Wedding Certificate of Adolphus Peirce and Etta Bailey
Recently I learned through DNA testing that I have a match named Raymond Pierce. Raymond and I are both descendants of my maternal great grandparents, Adolphus Elliott Peirce (1868-1910) and Etta Pearl Bailey (1873-1952), and thus we are second cousins.
Raymond was kind enough to send me a digital image of the wedding certificate for Adolphus and Etta, which I had never seen before. It’s dated August 31, 1890, and it has three signatures at the bottom: W.G. Breland, C.B. Pierce and C.H. Bailey. It appears to me that the two first two signed as witnesses while the third signed as the minister or celebrant.
I believe that the first signature was from William G. Breland (1839-1890), who was a 3rd great uncle to me. His father, John Robertson Breland (1794-1875), was my 3rd great grandfather, and he was also the grandfather of Etta Bailey, whose mother was Martha Ann Breland. William G. Breland was appointed U.S. Postmaster for Breland, Louisiana, on September 6, 1890, about a week after the date on this wedding certificate. He died a few months later, in December 1890. Adolphus’ stepmother, Salissa Painter Peirce (1858-1940), was then appointed postmaster for Breland on March 28, 1891. Adolphus Peirce was later appointed as U.S. Postmaster for Breland, Louisiana, on August 5, 1904.
The next signature, I think, was from Charles Buchanan Pierce (1866-1938), who was an uncle of Adolphus. (Some members of this line spell the last name as “Peirce” and some spell it as “Pierce.” This continues to be the case now; both spellings are represented among my DNA matches from this line.)
The third signature, I think, was from Caldwell Houston Bailey (Abt. 1854-Abt. 1919, who was appointed U.S. Postmaster for Bailey, Louisiana on October 18, 1890. I haven’t been able to determine if he was related to Etta Bailey or not. However, I am related to him through the line of his mother, Melissa Bankston Bailey (1819-Abt. 1915).
Obituary of Bama Louise Hughes Davis
This obituary was published in the order of service that was provided at the funeral of my Aunt Louise.
Bama Louise Hughes Davis, 98, died of old age on Monday, January 14, 2019, at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming.
Mrs. Davis was born July 2, 1920, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She graduated from the University of Alabama, earning advanced degrees in Education and eventually earning her Master’s degree and T-6. While earning her undergraduate degree she met C.C. Davis Jr., who she married in 1940. They celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary shortly before C.C. died in 2008.
During her near century-long life, she had many noteworthy experiences and marveled at many changes in the world both politically and technologically: Operator-assisted crank telephones transitioned to cell phones. Ice boxes evolved to electric refrigerators and that track contents and talk to you. Houses and cars added air conditioning and then transitioned to smart houses and self-driving cars. She delighted in all the advances.
During World War 2, while C.C. was on active duty in the army, she worked as a chemist in New York City. Afterwards, she taught Home Economics for many years in Atlanta, teaching at one of the first integrated schools. She encouraged people to learn even when she wasn’t in the classroom, realizing the value of continuing education throughout life. After retiring from teaching, she joined her husband in a real estate business, earned her broker’s license and enjoyed selling homes.
She was a proper Southern lady who thought that “tacky” was the worst thing one could be. She was traditional but loved going on adventures, always ready to have fun and participate in activities. For example, she took her daughter to the opening day of Six Flags in 1967, riding the rides in her work dress and high heels. She and C.C. vacationed to Cuba before the Castro regime. She regularly went to the beach even at age 97. Enduring the Great Depression and World War 2, she believed that the U.S.A. was the greatest country in the world where anyone with education and the willingness for hard work could succeed.
She loved to play the piano, cook and work in her yard. She always had a job and was a working mother even when that was rare. She was loyal to her family, delighted in her grandchildren and had a special connection with her great-granddaughter.
She is preceded in death by her husband, C.C. Davis Jr., her son, C.C. Davis III, her parents, Arley and Virginia (Doughty) Hughes, brother James Harvey Hughes, brother Herbert Lee (“Buddy”) Hughes and his wife Mary Evelyn Wilson Hughes.
She is survived by her brother, Arley Ezra (“Bill”) Hughes, Jr. and his wife Gloria Dell Breland Hughes of Mobile, Alabama, daughter and son-in-law, Virginia (Davis) and John Gaston of Dahlonega, four grandchildren, Barbara Gaston Zeller and her husband Ashton Zeller of Meridian, Mississippi, William Gaston of Atlanta, Charlotte Gaston of Atlanta, Rachel Gaston of Dahlonega, and a great-granddaughter, Lyra Marie Zeller.
