This is one of a series of posts about Maurice and Elizabeth Cunningham, their children and grandchildren, and their lives in Columbus, Wisconsin in the late 1800s. You can find the other posts here: Part 1 (overview), Part 2 (the cemetery), Part 3 (the church and farm), and two related posts on Robert Steven Cunningham, the Rooney farm and Wallenstown, Ireland.
Cunninghams of Columbus: Our Current State of Knowledge
Armed with the new information and inspiration of our trip to Columbus, I've been doing more document searches, and I've found more about the lives of Maurice and Elizabeth's children and grandchildren. I covered the lives of Maurice and Elizabeth in Part 1 of this series. Here, I'll discuss their children.
Richard: The eldest Cunningham son was born in 1830 or 1831 in New York. With his parents, he moved to Columbus, and he is living with them in 1860, at the age of 29(1). In 1870, however, he is no longer a member of the household in Columbus. It appears he married around 1862 to Mary McConnell. In the 1870 U.S. Census, there is a Richard Cunningham, age 39, carpenter, born in New York with both parents foreign born. He has a wife, Mary, 30, born in Ireland, and a son, Maurice, 8 born in Wisconsin. They are living in Winona, Minnesota(2). There is no guarantee that this is the correct Richard Cunningham, but all the circumstantial evidence suggests that he is. He's the right age, born in the right place, with his father's profession and a son bearing his father's name. Furthermore, there is a Mary McConnell living in Columbus, Wisconsin, in 1850, born in Ireland around 1840(4)
Unfortunately, there is no record of Richard in the 1880 census, and the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire. The family is also absent from the 1900 census. The next evidence we have comes from 1910, by which time Richard appears to have died. His son is still living in Winona, Minnesota, with his mother, now named Mary Montgomery(3). We do not have a record of any other children born to Richard and Mary. I have not found a record of Richard in any cemeteries in Winona.
Richard's son, Maurice, died in Winona in 1939. He was single and presumably had no children(5).
William: I have been unable to find any additional information about William. He lived with his mother until her presumed death between 1880 and 1885. In 1885, he was head of the household in Columbus, probably still living with his siblings(6). He would have been around 55 at that time. He then disappears from the records (keep in mind the 1890 census was destroyed). I do not know where he is buried.
John: We knew from our visit to the cemetery that John had died in 1873, at the age of 39, and is buried in the Cunningham plot. I now know that he was married and had two children before his death. In the 1870 census, in Columbus, Wisconsin, he was living with his wife, Elsea T. (Richards) Cunningham, age 27, from New York, and his two children, William R. and Corrinna, aged 8 and 3(7). He was listed in the 1860 census as living with his parents. He must have married before 1865.
Elsea remarried a man named Elisha Lyons, but does not appear to have had more children. After she was widowed the second time, she lived with her sister-in-law, Ellen Cunningham(8). This, incidentally, is how I found John's children. Ellen and Elsea were listed as sisters-in-law in the census of 1900, and I started digging into Elsea's past. After Ellen's death in 1902, Elsea lived with her daughter, who had married Houdley Long in 1887(9).
John and Elsea's son, William, died in 1899 in Watertown, Wisconsin, at the age of 37. His death certificate lists his wife's name (Bertha), and his profession (barber), but I do not know if they had children(10).
John and Elsea's daughter, Corrinna, had one son, Frank Long. Corrinna lived until at least 1940, when the census records her in Columbus, Wisconsin, living alone(11). Frank married a woman named Alice and they had two sons, Roger and Walter, born around 1918 and 1920, respectively(12). The family stilled lived in Columbus as of the 1930 census. Frank, Alice, Roger, and Walter are buried in Hillside Cemetery, the protestant side of the Columbus city cemetery. Frank died in 1968, Alice in 1952, and Roger and Walter both died in 1994.(13). Elsea Lyons is also buried there, next to her second husband, with a death date of 1923.
Maurice Jr.: Maurice is a bit of a puzzle. He is living with his parents in 1860, at the age of 21. In the census of 1870, there is a Maurice F. Cunningham, born in New York, living in Winona Minnesota with his wife, Hannah, aged 25, born in Ireland(14). Since it appears that his brother Richard was living in Winona at this time, it seems likely that this Maurice is the son of Elizabeth and Maurice Sr. After the 1870 census, however, Maurice Jr. disappears from the record. I do not know what happened to Hannah, or if they had any children.
Ellen: Ellen lived with her parents and then her brothers until 1885. At some point after that, she moved in with her brother John's widow, Elsea Lyons, with whom she lived until her death in 1902, when she was 66. She is buried in the Cunningham plot in St. Jerome's cemetery. She did not marry or have children.
Elizabeth: In 1870, when she was 22, Eliza was living with her widowed mother and her siblings in Columbus. By 1880 she has left home and does not appear in subsequent censuses. We know from the research done by my Uncle Mike that she joined the Sisters of Charity and took the religious name Sr. Ann Matilda. I have not found any additional information about her.
