Ashland Bike Ride 1986

One of the early family gatherings occurred in 1986.  William had convinced the Greg to do another bike ride, and Sean and Andi tagged along.  The ride was in Ashland, Oregon...so the rest of the family decided to tag along as well.  Not everyone made it, no Tim, no Pat.  But it was a pretty good turn out for those in those years of growing children and new jobs.

 Somehow, Mom & Dad don't appear in the pictures I have, but they were there.  All five cousins made it,  and they had a grand time playing..

 I did mention Andi tagged along on the bike ride, what I didn't mention is that she completed all 50 miles of that ride. At the end, her encouraging Uncles and her Dad urged her to the finish line.  And there she was...at TWELVE .. the youngest individual to EVER complete the ride... quite an achievement!!

Joseph Phillip Haffey

Joseph Phillip the son of John James Haffey and Margaret Keenan was born 24 August 1847, maybe.  Joseph, son of John and Margaret,  was  baptized on 3 Oct 1847.  For a long time, other researchers tried to convince me that this was an earlier Joseph who died and our Joseph was born during the period where no registers for St. James Colgan parish exist.  They would use the date on his death certificate,  24 Aug 1853,  which is also the date given in the Bay County History, as proof.

However, in those early years finding the census records for Ontario was difficult.  We now have a census record for the Haffey family in 1861 which states that Joseph is 13 years old.  The 1871 census gives his age as 22.   So lacking any evidence to the contrary including the 1851 census I contend that the Joseph christened in 1847 is ours!

In a family of farmers, it seems Joseph was not meant to stay on the farm.  In 1871 he is listed with his family in the census, the entry giving the information that he is a clerical student at college. Joseph spent six years studying at St. Michael's College (now part of the University of Toronto) and then stayed on for one year as a teacher.  Following that he taught in the public schools for two years. When Joseph passed away, the family wrote to St. Michael's at the behest of the University of Michigan in a quest to get a list of the degrees he had earned there.  They received a letter stating that no one had ever received as many awards.  Marie, his daughter, remembers that they were listed in the letter, however, the letter did not survive the ensuing generations.

In 1879, Joseph left Canada to attend the School of Law at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1882, newly graduated, he applied for citizenship and went to work for Lindner and Porter in Bay City.  Two years later he was admitted to the bar.  Eventually he became a partner and when Lindner retired the firm was known as Porter & Haffey

Joseph was known for his honesty and integrity,  he gave of himself and did not let the pursuit of power or money take over his practice of the law. While this earned him the respect of his colleagues, it did not always cushion him from the realities of the practice of law.  He was quick to tell his sons not to follow him into the practice.

 

In 1888 Joseph married Mary Ann Murphy in Port Huron, Michigan. The record of the marriage is found in the Bay County Marriage Register. They had met while he was in school in Ann Arbor.  

It was, perhaps, not the happiest of marriages.  It seems, according to the memoirs of daughter Grace,  that Mary was not content with his decision to not pursue riches. Perhaps the childhood of hearing stories of the mill that should have been in the family, or the poverty she had supposedly endured as a child caused her to always want more.  Bridget Lonergan's Legacy of discontent did not lead to a happy life and it seems that there was a sad aura over the family.

Joseph was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.  The 1894 Bay City Directory lists him as the Vice President of the Bay City chapter.

In 1905 Joseph joined his siblings in quit claiming his share of the family farm to their brother John.  
All of the children of John and Margaret are mentioned in this quit claim.

On 8 Nov 1917 the Bay City Times Tribune reported.....

Joseph P Haffey is Called to Reward
Well known lawyer and citizen succumbs to long illness
Had Practiced law here for past Thirty-Three Years

Joseph P. Haffey died early this (Thursday) morning, at his residence, Tenth street, following a long illness.  Death came peacefully and quietly, as it was not known that the end had come until members of the family went to his room and found that he had expired.  Mr. Haffey's illness started about three years ago, but he apparently was on the road to recovery after spending a winter in the south.  Within the past few months, however, his ailment became incipient and he gradually declined.

Bay City Times Tribune
10 Nov 1917

Joseph P. Haffey was one of the best known citizens of Bay county and one of the leading attorneys of this section of the state.  He had practiced law here since 1884 after graduating from the University of Michigan.  He had previously read law in the office of Lindner & Porter and later became a member of the firm, its name then being Lindner, Porter & Haffey.  Some time afterwards the firm became Porter & Haffey , which continued up to this time.  Mr. Haffey was born near Toronto, Ont. August 24, 1853, and was a graduate of St. Michael's college, Toronto.  He taught school in that city for about two years and then came to Michigan.  He was married in Port Huron to Miss Mary Murphy, of Stratford, Ont., and five children blessed the union.  They with their mother survive and are as follows: Joseph who is teller in the Bay County bank; Misses Marie and Grace, teachers in the city schools; Thomas J.., an ensign in the U.S. navy and now in charge of a gun crew, somewhere in the Atlantic, and Miss Isabel, who is a student at Ypsilanti.  He also leaves several brothers and sisters.  Mr. Haffey was a man who impressed his fellows with his stern and uncompromising honesty, by his thoroughness and industry and by his courage of his convictions.  He was a good neighbor and friend and a conscientious husband and father.  He was a credit to his profession and to the community.  In politics Mr. Haffey was a democrat and fraternally he was a member of the A.O.H. and of the Knights of Columbus.  Funeral arrangements have not been completed. 
A few days later the paper reported on the funeral and the resolution passed by the County Bar Association.

