M. 7 Jan 1867 in Henderson, Minnesota2
Husband: Patrick McGuire
D. 14 Dec 1904 in Minneapolis, Minnesota1
One thing a mother should never have to face is having a child mutilated by an accident. But this is what Irish widow Mary Toole experienced in late-19th-century Minneapolis.
Mary was born in an unknown part of Ireland, possibly County Mayo, on May 3, 1846 to Timothy Toole and Hanora Coleman,1 probably their oldest child. She was an infant about the time of the potato famine, and it's likely the reason Timothy left for America in December of 1849.3 Hanora and Mary came over nearly 4 years later, arriving in July of 1853.4
The Tooles settled in Ohio, possibly the Cincinnati area.5 It's believed that Mary didn't attend school, as she was illiterate.6 Sometime before 1865, the family moved to Sibley County, Minnesota and lived on a farm in the town of Green Isle,7 which was an Irish immigrant community. By this time, Mary had two siblings, a brother Thomas and a sister Margaret, both born in Ohio. They lived next to a family headed by a man named Dominick Toole; it's not known how Dominick was related to Timothy.
On January 7, 1867, Mary married an Irish immigrant named Patrick McGuire in Henderson, Minnesota.2 He was a widower with three children. The family lived in nearby Scott County at the time of the 1870 census.6 They were listed back in Green Isle in 1880.8 Mary had five children born between 1871 and 1881, four daughters and one son.
It was said that Mary's family often searched the roads for items that fell off of people's carts so they could resell the things at a profit. The family knew which roads near their farm had ruts and sharp turns, and did their collecting there.9 The family trait of bargain hunting was passed on to some of Mary's descendants for generations to come.
In 1882, Mary's husband died,10 leaving her to try and manage the farm. She gave it up in about the spring of 1886 and moved to Minneapolis.11 Her widowed mother was already living there with Mary’s sister Margaret, and for a time, Mary and her children moved into their house.
Not long after Mary settled in Minneapolis, her family lived through a horrible tragedy. Busy railroad tracks ran only about 130 feet from their house, and on a few occasions, Mary’s 10-year-old son John got too near the trains, narrowly escaping harm. On September 2, 1886, Mary and the children were preparing to move. John helped pack by making wooden boxes and he needed a board for a box lid. So he crossed the tracks and walked to a coal yard to get a scrap of wood. On the way back, he came too close to a freight train, which first hit him, then as he scrambled to get out of the way, he fell right under the wheels.The train accident cost both of his legs and his left arm.12
The Tooles settled in Ohio, possibly the Cincinnati area.5 It's believed that Mary didn't attend school, as she was illiterate.6 Sometime before 1865, the family moved to Sibley County, Minnesota and lived on a farm in the town of Green Isle,7 which was an Irish immigrant community. By this time, Mary had two siblings, a brother Thomas and a sister Margaret, both born in Ohio. They lived next to a family headed by a man named Dominick Toole; it's not known how Dominick was related to Timothy.
On January 7, 1867, Mary married an Irish immigrant named Patrick McGuire in Henderson, Minnesota.2 He was a widower with three children. The family lived in nearby Scott County at the time of the 1870 census.6 They were listed back in Green Isle in 1880.8 Mary had five children born between 1871 and 1881, four daughters and one son.
It was said that Mary's family often searched the roads for items that fell off of people's carts so they could resell the things at a profit. The family knew which roads near their farm had ruts and sharp turns, and did their collecting there.9 The family trait of bargain hunting was passed on to some of Mary's descendants for generations to come.
In 1882, Mary's husband died,10 leaving her to try and manage the farm. She gave it up in about the spring of 1886 and moved to Minneapolis.11 Her widowed mother was already living there with Mary’s sister Margaret, and for a time, Mary and her children moved into their house.
