The Monnahan Family
Ancestors of Delia Monnahan, wife of Ted Morman
Ireland
Some of our earliest Monnahan ancestors were John and Mary Ellen (Conway) Monnahan. They were both immigrants from Ireland.
John Monnahan, Sr. was born about 1830 in Ireland. He came to America sometime prior to 1856, when his first child was born in New York City, N.Y. I have not been able to find any information about John Monnahan Sr.’s parents.
Mary Ellen Conway was born about 1831 in County Sligo, Ireland to Malin (or maybe Malachi?) and Anna (Culkin) Conway. County Sligo was the home and inspiration of the famous poet William Butler Yeats. It is a beautiful area, and rich in history, with ruins dating back to prehistoric times.
The Conways may have been some of the many tenants of Viscount Palmerston (also known as Lord Palmerston, twice a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.) County Sligo endured a devastating famine during the late 1840’s. The Conways apparently escaped the worst of the famine, however, leaving Ireland in 1842. The famine was so bad that, in 1847, Palmerston shipped hundreds of starving and sickly tenants to Quebec on what was became known as “coffin ships.”
Although not too much is known about Mary Ellen, there is quite a bit of interesting information written about her brother Malachi Conway and his wife Bridget:
“Malachi came to U.S. in 1842 from County Sligo, Ireland; worked on the docks in N.Y. City, & in Mass., sailed around Cape Horn to join the Calif. gold rush; found some gold and returned with Ed Mooney (who had saved his life on the ship) to Massachusetts to get married. On the way back both bought 120 acres of land near Janesville, WI.. Malachi married Mooney's cousin Bridget Bowen and Mooney married Mary Noon. On returning to WI., they found they had been swindled out of their land and lost their gold when the banks failed; and were left with only the gold in their wives wedding rings.”
“Bridget came to America with her parents in 1849 and settled in Boston, Mass. At 16 she married Malachi and moved to Wisconsin and never got back to Boston to see her family. She and Malachi built a sod house on the banks of the Rock River and her husband hauled wheat for their neighbor to Milwaukee by ox team. It would take him two weeks to haul the wheat. While he was gone she would have to forage for herself. Since they were so close to the river, Indians would come with their canoes and take all her provisions. They never molested her other than taking her food, but then she would have to go into the woods to find berries and do what ever she could to exist till Malachi returned from Milwaukee. Eventually they were able to buy back (ten acres at a time) the original farm they had been swindled out of.”
New York
John and Mary Ellen lived in New York City in the mid-1850's, where their first two children, Ann and James, were born.
Wisconsin
The Monnahans followed or accompanied Malachi Conway to Rock County, Wisconsin, where they were listed as living in the 1860 census. Perhaps, like her sister-in-law Bridget, Mary Ellen encountered Indians in Wisconsin.
John and Mary Ellen had several children born in Wisconsin between 1860 and 1868. According to the family history book made for Delia’s 100th birthday, our ancestor John Monnahan, Jr, was born March 18, 1862, in the town of Winston, Wisconsin. While he was born in Wisconsin, but I have been unable to find any Wisconsin town called Winston. (I think this may have been confused with the town of Windom, Minnesota, where they later lived.)
John Monnahan, Sr. died around 1867 in Rock County, Wisconsin. (Source: Descendants of Paul Monnahan) Mary then married Patrick Keating, also of Ireland. He had several children from his previous marriage. He is probably the same Patrick Keating from Rock County, Wisconsin, who served in the Civil War.
1860 Census: Fulton, Rock County, Wisconsin
- John Marahan (sic), born about 1830, Ireland
- Mary Marahan, born about 1831, Ireland
- Ann Marahan, born about 1856, City of New York
- James Marahan, born about 1858, City of New York
- Bridget Marahan, born about 1860, Wisconsin
1870 Census: Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin
- Patrick Keating, Ireland, 1825
- Mary Keating, Ireland, 1831
- Patrick Keating, 20, 1850
- Thomas Keating, 16, 1854
- John Keating, 14, 1856
- James Keating, 10, 1860
- Anna Monahan, 14, 1856
- James Monahan, 12, 1858
- Adelia Monahan, 11, 1859
- Katie Monahan, 8, 1862
- John Monahan, 7, 1863 (our ancestor)
- Mary Monahan, 5, 1865
- Edward Monahan, 2, 1868
(The 1870 census says that all of the children were born in Wisconsin, but we know from other census records that this isn’t accurate.)
