Descendants

 of

 ANNE THERESA DORGAN

1887-1976

Anne Theresa Dorgan  

1. ANNE THERESA DORGAN was born April 24, 1887 in Ballybraher, County Cork, Ireland, and died June 01, 1976 in Warwick, Rhode Island 02888. She married John Henry Maguire, Jr. on June 26, 1913 in Providence, Rhode Island, son of John Maguire and Sarah McSoley.  He was born November 24, 1885 in Providence, Rhode Island, and died August 16, 1935 in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Baptism: April 24, 1887, Church of Ballycotton, Diocese of Cloyne.

Sponsors: Jeremiah Healy (The husband of her father's sister, Mary) and Ellen Hartnett (her mother's sister).
Occupation: Milliner

John Henry Maguire, Jr. was born on Transit Street in the Fox Point section of Providence, RI.  The official records of Rhode Island and the Social Security Death Index state he was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1884.

Citizenship: September 12, 1918, Native Born
Draft Card Registration: September 12, 1918, Reg. #1353 (38-1-7-C)
Occupation: September 12, 1918, Police Officer, City of Providence, RI
Residence:  September 12, 1918, 12 Mt. Vernon Street, Providence, RI

ANNE THERESA DORGAN (MAGUIRE), UNKNOWN MAN, HELEN MAGUIRE (MCDERMOTT), PATRICIA MAGUIRE. THE DORGAN FARM, MAY 1972.

CHILDREN OF ANNE THERESA DORGAN AND JOHN HENRY MAGUIRE, JR.

i. MARY MAGUIRE, born April 14, 1914 in Providence, Rhode Island; died March 19, 1938 in Providence, Rhode Island.  Mary Maguire died at the age of 23 of streptococcus.

ii. JOHN HENRY MAGUIRE, born April 14, 1916 in Providence, Rhode Island; died April 1969 in Providence, Rhode Island. He married (1) Rose Barton. He married (2) Mary Cute, born in Pawtucket, RI. John H. Maguire managed a bar in Central Falls called the Blarney Stone. He had cancer of the larynx and learned to speak with a voice box.

iii. HELEN MAGUIRE, born February 17, 1918 in Providence, Rhode Island; died September 01, 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island. She married Joseph V. McDermott.

Here is her obituary:

Publication Date: September 03, 2000
Source: The Providence Journal
Page: B-07

 
"Helen S. McDermott, 82, of Midland Road, a retired bookkeeper, died unexpectedly Friday at home. She was the wife of Joseph V. McDermott. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late John H. and Anne T. (Dorgan) Maguire, she lived in Charlestown for 22 years.  Mrs. McDermott was a bookkeeper for Union Trust Bank, Stanford, Conn., for seven years, retiring in 1972. She was a communicant of St. James Chapel.

Besides her husband, she leaves two sons, Michael J. McDermott of Naples, Fla., and Paul G. McDermott of New Canaan, Conn.; three brothers, Joseph Maguire of Tacoma, Wash., Francis Maguire of Indianapolis and William Maguire of Warwick; three sisters, Anne Morgan and Patricia Maguire, both of Warwick, and Hope Gaynor of South Yarmouth, Mass.; and five grandchildren. She was the sister of the late Mary and John Maguire.

The funeral will be held Thursday at 8:45 a.m. from Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia St., Wakefield, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 in St. James Chapel, Matunuck Schoolhouse Road. Burial will be in River Bend Cemetery, Westerly."


iv. JOSEPH F. MAGUIRE, born March 19, 1920 in Providence, Rhode Island. He married Carolyne Ellen Swanson, born June 18, 1919 in Seattle, Washington, daughter of Clara Agnes and Captain Gustaf F. Swanson.  He died in April 2002 at Tacoma, Washington.

Joseph Maguire and daughter Carol Maguire-Withrow

Children of Joseph Maguire and Carolyne Ellen Swanson

1.  Carol Maguire, born March 10, 1944 in Seattle, Washington, married Jack Withrow, born March 15, 1942 in Seattle, Washington on June 8, 1968.  They have two children: 

1.  Andrea Withrow, born September 24, 1973, Seattle, Washington, married Konrad Sobocinski and have two daughters: Ryana Carolyne Sobocinski, born September 5, 2001 in Germany and Natalia Ann Sobocinski, born 18 August 2006 in Colorado.