Mrs. Davis’ funeral service will be held Friday, January 18, 2019 at Dahlonega Funeral Home followed by a graveside service and interment next to her husband and son at Mount Hope Cemetery in Dahlonega.
1899 Horse-Detacher Patent of John Tichnor Peirce, of Breland, Louisiana
On May 23, 1899, the U.S. Patent Office issued Patent No. 625,695, for a horse-detacher device invented by my great-great grandfather, John Tichnor Peirce (1846-1912), who at that time lived in the community of Breland, in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. (He would later move from Breland to Warnerton, about 20 miles to the east.)
Also named in the patent was Adolphus E. Peirce, who was John’s son and my great grandfather. The first child of Adolphus and his wife, Etta Pearl Bailey, was Cora Peirce Breland, who was my maternal grandmother.
This patent is of interest to me for a couple of reasons.
First, his last name is spelled as “Peirce” throughout the document, and on the first page of the patent his name is written as “J.T. Peirce.” My mother has in her possession a handwritten letter that he wrote in 1891, and he signed that letter, “JT Peirce.” For me, these two documents present strong evidence that “Peirce” is the spelling that he preferred.
Some of his descendants have since chosen to spell the name as “Pierce,” while others have chosen to retain the “Peirce” spelling. For example, Adolphus spelled his last name as “Peirce,” and so did five of his six children. Adolphus had two sons. His first-born son, Richard Moore Peirce, retained the “Peirce” spelling all his life. Adolphus’ second-born son, Carl E. Pierce, chose to use “Pierce” instead, and Carl’s descendants use the “Pierce” spelling.
In my family, the “Peirce” spelling has been retained in the middle name of my late uncle, Robert Peirce Breland, and in the middle names given to some of my relatives who were born in the generations after Uncle Robert. Interestingly, my DNA matches include one match from this Peirce/Pierce line who was given the “Peirce” spelling at birth, and another who was given the “Pierce” spelling at birth.
Second, I love the fact that the patent document says John Tichnor Peirce “resided at Breland, in the parish of Tangipahoa, State of Louisiana.” As best as I can tell, Breland, Louisiana, no longer exists. But in the 1890s, there was a U.S. Post Office for Breland, Louisiana, and according to the 1891 letter from JT Peirce, “that office is at my house.”
His second wife, Salissa Peirce, was appointed as U.S. Postmaster for Breland about a month before that letter was written. Then Adolphus was appointed postmaster for Breland on August 5, 1904. My mother’s aunt, Florence Peirce Peck, wrote that “my mother (Etta Bailey Peirce) and my sister Cora took care of the mail” until the family moved from Breland to Sunny Hill, Louisiana, about 1908.
After the move to Sunny Hill, Cora was a student at Sunny Hill School at the same time as my maternal grandfather, Robert Milton Breland. They became high school sweethearts, and later got married in Baton Rouge, in 1910.
Obituary of Dr. John S. Grogan
This obituary for my wife’s great grandfather was published on the front page of the Wadena (Minnesota) Pioneer Journal on Thursday, October 30, 1952.
Heart Attack Ends Colorful Career Of Dr. John S. Grogan
Final Rites Held at St. Ann’s Church Saturday Morning
A sickly youngster, nursed to health through a self-imposed athletic program, were the two factors which led Dr. John Grogan to a brilliant athletic and medic career, and at the age of 72, a heart attack brought a close to his full and beneficent life. Funeral services for Dr. Grogan were conducted Saturday morning from St. Ann’s church with Msgr. Edward Mahowald officiating.
It is rather unique how the events in the life of Dr. Grogan stem around his youth, and how childhood ambition was attained.
Born at Streator, Illinois, Sept. 24, 1880, the son of John and Sabina Grogan, he was one of 13 children. During his youth he was a sickly youngster, and it was while under the care of physicians the desire first rooted to become a doctor. Baseball being a popular sport at Streator, John became interested in the sport and the desire burned to become a baseball player.
As a young man, he did become a good baseball player and developed into a better than average second baseman, and the niche was carved for his future career.
A Streator townman noting the ability of John, contacted a friend at Knox College, and a scout was persuaded to come and watch this youngster in action. The scout was impressed, and John was induced to enroll at Knox University to become a member of the University baseball team. Once in college, and his athletic ability scratched, it was found he had other talents in the field and became an idol and star on the football field. One of the brightest moments during his grid career was the time he drop kicked a 55-yard field goal against the University of Illinois.