Minnesota
About 1874-1875, the large blended family moved to Austin, Minnesota.
1875 Minnesota State Census, 1 May 1875, Austin, Mower County, Minnesota
- Patrick Keating, 58?, Ireland,
- Mary Keating, 40, Ireland, about 1835
- Patrick Keating, Jr. 25, R.I., about 1850
- Thomas Keating, 21, RI, 1854
- John Keating, 19, RI, 1856
- James Keating, 15, WI, 1860
- Francis Keating, 1, WI, 1874
- Ann Monnahan, 19, NY, 1856
- James Monnahan, 17, NY, 1858
- Dilea Monnahan, 15, WI, 1860
- Catherine Monnahan, 13, WI, 1862
- John Monnahan, 12, WI, 1863
- Mary E. Monnahan, 10, WI, 1865
- Edward Monnahan, 7, WI, 1868
1880 Census: Austin, Mower County, Minnesota
- Patrick Keatin (sic), about 1835, Ireland, Head of Household
- Mary Keatin, about 1835, Ireland, Wife
- Patrick Keatin, about 1852, Rhode Island, Son
- John Keatin, about 1856, Rhode Island, Son
- Janes (sic) Keatin, about 1859, Wisconsin, Son
- Katie Keatin, about 1864, Wisconsin, Daughter
- Mary Keatin, about 1866, Wisconsin, Daughter
- Eddie Keatin, about 1869, Wisconsin, Son
- Frank Keatin, about 1873, Wisconsin, Son
- Willie Keatin, about 1877, Minnesota, Son
(Anna Monahan was living as a household servant in the household of E.C. Dorr in Austin. I’m not sure why our ancestor John is not in the list.)
1885 Windom, Mower County, Minnesota 1 May 1885
- Pat. Keating, 60, Ireland, 1825
- Mary Keating, 50, Ireland, 1835
- Pat Jr. Keating, 30, Ireland, 1855
- Thos Keating, 27, Ireland, 1858
- John Keating, 25, Ireland, 1860
- Frank Keating, 12, Wisconsin, 1873
- James Keating, 24, Wisconsin, 1861
- William Keating, 18, Wisconsin, 1867
- Anna Monahan, 25, NY, 1860
- Katie Monahan, 21, NY, 1864
- Mary E. Monahan, 13, NY (should be WI), 1872
- Edward Monahan, 16, NY (should be WI), 1869
- John Monahan, 20, Wisconsin, 1865
Nebraska
Some of the family, including John, his mother and step-father, and some of his siblings moved to Nebraska shortly after this.
John Monnahan purchased land for a homestead in Custer County in 1888, and in 1890, “J.T Monnohan” was listed as a farmer in Dunning, Blaine County, Nebraska.
The Monnahans probably moved to Nebraska because their cousin, John Conway (son of Malachi Conway), owed a cattle ranch there. John Monnahan became the foreman on the ranch, according to Aunt Mary (Monnahan) Haller.
Here is an excerpt from Mr. Conway’s biography:
“In the, fall of 1887, in company with Thomas Tobin, Mr. Conway came to Nebraska looking for a location and was very favorably impressed with the land in Custer county. They returned to Wisconsin, where Mr. Conway sold his business interests and soon afterward the two young men shipped one hundred and sixty-eight head of cattle to Omaha, whence they drove them to Custer county, where they began ranching.”
It was in Nebraska that John met and married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Michele, the daughter of Prussian emigrants Christopher and Gertrude Michele. John and Elizabeth married in 1893, according to the 1900 census.
Here are pictures of young John and Lizzie: (According to family, John got a terrible cut on his lip while shaving, and always wore the large mustache to cover the scar.)
John and Elizabeth Monnahan’s Children:
- Mary G. Monnahan. Born December 8, 1896. Married Arthur Haller. Died at 97 years.
- John Edward Monnahan was a bachelor. Born September 6, 1893. Died November 12, 1982.
- Frank James Monnahan. Born November 22, 1894. Married Linnie Lucille Hughes. Died December 9, 1974, Seattle, WA. Buried in Twin Falls, ID.
- Delia Monahan (our ancestor). Born July 6, 1900. Married Theodore Morman.
