in Davenport in the second half of the 19th century. Neither of them married, but they were both very involved with their families.  Between the two individuals, they traveled far from Davenport to Chicago, California, and New York. 

The first highlighted ancestor was Emily Motier (1851-1935). She was the third daughter born to Joseph Motie and his wife Mary Maguire.  Emily was born on September 11, 1851. In an undated obituary for Emily found in Eleanor's scrapbook, the writer describes Emily's early life quite lyrically. The writer described Joseph and Mary as "pioneer settlers" in Davenport. The obituary explained Emily's journey to the convent, writing, "Before the era of railroad transportation, she (Emily) traveled by steamboat up the Mississippi River from Davenport to Dubuque to enter the Novitiate of the Sisters of Charity, B.V.M., on her sixteenth birthday, September 11, 1867." 

Emily became known as Sister Mary Henrietta and she was both a classroom teacher and a piano teacher.  In her vocation, she traveled and worked in numerous towns in Iowa including:  Council Bluffs, Burlington, Iowa City, Ackley, and Fort Dodge.  In Illinois, she worked in Pontiac, Rock Island, and Chicago.  She also worked in Petaluma, CA, for a period of time (sorry, folks, I don't have the dates of when she was where.)

The entire family was proud of Emily's service in this prestigious religious order. Thanks to Petra, I have my great grandmother, Eleanor's (Lillie), photo album.  Eleanor had many photos of visits with her sister.  Although most of the photos are undated and unlabeled, we have deciphered a few. It seems like they tended to take photos surrounded by her siblings.

This photo shows Emily in the center, Eleanor is to her right and I believe Mary Motie Gillooley is to the left.  (That is an educated guess, it looks like a sibling and it's not Ella Ward, so I'm guessing it is Gillooley.)  The photo seems to be taken at a school or perhaps Emily's convent or school. The second photo was taken at the same time.  The man is likely a Motier brother, either George or Henry Motie. It's not Frank. 

 

This photo is labeled "Frank Motier". Frank was the Motier brother who moved to the West Coast.  I believe he is the one directly to the right of Emily in the photo.  I think the woman to the left is Mary Gillooley*, Ella Ward, and Charlie Ward.  The man on the far right could be Frank or George Motie, but that is a guess.

*If you look at Mary Gillooley with the hat in the first, I think it's the same woman--without a hat--in the Frank Motier photo.

This photo contains two nuns, likely the travel companion to Emily (Sisters traveled in pairs for safety). Although this photo is undated or labeled, I believe the woman in the plaid dress is Ella Ward and these are her children and perhaps grandchildren.  We think the woman standing in the far left is Rose Hertel and the woman in the black dress behind Ella is her daughter, Lillie Dixon.  The standing man is likely Charlie or Damian Ward.  The rest I do not know...if you know, share your information!

 

Sister Mary Henrietta (Emily) died in 1935 after returning to her mother house in Dubuque. Here is an obituary for her from the Daily Times of Davenport on February 18, 1935.  I used the names of the living siblings from this obituary to help me figure out the photos.  Am I right? Not sure...

 

My dad was only a child when Sister Henrietta died, but he recalled his own mother (Catherine Dowd) telling him about visits from this nun.  Apparently, Sister Henrietta enjoyed playing cards, but the family would close the blinds when she played so passersby would not see a card-playing nun!

The second ancestor we looked at is on the Keating side, but she is interesting to all (I hope)! Her name was Ellen (aka Ella or Nellie) Keating and she was born in 1866 in Davenport, IA to Irish immigrant parents Michael Keating and Bridget Creagh. Ellen was the second child, her older brother Edward Michael was born in 1864 and her sister Mary was born in 1867. Tragically, Ellen's father, Michael, died in 1867 leaving Bridget Creagh a widow with three children under age 4. 

Amazingly, we have a photo of Nellie taken in 1893 at my great grandparents wedding. (This photo is thanks to Ann O'Brien who saved and labeled this photo for my dad back in 2012). Nellie moved to Chicago with her siblings and mother around 1892.  Her sister, Mary, married George Motie in 1892 and her brother, Edward Michael, married Eleanor Motie in 1893 (remember the brother/sister marrying brother/sister.)

I can find Ellen in City Directories and censuses.  In 1888-9, she's listed in the Davenport directory as a box finisher.  The following year, still in Davenport, she is listed as a cutter. In the 1898 Chicago directory she is listed as a stenographer.  In the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses, she is living with her mother Bridget Creagh and listed as being a stenographer who can both read and write English.

Bridget Creagh died in 1921, so what happened to Ellen? Thanks to Tim O'Briens cache of letters and documents, I knew that Ella was very close with her nieces Alice, Stella, and Mary (Tim's grandmother). I could not find Ella in the 1930 census, but I did find her in 1940...living with Alice Stevens and her son, Alan!

 

 Nellie was quite a letter writer and receiver.  I found a postcard my grandfather, Louis Keating, wrote to her while he was in an army training camp in Brownsville, Texas in 1918 (prior to going to WWI).

 

Nellie died in 1948 while visiting her niece Stella and her husband Alex Burke in Illinois.  

Here is her obituary from the Quad City Times on February 26, 1948

We also looked at two mystery photos, which still remain mysterious:

 We do not know who these cute children are...I was hoping it was Doris Keating with her first born, John Michael, but that is not the case.

Here's a cute one labeled "a party of cousins at Lynchs.  John in front row after a fight".  It is not dated, but John looks to be about 10, so around 1923.

I found a few photos of ancestors playing cards, it sounds like both a Motier and a Keating favorite pastime.

 

This is undated but contains a subset of the Keating brothers from left to right: John, Edward, Geoff and Laurence.  This is likely a card game after Sunday mass.

 

In November, I plan to do a zoom featuring some of our veterans...

 

Thanks to everyone who joined us on the Zoom.  Thanks to Tim O'Brien and Petra Steele for their photos!