2.  Emily Teresa Withrow, born August 19, 1976 in Seattle, Washington.

The Winthrow Family

Standing: Emily Teresa, Carol Maguire-Winthrow

Seated: Jack, Andrea, Ryana Carolyne Sobochinski

2.  Michael Joseph Maguire, born February 4, 1949, Seattle, Washington, married Susan Nordlund and live in Port Orchard, Washington.  They have three sons:

1.  Matthew Maguire, married Cecily Ford, and has a daughter, Eloise Jane Maguire, born February 2004.

2.  Andrew Maguire

3.  Jeffrey Maguire

The Maguire Family:

Matthew, Jeffrey, Susan Nordlund-Maguire, Andrew, Michael Joseph

3.  Daniel John Maguire, born June 2, 1954 in Seattle, Washington, married Peggy Parker.  They live in Tacoma, Wasington and have three daughters: Molly Maguire, Katie Maguire, Danni Maguire, all born in Tacoma, Washington.

The Maguire Family

Daniel John, Danni, Katie, Molly, Peggy Parker-Maguire

Cousins:

Emily, Katie, Andy, Andrea, Ryana, Matt, Molly, Danni, Jeff

v. FRANCIS MAGUIRE, born August 29, 1922 in Providence, Rhode Island.  He married (1) Margaret O'Brien. She was born July 26, 1918 in Indiana, and died March 1993 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He married (2) Nuala O'Connor in 1995 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Francis Maguire related the story of how, at the age of 12-15, (1934-1937), he would help William John Dorgan and James Moriarty build a barn in West Greenwich and then "poached" corn from a nearby pasture, which they all ate during the Depression.

Children of Francis Maguire and Margaret O'Brien:

James Maguire, born 1947. He is an attorney.
Elaine Maguire, born 1950 and lives in Franklin, Indiana.
Joseph Maguire, born 1955 has a son, Patrick Joseph Maguire.

Carol Maguire-Winthrow, Michael Joseph Maguire, Patricia Maguire, Daniel John Maguire, Francis Maguire, Ann Maguire-Morgan

Children of Nuala O'Connor:

Cathal, born 1966, Commander, USN
Emerick, born 1968, resides in Minneapolis, MN

Donal, born 1970, Engineer
Cormac born 1974, Tulane Medical School


vi. WILLIAM MAGUIRE, born October 09, 1924 in Providence, Rhode Island.  He married Loretta M. Storti May 30, 1950 in Providence, Rhode Island.  She was born in Providence, Rhode Island.  William Maguire was a policeman with the Providence, RI Police Department. He was also a truck driver for many years.

vii. ANN MAGUIRE, born June 01, 1927. She married Thomas A. Morgan.

viii. PATRICIA MAGUIRE, born November 06, 1929 in Providence, Rhode Island. She married John Kolb 1982. They are divorced.

ANN THERESA DORGAN (MAGUIRE) AND HER DAUGHTER, PATRICIA MAGUIRE AT THE FARM OF PATRICK DORGAN AND MARY HARTNETT THEN OWNED BY THE O'CONNELL FAMILY, MAY 1972

Patricia Maguire was the first family historian of the Rhode Island Dorgan family.  More than anyone else, she sparked my interest in Dorgan genealogy.  She shared her timeless photographs and family insights. I owe her a great deal of thanks. Patricia has visited the original home of Patrick J. Dorgan and Mary Catherine Hartnett in Carrigkilter, County Cork, Ireland in 1972.  She, and her siblings,  raised a pint or two at DORGAN's Pub (now under a new name) in Cloyne, owned, at that time, by Liam Dorgan, a cousin.

ANNE THERESA DORGAN (MAGUIRE) AND HER DAUGHTER, PATRICIA MAGUIRE, IRELAND MEDIEVAL DINNER, MAY 1972

ix. HOPE MAGUIRE, born August 05, 1931 in Providence, Rhode Island. She married Thomas Gaynor.

