Poverty That Came Over From Ireland — Patrick McGuire

B. 25 Dec 1834 in (probably) County Mayo, Ireland¹
M. (1) before 1857 in (probably) Sullivan County, New York²
Wife: Bridget Tuffy
M. (2) 7 Jan 1867 in Henderson, Minnesota³
Wife: Mary Toole
D. 1 Apr 1882 in Washington Lake, Minnesota^1,4

For many who escaped the potato famine in Ireland, opportunity in America meant breaking the cycle of financial trouble. Such was not the case for Patrick McGuire, who lived most of his life in need of money.

Patrick was born on Christmas Day, 1834 to Lawrence and Julia McGuire.⁵ His mother was known to have been born in County Mayo,¹ making it highly likely that he was as well. He had at least one younger brother and two younger sisters; none of the children learned to read and write.

County Mayo was heavily dependent on the potato crop, and Patrick’s father was almost certainly a farmer. When the crop failed for the first time in 1846, Patrick was about 11-years-old, and it didn’t take very long before nearly everyone in the county was affected. People did what they could to survive, but the details of what Patrick’s family went through weren’t handed down. They likely struggled to have enough to eat for several years in a row, while watching people around them also starving, and some of them dying.

 

Starving family in 1840s Ireland. (AI-generated image)

 

It wasn’t until about 1852, that Patrick along with his parents and siblings boarded a ship to brought them to New York.⁶ The McGuires settled in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York where they were listed in the 1855 state census.⁶ Patrick’s parents didn’t find the success of some immigrants, and instead seemed to transfer their poverty to America; by 1875, his mother moved into a poor house where she seems to have died alone.⁵ His father was described as a heavy drinker, and disappeared from records after 1880.^5,7

Patrick wasn't around to witness his parents' failures because he left the household within the first few years in America. He married an Irish woman named Bridget Tuffy, and before about 1857,² they had three children. At some point, Patrick moved to Minnesota, possibly living for a short time in Illinois beforehand.⁸ Sadly, Bridget died, but it isn’t known when or where.

 

On January 7, 1867, Patrick married Mary Toole in Henderson, Minnesota, which was in Sibley County.³ She was a young widow with a baby girl, and the probate record of her first husband Michael Toole reveals the poverty of Patrick and Mary. The estate was awarded to the young daughter, and in June of 1867, Mary asked the probate court for $12 out of the estate to pay for food.⁹ Although only Mary and her baby girl were mentioned in the action, it’s easy to imagine that the money was used to feed Patrick’s children as well.

Mary’s little girl died in August 1868, and Patrick stepped in as administrator of the estate.⁹ Since Mary was the heir, she and Patrick ended up with her former husband’s property, primarily consisting of a 160-acre homestead in Washington Lake. One-quarter was sold off in 1867 to pay for probate expenses, but the rest of the land came into Patrick and Mary’s possession after the child died. Their family’s life continued to be a financial struggle, though, and in 1869, they sold off another quarter of the original homestead for $312.¹⁰

Patrick’s mark on a document in the probate file of Mary’s daughter.

By 1870, the family was living in the town of Belle Plain in Le Seuer County, where Patrick worked as a railroad laborer.¹¹ Soon after, they were back in Sibley County, presumably on the Washington Lake farm.¹² Patrick and Mary had five children born between 1871 and 1881. There still seemed to be financial problems as an 1878 deed shows that they sold a strip of land from the old homestead, getting $10 for it.¹⁰ 

Patrick was just 47 when he died of typhoid fever on April 1, 1882.⁴ He was buried in St. Brendan's Cemetery in Green Isle, Minnesota; the stone on his grave is quite large, and it’s likely that it was put there some years later.¹ His widow Mary sold off the farm over the next couple years, and she and the children moved to Minneapolis in about 1886.¹⁴

 

Children by Bridget Tuffy:

1. Mary McGuire — B. Nov 1857, (probably) Sullivan County, New York;¹⁵ D. 1939, (probably) Green Isle, Minnesota;¹⁶ M. (1) Michael Sweeney (1851-?), 1 Oct 1877, Gessen Land, Minnesota;¹⁷ (2) Daniel Myers (1855-1932), 1919¹⁶

