The Story Of The Powers-Tracys'-Garveys'-Mannix
THE POWERS FAMILY ____________________________________________________________
This is a short narrative on the history of my mother, Elaine P. (Powers) Barry of Westfield,ancestors. This side of my family includes the surnames Powers, Garvey, Tracy,Mannix, as well as other surnames. All the information is based on facts where presented and speculation where needed. I will alter and update it as more information is discovered or is relayed to me...........................John E. Barry jr. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE POWERS:The first Powers that came across the Atlantic , or 'The Pond' as it is often affectionately called, in search for a better life appears to be a one Michael Powers. His surname may have been altered from Power to Powers by immigration officers upon arrival here, which was most likely in New York. This is a family story that was told to my mother as a child.
It appears this Michael Power came from the south of Ireland to the United States during the early 1860's.He was born on January 14, 1831. The first record of him is his marriage to Margaret Higgins on May 05, 1861 at St. Peter's Rectory, 16 Barclay Steet in New York City. Eventually, the Powers settled in Connecticut, with the earliest records showing them in the town of East Windsor, actually the town of Broad Brook, in Hartford County in 1870. They lived prior to this in Warehouse Point, Hartford County, Connecticut where their first two children, Michael and Mary, were born. By 1870, Michael was recorded as being a 32 year old farm laborer married to Margaret. They had at the time five children, the oldest being Michael, who was eight at the time. Margret, whose maiden name was Higgins, came to America in 1855(or later)and had at least one sibling, a sister Mary, who came to this country two years prior to her sister.
Mary, it appears, married a man named Gangley, and by 1900 was living in Worcester, Massachusetts with Margaret and her children. Census records indicate that Michael was working as a farm hand, owned no property, and had a personal estate valued at $100.oo, which even for that time quite low. It appears he and his family may have been working for either a William Wells or a Mary Potrorsie (this name is difficult to decipher). and at the time both he and his wife could neither read nor write.
By 1880, the Powers had added two more sons and a daughter to a family that would eventually consist of ten children, eight of who(Michael, Mary, Edward, Julia, Margaret, Patrick, Bridget and Thomas) were still living in 1890. By now Michael was a farmer and both he and his wife had learned to read and write. Also at this time his three oldest children were out of school and working. Seventeen year old Michael and fifteen year old Mary were employeed in a nearby wollen mill. Thirteen year old Edward, my mother's grandfather, was out of school and working as a farmer, more than likely with his father.
The next record of the family is in 1898, when a 29 year old Edward left his job as a machinist at the Hambut Cycle Company in Westborough, Massachusetts to enlist in Company K,12th Infantry, of the U.S. Army to "serve his country" (as he stated on his enlistment papers) in the Spanish-American War. At this time, the family, minus Michael the father, was living on Ingalls Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. When asked on his army forms where his father resided, Edward replied "Don't know". It appears the father was still alive, but did not live anywhere in the state at the time.
Bridget Anastasia was born in Connecticut on January 31, 1874 (My birthday...well, not the year!). She traveled to Baker City, Oregon to marry Richard Paul Keefe. They had been introduced to each other through Bridget's brother Patrick Powers and were married at St. Francis Desales Cathedral, in Baker City.
Patrick arrived in Oregon in 1913 on mining business and later went into cement work with Richard Keefe. They formed the Star Construction Company. He died in 1946 and is buried in the Dunham Wright Private Cemetery in nearby Medical Springs. He married Grace Wright around September 16, 1919 in Medical Springs. Grace was the only daughter of Dunham Wright, one of the early pioneers in the Baker City/Medical Springs area, and Patrick was her third husband.
Thomas remained in Worcester and was a firefighter. Julia married a man named Sheehan. Magaret married a William LaFountaine, known in the family as the "Cheap Frenchman. " Mary married, most likely, a one Dennis Donovan of Providence, Rhode Island, and had a daughter Mary who lived with Margaret and the Lafountaine's as she was growing up. Michael Jr. married Mary J. O'Malley of Clinton, Massachusetts on November 16, 1899. He was 36 and a toolmaker, she was 27 and a housewife. She was the daughter of Austin and Abbie (Heffern) and was married by James A. O'Malley.
Margaret was now the head of the household that in 1900 consisted of six children, including Edward who was out of the service and working as a machinist, and Margaret's sister Mary. All the boys were working as machinists, two girls as dressmakers and one as a 'milliner', or hat maker. In this census record, Margaret first says she is married for forty years. These entries are then crossed out and replaced with her being widowed, and the forty in the column 'Years Married' being slashed through. Whether she was still married, actually widowed, or was seperated, abandoned or divorced from Michael and hiding this fact has yet to be determined. Patrick moved to Oregon in 1913 on mining business and later went into cement work with Richard P. Keefe. Richard Pau Keefe married Patrick's sister Bridget Anastasia in 1911 at St. Francis Cathedral in Baker City, Oregon. They formed the Star Construction Company. Patrick married Grace Wright,daughter of Dunham Wright, one of the first settlers in the Baker City area. Patrick died in 1946 and is buried in the Dunham Wright private cemetery at Medical Springs, OR
Next door on Ingalls Street lived a one Martin Tracy, his wife Catherine, or Katie as she was called, and their seven children. (Sarah W. , Mary V., Edward J., John F., Margaret A., Frederick H., and Martin J.) The oldest, a twenty five year old school teacher at the Millbury Street School, was Sarah. In 1907, she would, against her family's objections, (They believed he was not from a good enough family and she was too good to marry a uneducated, common laborer) marry the boy from down the street, Edward Powers.
