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Michael Joseph Darcy
1880 - 1961
He was aged 81 year 4 months and 8 days at his death.
Michael Joseph Darcy was; it has been long believed that he was born July 5, 1880, however this may be incorrect. His granddaughter, Diane Truax in visiting Ireland and checking the original birth/baptism record found other information in about 2005. She found that her grandfather Michael Joseph may have been born July 3,...
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Michael Joseph Darcy
1880 - 1961
He was aged 81 year 4 months and 8 days at his death.
Michael Joseph Darcy was; it has been long believed that he was born July 5, 1880, however this may be incorrect. His granddaughter, Diane Truax in visiting Ireland and checking the original birth/baptism record found other information in about 2005. She found that her grandfather Michael Joseph may have been born July 3, 1880, and baptized on July 4, 1880 in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
However according to Lucille Darcy Truax, Michael Joseph's daughter, his birth date is without question July 5, 1880. All other dated records which I've located show July 5, 1880.
Michael Joseph left his home near Coon, County Kilkenny, and on Sept 11, 1902 he left Ireland from Queenstown. He had grown up not far from the coalfields of Castlecomer, to sail to America from the port of Cobh, then called Queenstown, Co. Cork, Ireland. Michael Joseph Darcy arrived in the United States on Sep 20, 1902. He arrived on the ship named The SS Noordland. Michael Joseph's ship landed at Philadelphia, PA.
THE SS NOORDLAND
The "Noordland" was built for Red Star Line in 1883 by Laird Bros, Birkenhead. Her details were - 5,212 gross tons, length 400ft x beam 47ft, one funnel, four masts, single screw and a speed of 13 knots. There was accommodation for 63-1st, 56-2nd and 500-3rd class passengers. Launched on 1/11/1883, she started her maiden voyage on 29/3/1884 when she sailed from Antwerp for New York. She commenced her last sailing on this service on 9/3/1901 and was then chartered to the American Line who altered her accommodation to carry 160-2nd and 500-3rd class. She commenced sailings in April 1901 from Liverpool to Philadelphia, but on 3/28/1906 resumed Antwerp - New York for two round voyages and then went back to the Liverpool - Philadelphia route. She made her last voyage on this service in 1908 and was scrapped later the same year. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.2, p.852]
Michael Joseph's sisters Della and her children, Michael Joseph's nephews Patrick and George Curtin, and his sister Annie Maria Darcy were also aboard the ship when it arrived. They were all going to Creighton, NE. via Railroad. The passenger list also states they had their railroad ticket already purchased when they arrived.
Michael Joseph's brother Thomas Patrick Darcy helped him move here. There were 11 children in the family of Michael Darcy and Catherine Donahue, Michael Joseph Darcy's parents. Only 4 of Michael Joseph's brothers and sister stayed in Ireland, the rest came to the USA. John, Patrick, Margaret and Mary stayed in Ireland. According to Michael Joseph's naturalization papers he was of medium build, he was 5 feet 7 and a half inches tall, with gray eyes and black hair. On the passenger list of the SS Noordland it reported that Michael Joseph had a total of $20.00 when he arrived in the USA. Cost of the ship tickets from Ireland had been $68.50 for 3rd class passage (steerage). It is unknown how much the railroad tickets to Creighton cost for sure. However in reviewing 1895 to 1906 Union Pacific Maps and fare rates, it's my best guess that a ticket probably cost about $40 to $45 and they probably travel to either Norfolk or Albion, Nebraska, by Union Pacific Train.
Della was identified as Mrs. Curtin, a widow. Della reported she and her children were going home to Barnesville, MN,, which is about 90 miles south of Crookston, MN. Della was returning to the United States following a short visit to Ireland. Della was a US citizen at the time of the arrival of the SS Noordland in 1902, she is also listed as a widow on the passenger list, so this was after the death of Thomas Curtin and before her marriage to Owen Mulvey. Her two children are listed as citizens of the United States, they both were born in the USA. Michael Joseph's sister Annie M Darcy, at age 18, was also aboard the ship. Della and Ann went to Barnesville, MN, they moved to Crookston, MN. shortly thereafter.
