In the basic sense, that means their names, where they were from, the dates of the births and deaths, their spouses, and their children, and their parents. However, this is simply not enough. I also want to know WHO my ancestors were. What did they do for a living? What did they look like? How did they die?
We are, after all, not simply abstract numbers. We're people with all kinds of emotions, interests, flaws, skills and abilities, personality traits, and so much more. This is why one of my favorite primary source records is the obituary. Often, they prove to be a treasure trove of little details and tidbits that help to paint a picture of who these people were.
Though not a recent find, one of my favorite records is an obituary of my great-great-grandfather, Timothy P. Moriarty. The basic version of who he was is the son of Patrick & Mary (Sullivan) Moriarty, born in the village of Alohart in Beautfort, County Kerry, Ireland, on Wednesday, February 11, 1824. He married Catherine Murphy in 1857 or 1858, in Ireland, came to the United States in 1884, and passed away in Southbridge, Massachusetts on Friday, May 13, 1892. However, that doesn't tell me WHO he was.
He was born the day after Simon Bolivar was proclaimed dictator of Peru, several weeks before Tallahassee, Florida, was settled and constructed, and several months before John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson in the U.S. Presidential election, with a little help from Henry Clay's "Corrupt Bargain." He was born a few days before Civil War Union General Winfield Scott Hancock.
Timothy was raised about 25 miles northeast of Cahersiveen, the hometown of famed Irish freedom fighter Daniel O'Connell. It was in Timothy's youth that O'Connell took his fight to Parliament after moving to Dublin. At the time, rural farmers — such as the Moriarty family — were quite dependent on the potato. With grain costly and Catholic Ireland struggling under punitive actions of the British, many rural Irish would have potato as a major part of two or three meals each and every day.
Thus far in my research, Timothy was the first-born, with six siblings born over the next 18 years. In his pre-teen years, southern Ireland struggles under laws that require the poor to pay noticeably more, leading to what became known as a Tithe War. When Timothy is 14, the British Poor Law is enacted in Ireland, installing Dickensian workhouses that essentially took the poor from their land and split up families.
As Timothy reached adulthood, many of the more revolutionary Irish began to view O'Connell — the famed emancipator and liberator — as a sell-out who had become part of the machinery. As the Young Ireland movement took hold, soon something far more dramatic also took hold — phytophthora infestans, the mold that led to a potato blight and, ultimately, the Great Hunger or Potato Famine. County Kerry was among the hardest hit during the potato famine, so presumably Timothy experienced some dire times.
During the famine, an estimated 1 million Irish died, while another million boarded ships heading to the golden shores of the United States. In all, as much as one-quarter of Ireland's population was gone — either due to death or migration. Timothy survived and remained.
In his early 30s, Timothy married Catherine Murphy, 16 years his junior. She had been born in Ireland in 1840 to John & Julia (McGillicuddy) Murphy. Together, they would have eight children from 1859 through 1880. The children were all born in County Kerry, with some listed as coming into the world in Alohart, and others in Killorglin. Alohart and Killorglin are less than 10 miles apart, with the latter being home to the famed Puck Festival. That, perhaps, is a story for another day.
The Moriarty family remained on their farm in Alohart until 1884, when they boarded the S.S. Cephalonia to come to America. It was Saturday, June 21, 1884, that the ship — including the entire Moriarty family — arrived in the Port of Boston. They came to a country that wouldn't so much as see the cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty being laid until later that summer, and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer had yet to be published.
Arriving in Boston, the family settled in the town of Southbridge, just about 60 miles southwest of the city. There were already a small Moriarty presence in town. Now, 134 years later, a number of descendants still call Southbridge home.
Timothy called Southbridge home for just eight years, though he has been buried here for more than 125 years. He died on Friday, May 13, 1892, at the age of 68. An anonymous relative penned an obituary that survives to this day.
"Timothy Moriarty, who died at his home on Pleasant Street on Friday of last week, had been a resident of Southbridge eight years. During that time he cultivated a wide acquaintance and made a host of friends. His sickness dates from April 1, when he had an attack of the grip, which finally developed into pneumonia, from which he died. He was born in Kerry, Ireland, in 1822, and spent his life, until coming to Southbridge in his native place. He was married 34 years ago. He reared a family of seven sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, and who are highly respected members of the community. Mr. Moriarty was a thrifty and industrious man who, as the head of a dutiful and respectful household, surrounded himself with the comforts of a prosperous home. He bought the William Boak place on Pleasant street soon after coming home, and immediately proceeded to improve and beautify it, laying out several hundred dollars for that purpose. By the united assistance of his family, he accumulated other valuable property. He took an interest in the welfare of the town and was always pleased to see improvements going on. The large number of people who attended his funeral, which was held at 2:30 p.m. on last Sunday, attested the high regard in which he was held. Six sons acted as pall bearers. Among those who were present from out of town were: Jeremiah Gallivan and Misses Mary, Nellie and Honora Gallivan, John Sullivan, James Grady, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sweeney, Daniel Sweeney and Miss Kate Sweeney, all of Holyoke; Daniel Fogarty and Miss Kate Fogarty, James Hartnett and Miss Nellie Hartnett, of Three Rivers; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lyons and Miss Nellie Coffey of Thorndike; the Misses Sullivan of Northampton; Timothy Sullivan and Miss Bridget Sullivan of Boston; Philip Scully of Worcester."
Timothy's widow, Catherine, survived another quarter-century, passing in Southbridge on April 19, 1916 — just less than one week before the famed Easter Rising back in her native country of Ireland.
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