More Clare-born in Manitowoc County WI, resettling in Nebraska

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smcarberry
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More Clare-born in Manitowoc County WI, resettling in Nebraska

Post by smcarberry » Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:43 pm

In addition to the Martin McNamara- Johanna/Judy McMahon family of upper East Clare who joined a vibrant Irish community in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin of the mid-1800s, here are some others of Clare origin [names placed in bold by me] who left that WI place for the very same Nebraska county. Often in American local history books, Clare-born parents are described in their son's biography.

"P. J. KELLY
Among the well-known. and prominent farmers and stockmen of Richardson county is P. J. Kelly, the owner of one hundred and sixty-acres of prime farming land in the northeast quarter of section 13, Liberty precinct. He was born in Manitowac [sic], Wisconsin. He is the eldest son of Miles and Mary (Hollarn) Kelly.

Miles Kelly was born in County Clare, Ireland, on August 6, 1833, and came to the United States while yet a young man. On arriving in this country he went to Wisconsin and homesteaded a timber claim at Maple Grove. He devoted his labors to the task of clearing the tract and bringing it to tillable condition and effecting improvements calculated to bring satisfactory results. In time his efforts were rewarded and he continued to reside on his homestead tract until 1874, when he came to Richardson county.

Myles Kelly was married in Maple Grove, Wisconsin, to Mary Hollarn and to them were born the following children: P. J., Margaret, who married T. J. Colfer, Atchison, Kansas; Daniel, who lives one mile south of Shubert, this state; Mary, who married S. M. Kegen, of Atchison; Katherine, who married William Ryan, and lives in Barada precinct; Martin, who lives on the old homestead in Barada precinct; Daniel, who lives in Barada precinct, and Francis, a graduate of Peru Normal School, Peru, this state, and now teaching at Stella, Nebraska.

Mary Hollarn
Kelly was born in Ireland on September 6, 1884 [error in text], and came with her parents to America. On arriving in this country they went to Wisconsin and settled there on a farm. Mrs. Kelly died on October 5, 1900, aged fifty-six years. Both she and her husband were exemplary members of the Catholic church, in the faith of which their children were also reared.

On coming to Richardson county in 1874, Miles Kelly bought two hundred and twenty acres of land from Ed Towle in Parada township, for which he paid fifteen dollars an acre. This tract was raw prairie and he expended considerable effort and toil to bring it to a state fit for cultivation. As time went on he made extensive improvements and developed the land profitably, continuing to farm there until his death.

P. J. Kelly, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the Barada precinct district school No. 88. He helped his father on the farm which the latter had bought in Barada precinct, and thus continued for some years, finally buying out the place his father had acquired in 1874. He is now actively engaged in farming and stock raising and is regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in the community.

Mr. Kelly is affiliated with the Democratic party, but has never been an office seeker, his attention being directed to his farming operations. He is a member of the Catholic church and of the Knights of Columbus, in the affairs of which he takes considerable interest. Mr. Kelly is not married."
pp. 1406-07 History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions
http://www.archive.org/stream/historyof ... a_djvu.txt

Bryan OConnell, substantial and prosperous stockman and farmer, owner of two hundred and ten acres of prime land in section 21, Grant township, was born at Chicago, Illinois, on March 11, 1866. He is the son of Michael and Margaret (Maloney) O'Connell, natives of Ireland, born in County Clare, that country, the former in 1825.

Michael O'Connell left the Emerald Isle when he was about twenty-one years old and on arriving in the United States, went on to Chicago, where he lived up to about 1865. In the latter year he moved to Wisconsin, where he resided until 1875, in which year he came to Richardson county. His first purchase of land in this state was a tract of one hundred and sixty acres near Shubert. The nearest market places to his farm were Falls City and Brownville. In common with other early settlers he suffered from the ravages of the grasshopper plague. After these pests had winged their final flight, his farming operations prospered and he gradually added to his land holdings, owning for some years before his retirement four hundred and forty acres of choice land. To Michael and Margaret (Maloney) O'Connell eight children were born, three of whom died in infancy, the others being Patrick, deceased; Thomas, who lives in Greeley county, this state; Bryan, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Margaret Hanley, a widow, living in Sioux county, this state: Mary Ann, who married J. Ahern, lives in Shubert, and Mrs. Sarah Ramsey, living in Greeley county. Mr. O'Connell retired about twenty years ago from the active labors of the farm and moved to Spaulding, this state, where he is now living with his children at the advanced age of ninety-two years. His wife, whom he married at Buffalo, New York, died in 1904, having reached her seventy-eighth year. She was a member of the Catholic church, as is her husband, and their children were reared in the same faith.

Bryan O'Connell, the subject of this sketch, was nine years old when his parents came to Nebraska from Wisconsin. He attended the district and public schools at Shubert. After leaving school he helped his father with the work on the farm and when he was twenty-six years old he rented land from his father, who later gave him eight acres. This tract he improved and farmed for five years, at the end of which time he sold out and bought his present farm of two hundred and ten acres in Grant township, which was all improved, and here he is engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising. He has built a cattle barn and feeds cattle and hogs during the winter season.

On November 26, 1894, Bryan O'Connell was united in marriage to Katherine Clancy, who was born in Jewell county, Kansas, daughter of Patrick and Johanna (O'Brien) Clancy, natives of County Tipperary. Ireland, who were married at Salem, New Jersey, and later went to Kansas and then to Nebraska, where they continued to reside up to the time of their deaths. To Mr. and Mrs. Bryan O'Connell four children have been born, namely: Marguerite, a graduate of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception at Hastings, this state, and now teaching in school district No. 20: Patrick, now attending Dawson high school, and Josephine, who attends the convent school at Dawson, and Michael, at home with their parents. Mr. O'Connell and his wife and children are members of the Catholic church. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus."
pp. 1209-10 History of Richardson County, Nebraska: its people, industries and institutions

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