Michael: Finding a 19th century Michael Cunningham born in New York is the genealogical equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. He was living with his family in Columbus in 1860, but is not there in 1870. He returns by 1880, and was probably still there during the 1885 state census. I do not know when or where he died, or where he is buried. He was not married as of 1885, and he is no longer in Columbus, a least, by 1900.
Edward: Edward lived with his widowed mother and several older siblings on the family farm in Columbus until at least 1885, when he would have been 39. He has a headstone in the Cunningham plot at St. Jerome's cemetery with no dates, only the inscription "Father". Next to him is a headstone for "Anna", again with no dates, only the inscription "Mother." Two headstones in the same style identify their daughters, Nellie and Ida Mae. The birth certificate for Ida Mae identifies her mother's maiden name as Anna Kinney(15).
Nellie was born in 1890 in Milwaukee, so Edward must have married sometime between 1885 and 1890. Unfortunately, the 1900 census lists Nellie (aged 10) and Ida Mae (aged 7) as residents of St. Rose's orphanage in Milwaukee(16). I assumed this meant that Edward and Anna had died young, however, orphanages also took in children whose parents were unable to care for them. In 1905, Nellie and Ida Mae are living with their mother, who is working as a housekeeper for two elderly men from England named Barrow(17). In 1910, this household was joined by Mary Kinney, aged 75, from Ireland, who is presumably Anna's mother(18). From the census data, it appears that Ida, at least, continued to live with her mother in Columbus until her mother's death. She was single and never had children. Nellie died in 1931, according to her tombstone, but I was unable to find any information on her after the 1910 census.
Robert: Robert was the youngest child, and also my direct ancestor. Since this post is already long, I'll write a separate one about Robert.
References:
(1) United States Census, 1860
(2) "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD4R-TDP : accessed 16 August 2015), Richard Cunningham, Minnesota, United States; citing p. 2, family 10, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,218.
(3) "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2P1-3VC : accessed 16 August 2015), Morris J Cunningham in household of Mary Montgomery, Winona Ward 1, Winona, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 193, sheet 10A, family 216, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,742.
(4) "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4D6-TMY : accessed 18 August 2015), Mary J Mcconnell in household of James Mcconnell, Columbus, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing family 109, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
(5) "Minnesota Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD4J-R7V : accessed 16 August 2015), Richard Cunningham in entry for Maurice Cunningham, 29 Jun 1939; citing Minnesota, reference 17432; FHL microfilm 2,243,123.
(6) "Wisconsin, State Census, 1885," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MM9R-LBC : accessed 21 January 2015), William Cunningham, Columbus Town, Columbia, Wisconsin; citing reference 14, State Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,032,696.
(7) "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN9Q-CKY : accessed 17 August 2015), Corinna Cunningham in household of John Cunningham, Wisconsin, United States; citing p. 31, family 256, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,205.
(8) "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMK7-H6F : accessed 17 August 2015), Ellen Cunningham in household of Elsea T Syons, Columbus city Ward 1-3, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing sheet 10B, family 258, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,241,781.
(9) "Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRLQ-ZP1 : accessed 17 August 2015), Hoadley Alling Long and Corinna Cunningham, 12 Dec 1887; citing reference 00027; FHL microfilm 1,275,884.
(10) "Wisconsin, Death Records, 1867-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLFL-RWB : accessed 17 August 2015), Elsa Lyons in entry for William A. Cuningham, 1899; citing Death, Watertown, Jefferson, Wisconsin, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,310,188.
(11) "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7JW-C6C : accessed 17 August 2015), Corrinna E Long, Columbus, Columbus City, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 11-4A, sheet 6A, family 148, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 4466.
(12) "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF2Y-MVQ : accessed 18 August 2015), Frank Long, Columbus, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing sheet 2B, family 66, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,980.
(13) http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSiman=1&GScid=1970130&GSfn=&GSln=Long
(14) "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD4R-P4Z : accessed 16 August 2015), Maurice Cunningham, Minnesota, United States; citing p. 4, family 20, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,218.
(15) "Wisconsin, Births and Christenings, 1826-1926," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR8Q-VX7 : accessed 18 August 2015), Ida Mae A. Cunningham, 23 Jul 1893; citing Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reference item 3 p 371; FHL microfilm 1,305,114.
(16) "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMKL-2M2 : accessed 18 August 2015), Nellie Cunningham in household of Mary A Melody, Milwaukee city Ward 18, Precinct 5, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing sheet 17B, family 341, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,241,805.
(17) "Wisconsin, State Census, 1905," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMSK-FGF : accessed 18 August 2015), Ida Cunningham in household of James Barrow, Columbus town, Columbia, Wisconsin; citing p. 160, line 67, State Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,020,443.
(18) "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPK6-FJM : accessed 18 August 2015), Ida Cunningham in household of Thomas Barrows, Columbus Ward 2, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 12, sheet 3A, family 56, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,375,718.
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