Robert Steven Cunningham

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), Part 4 (our current state of knowledge) and related posts on the Rooney farm and Wallenstown, Ireland.

Robert Steven Cunningham, my great-great grandfather

Robert was the youngest son of Maurice and Elizabeth Cunningham.  He was born November 22, 1850, in Pelham, Ulster, New York, the last of 9 children, including 7 boys. 

Before the 1860 census, Robert moved with his family to Columbus, Wisconsin. His father died when he was about 17. At the time of the 1870 census, he was living with his widowed mother and siblings on their farm in Columbus(1).

Robert continued to live in Columbus, but by 1880 he was in a boarding house or hotel in Columbus city proper. The census lists his occupation as "wagonmaker"(2). Perhaps he wanted to live in town, rather than out on the farm, because he worked for a business in town?

Robert married Elizabeth Theresa Rooney, the daughter of John Joseph and Elizabeth Kelly Rooney, in St. Jerome's church on November 24, 1880(3). He was 30 and she was 24. Both bride and groom were born in New York, children of Irish immigrants. The Rooneys had come to the United States on one of the famine ships in 1848. 

The young family lived in Columbus until at least 1888. Three of their children were born there: Robert Francis "Frank" Cunningham in 1881; their daughter Maurie in 1886; and Sylvester in 1888(4).

Sometime between 1888 and 1892, the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. As mentioned in a previous post, two of Robert's brothers had moved to Minnesota (to Winona) in the 1860s. Robert and Elizabeth's move, however, was probably prompted more by the movement of the Rooney family into Minneapolis at around the same time.

"Robert S. Cunningham, wagonmaker", appears in the Minneapolis City Directory of 1892-1893. His address was 318 13th Ave. N.E., and he was working for (or with?) M. Lydon(5). This same announcement appears in later directories, but in 1897 his employer changed to James Iverson and son, 825 2nd NE(6).  

Robert and Elizabeth's youngest child, Aloysius, was born in 1896, in Minnesota. He did not have long to know his father. Robert died August 8, 1905, at the age of 54. He is buried in St. Anthony cemetery in Minneapolis, with Elizabeth and Aloysius(7).

Robert and Elizabeth's oldest son, Frank, had two children: my grandfather, Robert Francis Cunningham, and Helen Cunningham Bidwell. Although both have passed away, their children are still living.

In 1913, Robert and Elizabeth's daughter, Maurie, married a man by the unlikely name of Prosper E. Boos. Perhaps unable to stomach the first name of "Maurie" while saddled with a last name like "Boos", she shows up as "Marie" in every subsequent census. She had two sons, Robert Aloysius Boos and Edward Prosper Boos. The family seems to have moved between Minnesota and North Dakota several times. She died in California in 1961.

Robert and Elizabeth's second son, Sylvester Everistus, married Mary Koester, but I could find very little else about his life. He died in 1925 in Red Wing, Minnesota, at the age of 37(8). I do not know if he had children. 

Robert and Elizabeth's youngest son, Aloysius Ambrose, died at he age of 18 and is buried with his parents(9).

References:

(1) "United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN97-D14 : accessed 21 January 2015), Eliza Cunningham, Wisconsin, United States; citing p. 17, family 118, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,205.

(2)  "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN4H-89N : accessed 21 January 2015), Robt Cunningham in household of Julius Foe, Columbus, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district 18, sheet 33A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1420; FHL microfilm 1,255,420.

(3) "Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XRLQ-MMH : accessed 21 January 2015), Elizabeth Cunningham in entry for Robert Cunningham and Elizabeth T. Rooney, 24 Nov 1880; citing reference 01352; FHL microfilm 1,275,883.

(4) United States Census, 1900

(5)http://box2.nmtvault.com/Hennepin2/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=Minneapolis+City+Directories%2fmnmhcl00%2f20130429%2f00000001&collection_filter=false&query1=Cunningham&query1_field=0&query2_modifier=0&query2=&query2_field=0&query3_modifier=0&query3=&query3_field=0

(6) http://box2.nmtvault.com/Hennepin2/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=Minneapolis+City+Directories%2fmnmhcl00%2f20130429%2f00000002&collection_filter=false&query1=Cunningham&query1_field=0&query2_modifier=0&query2=&query2_field=0&query3_modifier=0&query3=&query3_field=0

(7)  "Find A Grave Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVLJ-NJDH : accessed 21 January 2015), Robert S Cunningham, 1905; Burial, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States of America, Saint Anthony Cemetery; citing record ID 96746871, Find a Grave,http://www.findagrave.com.

(8)  "Minnesota, Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDQW-QKS : accessed 1 April 2015), Sylvester Everistus Cunningham, 20 Sep 1925; citing Red Wing, Goodhue, Minnesota, reference rn4787; FHL microfilm 2,218,702.

(9)  "Minnesota, Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FDS4-K27 : accessed 18 January 2015), Robert Cunningham in entry for Aloysuis A. Cunningham, 05 Aug 1914; citing Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, reference 19488; FHL microfilm 2,138,915.