ANNE THERESA DORGAN-MAGUIRE

MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER

BY

FRANCIS MAGUIRE

The following remembrances were written by Francis Maguire, fifth child and second son of Anne Theresa Dorgan-Maguire. He wrote them on 17 February 2007 and shared them with me for publication on the DORGAN Website.

I am grateful for his kindness.

LEAVING

We Irish-Americans, with our abundance of wealth and personal freedoms, might find it hard to believe the conditions under which the majority of the people of Ireland were forced to live after the English incursion around the year 1670.  That was a time when the Irish were forced into serfdom.  The Anglo-Irish establishment in the so-called elegant world of the Protestant Ascendancy held sway over vast estates and controlled their serfs with an iron hand and a cold heart.  The Irish people were servants on their native soil to landowners from another country.  Irish tenants farmed the land, paid the rent, and lived in poverty.  The List of Landowners, a document published in1871 and on file at the Cork County Library, attests to striking and bitter examples of these inequities. The population of County Cork during that period was approximately 500,000, yet only 50 men were registered as owners of one third of all its land.  The remaining two thirds of the land was scattered among 2,748 others.
As an illustration of the imbalance in ownership consider the following: Earl of Bantry and his family owned 86,000 acres; Duke of Devonshire, 35,000 acres; Lord Bandon, 41,000 acres; the Kingstons of Michelstown, 24,000; Sir George Colthurst, 31,260; the Earl of Cork 20,165, the Townsends, 42,600 acres; the Earl of Kenmare, 23,000 acres; the Earl of Shannon, 11,200 acres; Wrixon-Becher, 18,933; the Masseys, 13,693; and the Shuldhams of Dunmanway, 13,000   These Anglo-Irish families wielded tremendous power and influence over the native farmers and tenants because of their massive landholdings.

The Irish economy was heavily dependent on a single crop, the potato. The potato crop was the staple of life for the Irish peasant population. A massive potato blight occurred in 1845-1846, leaving the potato fields of Ireland a reeking mass of garbage. Many historians have called it genocide when referring to the resulting Irish Potato Famine.  More than 1,000,000 Irish men, women and children died of starvation and disease, and another 1,000,000 migrated to other countries, many to America. The Irish economy was still in a terrible state near the end of the 19th century, almost fifty years later. Migration from Ireland continued and the Patrick Dorgan family became part of the movement of the Irish people leaving their beloved homeland.
Patrick alone left Ireland in the year of 1896 and sailed to America seeking a better, more secure life for his family. Eight months later Patrick’s wife, Mary, and their children Anne, Michael, David, Patrick and William traveled across the vast Atlantic Ocean to a new and foreign land in a ship called the Teutonic. The ship was built in 1889 in Belfast, Northern Ireland by the shipbuilders at Harland & Wolff and was owned and operated by the White Star Line, a Norwegian company that also later owned the Titanic.  The Teutonic weighed 9,984 tons (the Titanic weighed over 46,000 tons). She had two funnels, three masts and was fitted with electric lighting and refrigerating machinery. The engine delivered 1,875 horsepower, which gave the ship an impressive speed of 20 knots.
There was passenger accommodation for 399 1st class, 190 2nd class, and 1000 3rd class passengers.  It is hard for us to imagine our families enduring the degradation of hustling their meager possessions aboard a ship and being herded into the third class area.

The voyage across the Atlantic lasted for around eight days and one can only shudder to think of the conditions down in the bowels of this transport vessel considering the heat, seasickness and odors of this crowd of humanity.
They sailed from Queenstown (now Cobh) on June 2 and landed in New York on June 9, 1897 at Ellis Island and were processed with thousands of others through the Emigration Center.  The first and second-class passengers were processed on the ship, and only the third class passengers were processed at the detention center at Ellis Island. Upon arrival, the family was quarantined and examined for disease, and each person was given an oral exam to determine education and speech level. It was only after many long hours did they receive an admission stamp.
We can only hope that their Rhode Island relatives (possibly the Hartnetts) arranged for transportation from New York to Providence. When the Dorgan family arrived in this new land of America their ages were approximately as follows: Parents: Patrick, 37; Mary, 28; Children: Anne 10, Michael 8, Patrick 6, David 4, William, 2 months.  Another son, John was born in December of 1895 but died shortly after his birth. 