Following his graduation from Knox University in 1904, he acquired a coaching assignment at Fargo College and later at the University of Idaho. The childhood desire to become a physician continued to burn, and at the age of 29, he turned his back on a brilliant coaching career and enrolled at Northwestern University to begin his study of medicine.
Graduating from Northwestern University in 1914, he established his first practice at Kenmare, N.D., and it was while here that he became interested in an immigrant girl, Magna Melby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ole Melby of Feiring, Norway. Miss Melby, superintendent of nurses at the hospital in Kenmare, accepted the attention of the new doctor, and on Nov. 9, 1916, through marriage a team was formed.
The young couple left Kenmare and went to Flaxton, N.D., in 1916 where Dr. Grogan set up a new practice, and remained there for the next nine years. In December, 1925, the couple came to Wadena, and the doctor joined the staff at the Wadena Clinic and for the next 22 years carved for himself a deep niche throughout this entire area as a successful practitioner.
In 1948 Dr. Grogan left the clinic to retire, but he felt he was too young to make it a complete retirement, and joined the Red Cross Mobile unit during the early summer of 1951, traveling throughout Minnesota. Late in July of this year, while the unit was at Madison (Minn.) Dr. Grogan was stricken with a heart attack, and he was forced to leave the unit and returned to his home at Wadena. Making a partial recovery in the months following, he never regained his strength, and small attacks continued, with the fatal attack striking at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning, Oct. 22 at his home. Previous to the attack at Madison, the doctor had trouble with his heart, the first was in 1936.
While Dr. Grogan has made many contributions to the community, the most lasting is perhaps the beautiful school grounds and the athletic field. Through his efforts, the school ground was landscaped and beautified over the protest, “the children will not respect it.” Dr. Grogan was of the firm belief children respected beauty, and if given something nice, they would respect it. His calculation was correct, and the Wadena school grounds today stand as a living memorial to his effort, as does the athletic field set-up, which is considered one of the most beautiful in this part of the state.
Since the time of his most recent illness, he could not refrain from periodic visits to the field to see that it was being properly cared for, and the night before his death was at the field to watch youngsters play a football game.
While serving on the Wesley hospital staff, he was also a member of the Sanitorium Board, County Chairman of the Mayo Memorial Fund, and as a member of the Wadena School Board from 1933 to 1951. He was a member of the Phi Beta Pi academic and Nu Sigma Nu Medical Fraternities and represented the medical profession in Rotary Club membership in Wadena.
Left to mourn his passing beside the widow are two daughters and a son, Mrs. Robert Hight (Helen) of Dover, Mass., Mrs. Robert Weber (Joan) of Buffalo, N.Y., and Dr. John M. Grogan of Denver, Colorado. There are three grandchildren. Brothers and sister left are Dr. Edward Grogan of Galesburg, Ill., Patrick Grogan of Jolliet, Ill., Hugh Grogan of Los Angeles, Calif., and Delia Grogan of Streator, Ill.
Among those who come from a distance were Joseph Zalusky of Minneapolis, Dr. and Mrs. Edward Grogan of Galesburg, Ill., Patrick Grogan of Jolliet, Ill., Dr. and Mrs. Critchfield of St. Paul, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip DuGrene of St. Paul, Gordon Gilbertson of Portland, Ore., Mrs. John Weniger of Wahpeton, Mrs. Oscar Kron of Williston, N.D., and Mrs. Frank Kreidler of Wahpeton, N.D.
An invitation for Hughes men in Ireland
The H. Hughes pub in Carrickmacross.
Five years ago, in 2012, I decided to begin researching my family history and to have my DNA tested. I ordered a Y-DNA37 test from Family Tree DNA, joined the Hughes DNA Project, and began waiting for my results.
While I was waiting, I noticed that there was a man in the Hughes Project from South Carolina who reported having the same earliest known ancestor as my family: Andrew Hughes, who was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1755 and died in Pickens County, South Carolina, in 1843. When my Y-DNA results came back, the man in South Carolina was listed as a match for me, and I was able to work out from genealogical records that he and my father were 4th cousins. I later learned that the man, whose name was Larkin Hughes Jr., had died in 2008, so he and my father never met or even knew about each other.