Edward Phillip Powers and Sarah Winifred Tracy were married July 31, 1907 (Edward's birthday) in St. John's Church in Worcester. According to pension records, in May of1898 Edward would enlist into the K Company of the 12th U.S. Infantry to serve in the Spanish American War. He would be discharged on December 29th of that year. It is unclear if he actually saw action, but did suffer from several illnesses. Records show he had dysentary while in Georgia, jaundice in St. Louis, plus malaria (which is a positive note the he may have been in action and suffered from for three years after discharge), piles, and other aliments. He was discharged from Fort Riley, Kansas. In later years Edward would suffer from (as noted by a doctor in 1929) "neuritis and rheumatism in back and shoulders for 15 years. Contractionof tendons in both hands for a year. Diabetes for one year. Heart trouble for ten years. Shortness of breath for five years." Shortly prior to his death in November of 1957, a doctor noted that he was suffering from senility, that he was "bedridden" and "can not communicate at all."
In 1910. only four children would be living with Margaret; Julia, Margaret, Bridget and Thomas. A grandaughter,
eighteen year old Mary E. Donovan, was also living with her. Her mother probably was Mary, though possibly Julia. Census records show her father, un-named, being from Ireland. In 1920, she would be living with Margaret, who had married William LaFountaine. Mary Dovonan was, at this time, workng as a clerk at the Worcester Register of Deeds at the court house. One of
Margaret's eight children had died sometime in the past,but once again it is
unclear which one. It was either Thomas, Mary or Michael. 1920 finds no
record of Margaret living, or any of her children living on their street.
Margaret, in 1920, was living alone at the age of 83 on Jefferson Street. Next to her was Edward Tracy and his wife and son. She would pass away on the 5th of August, 1924, with the funeral at her daughter Margaret's house. She supposedly buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE TRACY FAMILY: The roots of the Tracy family also came to the United
States in the post-famine Ireland era of the 1840's. Thomas Tracy, son of
Thomas,was the first Tracy in the family line to come to America. He was
born in County Galway, Ireland. He came to America August 25, 1848
through the port of Boston. He moved to Milford about 1850 and was
a farmer.
The name Tracy is spelled various ways on different forms and records, but this is a common trait of early records since those recording the information often spelled names the way they heard them. This accounts for the name appearing as 'Treasy', 'Treacy' or 'Tracey'.
In the 1920 census, Martin Tracy stated that he was born in Ireland, came to the US in 1850 and became a citizen in 1855. Records show that he was actually born in Milford, Massachusetts to Thomas and Magaret (Hardiman) on November 6, 1849. His siblings, besides John BG, the future lawyer who was born in 1868, where; Patrick b. 1851, Thomas b. 1853, Bridget b. 1854, Winifred b. April 1860, and Magaret b. 1862. All were born in Milford. Magaret would marry a man named Pierce and life in Fall Rivers. Thomas Tracy came to the US in 1848 and became a citizen about 1856. in August about the year 1826. His father was Thomas but his mother's name is unknown. Unlike his sons who would become professionals, Thomas earned his living as a "woodsawyer" and owned 800 dollars worth of land in 1880. Still, Thomas would make a name for himself. At the time of his death in 1905 he was a large property owner and "familiar figure on the Milford Streets." Thomas became a United States citizen on October 22, 1858. He died in Milford hospital after being ill for two weeks. Prior to this, he was in good health and "was able to be on the streets daily
By 1900 he was living alone in Milford and died from senility and pleurisy on November 30, 1905. Magaret (Hardiman) Tracy was also born about 1826 in Ireland. She would die June 11, 1875 at the age of 47 from rheumatic fever. They are buried together in St. Mary's Cemetery in Milford. His wife, a Catherine 'Katie' Kelly, arrived in 1852 or 1854, both of which she claimed in census records. It appears they married about 1875 and settled in Keene, New Hampshire, where their first two children where born. 1870 census record show a twenty-one year old Kate M. Kelly working as a weaver and living with her parents John and Sarah, brother John and sister Anna. John Kelly died in Keene on September 19, 1879. His wife Sarah last appears in the Keene city directory in the 1889-90 issue. Since there is no death record for her around this time, it appears she may have moved to live with a child. Martin Tracy and Catherine Kelly were married in Keene. Martin had, for some reason, moved from Milford, Massachusetts to Keene and is listed in the 1877-78 directory as living on River Street. This is the same street that the Kelly family lived. Martin's occupation is listed as a "boot maker." The couple was married May 4, 1873 at St. Bernard's Church in Keene. Catherine's sister Anna married John Shannon at this same church on July 28, 1872. By 1889 Anna was a widow and living at 24 River Street with her mother and brother John E., a machinist. The 1880 Census shows Anna and her mother Sarah living on Ashuelot Street. Sarah was sixty years of age and was born in Ireland. Anna was twenty-nine and already a widow. Anna was also born in Ireland. Another son was James C., who died July 12, 1865 at the age of five. It appears Martin and Kate Tracy named their first daughter Sarah after Kate's mother Kate's mother.