RHODE ISLAND
After landing in New York in 1897, the Dorgan family somehow ended up in Providence, RI.   We assume the relatives who had immigrated some years prior, most likely the Hartnetts and Shinnicks, helped the family in their move to New England.
According to the Rhode Island census of 1900 the family lived at 39 Ashburton Street, north of Providence.  We assume this was mother’s first address in the USA.  The 1905 census indicated an address at 296 Charles Street, also in North Providence and very close to the Asburton address.
The next Dorgan family move, sometime between 1905 and 1915, was to 125 Wayne Street off Chalkstone Avenue.   So mother was probably living at the Wayne Street address when she married John Maguire on June 26, 1913.
Mr. And Mrs. John H. Maguire moved into their first home at Mount Vernon Street near St. Joseph’s Hospital and lived there for about eight years until 1922 or 1923.
With a growing family more room became a necessity so off they went to 166 Bartlett Avenue in Edgewood near Roger Williams Park.  This house was two stories with a basement and an attic.  It was situated on a corner next to an empty lot.  The children’s ages were: Mary, 9; John, 7; Helen, 5; Joe, 3; and Fran, 1.
Fran has some memories of being confined in a darkened room in that house because of some childhood infection, probably measles. The wisdom of the day required that a patient be placed in a dark area to protect the eyesight. One incident literally burns in his mind to this day. His big brother John was assigned to give him a bath. At the time Fran was around five or six years old, so John would have been around eleven or twelve.  The water had already been drawn and was steaming.  John, hot under the collar for having to do the job, tossed the kid into the tub. The screams from Fran must have aroused the whole neighborhood, because then both Fran and John were in hot water.
Another vivid memory from that house concerns the method of providing warmth to the family.  In those days most homes were equipped with “Vulcan” hot water heaters.  These devices were extremely dangerous since they had no thermostatic control.  One would just fire it up and let it run until the water was very hot and only then turn it off. The only reminder was scorching water.
Some of our neighbors in the area were: the Mahons (he loved sour milk) and the Johnsons across the street; on the side street lived the Broxups, Morrisses, Boylans, Weathers, Lancors, Caffertys, Jordans, Galloglys, Hannon and Sullivan families.
The 1920s were America's golden years.  Henry Ford perfected the Model “T” automobile and people could buy it new for $350.  In 1926 some workers at the Ford plant were earning wages of nearly $10 per hour.  Maguire Brothers Rigging and Trucking was a flourishing company and our father was also investing in real estate. Around 1929 Father decided to build a new house on the empty lot next door.  This was a major activity for some of us kids. Our Uncle Jack was the carpenter and every day we would bug him to death wanting to saw, drive nails and in general be in his way. It only took so long for him to finally draw lines and set our territorial boundaries.
Money and credit was plentiful during the late twenties and many folks were heavily invested in the stock market and in real estate.  Business must have been profitable around the late 20’s as Father invested in about five or six properties.  We had a huge Cadillac with extra folding seats behind the front bench and a long seat in the rear. In the summer the entire family would load up and head for the beach almost every Sunday.  We usually ended up at Cronin’s near what is today Scarborough Beach. We never used sunscreen and would cavort in the sun until we looked like lobsters at days end.  Monday through Thursday the moans and groans must have been pitiful. Ma’s standard remedy for our burns was cold, wet tea leaves.
One memorable Sunday Pa decided to take the family to Newport Beach. It was a novelty to us since we had never been to a beach where people could drive cars along the strand.  Sadly for us that day, Bill was playing along the beach when he was struck by an automobile and rushed to the hospital.  He was fortunate that the injury was "only" a broken leg with no other damage.  I don’t think we ever returned to that beach.
In 1929, the Wall Street stock market crashed leading to a worldwide depression.  One of the main causes of the Crash was loose regulation of margin buying, when a person could buy stock with around 10% equity. Today federal regulations still allow margin purchases of securities but there must be around 60 to 65% percent equity.
An amazing thing about Mother was how she was able to care for our family and do all of the mundane things like washing, ironing, and cooking, changing diapers, warming bottles and a hundred other tasks, yet still have time to attend art classes and learn how to paint wonderful scenes. Most of us still have some of her artwork hanging in our homes.
When Mother would go to the hospital to deliver an infant, Grandma Dorgan usually came to our house and substituted for Ma. We all have laughed at the “Joe and the bike story.”  We only had one bike in the family and it belonged to John. He was very possessive of his precious bike and very seldom could anyone have a shot at using it. 
But on this particular day, when Grandma was in charge, lo and behold she looked out the front window and here was a bike attached to a rope descending from the second floor. John had left the bike in his second floor bedroom thinking it would be safe from Joe. Grandma foiled poor Joe again.
In 1931, when Hope was born, Pat was 2 years old, Anne 4, Bill 7, Fran 9, Joe 11, Helen 13, John 15, and Mary 17.  That year Uncle Pat moved in with our family. We were told that he had been working in Mexico and had been ill with the after effects of malaria and needed time to recover. Uncle Pat was a favorite to some of us since he seemed to know all about anything we ever asked him. One of his standard putdowns was, “Don’t get ahead of your ticket”, meaning, don’t think you’re first class when you only have third-class fare.
Many families had relatives living with them at the time.  Our neighbor, the Johnsons, also had an uncle living in their home. We also thought he was very clever since he was building a model sailboat about 36” long.  It was very beautiful and highly polished, but we weren’t allowed to touch the thing.
It was around 1933 when we all could sense changes in our economic status.  Most of us felt in our day-to-day living the tension and uneasiness caused by financial pressures.  We started to lose all of our property including the house next door, some properties on Alhambra circle, and our own home on Bartlett Ave.  This was the beginning of the family's tragic odyssey of home hopping.
Our next move was to College Road near Providence College. At the time our poor mother was bedridden suffering from constant and extreme pain caused by arthritis. Some of the children would take turns massaging her bent fingers with warm oil to give her some relief.  For the first time some of us had to go to a public school, probably Nelson Street School. The children’s ages at the time were: Mary, 19; John, 17; Helen, 15; Joe, 13; Fran, 11; Bill, 9; Anne, 6; Pat, 4, and Hope, 2.  Father Brennan from Providence College somehow connected with our family, probably through some of Mary’s friends. He became a regular visitor to the house and was a wonderful source of strength to Ma and our family. He remained a good family friend for many years even after we moved from College Road.
Sometime in 1934 we moved away from College Road back to Cranston. This must have been in desperation because on the day we moved we hadn’t eaten all day and it must have been seven or eight o’clock in the evening when we finally settled in at 50 Sylvan Avenue.  Our guardian angels, Mr. And Mrs. Morris, brought us a very welcome meal of warm egg sandwiches and milk.  This particular house on Sylvan was a real dump.  We all figured Pa must have seen it at midnight or somebody sold him a pig-in-a-poke.  Needless to say, we moved from that place very soon, but only one block away to Harding Avenue.
Harding Ave. was a nice home.  It was close to the Meadows where we could play ball all day and skinny-dip in the Pawtuxet River, although it was off-limits to us.  The river itself was downstream from the fabric mills and the water smelled of dye and often changed colors.  The smell would leave telltale odors on our bodies and Ma always knew when we were in these forbidden waters. The Roque family lived next door and several families like ours would walk about six or seven blocks to St. Paul’s school.  At this time we had a small black dog named “Rags.”  He was a great little scrambler, but as fate would have it, he scooted in front of an automobile and Rags was lost.
The Harding Ave. tenure didn’t last very long, and most likely it was less than a year.  The family was on the move again late in 1934 or early 1935. This move took us directly across the street from the Convent at St. Paul’s Church. Our house at 45 Warwick Avenue was a two-story tenement with three bedrooms and a large parlor. Maguire Brothers had a new green truck and Pa would drive it to and from work.   He would park on a sloping driveway facing busy Warwick Avenue. One evening someone screamed: “The truck's in the middle of the street!"   The response was immediate: "Wow!  How did that happen? Where’s Joe?"  Joe’s passion for trucks had him in hot water yet once again.
  Uncle Jim purchased some land in West Greenwich and in early August 1935 he and Pa decided to move some large rocks using the green truck.  It was sort of a family picnic and a great time was had by all.  On Monday or Tuesday of the following week, Pa became ill and stayed home bedridden.  The family doctor was called, and as the week progressed Pa became much worse.  On Friday August 16, 1935, he had a massive heart attack and passed away.  Oh, the sadness of all.  We were overcome with grief.  Our Dad was only 51 years old when he died.  We were all in a state of shock.  His wake was held in the parlor of our house, the funeral service at St. Paul’s Church, and the burial at St. Ann’s Cemetery.  At the time of our father’s death, Mary was 21 years old; John, 19; Helen, 17; Joe, 15; Fran, 13; Bill, 11; Anne, 8; Pat, 6; and Hope, 4.
Mary continued her nursing study.  John worked for a time at Maguire Brothers and probably provided some income to the family.  The estate left little insurance so only the good Lord and Mother’s ingenuity kept us together. One could only suppose that some of our relatives helped the family for a time. We struggled along in our Warwick Avenue home until 1936 and then we were on the road again, like the Willie Nelson song.
Our next home was on Nelson Street near LaSalle Academy, a rather small but cozy place in a very nice neighborhood.  John was still working at Maguire Brothers and we were thankful for that in many ways.  I remember one time when he, Uncle Bill, and a man named Potter happened to stop at our house for some unknown reason early in the morning. Upon entering they found Ma and all of her children overcome by carbon monoxide, which was caused by a closed damper on the coal-fired kitchen stove. God was watching over us, as always.
Sometime late in 1937 we were on the move once again to a place in Auburn on Eldridge Street.  This house was memorable because it was like an icebox and we seldom had enough coal to keep warm.  We burned many wood crates and cardboard cartons just to keep a semblance of warmth.  Mary was living with us at the time and must have been providing some income.  John was driving long-haul semis and Maguire Brothers Rigging and Trucking was out of business.  Helen may have been living with Aunt Helen and Dave at this juncture.  Joe had a small part-time job polishing autos at a car lot. We only stayed a very short time on Eldridge Street. Then we moved to the third floor of Uncle Mike’s tenement with Grandma and Grandpa, who was an invalid. Uncle Mike’s house was located in Auburn at 203 Woodbine Street  Late in 1937, there was a fire in the house causing extensive damage, and it became inhabitable.  We were on the road again.