Over the next several months after I got my Y-DNA37 results, I noticed several things that were a surprise to me. For example, most of the men who were listed as matches for me weren’t named Hughes, and many of them reported having earliest known ancestors in Ireland. These were men with surnames such as McArdle, McMahon and McQuillen, to name a few. I also noticed that Larkin Hughes Jr. was a member of the Clan Colla 425 null project, which is based on the theory that its members are descended from the Three Collas who ruled the Kingdom of Oriel — an area that corresponds roughly to the present-day Irish counties of Louth, Monaghan and Armagh — about 300 A.D. I joined the Clan Colla project as well after learning that my Y-DNA signature met the requirements for membership.
Finally, I noticed that my Y-DNA matches included several men named McMahon. At that point I contacted Patrick McMahon, who is an administrator for both the Clan Colla and McMahon DNA projects, and learned that my Y-DNA signature met the requirements for membership in the McMahon Project. So, I joined the McMahon project as well. I have since upgraded my Y-DNA results from 37 to 111 markers and have taken Family Tree DNA’s Big Y test, which is the most advanced paternal line test currently available.
The McMahons were the ruling chieftains over about 4/5 of County Monaghan for more than 400 years, from about 1200 until the English imposed their control over the area in the 1600s. The McKennas ruled the other 1/5. The last McMahon chieftain, Hugh Oge MacMahon, was held prisoner in the Tower of London and beheaded for his participation in the 1641 Irish rebellion against English rule. According to The Monaghan Story by Peadar Livingstone, people in central and northern County Monaghan with the surname Hughes — which means “Son of Hugh” — are considered to be probable descendants of one of the many Hugh McMahons or Hugh McKennas who lived during this era. The Monaghan Story says Hughes is also a very popular surname in counties Armagh and Tyrone.
St. Mary’s in Castleblayney — the black headstone in the foreground is for a Hughes.
I recently visited County Monaghan myself for the first time. As I walked through the graveyard at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Castleblayney, I was struck by the fact that many of the surnames from my Y-DNA and Big Y match lists — including Hughes, McMahon, McArdle and McKenna — were well represented on the headstones there.
My Y-DNA matches include men named McMahon who live in Ireland, but I don’t have any Y-DNA matches in Ireland named Hughes — all of my matches named Hughes live in the U.S. I would like very much to find one or more men named Hughes in Ireland who are a Y-DNA match for me.
Are you a Hughes male in Ireland with ancestral roots in the counties of Monaghan, Armagh or Tyrone? If so, then I hereby invite you to have your Y-DNA tested and to join the Hughes DNA Project, for which I am a co-administrator. You can do so at this link:
https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Hughes
You will need to order the Y-DNA67 test, at minimum, in order to find out if you share the particular Y-DNA signature that I share with men in the Clan Colla and McMahon projects.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at tahughesnc@gmail.com.
En invitasjon for Brelands i Norge
Dette kartet fra 1900 viser hvor Breland, Louisiana, pleide å være. Den ble oppkalt etter min mors forfedre.
Hei!
Tilgi min dårlig norsk. Jeg brukte Google Translate til å skrive denne meldingen.
Min mors etternavn før hun giftet seg var Breland. Vi er etterkommere av Abraham Breland, som bodde i South Carolina på slutten av 1700-tallet og begynnelsen av 1800-tallet.
Vi ønsker å finne ut om vi er knyttet til Brelands i Norge.
Jeg har startet Breland DNA-prosjektet for å få svar på det spørsmålet, og Brelands i Norge er invitert til å delta. Her er en link til prosjektets hjemmeside:
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/breland/about/background
IJeg har også startet en Facebook-side for etterkommere av Abraham Breland, og du er invitert til å delta i vår Facebook-gruppe:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/descendantsofabrahambreland/
Vennligst vurdere dette din personlige invitasjon fra meg til å bli med Breland DNA-prosjektet og vår Breland Facebook-side! Hvis du har spørsmål, kan du gjerne email meg på: tahughesnc@gmail.com
Obituary of Robert M. Breland, 1889-1959
This photo was taken in 1936, when Robert M. Breland was 47 years old.
This obituary for my maternal grandfather was published in The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday, November 26, 1959. It contains two factual errors: Robert M. Breland was born in Washington Parish, not Tangipahoa Parish, and he did not move to Mobile until after 1931. In 1930 he lived in New Orleans. By 1940, he had moved from Mobile to Northport, Alabama. By 1950 he lived in Hawai’i. He moved from Hawai’i to Mobile, where several of his children lived, in 1958 or 1959, not long before he died.
ROBERT M. BRELAND
Rites Sunday for Former Memphian, 70
Services for Robert Milton Breland, former Memphian who died yesterday in Mobile, will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at National Funeral Home. Burial will be in Memorial Park.
