My great grandmother, Mary Agnes Dwyer Wallace, was the daughter of Michael Dwyer and Ann Elliott Dwyer. Both Michael (b. 28 September 1831)[1] and Ann (b. 14 July 1836)[2] were born in St. Colomban, Quebec, Canada, as was Mary Agnes (b. 8 July 1858)[3], and three of her siblings.

Between 1857 and 1864, four Dwyer children were born. In addition to Mary Agnes, two little boys, John and Thomas (b. 9 April 1857 and 15 December 1860)[4],[5], and another daughter, Delia Bridget, (b. 25 July 1862)[6] were baptized in the St. Colomban parish church. Sadly, the two little boys were also buried there; John in 1859 and Thomas in 1864.[7],[8] At some point after Thomas’s death, the family left St. Colomban. Another daughter, Margaret Jane Dwyer, was baptized in at St. Patrick’s Church in Montreal on 19 February 1865[9], and the family arrived in Chicago, Illinois soon after that, most likely in March or April 1865.

On 26 April 1877, Mary Agnes married John Dwyer Wallace whose family came to Kane County, Illinois from County Limerick, Ireland.[10] John was the youngest of seven Wallace children, and the only one to have been born in the United States.

During my research, I discovered that in 1867, John’s older sister, Hanora (Nora) Wallace, had married a St. Colomban immigrant, John D. Walsh (b. 7 March 1847),[11] son of Keyron Walsh and Mary Dwyer (Michael Dwyer’s older sister). The headstone for Keyron and Mary is embedded in the memorial wall in the St. Colomban Cemetery (picture at right). Mary Agnes Dwyer and John D. Walsh were first cousins, and they both married into the Wallace family.

The Dwyer and Walsh families obviously knew each other in St. Colomban. When I looked again at the baptismal and burial records of several Dwyer children, I found that Bridget Walsh (daughter of Keyron and Mary) witnessed Mary Agnes’s baptism in 1858, Keyron (spelled “Kiren” in the baptismal record) Walsh witnessed John Dwyer’s burial (1859) and Thomas Dwyer’s baptism (1860). Richard Walsh, another son of Keyron and Mary, was a witness at Margaret Jane Dwyer’s baptism in Montreal (1865).

I also found other evidence of the continuing connections between these St. Colomban families in Chicago in the mid-to-late-1800s. In June 1870, Richard Walsh, (b. 4 Aug. 1840, St. Jerome)[12] was living with his brother John, sister-in-law Nora, his infant niece, and two Wallace brothers, William and Michael. Richard and John Walsh were both employed as “Boilermakers.”[13] On 15 August 1870, John and Nora Walsh were witnesses at the wedding of Richard Walsh and Ellen Daley in St. Jarlath’s Church located in what was then an Irish neighborhood southwest of downtown Chicago.[14] John and Nora were also witnesses to the marriage of John D. Wallace and Mary Agnes Dwyer on 26 April 1877 in Holy Family Church,[15] and the baptism of their first born child, Arnold, on 6 October 1878, also at Holy Family Church.[16]

John D. Wallace died in 1892 and Mary Agnes raised their seven young children on her own. She died at the age of 81 on 13 March 1940 in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.[17]

John and Nora Walsh had six children, one son and five daughters. According to the 1880 U.S. Census[18] and 1885 Minnesota State Census[19] the family lived in Duluth, Minnesota for several years and their two youngest children were born there. Their stay there likely was related to John’s occupation as a boilermaker. However, by 1890 they were back in Chicago. Their only son, Oliver Kieran Walsh, died on 7 January 1899 in Chicago at the age of 25, cause unknown.[20]

John died on 13 November 1912 as the result of a fall down the stairs at a boarding house where he was staying in Alton, Illinois. He was 65 years old and was in Alton on his last job before retiring.[21] Nora died in Chicago on 11 November 1924 at the age of 76.[22] John D., Nora, and Oliver K. Walsh are all buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois (picture at right).[23]

Richard and Ellen Walsh had four sons: Keyron Oliver (1871-1951), John (1874-1896), William J. (1876-1908), and Francis, aka Frank (1879-1925). All these children were born in Chicago. Richard died in 1913 and was preceded in death by Ellen, who died in 1905. They are buried in Calvary Cemetery, in Evanston, Illinois (a suburb bordering Chicago), along with their unmarried sons John and Francis (Frank).[24]

Another Walsh sibling from St. Colomban, Anne, also lived in Chicago. She was born in St. Colomban on 5 August 1845[25] and was the widow of Thomas Barry. Their two young daughters, Ann Emelia and Mary, both died in St. Colomban, in 1874 and 1877 respectively.[26] [27] Although I could not determine exactly when Thomas Barry died, the burial record for Ann Emelia in 1874 noted that he was deceased.

