Michael Welch 1813 – 1900

MICHAEL WELCH 1813 – 1900

and

HONORA MORRISSEY 1821 – 1909

Honora Morrissey about 1905-09

By Chris Mulholland

Updated 29 February 2012

County Cork Coat of Arms

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

It was 1849, Ireland was suffering under the height of the infamous potato famine and two lovers, Michael Welch and Honora Morrissey, were married to one another at the ages of 36 and 28 years respectively. Although today they would be considered old for their marriage, this was not unusual in the Ireland of that period when most women were not married till 30. Since Honora was born in County Cork, it is very likely that Michael came from there as well. Both Morrissey‘s and Welch‘s can be found throughout County Cork which is located on the south coast of Ireland and is the largest county by area. Cork has a mountainous and flat landscape with many beaches and sea cliffs along its coast. It has 1,094 km of coastline, the second longest coastline of any other county. Cork is colloquially referred to as "The Rebel County". This name has 15th Century origins, however from the 20th century the name has been more commonly attributed to the prominent role Cork played in the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). Much of what is now county Cork was once part of the Kingdom of ‗Deas Mumhan‘ (South Munster), anglicised as ―Desmon‘, ruled by the MacCarthy Mor dynasty. Dunlough Castle, standing just north of Mizen Head, is one of the oldest castles in Ireland (A.D. 1207). In 1491 Cork played a part in the English War of the Roses

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY when a pretender to the English throne, landed in the city and tried to recruit support for a plot to overthrow Henry VII of England. The mayor of Cork and several important citizens went with to England but when the rebellion collapsed they were all captured and executed. In 1601 the decisive Battle of Kinsale took place in County Cork, which was to lead to English domination of Ireland for centuries. Kinsale had been the scene of a landing of Spanish troops to help Irish rebels in the Nine Years War (1594–1603). When this force was defeated, the rebel

hopes for victory in the war were all but ended. One of the biggest attractions in Cork is Blarney Castle with its famed Blarney Stone. Michael Welch was born about 1813 and nothing is currently known about his parents or exact birthplace. The surname Welch, also known as ―Welsh‖ or ―Walsh‖, finds its origins in the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1171 under William

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant). The surname is derived from Breat(h)nach which literally means Welshman. ‗The Walsh Surname‘ website states that: "Walsh is among the five most numerous surnames in Ireland, found throughout the country. There are concentrations of Walshes in Leinster in counties Kilkenny and Wexford, in Connacht in counties Mayo and Galway, and in Munster in counties Cork and Waterford. Walsh is a semi-translation of the Irish surname Breathnach, meaning 'Welsh' or 'Breton', also sometimes anglicised as 'Brannagh'. This alludes to a Cambro-Gaelic origin of the Walsh families. The name came into use to describe the Welsh people who came to Ireland during the Cambro-Norman invasions… These surnames derive from the Anglo-Norman-French term 'le waleis', meaning simply 'the foreigner', 'the stranger', or 'the outsider', which was used in different parts of Britain generally to denote the native Welsh and Bretons, strangeness obviously being in the eye of the beholder. In medieval Ireland the name Walsh was generally used to mean 'a Welshman', including those who arrived in the wake of the Cambro-Norman invasion beginning in 1169 A.D., the first of these adventurers … Welsh and Welsh-Norman clans who… more than likely came from some of the leading houses of Wales. Some have placed their relation and descendancy to Owen Gwynned, Prince of North Wales, and his sons Ririd and David.‖ Eight years after Michael‘s arrival in the world, James and Margaret (Collens/ Collins) delivered their first child, a daughter they named