- Charley Robert Monnahan. Born July 27, 1902. Married Sarah M. Hamlin. Died April 4, 1994.
- Sarah Katherine “Katie” Monnahan. Born March 23, 1906. Married Lloyd Franklin Clark. Died February 26, 1986.
- Paul Joseph Monnahan. Born April 9, 1909, in Anselmo, Custer County, NE. Married Irene Teeters. Died November 22, 2000, in Denver, CO.
- Walter Daniel Monnahan. Born March 1, 1912. Graduated from Deer Trail High School in 1932. Died June 29, 1991.
- Mallick “Mal” T. Monnahan. Born March 10, 1915. Graduated from Deer Trail High School in 1932. Married Laura Nichol Middlemist.
In writing her life history, Delia said she was born in Dunning, Nebraska, on the Conway Ranch.
However, although the Monnahans did live in Dunning, according to census records, they moved to Hayes, Custer County (where John Conway’s ranch was located) before Delia’s birth.
I am not sure if the picture below is actually of the Monnahan’s earlier home in Dunning, or if it is of their home in Custer County.
1900 Census, Hayes, Custer County, Nebraska (Taken June 19, 1900)
- John Conway, widower, born Mar 1858, Wisconsin. Parents born in Ireland. Head of household. Farmer. Can read, write and speak English.
- John Monnahon, born Mar 1865, Wisconsin. Parents born in Ireland. Married 1893. Cousin to Head of Household. Farm Laborer. Can read, write and speak English.
- Lizzie Monnahon, born Apr. 1873, Nebraska. Parents born in Germany. Married 1893.
- John E. Monnahon, born Sep 1893, Nebraska.
- Frank J. Monnahon, born Nov 1894, Nebraska
- Mary G. Monnahon, born Dec 1896, Nebraska
Living next door were John’s mother and some of her family:
- Mary Kating, Dec 1839, born Ireland, Head of Household
- Patrick Kating, April 1856, Massachusetts, Step Son
- Ann Monnahon, born Oct. 1869, New York, Daughter
- Kate Monnahon, born August 1872, Wisconsin
- William Kating, Oct 1876, Minnesota, Son
Mary Ellen died in Dale Valley, Custer County, Nebraska in 1920. (Source: Descendants of Paul Monnahan.) Her single daughters, Ann E. Monnahan, and Kate Monnahan, were still living in Hayes, Custer County, Nebraska, in 1910.
Colorado
1910 Census
Arapahoe County, Colorado, Spelling: Monahan
- John, 1861
- Lizzie, 1873
- John, 1894
- Frank, 1895
- Mary, 1897
- Delia, 1901
- Charles, 1903
- Katie, 1906
- Paul, 1909
My great-grandma, Delia, takes up the story from here. (I will intersperse her story with her brother Paul Monnahan’s narrative and other information):
“This is My Life – Delia Elizabeth Monnahan Morman”
“I was born to John & Elizabeth Monnahan at Dunning, Nebraska on a ranch owned by John Conway, July 6, 1900. We lived on the ranch for some time, then moved to Anselmo, Nebraska, for a short time, than moved to a farm near Broken Bow, Nebraska, in Custer County, where my folks farmed until my Dad took up a homestead 20 miles northeast of Deer Trail, Colorado, in 1908.”
“In 1909, Father came in a covered wagon to Colorado to build on the land, which he put up a sod house, quite large, and a barn; he also dug a cave.”
Delia wrote that the original homestead was 320 acres. Later, they bought another 160 acres which adjoined the 320 acres.
Paul: “Mr. Monnahan and two neighbors from Nebraska had come to Deer Trail by train in the spring of 1909 and each filed on a claim in east Arapahoe County, then returned by train to Nebraska.”
“They came back in July. Drove through from Nebraska with three horses hitched to a wagon. They helped each improve a three-room sod house 20-ft.by 36-ft., a frame barn that would stall sixteen horses and stanchions for twenty cows, and a small frame chicken house. He also dug a well one-eighth mile from the house.”
“The weather that year was mild with no snow and they had no trouble getting their equipment hauled to their homestead.”
Delia: The folks had a sale in Nebraska, and we came to Colorado January 10, 1910.”
