McGonigle & O'Brian Census Information
History of the McGonigle and O’Brien Families
(As told by official documents)
This is a story about two families – O’Brien and McGonigle. What you will see is information regarding these two families and their travels. Here we attempt to ‘connect the dots’ and show how these families are intertwined with our own line of McGonigles.
Francis McGonigle Obituary
The following shows Frank McGonigle’s obituary. Normally obituaries provide a brief description of a person’s life and a list of his or her descendents. This obituary was written by Carrie McGonigle and contained a mystery. She wrote about a brother who lived at Rock Island, but did not state his name. If there was one brother, perhaps there might be other siblings as well.
F. M’Gonigle is Summoned Early Sunday (July 28, 1930)
Death comes to well known and long-time resident after illness of but two days from heart disease – funeral services to be held on Wednesday
Francis McGonigle, most of whose life has been passed in Belvidere, died at this home, 302 Gilman street, at 3:30 o’clock Sunday morning following an illness of two days from heart disease.
He was born in County Donegal, Ireland, June 15, 1851, and came to Belvidere when 19 years old. He had lived here since continuously with the exception o 10 years passed in Colorado. He was married in 1875 to Miss Catherine Murrin, of this city. She preceded him in death in 1916.
Three of his four daughters born to them survive, they being Miss Caroline at home, Mrs. James Tripp, of Spring township, and Mrs. Frank Ryan, of Kimball, S. D. The other daughter, Mrs. A. Mulloy of Detroit, Mich., died four years ago. A brother lives at Rock Island. There are 13 grandchildren.
Mr. McGonigle was employed for several years at the Borden factory here and more recently was employed by the Keene-Belvidere Canning Company.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday morning. Private rites at the home at 8:30 o’clock will be followed by the services at St. James Catholic Church at 9 o’clock and burial will be in St. James Cemetery.
For several months we were trying to solve the mystery of the ‘missing brother’. Going through old parish records for the Killybegs’ Catholic Church we found a marriage record for Peter McGonigle and Anne Murrin. This intrigued us. Finally, a descendent of Peter and Anne was found living in Austin, Texas. Part of this McGonigle clan moved to Texas in 1917 and lived in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. The following information was taken from old parish records:
Parish records for St. Mary’s of the Visitation, Killybegs, County Donegal, Ireland
Spouses: Peter McGonigle and Anne Murrin
Date: July 15, 1863
Sponsors: Owen McCunningham and Alice McBrearty
We could find no children born to this couple in the old baptismal records. Either they did not live in the area where they were married, or they moved away. Peter and Anne McGonigle did move to America, and several years later gave birth to a daughter in New York City. Their daughter was named ‘Mary Anne’.
1860 US Federal Census
Before we go any further it might be interesting to note two families that lived in Belvidere, Illinois in 1860. They were the McGonigle and O’Brien families. As you will see these families continued to live next to each other for at least 20 years, and probably longer. John and Bridget O’Brien lived next door to a McGonagle family. Margaret McGonagle is indicated as ‘wife’ but we do not know who the head of the household was at this time.
Free Inhabitants in the Village of Belvidere in the County of Boone State of Illinois enumerated by me, on the 27th day of July 1860. Post Office Belvidere.
1870 US Federal Census
In 1870 Peter McGonigle and his family lived in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. The 1870 census says Peter worked as a Boot Shoe Maker. Most everyone else worked in the coal mines during this time as this was Pennsylvania coal mining country. At this time we find ‘Condy Line’ living in the same house. His relation to the McGonigle family is not known.
Peter McGonigle Census: Inhabitants of Mauch Chunk Borough, County of Carbon, State of Pennsylvania on July 10, 1870 (Now this area is known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania)
By 1870 the O’Brien and McGonigle families still lived next to each other. James O’Brien was 7 years old at this time and he was the son of John and Bridget O’Brien. James eventually married Mary Anne McGonigle, daughter of Peter McGonigle and Anne Murrin. Next door lived the William McGonigle family.
The census for the ‘Incorporated town of Belvidere, Illinois’ in the County of Boone.
 |
 |
1880 US Federal Census
By 1880 Peter had moved his family to Mercer County, Iowa. Here he worked as a coal miner, and may have picked up this skill while living in the coal mining region of Pennsylvania. Peter’s brother, Neal, also lived with this family. In later census records we see Neal moved to America in 1875. The McGonigle family’s address was Cable, Illinois. Richland Grove Township, where Cable was located, was adjacent to Rock Island County.
Inhabitants of Richland Grove Township, in the County of Mercer, State of Illinois for the Village of Cable.
Meanwhile, back in Belvidere we find the following McGonigle family still living in the 1st Ward. Do you see the entry for 1 year-old William McGonigle? In the 1900 census (20 years later) one finds a 21 year-old boarder named William McGonigle living with the Francis McGonigle family. Francis McGonigle and Kate Murrin McGonigle lived in Leadville, Colorado for a time. Our family lore tells us there was a William McGonigle living in Leadville at the same time.