John Kelly was a laborer with real estate valueing $3000.oo Around 1876 they moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where Martin was employed as a 'bottomer'. Twenty years later, in 1900, he was working as a 'driver' while Sarah , a graduate of the Ascension High and the Worcester Normal School, had begun teaching the year prior. A daughter Margaret would also become a school teacher.
Another daughter also worked as a milliner, the oldest son Edward was a plumber and John was a clerk in the "gas office". By 1910, Martin was working as a "salesman", a position he would still have ten years later for a "products co.". At the time of his death in June of 1931, Martin was described as a "labor leader" and a "prominent Catholic layman and president of the Central Labor Credit Union." His death may have been unexpected as he passed away at home with no mention of any sort of illness or poor health. Martin had been involved in labor circles for over forty years. First as amember of the Shoe Worker's Union in the Knights Of Labor and later in the Bottlers and Drivers Union of the newly formed American Ferderation of Labor. He was also past president of the Veteran Firemen's Association and a member of Division 24 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-catholic organization.
Two of his sons were Catholic priests at the time of his death. They were Rev. Frederick H. Tracy, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Frenchtown, Montana and the Rev. Martin J. Tracy, then assistant pastor of St. Mark's Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was also survived by two siblings; a brother, John B. of Taunton, Massachusetts and a sister, Mrs. Margaret Pierce of Fall River.
His brother John was eighteen years Martin's junior and was born in 1868 in Medford, Massachusetts. His parents were Thomas and Margaret (Hardiman) Tracy. He moved to Taunton in 1884 and worked for the New Haven Railroad and started law school studies. In 1898 he graduated from, Boston University, a year after being admitted to the bar. John married a one Florence Baker at age 31 in 1899 and soon started his own "general practice" with his wife working for him as a clerk. He practiced before the U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Immigration and Naturalization Appeals and was known as a "keen and brilliant lawyer." He was twice elected city solicitor and also Mayor of Taunton.
In 1910 he was living on Broadway Street and had five children (Florence Addia, Margartet Addai, John Bryan Jr., Constance Meda, and Edward Baker Tracy) as well as his mother-in-law Harriet A. Baker and a nephew Fredrick Paris (most likely Pierce recorded wrong). There were also two servants and a porter living with and working for the family. (These were an Irish-American Alice Coxly, and Irishwoman Besse McGuinan, and an English porter named Samuel Gregg.
In 1920, these servants were no longer with the family, most likely due to the fact that the children were grown. In their place was a seventy-five year old women black women, Mary Clebeck. She, as her parents were, was born in Virginia and was probably an ex-slave. By now, two more children, Louis Bryant and May Caswell Richard, had been added to the family.
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE GARVEY/MANNIX FAMILY: The Garvey roots do not go back quite as far as the
Powers or Tracy roots. On or about the seventh of May, 1890, (or possible
1891) an eighteen year old John D. Garvey of Killarney, County Kerry,
Ireland, stepped off a ship in the harbor of Boston following his brother
Daniel, who arrived two years earlier. His parents, Daniel and Catherine
(Mahoney) Garvey, along with three brothers; Maurice, Dennis and Patrick,
remained in Ireland.
The same year Catherine Mannix, daughter of Patrick Mannix and Julia (Bridget) O' Sullivan of Kerry, Ireland, also arrrived in America. Her parents, it appears, remained in Ireland, where they had married on Februray 14, 1865 in a Roman Catholic church in county Kerry. Also staying behind were a sister, Annie Mannix and two brothers, John and Daniel Mannix. Four other sisters also came to this country; Mrs. Nora (Mannix) Secor of Bangor Maine and Mrs. Briget (Mannix) Daley, Mrs. Ellie (Mannix) Enman and Mrs. Mary (Mannix) Sullivan, all of Worcester. Bridget's first husband was Patrick Murphy, who she married in 1901. they would have one child, charles Murphy.
In 1894, she would marry John and by 1895 their first child, Catherine M, would arrive in March. It was a fairly common practice of the day to name the eldest daughter after the mother. The mother also went by the name 'Katie', and it was also common for Catherines to be known as 'Ellen', especially as they grew older.
The Garvey's settled in Worcester by 1900, with John already owning a house at four Whitney Street and working as a railroad laborer and later as a foreman on the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway. In the summer of 1902, John became a naturalized citizen of the United States. By 1910, five more children had followed Catherine E. (Agnes, (Nora)Theresa, Helen C., (Daniel)Edward and Mary) who was now fifteen and employeed in a wire mill. John would die at home in August of 1914, leaving Catherine a widow. 1920 would find her married to a William J. Kelly of Worcester and living now on Douglas Street with all her children. William would list his job as "janitor" in a public building, while three of the daughters worked as telephone operators and two other children were clerks in the "loom works office". Mary, my mother's mother, was now ten and attending school.