Anne subsequently married Calix Sheffer in 1881 in Montreal.[28] She and Calix moved to Chicago in about 1882 and had three children there. Calix worked as a carpenter. Anne died in 1915 and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.[29] After Anne died, Calix moved to Duluth, Minnesota and lived with his son William and family until his death in 1923. He is buried with Anne in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Chicago.[30]

Although I don’t know how much ongoing interaction all these families had with each other, the Irish diaspora in Chicago was the place where these Irish Canadian immigrants all started their new lives in the United States.

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[1] Gabriel Drouin, compiler, “Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; database with images, Ancestry.com, image 38 of 57, Michael Dwyer, baptized 1831, Ste-Scholastique. (Record is in French.)

[2] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 7 of 17, Anne Elliott, baptized 1836, St-Colomban.

[3] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 5 of 8, Mary Dwyer, baptized 1858, St-Colomban.

[4]. Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 3 of 7, John Dwyer, baptized 1857, St-Colomban.

[5] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 7 of 8, Thomas Dwyer, baptized 1860, St-Colomban.

[6] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 6 of 9, Bridget Dwyer, baptized 1862, St-Colomban.

[7] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 3 of 7, John Dwyer, buried 1860, St-Colomban.

[8] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 3 of 7, Thomas Dwyer, buried 1864, St-Colomban.

[9] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 20 of 159, Margaret Jane Dwyer, baptized 1865, St. Patrick’s, Montreal.

[10] “Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920,” Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, published 2011.

[11] Drouin, “Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records” Ancestry.com, image 4 of 9, John Walsh, baptized 1847, St-Colomban.

[12] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 37 of 58, Richard Walsh baptized 1840, St-Jérôme.

[13] 1870 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Chicago, Cook County, Ward 7, dwelling 29, Illinois; Roll: M593_202; Page: 4A, Ancestry.com.

[14] Photo of the Certificate of Marriage (State of Illinois) for Richard Walsh and Ellen Daley, posted on Ancestry.com by RKWalsh132 on 11 May 2010.

[15] IIllinois, Chicago Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925, (Holy Family Parish), Marriages 1857-1916. Accessed on Family Search.org., Image 116 of 382 available at: Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G19-F2T?cc=1452409&wc=M66P-QPD%3A39539601%2C40357801

[16] Chicago Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms, Archives of the Archdiocese of Chicago 1874-1887. Transcript and original record accessed on FindMyPast.com. https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=US/RC/CHICAGO/BAP/0759265. Image available at: Chicago Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms Image | findmypast.com

[17] Illinois Deaths and Still Births Index, 1916-1947, Ancestry.com, citing FHL Film Number: 1831903.

[18] 1880 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Duluth, St Louis, Minnesota; Roll: 632; Page: 506A; Enumeration District: 092, Ancestry.com.

[19] Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905, 1 May 1885, Duluth, Minnesota, Roll: MNSC_41, Line: 9. Ancestry.com.

[20] “Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index, 1878-1922,” Ancestry.com, citing FHL Film Number: 1033066.

[21] Alton Evening Telegraph, (Alton, Illinois), 14 November 1912, page 1, Newspapers.com. Article gives an account of the accident causing the death of John D. Walsh.

[22] “Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988,” Ancestry.com, citing File Number: 6027992.

[23] Find a Grave database with images, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119313238/john-d-walsh.

[24] Archdiocese of Chicago, Catholic Cemeteries website: https://www.catholiccemeterieschicago.org/ All four are in the database for Calvary Cemetery and are located in the same section, bloc, and plot. A memorial on Find-a-Grave was found only for John (Memorial# 230029917).

[25] Gabriel Drouin, compiler, “Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; database with images, Ancestry.com, image 7 of 11, Anne Welsh (Walsh) baptized 1845. St-Colomban.

[26] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 4 of 6, Ann Emelia Barry, buried 1874, St-Colomban.

[27] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 3 of 6, Mary Barry buried 1877, St-Colomban.

[28] Ibid., Ancestry.com, image 24 of 66, Ann Walsh, widow of Thomas Barry, married Calix Sheffer. 1881, St. Anne Parish, Montreal.

[29] Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1878-1922,” Ancestry.com, citing FHL Film Number: 1287549.

[30] Archdiocese of Chicago, Catholic Cemeteries website: https://www.catholiccemeterieschicago.org/, Database for Mt. Olivet Cemetery.