In the late summer of 1937, we found and moved into a large old house on Washington Avenue in Washington Park.  Mary was living with us and working or studying at St Joseph’s Hospital; John was still on the road; Helen worked at the Weybosset market; Joe may have had part-time work at the Public Market; Fran was in the 9th grade at St. Paul’s; Bill was in the 8th grade; Anne was in the 5th  grade; Pat was in the 3rd grade; and Hope was in the 1st grade.  In the parlor of this house we had our second family wake. On March 19, 1938, Mary passed away.  At the young age of 24, she was stricken with a strep infection in her throat and died suddenly. 
On September 21, 1938, a tremendous hurricane slammed into Rhode Island. Our house was not harmed but there was widespread damage all over the state, and especially along the coastline and in downtown Providence. We lived on Washington Avenue until 1940, when then we moved again, but not very far.
Our next home was on Eddy Street and this home was quite roomy and owned by the Hanley’s who lived next door.  John was still trucking but not living with the family; Helen was still working at the market; Joe was driving and delivering for the Public Market; Fran had a small job at the Liberty Tool Company; and Bill had a part time job at a men's wear store. Anne, Pat and Hope were still at St. Paul’s School. There was a time while we lived on Eddy Street that Ma was informed that John was planning to marry a divorced woman.  Ma became very upset and decided to take action. She knew where this lady lived and that she stayed with her mother. She decided to confront the woman and asked Joe and Fran to drive her to their house.  Poor Ma was very nervous and upset but she still tried her best to halt the marriage.  Her efforts were to no avail and John married Rose.  We saw very little of him for the next several years.