Michael Joseph originally went to Creighton, NE. then moved North of Stephen, Minnesota and engaged in farming. Michael Joseph became a citizen of the USA Feb 23, 1909, in Bemidji, MN. He was living near the town of Pitt, Minnesota. He had lived in the United States for at least 5 years, continuously and in the State of Minnesota for at least one year; and intended to reside permanently in the United States. This action was completed in the District Court of the 15th Judicial District held in Bamidji, MN. He homesteaded a farm made up of Chippewa Indian land under the Homestead Act of Jan 14, 1889 Sec 6. His farm was 171.6 acres Lots 1,2,3,and 4 in Section 4 Township 160 N, Range 32 W, 5th Prime Meridian, he paid $1.25 per acre, plus $5.69 in Land Office Fees, on April 15, 1909. The land transfer was rcorded on March 10, 1910.
Michael Joseph married Jennie (Jane) Bulger on Jan 11, 1910 at the St. Stephen Catholic church in Stephen, MN at 8:00 AM by Father Massanoit. Witnesses were Jennie Bulger's brother and sister James and (Elizabeth) Lizzie Bulger (groomsman and bridesmaid) Jenny was the 4th daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Bulger, who lived east of Stephen, Jenny has spent nearly her entire life up until then on that farm. Michael Joseph Darcy registered for the draft during WWI on Sep 12, 1918 (age 38) at Stephen, Marshall County, Minnesota. Michael and Jenny had 3 children at the time and Jenny was pregnant with their 4th child. He was not called into the US Army.
They had four children in Minnesota; Gladys Mary, Mary Catherine, Thomas Patrick, and Alfred William (or William Alfred originally). They sold their farm Nov 17, 1919, this transaction and payment of all taxes were recorded Jan 2, 1920. They received $2,500 for the land ($14.56 per acre). The farm was sold to Ida E. Brenizer, from Beltrami county Minnesota. In the 1920 Federal Census conducted on Jan 8, 1920 they were living in Davis, Kitson Co. Minnesota, later in 1920 they moved to Creighton, Knox County, NE.
They moved to Creighton, NE in late 1920 and lived there for a short time. They traveled by train from Stephen, MN to Creighton, NE. Source of this information was Lucille Darcy Truax. Michael Joseph Darcy helped farm Thomas Patrick Darcy's land in his absence. Thomas Patrick's son Robert Michael Darcy who was about 17 years old at the time also helped with the farming. Thomas Patrick (grandpa brother from Creighton) returned to Ireland in late June or July 1921 for a fairly long visit, about a three months. He arrived in London on July 8, 1921 aboard the US ship SS Centennial State, probably from the Port of New York. I don't know when he returned to the USA, I believe Thomas Patrick's visit was somehow connected to the upheaval in Ireland associated with the formation of the Irish Free State. Another reason for Thomas' trip to Ireland, and probably more importantly, was the fact that the Darcy family was quite close, and he returned to visit his parents and other family members.
The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) (1922-1937) was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand. On the day the Irish Free State was established, it comprised the entire island of Ireland but Northern Ireland almost immediately exercised its right under the Treaty to opt out of the new state. The Irish Free State replaced Southern Ireland (itself established on 3 May 1921 by the British Government under the Government of Ireland Act 1920), a de jure autonomous region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Free State also effectively replaced the self-proclaimed but in many respects de facto Irish Republic (itself established on 21 January 1919). Similarly, the new government of the Irish Free State replaced both the provisional Government of Southern Ireland and the Government of the Irish Republic although W. T. Cosgrave, the first President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State led both governments from August 1922.
