Tom Sullivan Remembers his Madigan Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles

Excerpts from "Notes About Things I Remember" by Thomas A. Sullivan, March 4, 1996.

Grandparents

I never knew my maternal grandfather. [He died in 1890.]  My maternal grandmother [Bessie Thompson Madigan] ran a grocery store to raise her children.  When I came on the scene she had retired and owned the two-flat on Fillmore St.  When we moved she sold it and bought a two flat on Congress St.  There she fell down the basement stairs and broke her hip, being confined to a wheel chair for the rest of her life.  The congress highway came through so she sold out and bought a three-flat.  Aunt May (Mary) and Mother took turns cleaning and attending her home.  John and Harry lived with her.  There was another girl, Nan, who lived in Denver.

Madigan Aunts and Uncles

• Mary (Aunt May) was very close to Mother.  She lived on Flournoy St. with her husband, George Cooley, a post office executive, and his mother.  Claude died a lingering death from "blood poisoning", before antibiotics.  Burdette Harbison, a nephew of Mrs. Cooley, used to visit the sick [Claude] and after Claude died continued to visit.  He and Aunt May eventually married and he moved in.
• Nellie (Mother) worked at Donnelly Bindery alongside of Laura (Margaret's Mother-to-be) before their marriages.  I can't remember all her stories about my Father's courtship.
• Nanette (Aunt Nanny) Ruth's Mother married George Rooney, a Santa Fe executive who had an artistic flair.  He was stationed in Denver and later in San Francisco.  Ruth attended the Art Institute School in Chicago and when she graduated got a job there.  When George died, Nan moved out from San Francisco to stay with Ruth whose roommate [Margaret Larsen]  moved out and got married.  Nan was a sweet and gracious lady.
• Harry (Patrick) was a steamfitter who went into the contracting business and lost his shirt in the great 1930 depression.  He also was in the saloon business before and after the contracting business.  The first saloon I remember was at 4700 W. Harrison.  He had a number of politician and political hanger-ons as customers and was rumored to be involved with the prohibition rum-runners, etc.  Later he had a saloon out in Cicero and an assistant states Attorney from Chicago was shot-down coming out of it.  No executioners found.  After this he started a family-type saloon on Madison Street just east of Crawford, and prospered.  Had a second floor for private parties.  His brother John worked days and Harry worked nights.  The employees were very friendly but rumor had it they "stole him blind" particularly after he and John had a quarrel and John quit.  As a result he failed, which along with the failure of his construction business earlier, left him broke and he went to work as a bartender in a Chicago suburb.  Meanwhile Margaret Saunders' husband died, she was involved in a train crossing accident, lost a leg and she and Harry married.  She got him out of the saloon business and he worked for the sanitary district as a steamfitter.  He lived with her about 10 years.  She was confined to a wheelchair.  He told me he felt he was doing penance for his early life as a saloon keeper and his early relationship with Margaret.  He was a man of substance and many of the important friends he had made through the years attended his funeral.
• John, the youngest, was without ambition.  When he was drafted in WWI he managed to get into the entertainment side of the army and spent his time in Europe boxing to entertain the troupes.  After the war he set up pins in a bowling alley, drove a truck for Uncle Harry's contracting business, and was a bartender at Harry's Madison Street saloon.  He felt he was sort of assistant manager and built up quite a clientele at the bar in the afternoon, with free drinks.  This could have caused the break up with Harry, but after he left the stealing started.  He worked at a local saloon for a while then married Mary, Harry's cook and went to a place she had in Hayward, Wisconsin, where they lived on his army pension.  When he was about 95 Johnny and I visited him, but that's another story.   He died a couple of years later.

Ellen Madigan, Birth Certificate, 1880

Ellen Madigan was born on May 29, 1880. She was the second child of Bridget Thompson and Patrick Madigan. She was born at home at 3644 Dashield and delivered by mid-wife, Anna Hay. Perhaps, given the midwife was named "Anna," it is the reason Ellen/Nell was "named" Anna on her birth certificate.

John J. Madigan Letter, 1972

John J. Madigan, son of Patrick Madigan and Bridget Thompson, wrote a letter to his nephew, Thomas A. Sullivan, on December 18, 1972.  In the letter, John responds to a request from Thomas' grandson, John Sullivan, who had requested some genealogical information on John Madigan's parents.

I have reproduced the letter, from a copy received from John Sullivan, in its entirety. I received the copy sometime in the early 1990s.  Twenty years later, John Madigan's memories have all been verified!

Note that two of the children of John Thomas and Bridget Reidy are not listed: Patrick (1857-b1866) and Marian/Mary (1865-b1866).  It is believed they died in Ireland as young children and would not have been known to John Madigan, the letter's author.  This letter also is posted on the Thompson/Reidy Genealogy Blog.

The Origin of the Thompson and Madigan Names

There is so much information today on the web.  I found, what appears to be some good history on both Thompson and Madigan names.  Similar content was also located in The Dictionary of Irish Family Names by Ida Grehan.