Mr. Breland, who was 70, was born in Tangipahoa Parish, La., and moved to Memphis in 1918. He moved to Mobile in 1930. He was a bookkeeper.
He leaves six sons, Dr. Kenneth Breland of Boise, Idaho, Hunter Breland of Fort Worth, Texas, Robert Breland, Charles G. Breland, Douglas P. Breland and Leigh Breland, all of Mobile; three daughters, Mrs. Beryl B. Young of Corpus Christi, Texas, Mrs. Brooken Campbell of Ohio, and Mrs. Arley Hughes of Mobile, and 18 grandchildren.
He was the brother-in-law of Mrs. L.O. Peck of 2116 Linden, Mrs. Elbert E. Holley of 487 Josephine and Carl E. Pierce of 1879 Young.
88 years old, 66 years married
This story about my about my Hughes great-grandparents was published in The Tuscaloosa News in January 1956 — I’m not sure which day.
Pickens Natives, Wed 66 Years, Still Hearty And Independent
By BOB KYLE
News Staff Writer
When Mr. and Mrs. Jim Hughes both turned 88 and close partners for 66 short years, shake hands with St. Peter in another world they won’t have far to go. It’ll be like visiting kinfolks in an adjoining forty.
A Pickens County family most of their lives, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes moved on a better farm near Columbus, Miss., right after World War I.
Last Tuesday, Mrs. Hughes celebrated her 88th birthday. Mr. Jim turned 88 last summer.
It was during the early winter that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes called in their kinfolks to celebrate the 66th anniversary of their wedding.
They have eleven children living. There are 25 surviving grandchildren and 26 surviving great-grandchildren.
A son, Arlie E. Hughes, Tuscaloosa, just recently retired at 65 from employment at Alabama Power Company here. He had worked for the company 16 years.
Another son, E. T. Hughes, is employed by Allen and Jemison Co., in Tuscaloosa. A daughter, Mrs. Ingram Ashcraft, is a nurse’s aid at Druid City Hospital.
The elderly couple has lived through periods of prosperity and the other, were past grownup in the days of Roosevelt’s WPA, but didn’t take any money for plowing under every third heifer or for not planting cotton.
To this day, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have been self reliant, self-supporting and never the object of any charity from the government, any individual, not even the kinfolks.
Both are still in apparent good health.
Who wears the britches in the family?
“Ours is not an absolute petticoat government,” chuckled the husband, Jim, “but it’s under pretty good control.”
What did his missus think along those lines?
Like most womenfolks, she was smart enough not to say.
Descendant of Abraham Breler/Breland starts Breland DNA Project
This is me standing next to the headstone for my maternal great grandfather, Cicero M. Breland, in Mount Hermon, Louisiana.
Many of the Breland and Breeland families in the United States — especially in South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana — are descended from a man named Abraham Breler/Breland, who lived near Beaufort, South Carolina, in the late 1700s and died there in the early 1800s.
I, too, am a descendant of Abraham Breler/Breland. He was my 5th great grandfather on my mother’s side. In particular I am descended from Abraham’s grandson, John Robertson Breland (1794-1875) who migrated from South Carolina to Louisiana about 1810. He served in de Clouet’s Regiment in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and then lived the rest of his life in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, and Pike County, Mississippi.
My maternal grandfather, Robert Milton Breland (1889-1959), was born and raised near Sunny Hill, Louisiana. Robert’s father, my great grandfather, was Cicero Malachi Breland (1857-1917), who lived his entire life in Washington Parish, Louisiana, and is buried in Mount Hermon. Cicero’s father, my great great grandather, was Elisha Elliott Breland (1832-1862) who died in Louisiana while serving as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.
Where Abraham Breler/Breland was born is a subject of much speculation and dispute. Some say he was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, while others say he was born in Germany. To date, no one has been able to answer that question definitively.
I recently started the Breland Surname DNA Project with the hope of answering the question of where in Europe my Breland ancestors came from. This followed my involvement in the Hughes DNA Project, as both a member and administrator. Through my involvement in the Hughes Project, the Clan Colla 425 Null Project, and the McMahon DNA Project, I learned that my paternal ancestors lived in the vicinity of County Monaghan, Ireland, before they settled near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the 1700s and then migrated from there to North Carolina and South Carolina. My experience with these DNA projects gives me great hope that the Breland DNA Project will help solve the historical mystery of where the Brelands came from.