Honora, in August 1821. She Ballymihikin, Cork, Ireland

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY was born in Ballyhimikin, in the Parish of Ladysbridge, County Cork and would be followed by four brothers, Patrick, John, Roger (Rodger), and Michael (1838- 1913), and one sister, Catherine (1831-1906). Michael was born in Midleton, 6 miles northwest of Ballyhimikin, and the site of the distillery for world famous Jameson Whiskey. Michael would move to the US and get caught up in the Civil War, fighting with the 13th Louisiana Infantry Regiment in battles such as Shiloh and the invasion of Kentucky. Stephen Morrissey wrote the following in the ―Morrissey Family History Newsletter, Summer 2007, Issue No. 7‖: ―There seem to be two main geographical regions in Ireland where the Morrissey name originated. The Morrisseys in the north-west part of Ireland – from Sligo and Galway – derive their name from ‗O Muirgheasa,‘ which is Irish for ‗sea choice.‘ The Morrisseys from the south-east part of Ireland – which includes Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and Tipperary – is derived from the Norman surname ‗de Marisco.‘ Usually, as well, in books explaining the meaning of surnames, there is the comment that the ‗de Mariscos were once a powerful family in the south-east of Ireland.‘ If this is so, then who were the de Mariscos and is there any genealogical validity to a Morrissey-de Marisco connection? This is what interested me when I learned about the de Mariscos… I assumed (like others) that the Morrissey name was somehow a corruption of the name ‗de Marisco,‘ since that was the association found in books on the origin of surnames. Other names associated with the de Marisco name are Marsh and Montmorency. However, the Morrissey name may not be a corruption of ‗de Marisco,‘ but of ‗Morres de Marisco;‘ for instance, there is Sir James Morres de Marisco, born in 1395, who died in 1469; Sir John Morres de Marisco of Knockagh, born around 1460; Sir Oliver Morres de Marisco of Knockagh (who married Lady Ellice, daughter of the Duke of Ormand and Ossory, Viceroy of

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Ireland), and who died in 1522. I suspect ‗de Marisco‘ was eventually dropped in favour of the simpler ‗Morres‘; for instance, de Marisco descendants include Sir Anthony Morres who died in 1535; and John Morres who lived from 1490 to 1562. There is also Sir John Morres, who became a colonel in the French army and who died in 1621. Perhaps someone could make the pedigree connection for the evolution of de Marisco, Morres de Marisco, Morres, and Morrissey. I can see the following scenario happening: The de Mariscos were a wealthy and powerful family in 12th century Norman-occupied Ireland, and this wealth lasted for some members of the family for several hundred years. As the descendants of the original de Mariscos multiplied, some intermarried with the indigenous Irish. Over time, the Morres de Marisco surname was dropped and ‗Morres‘ expanded into Morrissey and several other surnames…. Geoffrey de Marisco lived from 1171 to around 1220 AD and was the Justiciar or Governor of Ireland from around 1215 to around 1220. Geoffrey may have visited Palestine as a soldier and is a founder of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, who are the Knights of Malta today. He helped subdue the King of Connaught, who had taken up arms against the king of England, and he built a famous castle in Killaloe in 1216.‖ It was probably in the mid to late 1840‘s that Michael and Honora met and fell in love. After their wedding in 1849, they left their homeland to escape the crushing poverty, forcible evictions, starvation, and harsh living conditions

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY taking place as a result of the potato famine. It is very likely that they sailed out of the port of Cobh in Cork since this was one of the major transatlantic Irish ports and was the departure point for 2.5 million of the six million Irish who left for North America between 1848 and 1950. Cobh is also famous for being the last stop of the Titanic before her fated journey. When the potato blight first hit the Irish crops in 1845, Catholics made up 80 percent of the population of Ireland, the bulk of whom lived in conditions of poverty and insecurity. In February 1845, the Earl of Devon reported that, "It would be impossible adequately to describe the privations which they [Irish laborer and his family] habitually and silently endure... in many districts their only food is the potato, their only beverage water... their cabins are seldom a protection against the weather... a bed or a blanket is a rare luxury... and nearly in all their pig and a manure heap constitute their only property." Later that year, a widespread blight hit the potato crop and, within the following five years, the population of Ireland fell from seven million to an estimated three million through starvation, sickness, and emigration. Cecil Woodham-Smith, an authority on the Irish Famine, wrote in ―The Great Hunger; Ireland 1845–1849” that no issue has provoked so much anger and embittered relations between England and Ireland as, "the indisputable fact that huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England throughout the period