2. Katherine McGuire — 1 May 1861, (probably) Sullivan County, New York;¹⁸ D. 21 Apr 1939, Peever, South Dakota;¹⁸ M. Joseph Renshaw Brown (1854-1930), 24 Feb 1881, Stevens County, Minnesota¹⁹

3. Michael McGuire — B. 5 May 1864, Monticello, New York;²⁰ D. 23 Oct 1936, Superior, Wisconsin;²⁰ M. Mary A. Green (1874-1956), 1 Jul 1908, Superior, Wisconsin²¹
 

Children by Mary Toole:
1. Julia A. McGuire — B. 30 Mar 1871, Washington Lake, Minnesota;¹² D. 18 May 1922, St. Paul, Minnesota;²² M. Louis Martin La Brie (1868-1911), 1 Jun 1891, Minneapolis, Minnesota²³

2. Margaret McGuire — B. 7 Aug 1873, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁴ D. 19 Oct 1923, Minneapolis, Minnesota;²⁴ M. Harry Albert Whittaker (1873-?), 1902, St. Paul, Minnesota²⁵

3. John McGuire — B. 19 Feb 1876, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁶ D. 18 May 1917, Minneapolis, Minnesota²⁷

4. Alice McGuire — B. 1 Apr 1879, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁸ D. 22 Sep 1893, Sibley County, Minnesota²⁹

5. Johanna McGuire — B. 3 Sep 1881, Washington Lake, Minnesota;³⁰ M. William Henning (1877-~1904), 25 Apr 1899, Hennepin County, Minnesota³¹

Sources:
1    Find-a-Grave listing of Patrick McGuire
2    Estimated marriage is based on birth of oldest child Mary
3    Marriage record of Patrick McGuire and Mary Toole, Minnesota, County Marriages, 1853-1983, FamilySearch.org
4    Death record of Patrick McGuire, Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, FamilySearch.org
5    Listing of Julia McGuire, New York, U.S., Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920, Ancestry.com
6    1855 New York State census, Sullivan County, New York
7    1880 U.S. Census, Sullivan County, New York
8    1910 U.S. Census, Roberts, South Dakota listing for Katherine (McGuire) Brown
9    Probate file of Michael Toole, Sibley, Minnesota, Probate Estate Case Files, 1870-1922, FamilySearch.org
10  Deed of sale between Patrick & Mary McGuire and Thomas Madden, 8 Feb 1869, Sibley, Minnesota, Deeds 1867-1873, FamilySearch.org
11  1870 U.S. Census, Belle Plain, Minnesota
12  Birth record of Julia McGuire, Minnesota County Birth Records, 1863-1983, FamilySearch.org
13  Deed of sale between Patrick & Mary McGuire and Patrick O’Keefe, 26 Jul 1878, Sibley, Minnesota, Deeds 1878-1886, FamilySearch.org
14  1887 Minneapolis City Directory
15  1900 U.S. Census, Green Isle, Minnesota
16  Find-a-Grave listing of Mary (McGuire) Sweeney Myers
17  Marriage record of Michael Sweeney and Mary McGuire, Minnesota, U.S., Marriages Index, 1849-1950, Ancestry.com
18  Death certificate of Katherine Brown, Department of Health, State of South Dakota
19  Marriage record of Joseph Renshaw Brown and Katherine McGuire, Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019, Ancestry.com
20  Death record of Michael James McGuire, Wisconsin, U.S., Death Records, 1872-2004, Ancestry.com
21  Marriage record of Michael McGuire and Mary Green, Wisconsin, U.s., Marriage Records, 1820-2004, Ancestry.com
22  Death record of Julia LaBrie, Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002, FamilySearch.org
23  Marriage record of Lewis Labree and Julia McGuire, M., C. M.
24  Death record of Margaret Whittaker, Minnesota Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990, FamilySearch.org
25  Marriage record of Harry Whittaker and Margaret McGuire, M., C. M.
26  Birth record of John McGuire, Minnesota Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916, FamilySearch.org
27  Death record of John McGuire, Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001, FamilySearch.org
28  Birth record of Alice McGuire, M., C. B. R.
29  Death record of Allie McGuire, M., B. & D.
30  Birth record of Johanna McGuire, M., B. & D.
31  Marriage of record William Henning and Johanna McGuire, M., C. M.