At the time of this writing, the Breland DNA Project has just six members. The project needs to recruit many more members – especially men with the Breland surname – if it is to be successful. Anyone with the Breland surname, or who has Breland ancestors, is welcome to join. Here is the link where you can do so:
https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join-request.aspx?group=Breland&vGroup=breland
In order to join the project, you will need to buy a DNA test kit from Family Tree DNA. Men named Breland who join the project should order the Y-DNA37 test, which is a test of paternal ancestry only and costs $149 if you order it through the Breland Project (it costs $169 if you order it outside of a project). All women who join the project, and men without the Breland surname, should order the Family Finder test, which costs $99. The Family Finder tests both maternal and paternal ancestry and helps find matches within about five generations.
In addition, if you have already done an autosomal DNA test through AncestryDNA or 23andme, you will need to transfer your results to Family Tree DNA first before joining the Breland Project. Here is the link where you can do that:
https://www.familytreedna.com/AutosomalTransfer
Feel free to email me at tahughesnc@gmail.com if you have any questions about the Breland DNA Project. I look forward to hearing from you!
Tom Hughes was born and raised in Mobile, Ala., and now lives in Durham, N.C. He is the son of Gloria Breland Hughes, whose parents were Robert Milton Breland (1889-1959) and Cora Peirce Breland (1891-1936). Robert and Cora met in the early 1900s when they were both high school students at Sunny Hill School in Washington Parish, Louisiana. Tom’s uncles, Charles Gregory Breland and Hunter M. Breland, wrote, “The Breland Families of the Southern States, 1794-1875.”
Obituary of John Grogan (ca. 1847-1903)
This obituary of my wife’s great great grandfather was published on the front page of the Streator Daily Free Press in Streator, Illinois, on Saturday, January 10, 1903.
JOHN GROGAN DEAD
PROBABLY THE VICTIM OF MINE ACCIDENT.
Was Working in a Shaft at Kenmare, N.D.—Father of Knox College Football player.
Mrs. John Grogan received a telegram last night about 6 o’clock from her son, Anthony, at Kenmare, N.D., stating that her husband was dead and saying that he and his uncle, also named Anthony Grogan would leave for Streator tonight with the remains.
Although no particulars of the death of Mr. Grogan have yet been obtained it is thought likely that he was killed in a mine. Last September he and his son Anthony went to Kenmare to take up a land claim, Mr. Grogan’s brother following a month later. The man now dead had been a miner in Streator and he received work in that capacity as a miner at Kenmare, the son being employed as a “top-man” at the same place.
Mr. Grogan was about 56 years of age. He was born in the County Mayo, Ireland, and in early manhood was married to Sabina Brennan. In 1872, or thereabouts, the husband came to the United States and found employment on a farm in Eagle township, he being joined about a year later by his wife and their son Martin, the only child of the couple who was born in the Emerald Isle.
Mr. Grogan and family made their residence in Eagle township until 1887, when they moved to Streator to give the children the advantages which the city afforded in an educational way, the husband and father finding employment in the mines.
There were born to Mr. & Mrs. Grogan thirteen children, of whom are surviving ten—Anthony, of Kenmare of N.D.; Thomas and Patrick, of Streator; John, who is a student at Knox College, Galesburg; Delia, of Chicago, and Nellie, Joseph, James, Edward and Hugh of this city.
The first born of the children Martin died in 1896 in Sioux City, Iowa, through which locality he was then traveling. A daughter, Mary, passed away in Eagle township at the age of 9 years and a third child died in the same locality at birth.
Mrs. Bridget Grogan, mother of the children and now well up in the seventies, has made her home for a number of years with her son at 310 West Stanton street. Her husband, John Grogan, father of the subject of this sketch, died in this city about 7 years ago.
Besides the brother Anthony, of Kenmare, Mr. Grogan is survived by two other brothers, Martin and Thomas, in Ireland, and a sister, Mrs. John Forkin of West Stanton street.
The deceased at the time of his death was a member of Division No. 12, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and when he left Streator he also belonged to Local No. 800, U.M.W.of A., but it is not known whether or not he continued as a member of that organization. He carried $1,500 insurance in the Toilers’ Fraternity, but since some of the executive officers of that society merged—or attempted to merge—it with the Western Union Life Insurance Co., his family has paid his assessments to the latter corporation.
Of the surviving children of the decedent, the most widely known is John, the student at Knox college, who is an all-round athlete and is one of the best football players in the United States.
Hughes' Views & News 
leave a comment