Not long after Mary settled in Minneapolis, her family lived through a horrible tragedy. Busy railroad tracks ran only about 130 feet from their house, and on a few occasions, Mary’s 10-year-old son John got too near the trains, narrowly escaping harm. On September 2, 1886, Mary and the children were preparing to move. John helped pack by making wooden boxes and he needed a board for a box lid. So he crossed the tracks and walked to a coal yard to get a scrap of wood. On the way back, he came too close to a freight train, which first hit him, then as he scrambled to get out of the way, he fell right under the wheels.The train accident cost both of his legs and his left arm.12
(1) Site of Mary's house. (2) Site of son John's accident.
Mary went to a personal injuries lawyer who successfully prosecuted a case against the railway company, and John was awarded $13,000 in damages.13 John lived with his mother for the rest of her life, and later he lived with his sister Margaret, becoming a peddler.14 He passed away in 1917.15
During the years following John’s accident, Mary suffered a couple more tragedies. In 1890, her mother died of dysentery,16 and in 1893, her daughter Alice passed away at age 14.17 In early winter of 1904, Mary died at the age of 58 of pneumonia.1 She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery.
Children:
1. Julia A. McGuire — B. 30 Mar 1871, Washington Lake, Minnesota;18 D. 18 May 1922, St. Paul, Minnesota;19 M. Louis Martin LaBrie (1868-1911), 1 Jun 1891, Minneapolis, Minnesota20
2. Margaret McGuire — B. 7 Aug 1873, Washington Lake, Minnesota;21 D. 19 Oct 1923, Minneapolis, Minnesota;21 M. Harry Albert Whittaker (1873-?), 1902, St. Paul, Minnesota22
3. John McGuire — B. 19 Feb 1876, Washington Lake, Minnesota;23 D. 18 May 1917, Minneapolis, Minnesota15
4. Alice McGuire — B. 1 Apr 1879, Washington Lake, Minnesota;24 D. 22 Sep 1893, Sibley County, Minnesota17
5. Johanna McGuire — B. 3 Sep 1881, Washington Lake, Minnesota;25 M. William Henning (1877-1904), 25 Apr 1899, Hennepin County, Minnesota26
Sources:
1 Death certificate of Mary McGuire, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dec 1904
2 Marriage record of Patrick McGuire and Mary Toole, Minnesota County Marriages, 1860-1949, FamilySearch.org
3 Passenger list of Queen of the West, Liverpool to New York, 17 Dec 1849
4 Naturalization record of Honora Toole, 16 Oct 1873, Sibley County, Minnesota
5 1870 U.S. Census listing her mother in Washington Lake, Minnesota shows two of Mary’s siblings had been born in Ohio during the late 1850s
6 1870 U.S. Census, Belle Plain, Minnesota, FamilySearch.org
7 1865 Minnesota State Census, Washington Lake, Minnesota, FamilySearch.org
8 1880 U.S. Census, Green Isle, Minnesota, FamilySearch.org
9 Interview by Laura Mitchell of Hazel Swenson and Florence Maxwell, 1978
10 Death record of Patrick McGuire, Minnesota County Deaths, 1887-2001, FamilySearch.org
11 1887 city directory for Minneapolis
12 Court records of John McGuire vs. the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, 1888-1889
13 “One Damage Suit Finished Up and Another Taken Up,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3 Jan 1889
14 City directories for Minneapolis, 1898-1916
15 Death record of John McGuire, Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001, FamilySearch.org
16 Death certificate of Nora O’Toole, 2 Sep 1890, Minneapolis, Minnesota
17 Death record of Allie McGuire, Minnesota Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916, FamilySearch.org
18 Birth record of Julia McGuire, Minnesota County Birth Records, 1863-1983, FamilySearch.org
19 Death record of Julia LaBrie, Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002, FamilySearch.org
20 Marriage record of Lewis Labree and Julia McGuire, M.C.M.
21 Death record of Margaret Whittaker, Minnesota Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990
22 Marriage record of Harry Whittaker and Margaret McGuire, M.C.M.
23 Birth record of John McGuire, M.B. & D.
24 Birth record of Alice McGuire, M.C.B.R.
25 Birth record of Johanna McGuire, M.B. & D.
26 Marriage of record William Henning and Johanna McGuire, M.C.M.