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation." In fact, Ireland remained a net exporter of food throughout most of the five-year famine. John Mitchel, one of the leaders of the Young Ireland Movement, wrote in 1860, ―I have called it an artificial famine: that is to say, it was a famine which desolated a rich and fertile island that produced every year abundance and superabundance to sustain all her people and many more. The English, indeed, call the famine a 'dispensation of Providence;' and ascribe it entirely to the blight on potatoes. But potatoes failed in like manner all over Europe; yet there was no famine save in Ireland. The British account of the matter, then, is first, a fraud; second, a blasphemy. The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine.‖ The harsh measures undertaken by the British government during the famine such as evictions, confiscations, jailings, and forced commitments into ―work- houses‖ – where a man went in, and a pauper came out – fell largely on the Catholic population. It was the result of these conditions that drove Michael and his new bride to try their luck elsewhere and they embarked aboard a sailing vessel headed for the United States. During the 1840s and 50s an armada of ships left Ireland for the New World and Australia. At first, they were romantically called the White Sails, but quickly became known by their more appropriate title, the Coffin Ships. Designed to

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY originally hold 100 persons, they frequently sailed with 400-500 on board. The owners of coffin ships provided as little food, water, and living space as was legally possible – if they obeyed the law at all. The difference between the coffin ships and the slave ships of 40 years prior (slavery was outlawed by Britain in 1809) was that slaves had been considered valuable cargo whereas the Irish immigrants were not. Although the conditions aboard a slave ship were extremely harsh, most of their captains attempted to keep as many of the captives alive in order to reap large profits. The captains of coffin ships, however, received their wages up front when the immigrants paid for their passages and so they did not concern themselves with the welfare of the passengers during the voyage. The result was that the mortality rate on a slave ship was between 5-15% whereas a coffin ship typically suffered 30% or more. One out of five immigrants to North America died from disease and malnutrition. Crowded and disease ridden, with poor access to food and water, it

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY was said that sharks could be seen following the coffin ships, because so many bodies were thrown overboard. Michael and Honora arrived in New York City after a difficult ten week voyage across the Atlantic. By 1850, Irish refugees made up a quarter of the population in the major east coast cities of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Shortly after arriving, the newlyweds apparently moved out of the city and settled 25 miles north in Tarrytown, a small village along the eastern shore of the Hudson River. Today‘s Tappan Zee Bridge crosses the Hudson at Tarrytown. The village was made famous in 1780 when British Army Major John André was arrested as a spy there which led to the discovery of Benedict Arnold‘s

traitorous plot to turn West Point over to the British. Tarrytown was later described in 1820 by writer Washington Irving in his story, ―The Legend of Sleep Hollow‖, when he began with, "In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators of the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port which by some is called Greenburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town."

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

According to Honora‘s obituary many years later, the couple lived in Tarrytown for a time before moving to Amherst, Massachusetts, 130 miles to the northeast. They likely traveled by water since Amherst is located along the Connecticut River. After a short time there, the couple moved again, this time as members of the great expansion to and settling of the western part of America. There is a good chance that they might have traveled via covered wagon as so many others did but they could have just as well traveled overland to one of the smaller ports along the Hudson Lake in New York and then traveled west via boat through the Great Lakes. In either case, they eventually arrived in Chicago, Illinois during the mid- 1850s. It was during this time that Michael and Honora had their first child, a son they named John, who was born about 1854. He was likely born in Amherst or shortly after their arrival in Chicago. Chicago was already an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Its first railway opened in 1848 which also marked the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. This canal connected

the Great Lakes to the Bird's Eye View of Chicago, 1857 (Lithograph, Christian Inger, after drawing by I.T. Mississippi River, opening Palmatary, published by Braunhold & Sonne, Chicago) great swaths of territory and attracting many immigrants, including Michael and Honora.