Michael Joseph and his family moved to Bonesteel, Gregory Co., SD in the spring of 1922. Gladys Darcy graduated from Bonesteel's Saint Mary's Parochial School on June 6, 1924. After 1925 two more children were born to Michael and Jennie - Lucille Alice and John Edward. They had moved to Bonesteel because some of the Donahues lived in that area. Michael Joseph's first cousin's Anna M Donahue (Mrs Patrick Joseph Donahue), she was the daughter of Thomas William Donahue and Catherine Kealy Darcy from Creighton, Nebraska. her brother Edward Steven Donahue also lived in the Bonesteel area. Of some interest Patrick Joseph Donahue's original name was O'Donahue, he changed it to Donohue after he graduated from the University of Nebraska Law School in 1903. As a result the Darcy family was related to that family of Donahues through Anna M Donahue, Michael Joseph's first cousin. Michael was not related to Patrick Joseph except that he was Anna M. Donahue's husband. Michael Joseph's family was counted in the 1930 census, and they were living in the Pleasant Valley Township, about a mile west of Bonesteel. Michael Joseph was a farmer. They lived about a 1/4 of a mile from the Walter L. Taylor farm. According to Margorie Rose Taylor Thompson (Paul Taylor's daughter my first cousin) of Albuquerque, NM the Darcy's raise lots of geese, ducks and turkeys. Marjorie and Lucille Darcy Truax were friends. The Darcy farm was owned by Edward Stephen Donahue, Michael Joseph's 1st cousin. Edward Stephen Donahue and Anna M. Donahue (brother and sister) father was Thomas William Darcy from Creighton, Ne. In about 1939 Michael Joseph moved south of Bonesteel to a farm owned by George Jessup, about 7 miles south of Bonesteel. The house they lived in was in Nebraska but they continued to have a Bonesteel address. The farm was quite rocky and hilly, they had more pasture land than tillable cropland and Grandpa took in stock cows and calves for a fee for the pasture. Alfred Darcy (his son) was living near Tyndall at that time and he found a better farm with better crop land near Tyndall for grandma and grandpa.
Meanwhile back in Ireland, Michael Joseph's sister Mary died at 20 years old. Catherine Donahue Darcy, Michael Joseph mother, died in 1910 at age 68. Michael Darcy (Michael Joseph's father) died in 1930 at age 89. Michael Darcy (Michael Joseph's father, my great grandfather) had visited his children in the USA in 1929 a year before his death.
Michael Joseph Darcy moved to Tyndall, Bon Homme County, South Dakota in Dec., 1946. Their daughter Lucille Darcy had graduated from high school from Bonesteel High School in 1943 and was teaching school in Dixon, SD in 1946. Their son John Edward Darcy graduated from Bonesteel, SD. public school in 1944, he moved to Tyndall with his parents. John Edward Darcy joined the US Marines in late 1949 in Minneapolis, MN. He joined with his friend Ray O'Grady.
I do remember Grandpa's farm near Tyndall, SD. I remember that before grandpa's stroke he usually had oatmeal and pancakes for breakfast and that he put cream on his oatmeal. My mother told me that she and Aunt Mary Darcy Schmitz used to try to get grandpa to use his silverware like they do in the United States, not the European way he grew up with in Ireland. According to my mother, grandpa never changed the way he used silverware. He had a horse barn and the horses were really neat and I liked going in to see them. . I remember going with Grandpa and my twin brother Kenneth with a team of horses and a wagon into a corn field and picking corn by hand. Grandpa told us that the corn wasn't ready to pick yet, it was still too wet, but we picked the wagon full for pig feed. The wagon had a "bang board" which was kind of like a back board in basketball, it stopped the ears of corn and they bounced back into the wagon. The horses pretty much moved along by themselves and grandpa calling commands to them. Actually Grandpa picked the corn, the horses pulled the wagon, and Kenny and I got in everybody's way. If grandpa ever missed the wagon (which was rare) with an ear of corn Kenny and I ran after it and threw it into the wagon. Grandpa did have a tractor, a John Deere (source Lucille Darcy Truax). Lucille also said that she always wanted to drive the tractor and was disappointed that she didn't get to. She said she did know how to harness the horses. I remember going with grandma Darcy into the chicken yard and catching chickens with a metal wire thing, you caught them around the leg, just above the foot, and helping butchering them, she cooked them for dinner. I also remember that my twin brother Kenny was stung by a bee, and was really upset and crying (he was probably about 5 or 6 years old). Grandma got a bottle of Laundry Bluing (it was nothing more than a light blue dye, which when used in the laundry on whites, like sheets and towels, prevented them from turning yellow. Grandma told Kenny that the blue dot on his arm where the bee stung him would completely quit hurting when she put the bluing on, and it did. Grandma did know a bit about raising children.