Then it was time to move yet once again. Olneyville, here we come!  The year 1941 brought us yet to another home at 39 Bainbridge Avenue.  It was a three-story tenement owned by St. Mary’s Parish and was adjacent to the church elementary and high school. The Corriveau family lived on the first floor; the Talacko family lived on the third floor; and, our family occupied the second story.  Helen would have been 23 years old; Joe, 21; Fran, 19; Bill, 17; Anne, 14; Pat, 12; and Hope, 10. Helen had a good position at the Narragansett Brewery office; Joe was still trucking at the Public Market; Fran was sandpapering castings at Brown and Sharpe; Bill, Anne, Pat and Hope were all in school at St. Mary’s next door to our house. 
We all have heard the saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.”  Well, here is a story that is an application of that truism. In 1941, both Hope and a young neighbor girl needed an adenoid operation.  Ma made a deal with Dr. Donahue and he agreed to do the surgery on both girls for about $25.00.  The doctor performed the operation right in Ma’s kitchen, with Fran assisting on the ether. On December 7, 1941, Fran drove Ma and some of the other kids to see Grandma and Uncle Bill.  We would often take this little trip on Sundays.  On this particular day, Fran and Uncle Dave were sitting in Grandma’s living room half listening to the radio when a news flash announced the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Of course, we were stunned, but not fully aware of the consequences at the time; but we learned soon enough.

