I hardly know anything about the Doyle and O’Leary families, other than that they were supposed to have been from Wexford, Ireland. Wexford is the name of both a city and a county, so I don’t know if they were from the city that is in the county, or somewhere else in the county, which seems more likely. Here’s the link to the family tree for this part of the family https://myfamgen.com/olearydoyle-family/.
Margaret Jane O’Leary was supposed to have been in the US during the Civil War. According to her obituary, she came to the US at the age of 17, which would mean that she arrived in 1858, although the 1900 US Census says she came in 1862. I assume her family also came to the US at some point, but I am not sure if they came at the same time. According to the obituary her father James O’Leary was employed as one of the landscape gardeners for Prospect Park, then under construction. The family lived in Brooklyn which is where the park is. I looked up the park and there was just a 150th Anniversary Celebration on April 1st, 2017, which would mean it opened in 1867. From what I have read, work on the park began in June 1866 and it was opened to the public in October 1867, but was still under construction until 1873.
After Margaret’s marriage to James Patrick Doyle they moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Margaret was very active in St. Aloysius Church. I believe she may have been a founding member. She was presented with a gold watch by the first pastor of the church, Father Sullivan. I sent an e-mail to the church to see if I can get any more info, but I haven’t heard back yet. Margaret lived to be 96, passing one month before she would have turned 97. Her daughter Mary (Mamie) lived to be 99, passing 8 months before she would have turned 100. I guess that’s where my mom gets her good genes from.
I have no idea how Margaret and her husband James met. The 1900 US Census says they were married for 30 years, so that would be 1870. It also says James came to the US in 1867. Did he live in Brooklyn too? Why did they move to Jersey City? Again according to the 1900 US Census, it says that their son James who was born in 1875 was born in New York and that their daughter Margaret who was born in 1876 was born in New Jersey, so they must have moved to Jersey City sometime between October 1875 and November 1876. I have found an index to an 1885 New Jersey Census record which I am sure is their family. I need to go to a Family History Center to see if I can see the actual record on microfilm. There is a Mary O’Leary living with the family. Unfortunately those census records didn’t have actual ages, just an age range, so I am not sure if she was Margaret’s mother or perhaps a sister. (I never even knew there were NJ Census records until I found this.)
Honestly I have been working on my family tree for so long, that I don’t even remember where I got all the info I have in my tree about Margaret and James’ siblings, so I can’t say for sure how accurate it is. I do know that James’ nephew Stephen did live with them. He is listed with them on the 1900 US Census and it says he was born in New York. He was only 6 years old at the time, so his parents died when he was young. Stephen was still living with Margaret in 1920 even though his uncle James had passed away in 1910. He is listed as her son on that Census record, even though he wasn’t really. I assume though that she considered him to be like a son, since she had raised him from a very young age.
I have searched in Irish databases online, but with such common names as Doyle and O’Leary I have not had any luck finding anything there. I am hoping that someday someone with more info will show up as a DNA match to help me out.
Very interesting stuff. Thanks Terry!