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

During this period, Chicago experienced some of the fastest population growth in the world, requiring numerous and innovative infrastructure investments. In February 1856, the City‘s Common Council approved the construction of Chicago's – and the United States' – first comprehensive sewerage system. That same year, the Welch family grew again with the arrival of a daughter, Margaret Louise (c.1856-c.1955). The following year, Michael and Honora moved once more, this time by steamboat up the Mississippi River to Prescott, Wisconsin, 380 miles to the northwest of Chicago. Prescott is located in Pierce County at the mouth of the St. Croix River, just 20 miles southeast of St. Paul, Minnesota, and was named in 1851 after the fur trapper who built a cabin on the site, Philander Prescott. William Cullen Bryant once praised the beauty of the area and declared: ―This area ought to be visited by every poet and painter in the land.‖ Prescott was in a strategic place, being the center for river shipping, transportation and milling. Immigrants arrived via steamboats and worked in the lumber industry. The St. Croix drains most of northern Wisconsin which, in the 1800s, was covered by enormous stands of old-growth white pines. These huge trees were harvested and rafted down the Prescott, about 1900

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY river to the logging mills in Prescott, and later, Sawmill. This lumber helped build the towns and cities of the mid-West, especially, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Louis. Pierce County was established in 1853 and is the western-most county in Wisconsin with a lengthy border along the Mississippi River and Minnesota. It was named for Franklin Pierce, the 11th President of the United States, and the first settlers were from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania but were quickly followed by recent immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. Since its founding, the county has been largely agricultural and rural, despite its close proximity to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul just a few miles away. In 1858, another daughter was born, Mary, followed in 1860 by another son, Michael (1860-1915). The following year, Michael packed up his growing family and moved them – for the last time – 15 miles to the east and the small farming village of Ellsworth. Ellsworth is the geographical center of Pierce County and is the County Seat. Ellsworth‘s first settler was Anthony Huddleston who was followed by others in 1857, building homes and setting up businesses. The Welch‘s are considered one of the founding families of the village. Initially named ‗Perry‘, the village‘s name was changed to ‗Ellsworth‘, after Civil War Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, who was reportedly killed after tearing down a Confederate flag in Arlington, Virginia. Col. Ellsworth‘s portrait is used as the village‘s official symbol because, according to the Ellsworth Village website, ―[he] symbolizes the strength of our striving community‖. In 1984, the village was proclaimed the ―Cheese Curd Capitol‖ of Wisconsin by a former governor.

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Platted in 1862 it was incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin in 1887. In 1885 the Omaha Railroad established a depot one mile east of Ellsworth and the community of East Ellsworth was formed. Ellsworth and East Ellsworth operated independently from one another for some time but they were eventually reunited years later as one. Michael and Honora likely built a log cabin as their first dwelling before later building a more substantial structure. It was here that the last members of the family were born: Bernard ―Barney‖ (1862-1881), James (1865-aft. 1900), and Catherine ―Kate‖ ―Katie‖ Honora (1868-1913). Not unusual for families in the 19th century, Michael and Honora also had two children who died young and whose names

are unknown. The Welch‘s probably began raising wheat on their farm. At one

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY point during the mid 19th century, Wisconsin produced about one sixth of all the wheat grown in the entire United States. However, this crop rapidly depletes the nutrients in the soil and eventually wheat farming moved west into Minnesota and Iowa. Many Wisconsin farmers then converted to dairy farming and growing feed crops, which is likely what Michael did. Wisconsin‘s climate and soil were better suited for this type of farming and many of the farmers had come from the state of New York, which was the leading producer of dairy products at the time. Typical Wisconsin farmers (undated photo) Dairying was also promoted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison's school of agriculture, which of fered education to d airy farmers and researched ways to produce better dairy products. The first test of butterfat content in milk was developed at the University, which allowed for consistency in the quality of butter and cheese. By 1899, over ninety percent of Wisconsin farms raised dairy cows and by 1915, Wisconsin had become the leading producer of dairy products in the

United States, a title it hel d until the 1990s. Even today, Wisconsin continues to promote itself as "America's Dairyland", Wisconsinites are referred to as cheeseheads in some parts of the country, and foam cheesehead hats are associated with