Living next door to the McGonigle family we find the O’Brien family again. By this time James was a young man 17 years of age.
Two houses away from the O’Brien family lived Martin O’Brien.
Eight houses away from Martin O’Brien lived still another O’Brien family. What interests us about this family? The wife, Mary O’Brien, was born Mary McGonigle.
1900 US Federal Census
Unfortunately for us the 1890 US Census does not survive. Most records were destroyed by fire; therefore, you will see a 20 year gap between census records here. Neil (or Neal) McGonigle was still living in Illinois and he was still working as a coal miner. His son, Hugh, worked as a grocery store clerk. The younger McGonigle siblings all attended school, while the mother tended the house.
US Federal Census; State of Illinois, Mercer County, Richland Grove Township, Village of Cable. Census enumerated on First day of June, 1900.
Peter McGonigle and his family still lived in Denver. At some point this family left Leadville, Colorado, and moved to the city.
US Federal Census; Precinct 7, Denver City, Colorado, Arapahoe County, June 9, 1900
(Editor’s note: I received the following email from Brian Hicks, descendent of Peter McGonigle. “I found Hugh McGonigle in the 1900 census yesterday. He was living in New Mexico. He was Mary Ann’s younger brother. The census confirmed what I was told as a child, that he fought with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish American War.” Hugh McGonigle was a Rough Rider.)
The following shows the O’Brian family living in Jackson County, Kansas City, Missouri. A few years later the mother, Mary Anne, would die of appendicitis. Peter McGonigle lived with this family after his own wife, Anne Murrin McGonigle, died.
US Federal Census; State of Missouri, Jackson County, Kansas City, Ward 6. Enumerated on June 6, 1900.
1910 US Federal Census
In 1910 we find Peter McGonigle living in Denver, Colorado. We do not know who the O’Connell family was or if they were relatives of his; however, Peter lived there as a boarder. Sometime later he moved to Kansas City and lived with the James Henry O’Brien family.
US Federal Census; Precinct 4, Denver, Colorado.
Neil McGonigle still lived with his family in Mercer County, Illinois. He was still working as a coal miner.
US Federal Census; Richland Grove Township; Mercer County; Cable Village. Enumerated on 15th day of April, 1910.
During this same time we find the O’Brien family still living in their Kansas City home. One name of interest though is the housekeeper, Margaret Crowe. Margaret commented later that Peter would tell her how beautiful Donegal was.
US Federal Census; State of Missouri, Jackson County, Kansas City.
1920 US Federal Census
Neil moved his family to Preemption Township, which was next door to Richland Grove. Only one child remained in this house and that was Hugh McGonigle. By this time the other children married and had families of their own.
US Federal Census; State of Illinois; Mercer County; Preemption Township; City of Matherville Village.
1930 US Federal Census
Neil and Annie McGonigle lived in Matherville in 1930. This same year our great ancestor, Francis (Frank) McGonigle, died. Do you recall that Frank’s obituary mentioned a brother living in Rock Island? Matherville was only a few miles from the Rock Island County line.
State of Illinois, Matherville village, Mercer County, Preemption Township, April 1930
The 1930 US Census shows the following McGonigle surnames living in Rock Island County, Illinois. This includes a search for McGonigle variants such as McGonagle, McGonigal, McGunnegal, among others. The heads-of-household listed here are sons of Neil and Annie McGonigle. The others mentioned are either their wives or their children.
Death Certificates:
Death Certificate for Illinois Age
MCGONIGLE HUGH EDWARD M/W Y-52 0011489 1935-03-15 MERCER PREMPTION
MC GONIGLE NEIL M/W UNK 0660057 1931-03-29 MERCER MATHERVILLE 31-03-31
MC GONIGLE ANNIE BRIDGET F/W UNK 6033507 1936-11-21 COOK CHICAGO 36-11-24
They were buried in St. John’s Cemetery, in Reynolds, Illinois.
Rock Island and Moline, Illinois Directories, 1882-92
William McGonigal r 1540-12 avenue laborer Moline
Wm. A. McGonagil First avenue, s. e. corner Lincoln carpenter 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885 Moline Ill
Wm. A. McGonagil 313 Fifth clerk 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888 Moline, ILL
William A. McGonagil r. Stewartville machinist 1891, 1892 Rock Island
Located across the Mississippi River from Iowa in northern Illinois, Rock Island and Moline are sister cities that boasted a population of about 15,000 in 1890. This database is a collection of five directories for the city originally published between 1885 and 1892. It is a listing of city residents in those years. In addition to providing the resident's name, it provides their address and occupational information. It includes the names of over 40,100 people, mostly heads of households. For the researcher of ancestors from northwestern Illinois this can be an extremely valuable collection.
Denver 1895 City Directory
McGonigle Hugh, clk A D Tel Co, r 3850 Wynkoop.
McGonigle Peter, lab Grant Smelter, r 3850 Wynkoop.