Thompson

This famous name is one of the patronymic forms of the name Thom or Tom, diminutives of the male personal name Thomas. The given name is of Biblical origin, being an Aramaic byname meaning "twin", borne by one of Christ's disciples; in England the name Thomas was found only as the name of a priest before the Norman Conquest of 1066, but thereafter became one of the most popular male personal names, generating a wide variety of surnames. The patronymic forms from diminutives, such as Thomson (the Scottish form) and Thompson, found mainly in England and Northern Ireland, appear in the 14th Century, the first recording being from Scotland. The intrusive "p" of the English and Irish forms was for easier pronunciation, although there are two old wives tales that the 'p' meant 'prisoner', or in Ireland 'Protestant', both are incorrect. Examles of early recordings include John Thompson in the Charters of the Abbey of Whitby, Yorkshire, in 1349, and Thomas Tomson, who married Elizabeth Harris at the church of St Jon the Evangelist, Dublin, on December 12th 1631. The earliest Coat of Arms is probably the following granted in Yorkshire in 1559. Per fess silver and black, with a fesse embattled between three falcons counterchanged, belled, beaked and jessed in gold. The crest is an arm holding a gold truncheon . One of the very earliest settlers in the New World, was William Thompson recorded as 'living at Elizabeth Cittie, Virginea', before February 16th 1623. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Thomson, which was dated 1318, in the "Annals of Scotland", during the reign of King Robert 1 of Scotland, known as "The Bruce", 1306 - 1329. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax.

Madigan

This is a famous Irish clan surname recorded as Madden, Madigan, and MacAvaddy. It derives from the pre-10th century Olde Gaelic O'Madain, translating as 'The descendant of the son of the hound'. Most Irish surnames originate from a chief's nickname, O'Kennedy, for instance means 'The descendant of the ugly headed one!' The O'Madain's originated from lands on the River Shannon in County Galway, at one time holding over 25,000 acres. Even today nameholders are still numerous in that part of Ireland. The Madigan branch of the clan are regarded as almost exclusively a Clare-Limerick family, although a branch are to be found in Counties Antrim and Derry in Ulster. Early surname holders included the Rev. Samuel Madden (1680 - 1760), a famed philanthropist, whilst Richard Madden, (1798 - 1886) was the author of the book 'The United Irishman'. During the infamous 'Potato Famine' of 1846, many name holders emigrated to both England and America. Amongst these were Walter Madden and his wife Mary, and their children Richard aged five and Alice, a baby. They sailed from Galway, bound for New York on the ship 'Junius ' on May 1st 1846. Another recording is that of Hannah Madigan aged twenty two, who left Belfast on the ship 'Howard' for New York, on July 23rd 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Dermot O'Madadhain, which was dated circa 1100. He was chief of the Ui Maine, Connacht, during the reign of King Henry I st of England, known as 'The Just", 1100 - 1135. 

Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Source The Internet Surname Database accessed June 5, 2010

Calvary Cemetery Past and Present

Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois was consecrated in 1859.  It is located at the northern boundary of Chicago and Lake Michigan.  Many individuals who had been interred in the Catholic section of the City Cemetery in Chicago were reinterred here when the City Cemetery, located at North and Clark, was closed.

Initially, Calvary had a lagoon, which can be seen in the first photo above.  Eventually, this was filled in to create a shrine section.  Also, the main road which runs from Sheridan Road to Chicago Avenue, was flanked with Elm trees which were planted when the Cemetery opened.  A hundred years later, in the 1960s, when Dutch Elm disease struck, they were cut down.  A view of the original tree lined lane is seen above.

Patrick and Bessie (Thompson) Madigan are buried here as are three of their children, James, Thomas and Harry (Patrick).  Also buried her are many members of the Sullivan and Connor families.   For information on these families see Connor/Colfour Genealogy and Sullivan/Connor Genealogy blogs.


Today's main entrance of Calvary Cemetery is off of Chicago Avenue.  Currently there are no new graves available.

Old photos courtesy Calvary Cemetery.   Front gate photo, Elaine Beaudoin, 2010.

Bessie Madigan gravesite, Calvary Cemetery

Bessie Thompson Madigan and three of her children are buried in lot N15, block 6, section Z of Calvary Cemetery.

On March 15, 1899, Bessie Madigan purchased this gravesite which measures 8 X 10 feet.  It was purchased so she could bury her 15 year old son, Thomas Madigan.  On November 2, 1964, someone, possibly Nell Madigan Sullivan, Bessie's daughter, paid $50.00 which was the initial installment so the grave would have "income care."  It was paid in full in August, 1965.

Interred:
Thomas Madigan, 15 years, 2 mos., buried March 15, 1899, son of Bessie and Patrick Madigan
James Madigan, aged 20, buried January 26, 1909, son of Bessie and Patrick Madigan
Bessie Madigan, buried January 4, 1936, self
Harry Madigan, buried December 1, 1956, son of Bessie and Patrick Madigan

When I first viewed the gravesite ten years ago, the stone was partially covered with soil and years of grass growth.  It appeared to be broken off.  What was visible was:  "DIGAN".  On April 20, 2010, the cemetery was again visited and many of the grave stones had been cleaned, this one included.  It was now possible to read it:   "P. MADIGAN".

Thomas Madigan, 1883-1898

Thomas Madigan, born September 27, 1883, was the fourth child of Patrick and Bridget Madigan. He was born at home at 3644 Dashield Street in Chicago. At the age of 15 he was working as a clerk. Thomas had a pulmonary hemorrhage and died on December 12, 1898 at 93 Sibley Street in Chicago, possibly his place of employment. Because he died in the winter, his body was held in the cemetery vault awaiting the spring thaw. Bridget Thompson Madigan purchased an 8 x 10 gravesite, Lot 15, block 6, section Z, in Calvary Cemtery, Evanston, Illinois on March 15, 1899 so Thomas could be laid to rest. Along with Thomas in the gravesite is his Mom, Bridget Thompson Madigan, and brothers James and Harry (Patrick).