Uncle Tom with his Madden
grand-nephews at Lake Tahoe

Joseph Haffey and Mary Murphy had five children

1. Joseph (1890-1970) lived in the family home his entire life.  A banker, he never married.
2. Marie (Ree) (1891-1971) was a teacher.  She also remained in the family home and never married.
3. Grace (1893 - 1986) also started out as a teacher.  She married John O'Connell in 1921.  They were living in San Diego, CA by 1940.  Grace and John had five sons.
4.  Thomas (1895 - 1978) graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1915.  He spent his entire career with the Navy.  After retirement he returned home, although he spent quite a bit of time visiting various relatives.  
5. Isabel m. Frances Martin Madden

• Joseph Phillip Haffey  [Dropbox] 
• Adjala, Ontario, Canada  [Dropbox] 

James Madden and Mary

The death certificate of James Madden, the immigrant to Albany, NY gives his parents as James and Mary.  It is possible this is a mistake but until evidence is found to contradict the information those names will be used.  In fact they make sense as the name James is the most common in the known descendants of our known James. 

The only known child of James and Mary at this point is 

1. James Madden abt 1818 Ire - 1894 NY.  James married Anna Fitzsimmons, most likely in Limerick before 1850/1846.  The following is a list of the descendants of James and Anna, assuming Willie fits at the beginning. Only those who have passed away or were born over 100 years ago are listed by name. 

1. Willie abt 1846 Ireland -  bef 1855 
2. Marie  1852 NY - 1855 NY
3. Thomas Francis  1854 NY -  1903 MI m. Elizabeth Silbereisen
1. Thomas James 1892 MI - 1963 MN m. Sarah Helen Hood
2. Francis Martin 1896 MI - 1966 CA m. Isabel Louise Haffey  (part 2) (part 3)
1. Thomas Francis Joseph 1922 MI - 1992 AZ m. Gloria Bear



Colleen 1952

1. Three children
2. James Howard 1924 MI - 1998 WA m. Jean Ann English (part 2) (part 3) (part4) (part 5) 
1. Colleen Marie Madden 1949 IN -1973 WA m. Schneider m2. Bill Roberts 
1. one child living 
2. Five others still living
3. Jane Marie 1926 MI - 2005 CA m. Charles Marqueling
1. Five Children still living
4. Mary Patricia 1930 MI - 1996 CA m. Michael Thornton
1. Two Children still living
5. John Joseph 1930 MI - 1930 MI 
3. Carl Louis Madden 1899 MI - 1964 MN m. Helen Catherine Borgman
1. Charles Louis 1925 MI - 2011 MN m. Nancy Abigail Potvin
2. four others still living
4. Margaret 1855 NY - bet 1860 & 1869 NY, 
5. Ellen 1858 NY - 1945 MN
6. John 1859 NY - 1905 NY m Dora Strong  (no children)
7. Sarah 1861 NY - prob. before 1932   m Winfield Scott Morris (no children)
8. James Howard 1865 NY - 1923 IL m. Lillian McGillan
1. Virginia Ketinge 1906 WI - 1911 MN
2. Judith Elnore 1912 WI - 1912 MN
3. Betty A 1915 MN - 

Madden Family Ancestry

John Dunn and family ... cont.

The records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal show the family of John Dunn arriving in Montreal on the Quebec steamer in 1846.  The family is comprised of one male adult, four female adults and 3 children. They are on their way to Toronto.  Is this our family?  I fits the time we expect them to arrive in Ontario but the family makeup is off.  Only Bridget and Ellen were known to be under 12 (children) and we only show two daughters over 12, Mary Ann and Margaret.  The absence of the older sons is less of a worry, they might well have traveled on their own, and in fact Cornelius and Thomas have not been found in Canada, and perhaps the extra female is a wife of one of the sons, and perhaps there might be a grandchild.  In other words the record could easily work..BUT we just don't know.

Having found the family in Ireland, I am eager to find them in Canada, but the search has been difficult.  I have not found John anywhere.  Family tradition is that Bridget died not long after the families arrival in Canada, which leaves the possibility that John remarried.  I have looked for John with Sarah (the name the family had given to the mother of the known children), and Bridget (the name on all of their christening records) and with no wife.  I guess the next step is to look for all John Dunns that might fit!!!