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Wisconsin and the Green Bay Packers. In the spring of 1861, the Civil War began and, although it lasted 4 years, it did not affect Michael‘s family as he was too old to serve and his sons were too young. His brother-in-law, Michael Morrissey lived in New Orleans when the war broke out and went on to serve with the 13th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Life on a farm between 1860 and 1880 was difficult but slow-paced. Transportation was by foot, horse, or wagon. There was no major farm machinery other than that operated by hand or with the help of a team of horses or mules. And there was never a ―vacation‖ from the farm. The children were up before dawn to do chores before heading off to school. They had to milk cows, collect eggs, feed the animals, and muck out stalls. As soon as they got home, they had more chores until dinner time such as tilling fields, planting crops, bringing in hay, fixing fences, etc. When the sun went down, the children went to bed. While the children were kept busy around the farm, life revolved around the family. Gathering together around a large table at breakfast and again at supper time, the family was close and everyone cared for one another. But like all parents, Michael and Honora wanted a better life for their children. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg wrote in her book, ―Childhood on the Farm‖, "Work was central to children's lives. Education and play were secondary roles."

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Every 10 years, a national census is conducted in accordance with the US Constitution. The 1880 Census of Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin lists the following: "Name, Relation, Marital, Status, Gender, Race, Age, Birthplace, Occupation, Father's Birthplace, Mother's Birthplace "Michael WELCH, Self, M, Male, W, 67, IRE, Farmer, IRE, IRE" "Hannah M. WELCH, Wife, M, Female, W, 58, IRE, Keeping House, IRE, IRE" "Michael WELCH, Son, S, Male, W, 20, WI, Works On Farm, IRE, IRE" "Bernett [sic] WELCH, Son, S, Male, W, 18, WI, IRE, IRE" "James WELCH, Son, S, Male, W, 15, WI, IRE, IRE" "Kate WELCH, Dau, S, Female, W, 12, WI, IRE, IRE" The following year, 1881, would open with the first tragedy in the Welch family when son Bernard died at the young age of 19 in the city of Hartland, Wisconsin on 2 January. "The Pierce County Herald" of Wednesday, 5 January 1881, carried the following news: "Barney Welch, a young man nineteen years old residing with Mr. Crean, of Hartland, died last Sunday night after a brief illness. He was buried yesterday in the [Clayfield] Catholic cemetery." Hartland lies all the way across the state near Milwaukee. Just nine miles to east of Ellsworth, in the small village of El Paso, lived another Irish farmer, Bartholomew ―Bartley‖ Mulholland

(1827-aft. 1900), The original and later Clayfield Catholic Church 18

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY and his family of 8 children, including a son, Daniel ―Dan‖ Joseph (1863-1935). Bartley and his wife, Catherine (Hanlon) (c.1840-bef. 1900) had fled County Armagh, Ireland for Ontario, Canada during the potato famine. From there, they had moved west and south to Minnesota before finally arriving in Wisconsin before 1874. On 20 May 1889, the two families were joined when Katie Welch and Dan Mulholland were married in the Clayfield Catholic Church just a few miles outside of Ellsworth. This small church had only been established a few years earlier in 1884 as a log cabin and may still have been in that condition during the marriage. It Daniel J. Mulholland and Catherine “Katie” Welch would be later rebuilt as a traditional chapel and renamed, ―Our Lady of Perpetual Help‖. The church has since been closed although the adjoining cemetery is still in use. Dan and Katie moved to Minneapolis where he first worked in the lumber mills before joining the Minneapolis Police Department in 1904 and spending the next 31 years as a patrolman and police dispatcher. He and Katie presented Michael and Honora with six grandchildren: Harry Bernard (1890-1950), Mary Honora (1893-1980), Daniel Bartholomew (1895-1965), Charles Joseph (1900-1960), Edward Patrick (1902-1951) , and Robert Francis (1909-1983).