Life continued at its normal pace for several months until the military draft started moving people into the armed services.  Joe enlisted early in 1942 and was placed in the Coast Artillery at Fort Eustis VA; Fran was drafted in November of the same year; and Bill was sent to the 30th Division in 1943.  John went to the Navy.  The only picture we have from him was taken in Bermuda.  Ma then had a flag with four stars hanging in her front window.  During the war years somehow Ma and the girls survived.  Helen continued to work at the Narragansett Brewery; Anne finished high school and worked part-time enabling her to go on to college; Pat continued at St. Mary’s and graduated; and Hope continued at St. Mary’s elementary and later graduated from Classical High.
During these war years, Ma stayed in touch with her boys through her letters and kept all her sons relatively safe through constant prayers to her "special friends on high.”   Joe married while in the service.  He and Caroline tied the knot in Seattle, WA, Caroline’s home city.   Helen married Joe McDermott in1945.
 During the years 1946 through 1956, Fran, Bill, Anne and Hope married and moved on to their new homes.  Pat and Mother remained at the Bainbridge Avenue address until around 1961. So, the Bainbridge Avenue home provided our family with the longest stay of all the houses, practically twenty years, which definitely was a record for the family.
Sometime around 1961 Ma and Pat moved back to the family’s original parish, St. Paul’s.  Mother loved going back to Bartlett Avenue and her beloved church.  Pat was working for American Airlines and was kind enough to take Ma on several trips.  One special trip was back to her original birthplace, Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland. They were able to visit with her cousins, the Healy’s.  What a memorable trip.
Pat and Ma lived at 28 Bartlett Avenue for about twelve years.  John lived with Pat and Ma for a short while before he died in a boating accident on June 21, 1969. In 1973, Hope and Tom Gaynor provided a home for Mother at their Yale Ave. address in Warwick. A new cozy addition was built on the rear side of the house providing a ground level facility for Ma.  Mother lived at this home for about three years.
Our dear mother passed away on June 1, 1976. Mother’s funeral service was held at St Peter’s Church and we all hoped she could hear the St. Peter’s School children’s choir.  It was a beautiful ceremony for a beautiful lady.
Such is the history of our Mother, her family, and their many moves. During the depression many families had to scramble and scrape merely to survive. If not for Ma’s tenacity and her devotion to the family we would never have survived as a unit.
Thank you dear Lord for sending your special agent, Anne, to be our Mother!

Notes:
“Leaving” chapter statistics from the book “the Irish” by R. O’Connor
Many thanks to Bill Dorgan who provided much of the migration data that resulted from his six-year endeavor into researching his family's Irish background.
And many thanks to Patricia Maguire, our family record keeper, who provided the birth dates and family statistics.