Mrs. Bridget Foran Quinn, widow of Thomas Quinn, emigrated from the town of Geashill, near Dublin, Queens County (old name), in 1863. Her husband, said to be a school teacher, was killed while working in a sand pit. She traveled in a sailing ship with my father Thomas Foran Quinn and possibly some of her younger children. Some of her older children came to this country before her. She was six weeks on board the ship and apparently carried some of her provisions and her meals for herself and children were prepared on the top deck.
There were the following children:
- Mary — Mrs. John D’Arcy
- John — Married Mary McNamara (no children)
- Eliza — Mrs. Mark O’Connell (‘O’ later dropped)
- Patrick — Thought to have been killed by horse thieves
- Bartholomew — Single
- Thomas (1846–1919) — Married Alice Lappin Houston
The D’Arcy’s had several children. All descendants however are children of Mary Ann (D’Arcy) Rashford. They are:
- Marie Rashford Simmons
- Margaret Rashford Martin
- Lawrence Rashford
- Catherine Rashford Monroe
Eliza Quinn O’Connell’s children were:
- Mary Connell Manley — No Children
- Elizabeth Connell Cotter — Children: Mark, William, Elizabeth
- Rose Connell Farrell — No Children
- Margaret Connell McGuiar — Children: Stewart, Margaret, Elizabeth, Mark, Marcella
Thomas Foran Quinn and Alice Houston had the following children:
- Marcella Bridget married Daniel Henry Pryor; their children were: Frank, Houston, Margaret, Evelyn, Harry
- Bartholomew married Mary Rauscher (No Children)
- John Francis married Elizabeth Cunningham; their children were: Leo A., Irene, John E., William, Marian, Joseph
- Edward Michael married Anna Clark and adopted son Robert W.
- Mary Alice married Vincent Stockbridge; their children: Alice Agnes
- Thomas — unmarried
- William Bernard married Margaret Shaughnessy; their children: Paul C., James Patrick — unmarried
Prior to the Chicago fire, 1872, Father and Mother Quinn stopped in Chicago to visit Edward Quinn who was Father’s Uncle. Edward was a Judge and had four daughters. A son who had been a soldier in the Civil War was killed in an accident on the way home after discharge. One daughter is thought to have eloped with a man named Harmon.
John Foran Quinn used to tell yarns of his life in Ireland. At a wake he attended, where much “poteen” was imbibed, the “late lamented,” in his coffin, was stood up in a corner and a “hoedown” took place.
At another, he and others tied a rope around the feet of the corpse, the other end being tied to a donkey outside the window. Straw was tied to the donkey’s tail and the Devil ran away with the remains.
Note: Having known my Uncle, I can believe these yarns.
When Thomas Foran Quinn arrived in New York he worked as an apprentice to his Uncle Michael Foran who had a store. Michael Foran had a son also, name unknown. Years later John F. Quinn was unable to obtain any information other than that some people in the neighborhood recalled the Forans.
There was a Mrs. James Carroll who lived in Franklin Springs whom Thomas Foran called “Aunt Rose.”
There were Quinns and O’Hanlon’s or Hanlons in Utica whom Bartholomew claimed were relatives.