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Michael lived to see the first three grandchildren of Katie‘s born before he died at the age of 87 on 6 February 1900 in Ellsworth. He had lived a long and adventurous life, traveling from the old country to the new and helping settle the wild frontier. The youngest son, James, inherited the farm and Honora continued to live in the home – she is listed in the 1900 Census as a 78 year old widow – although her birth year was listed incorrectly as ―1831‖. She later moved to Minneapolis to live with her daughter, Katie, and son-in-law helping to keep their house and raise her grandchildren. Her sister, Catherine, and brother-in-law, John O‘Brien lived nearby as did her brother, Michael, who had separated from his Catherine and John O’Brien wife of 22 years in 1898 and moved to Minneapolis sometime in the early 1900s. John was an editor of the first Catholic newspaper in Minnesota/Wisconsin, ―The Irish Standard‖. Catherine died in 1906 at the age of 76. On her 88th birthday on 15 August 1909, Honora died at the age of 88. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as ―general disability‖ aided by ―exhaustion‖. ―The Irish Standard‖ carried her obituary on 21 August 1909: ―An old resident of Pierce County, Ellsworth, Wisconsin dies at the home of her daughter in Minneapolis Minnesota. Mrs. Michael (Honora Morrissey) Welch aged 88 years

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY died Sunday night August 15, at the home of Mrs. Daniel (Katherine Welch) Mulholland at 3330 4th Street North, Minneapolis, Minnesota. ―Deceased whose maiden name was Honora Morrissey, was born in Ballyhimicken [Ballyhennick or Ballyhimikin] Parish of Ladysbridge, County Cork, Ireland in 1821. When she was about 28 years of age she was married to Michael Welch. In 1849, shortly after their marriage, they came to America settling in Tarrytown, New York. During the next few years they lived in Amherst, Massachusetts; and also in Chicago, Illinois, finally leaving Chicago in 1857, settling in Prescott, Wisconsin, where the family continued to reside until 1861 when they moved to Ellsworth, Wisconsin, Pierce County, and where her husband died in February 1900. Nine children were born to them, only two now living, one son, one daughter; Michael Welch of Ellsworth, Wisconsin, and Mrs. Daniel (Katherine) Mulholland of Minneapolis, Minnesota. ―Mrs. Michael (Honora) Welch came to live for a few years at the home of her daughter. She passed away at 3330 4th Street North Minneapolis Minnesota. On

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

Tuesday last remains were taken from Minneapolis Minnesota to Ellsworth Wisconsin and from there to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual help at Clayfield where the funeral services were conducted Wednesday morning at 10 o‘clock by Reverend Father O‘Toole. In his sermon, which was replete with good advice to the living, he urged upon all the necessity of keeping well prepared for death, (that it) was something that no one escaped and it often came unheralded without warning. In closing he vividly portrayed the trials and struggles of the early settlers of that action and paid a feeling tribute to the memory of the deceased, one of a band of noble, sturdy pioneers who were ever loyal to the faith implanted in them. At the close of the services at the church, the body was taken to Clayfield Catholic Cemetery followed by many old friends and neighbors, where it was laid to rest beside those of her husband and children who had gone before. ―The pallbearers, honorary and active at the funeral, were as follows: Thomas Connors, M.C. Burns, Thomas Murphy, Peter Crane, Thomas Shannon, Michael Rudolph, Thomas Riley, and William Foy. ―Among those from the outside who attended the funeral of Mrs.

Michael (Honora) Welch were her Honora Morrissey about 1905-09

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY only brother, Michael Morrissey, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mulholland and H.B. Mulholland, and Edward O‘Brien, all of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Peace be to her kindly soul. She was buried in a shroud, a burial garment which she brought from Ireland.‖ In 1913, the entire Welch family would mourn again at the relatively early death of Katie at the age of 44, leaving behind several young children. Katie‘s best friend, Margaret Lowe, helped Dan through his mourning and the two were eventually married in 1914. In 1919 Daniel was involved in a shoot-out with a group of safecrackers in which he was wounded but not before killing one of the robbers. He was recognized and decorated for his courage under fire. He and Margaret remained together until his death on 3 April 1935. The fourth of Michael and Honora‘s children, Michael died in 1915, at the age of 55, in Ellsworth and is buried in the Clayfield Catholic Cemetery. An interesting side story to the Welch-Morrissey family is the connection between the Morrissey‘s and Father Bernard ―Solanus‖ Casey. A niece of Honora Morrissey, Nellie O‘Brien, married one of the many sons of Irish immigrants, Bernard and Ellen Casey – who had a total of 16 children. One of Nellie‘s new brothers-in-law was Bernard Casey who left the farm to work throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota as a logger, hospital orderly, street car operator, and prison guard. At the age of 21 Bernard entered St. Francis High School Seminary in Milwaukee to study for the diocesan priesthood. Invested in the Capuchin Order at Detroit in 1897, he received the religious name of ―Solanus‖. After 20 years of assignments in friaries in New York City, he was transferred to St Bonaventure Friary in Detroit. Here the story of his saintly life unfolded. His great love of the Mass and of the Missions urged Fr. Solanus to work constantly for the Seraphic Mass Association. This apostolate had startling results and