We had three train cars full. One with hay, one with livestock, one with machinery and household furniture. A neighbor and my oldest brother John came with the freight train. The rest of us came by passenger train. There was my father, mother, Frank, Mary, Charley, Katie, Paul and myself. We arrived in Deer Trail before the freight train got there. A man that took care of father’s horses met us and took us to his parents place which were Mr. and Mrs. Purkeys. The man that met us was John Purkey. We stayed with them that night . The next day went to the homestead. The folks left Frank, Mary, Charley and myself at the place while they went back to Deer Trail to be there when the freight train came.
Paul: “It was January 10, 1910 that Mr. and Mrs. John T. Monnahan and their seven children, at that time, ranging in age from sixteen to nine months old, arrived in Deer Trail, Colorado by train from Anselmo, Nebraska to move to their new home on the homestead 18 miles northeast of Deer Trail.
“Pete Perky (Harold Hank’s great uncle) met the train and took four of the children to the homestead that evening. They were Frank, Mary, Delia and Charley, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years .They stayed alone there two nights and two days until their parents joined them.”
Delia: For some reason there was a delay of it getting in as planed so the folks got worried about us on the homestead and father drove out to see if we were O.K. When he got to us we were asleep as we got tired and lonely and layed down to rest. He thought at first we were dead as he couldn’t wake us up, it was in the day time and we were afraid so locked the door. The freight came in the next day, so all was busy moving from town.
Paul: “The next day the freight train arrived in Deer Trail with the Monnahan’s three carloads of horses, cattle, chickens, wagons, farm machinery, household goods, and baled hay. John, Jr. and Mr. Griffey rode in the caboose on the same freight train.
“After the cars were unloaded they made plans to move everything to the homestead. The next morning they started with three wagons. Mrs. Monnahan drove one team hitched to a double box wagon loaded with furniture, sitting on a spring seat, taking care of Katie, three years old, and Paul, nine months old, for the 18-mile trip with no stop. The road was just a wagon trail with two creeks to cross, which were just makeshift crossings.”
Delia: It was rough going, but the folks were patient and we succeeded.
Paul: “This is just a “birds-eye” view of what things were like in the “good old days”.
“It took great stamina and courage to build a life under these conditions. Not all who came remained.
“The sod house still stands. Four of the seven children are still living, Mary, Delia, Charley and Paul. Walter and Mal were born on the homestead.
Allison: We went to see this sod house when I was a little kid. It was on land owned by other people, but still had some things left from when the Monnahans lived there!
Delia: “Father only lived eight years so mother had us children to raise. We were getting grown by that time.”
She wrote that John Monnahan died at the age of 56, on June 21, 1918. He is pictured here in his later years.
1920 Census: Arapahoe County, Colorado
- Monnahan, Elizabeth 1874
- Monnahan, John 1895
- Monnahan, Frank 1896
- Monnahan, Charley 1902
- Monnahan, Katherine 1907
- Monnahan, Paul 1910
- Monnahan, Walter 1912
- Monnahan, Mall 1916
After John’s death, Lizzy eventually remarried Alphonso B. “Andy” Burden.
1930 Census: Arapahoe County, Colorado
- A B Burden, 1878
- Lizzie Burden, 1873
- Paul Monnahan, 1910
- John Manahan, 1893
- Frank Mannahan, 1895
- Linnie, Mannahan 1902 (Frank’s wife)
- Charlotte Mannahan, 1923 (Frank’s daughter)
- Robert Mannahan, 1924 (Frank’s son)
Lizzy Michele Monnahan Burden died July 3, 1957, in Brush, Colorado.
Sources:
Ted and Delia Morman, booklet compiled in celebration of Delia’s 100th birthday, 2000.
U.S. Census Records, www.Ancestry.com
World War I Draft Registration, www.Ancestry.com
- John E. Monnahan, of Arapahoe County, Colorado, born 1893 in Nebraska
- Frank J. Monnahan of Washington County, Colorado, born 1894 in Nebraska
- Patrick Keating, http://civil-war-soldiers.findthedata.org/l/2965671/Patrick-Keating
- Delia and Ted Morman
- Mallick T. Monnahan and his wife Laura
Biographies
- “Malachi Conway.” By Charles Walter Stinson. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/i/Charles-W-Stinson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0022.html
- John Conway, Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska. http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Eneresour/OLLibrary/Comp_NE/cmp0521.htm#JOHN%20CONWAY
School Records
- Walter Monnahan, Deer Trail Highschool, 1932, www.deertrailcolorado.org/1930%20-%201939.htm
- Mal Monnahan , Deer Trail Highschool, 1932, www.deertrailcolorado.org/1930%20-%201939.htm
- Irene Teeters, Deer Trail Highschool, 1937, www.deertrailcolorado.org/1930%20-%201939.htm
Land Records
- Keating, Patrick, Broken Bow, NE. Date Cancelled, Rejected or Relinquished: 1911. (This is probably Patrick Keating, Jr.)