Grandpa and Grandma had a cream separator on their porch. It was a hand crank machine, they did not have electricity. I used to watch as they separated the cream from the milk. I remember the smell of the cream. They sold both eggs and cream in town, usually every week. Grandpa smoked a pipe using Prince Albert (or Velvet Pipe Tobacco if he didn't have Prince Albert). He had a large can of Tobacco beside his chair in the living room of their house. I especially remember the smell of his pipe and the tobacco. They had a very poor water supply on this farm. They had a cistern which caught rain water from the roof of the house and drained into the cistern. I remember Uncle John had a bedroom, we were suppose to stay out of (of coarse my twin brother Kenny and I didn't stay out). The only thing I remember about that is Uncle John had a clock with a metal horse surrounding the clock (the clock was in the horse's belly). I remember Uncle John was dating Dorthy Ryan. They were married in April of 1955, in Yankton. Beside Grandpa's chair on the wall was a crank syle telephone, I remember they were on a party line, and had a special ring when the call was for them (2 long rings and 1 short ring or some other combination of long and short rings). I remember they had a wood burning stove and did not have electricity, I remember the kerosene lamps they used. Off of Grandma's kitchen was a fairly large pantry, Kenny & I used to go into the pantry and get brown sugar, which we ate like candy.
Michael Joseph Darcy suffered a very severe stroke in January 1950 and retired from farming. Grandma Darcy moved to Yankton, SD in 1952, after Uncle John E Darcy was discharged from the Marines in Jan 1952. Grandma tried taking care of Grandpa at home for a couple of years or so. She was unable to continue and Grandpa was admitted to the Sacred Heart Hospital in about June of 1955. Grandma had moved to Yankton to be nearer to Grandpa who was on the fifth floor of Sacred Heart Hospital, which was reserved for the elderly at that time (kind of like their version of a nursing home). I remember Grandpa came to Hartington in the summer of 1952 and stayed with our Family when we lived in the John Eskins house just east of the old railroad track, on Main Street. Grandpa was in bed but was able to get up into a wheel chair and he enjoyed going outside on nice days. Michael Joseph Darcy died Nov 13, 1961 at Sacred Heart hospital. He is buried in Yankton, SD with his wife Jennie (Jane) Bulger. His son, John Edward Darcy is also buried in Yankton, SD. They are all buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery. Pall bearers at the funeral were: six of his grandsons; Gordon Taylor, Marvin Taylor, Kenneth Taylor, Keith Taylor, William (Bill) Schmitz, and Norbert (Nub) Schmitz. At the time of the funeral another grandson, Robert Michael Schmitz (Mike) was in the US Army and stationed in Germany was unable to serve as pall bearer or to attend the funeral. At the time of his death Grandpa had 32 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He was survived by three sisters and a brother. Mrs. Maggie Boran and Patrick Darcy living in Ireland. Mrs. Ann Loser of Great Falls, Montana and Mrs. Della Mulvey from Seattle, Wash. In addition to numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. He also had relatives living in Ireland. The Peter Boran / Margaret Darcy (grandpa's youngest sister) Boran branch of the Darcy family was large. Peter and Margaret had 14 children, with 4 of the 14 becoming Catholic Sisters and two becoming Catholic Priests, they had one other son who never married; leaving 7 children being married with children.
As of May 13,2016 he has one living daughter:
Lucille Darcy Truax, living near Littleton, Colorado |