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY responses from the people whom Fr. Solanus enrolled. Many cures were reported. He was a man of extraordinary child like faith, which grew in glorious intensity through the years. Fr. Solanus' influence spread all over the United States and he was known by many in Canada. Hundreds attributed to his intercession, seemingly inexplicable, spiritual reformations, and physical cures, but it was his boundless charity and luminous goodness and faith, that won countless hearts to Christ. After 53 years as a priest, the Almighty saw fit to call Fr. Solanus to his rest. He died a very sick man, covered with eczema, yet his most common words in this time were "Thanks be to

God." Thus, he died a true son of St. Francis on the 31st of July, 1957. In 1960 a Father Solanus Guild was formed in Detroit to aid Capuchin seminarians. By 1967 the guild had 5,000 members—many of them grateful recipients of his practical advice and his comforting assurance that God would not abandon them in their trials. His cause for sainthood was accepted by Rome in 1976 and, in 1995, he was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II. If Venerable Solanus Casey were to be canonized soon he would be the first United States- born male to be raised to the altar.

MICHAEL WELCH and HONORA MORRISSEY

References 1. ―The Walsh Surname‖ (http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~walsh/origins.html) 2. Morrissey Family website (www.morrisseyfamilyhistory.com) 3. Michael Drake, ―Marriage and Population Growth in Ireland, 1750–1845‖ (The Economic History Review, 16: 301–313, 1963) 4. Christine Kinealy, ―This Great Calamity” (Gill & Macmillan, 1994) 5. Stories about the emigrations of the 1840's/50's (ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/thevoyage.html) 6. Robert Whyte, ―The Ocean Plague: The Diary of a Cabin Passenger‖, 1848 (www.aepizeta.org/~codine/famine/diary1.html) 7. ―Famine, A Postcolonial Study of Tom Murphy's Play‖ (www4.cord.edu/projects/murphy/Famine/RelatedTopics/Coffin%20Ships.htm) 8. Steve McKinley, ―Out of Ireland‖, Saint John Times Globe, 9 Jun-25 Jul 1997 (http:/personal.nbnet.nb.ca/rmcusack/Story-32.html) 9. The History Place; Irish Potato Famine and Coffin Ships (www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/coffin.htm) 10. Mark Roth, ―Slave ships were death ships for crew and captives‖, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1 Oct 2007 (www.post-gazette.com/pg/07274/821986-85.stm) 11. Charlestown Historical Society (www.charlestownhistoricalsociety.org/irishhistory.html) 12. Prescott Chamber of Commerce, ―Then and Now‖, (www.prescottwi.com/thennow.html) 13. Pierce County (www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wipierce) 14. University of Wisconsin – River Falls, ―Pierce County History‖ (www2.uwrf.edu/arc/piercehistory.php) 15. Mark L. Saxton, ―History of Pierce County Wisconsin‖ (Spring Valley: Spring Valley Publishing Co., Inc.; 1937) 16. Village of Ellsworth website (www.villageofellsworth.org) 17. 1880 US Census of Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin (Source Information: Census Place Ellsworth, Pierce, Wisconsin; Family History Library Film 1255441; NA Film Number T9-1441; Page Number 185D) 18. 1900 US Census of Ellsworth, Pierce County Wisconsin (19 June 1900, Enumeration District 103, Sheet 4) 19. St. Mary Cemetery Records (www.interment.net/data/us/mn/hennepin/stmary/mary.htm) 20. Brian Kelly, ―Venerable Solanus Casey, O.F.M., Cap.‖, 19 June 2009 (http://catholicism.org/venerable-solanus-casey-ofm-cap.html)