- Monahan, Ann, Sec. 23, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date, 6-28-04, Patent, 5-11-11.
- Monahan, Annie, Sec. 4, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date: 2-26-91, Patent: 2-27-95.
- Monahan, John. Sec. 2, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date: 7-7-88, Patent 10-16-96.
- Monahan, John Y. Sec. 12, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date: 9-22-90, Reliq: 1-25-94.
- Monahan, Kate. Sec. 22, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date: 6-28-04, Reliq: 5-6-08.
- Monahan, Mary. Sec. 4, Township 20, Range 24, Sale Date: 12-13-90, Patent: 5-13-95.
- Monnohan, J.T. Farmer, Dunning, Blaine County, Nebraska.
Appendix: Biography of John Conway
JOHN CONWAY
“John Conway is one of the most prominent business men and largest landholders in central Nebraska, where he has been identified with various interests for about twenty-five years past. He was born at Janesville, Wisconsin, next to the oldest child of Malachi and Bridget (Bowen) Conway. The father was a native of Ireland and came to America when sixteen years of age, locating first at Hoboken, New Jersey. He became one of the "forty-niners" who sought gold in California, and his death occurred at Edgerton, Wisconsin, in 1884. The mother, also a native of Ireland, was brought to America when nine years of age, and she died at Edgerton in 1888. They had nine children, of whom those now surviving are: Mrs. Delia Tobin, of Burt county Nebraska; three sons and two daughters living in Edgerton; John, subject of this article.
Mr. Conway grew to manhood on his father's farm in Wisconsin, acquiring his education in the public schools. Later he engaged in mercantile business in Janesville, Wisconsin, which he continued four years. He was married in Janesville in August, 1885, to Kate Kemmitt, a native of Wisconsin, who died in 1886, leaving one daughter, Stella, also now deceased. In the, fall of 1887, in company with Thomas Tobin, Mr. Conway came to Nebraska looking for a location and was very favorably impressed with the land in Custer county. They returned to Wisconsin, where Mr. Conway sold his business interests and soon afterward the two young men shipped one hundred and sixty-eight head of cattle to Omaha, whence they drove them to Custer county, where they began ranching. Mr. Conway pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land on section ten, township twenty, range twenty-four, and Mr. Tobin secured one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining. Mr. Conway also secured one hundred and sixty acres on section nine township twenty, range twenty-four, and still retains ownership of his half section of land there.
On September 2, 1903, Mr. Conway was married in Dale, Custer county, to Miss Josephine M. Dority, daughter of John N. and Martha (Jordan) Dority, the former a native of Toronto, Canada, and the latter born near Cleveland, Ohio. The father has been connected with the Burlington railroad, and he and his wife now live in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mrs. Conway has a sister in California, and her brother, Matthew, lives at Comstock, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Conway have three children: Dorothy M., John D. and Helen, all at home.
Mr. Conway is recognized as one of the substantial and public-spirited citizens in his county, where he is well known for his upright methods and has reputation for honest dealing and probity. He is one of the early settlers of the central part of the state and during his residence there has accumulated four thousand, three hundred and twenty acres of land in Custer and Thomas counties. During his five years of residence on his homestead he was engaged in mercantile business at Dunning, and since coming to the county he has always been extensively engaged in buying and shipping horses and cattle. At the same time he has retained his ranch interests, spent some time in the live stock commission business in Omaha and had large feeding places at Sargent, Nebraska. In 1908 he erected one of the finest modern residences in Merna, where the family now reside.”
Source: COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY REMINISCENCE AND BIOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA. http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Eneresour/OLLibrary/Comp_NE/cmp0521.htm#JOHN%20CONWAY