Disaster Strikes!

I like the definition of The American Dream on https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-dream.asp - I think it sums up what many immigrants to the United States believed when they immigrated here:

"The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American dream is believed to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance."

We have seen that the Keohanes were living the American Dream. John Keohane had a steady job working for the Boston Elevated Railway - they saved and were able to buy a new home, a car. They were able to help relatives and friends immigrate to the US. 

In Arlington Jim and my mother were attending school across the street. The unmarried relatives and friends were still coming out on their days off. John Keohane had a garden in the back or side yard - he grew potatoes - I suppose he used some for his home brew. We saw that my mother thought her parents were happy - it must have been a happy home. I think of Ma taking in the Keohane relatives coming from Ireland and then young Mae Keohane after her mother died in March 1927. She - they - must have been good hearted. 

Below is my grandfather's working card - looks like he paid $2 dues every month - was that a lot of money? What benefits did he get?

"Working Card Division No. 589 - Located at Boston, Mass. - Keohane, John - Dues $2.00 For Month of January, 1929. Special Assm't ___ Local Sec'y EOM Fehrnstrom. W.D. Mahon, Int. Pres. "                    Inside the circle it says "Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America."

1929 saw Popeye in a theater for the first time; the St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred; the San Francisco Bay bridge opened- it was the longest bridge in the world at that time; Herbert Hoover, the 31st President, is sworn in; the first Academy Awards are held - they only take 15 minutes! Al Capone is in the news - "Al Capone beats and shoots three gang members after accusing them of being traitors, whilst at a party he is holding for them. Their bodies are found on the side of a road in Indiana the next day." "After a downpour of rain during a Yankees and Boston Red Sox baseball game, two people are killed when the crowd causes a stampede running for the stairs." I wonder if John and Jim Keohane are sports fans? Vatican City becomes an independent state. Color TV makes it debut! And John Keohane dies.

Family lore is that John Keohane wasn't feeling well for a couple of days before he finally went to a doctor - then he was diagnosed with appendicitis - he went to St. Elizabeth's Hospital - his appendix had ruptured - he had surgery but died of a postoperative paralytic ileus. An ileus is an obstruction of the intestine - it can happen after surgery. Back in 1929 they didn't have ultrasounds or CT scans. We don't know how it was diagnosed - maybe X-ray, palpation of his abdomen, assessment of symptoms - and we don't know how it was treated - antibiotics weren't in widespread use yet if he developed an infection from the ruptured appendix. Add to this that John Keohane was supposed to have "bad asthma" - did he have respiratory distress as well? I often wonder if he had Cystic Fibrosis - I have that recessive gene - maybe I got it from my grandfather.

The certified death certificate says:

"Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

Town of Arlington

Certificate of Death 

From the Records of Deaths in the Town of Arlington, Massachusetts, USA

  1. Date of death: July16, 1929

  2. Name: John Keohane

  3. Sex, and whether Single, Married or Widowed: Married - Husband       of  Margaret Keohane

  4. Color: White

  5.  Age: 38

  6. Disease or Cause of Death:  Paralytic Ileus - Post operative,   Ruptured Appendix

  7. Residence: 104 Park Ave., Arlington, Mass.

  8. Occupation: Motorman - Boston Elevated Ry. Co.

  9. Place of Death: St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Boston, Mass.

10. Place of Birth: Ireland

11. Name of Father: Patrick Keohane

12. Name of Mother: Hannah Kiely

13. Birthplace of Father: Ireland

14. Birthplace of Mother: Ireland

15. Place of Internment: Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Arlington, Mass.

I, E. Caroline Pierce, depose and say, that I hold the office of Town Clerk of the Town of Arlington, County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts; that the records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in said Town are in my custody, and that the above is a true extract from the Records of Death in said Town, as certified by me. 

Witness my hand and the Seal of said Town, on the 6th day of March 1930.

E. Caroline Pierce

Town Clerk"

What an awful shock this must have been for Ma! She was about 35 years old - she had 4 children - Jim was only 9 years old - Peggy was about 3. What was she going to do? How could she support her family? Was there life insurance in those days? Would John Keohane have had life insurance? Were there any Union benefits?

More immediately, how did Ma find out that her husband had died at St. Elizabeth's? Who told her? Was she at the hospital? How did she let people know? How did Ma take the news? What about the kids? Who was the first to get to Ma and the kids? I'm sure everyone must have gathered in Arlington Heights. 

The house must have been full of people. Aunt Hannah and Aunt Nellie Keohane were single and stayed there on their days off - they must have stayed there now to help with the kids, cooking, greeting people. Was Nellie Moriarty back in Ireland? I suppose Ma's brother Jim Moriarty didn't have time to come from Chicago - did he come later? Mary Moriarty Walsh was a widow herself with 6 children in Roxbury, and Catherine Moriarty Cronin and her husband also had 6 children and were living in Roxbury - I imagine they probably came out.  Tom Keohane must have been there as well as John Reardon, Con Butler, Jimmy and Peg McCarthy. The Hogan cousins must have come by. Was Dave Cosgrove from McLean's there? Matt Toohy? Ned Shea? John and Brother Tim Cummins? The Gardiners from Belmont? 

Who contacted the undertaker? When was the body returned home for the wake? Was it in the living room or in a bedroom? How did the kids react to this? 

I found a Purgatorian Society Enrollment from Ma. I wonder if she went all the way to Mission Church or someone got it for her. It says"

"This is to Certify that John Keohane is hereby enrolled as a perpetual member of the Purgatorian Society and is entitled to share in all  the spiritual benefits of perpetual membership. Eight High Masses are offered every day for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the members. When a living member dies, a special Mass is offered for the  repose of his or her soul upon presentation of the Receipt Leaflet. The person is then enrolled among the deceased members. Moreover, all members of the Purgatorian Society are considered Benefactors of the Redemptorist Order, and are thus entitled to a share in the prayers and other good works of the Order. 

Given at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual help, Roxbury, Mass.

this 18 day of July 1929 

By Margaret Keohane

Rev. Father Rector, C.S.S.R. "- I can't make out his name.

I wrote to Robbins Library to see if they had old newspapers that might have an obituary for my grandfather. Below is the reply.

"Robbins Library founded in 1835

November 27, 2006

Mary Ellen Murphy

222 Main St.

Watertown, Ma 02472

Dear Mrs. Murphy

I have enclosed a copy of John Keohane's obituary from the Boston Post's microfilm at Boston Public Library. The newspaper is dated July 18, 1929 p 31.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact Robbins Library.

Thank-you for your check.

Sincerely,

Ellen Wendruff

Ellen Wendruff

Adult Services

Robbins Library

700 Massachusetts Ave.

Arlington, Ma 02476"

The obituary states:

"Keohane - In Arlington Heights, July 16, John, beloved husband of Margaret Keohane (nee Moriarty). Funeral from his late home, 104 Park ave., North, Friday, July 19 at 8 o'clock. Solemn high mass at St. James Church at 9 o'clock. Late member of the Boston Carmen's Union, Division No. 589. Relatives and friends respectfully invited to attend."

They sent me an enlarged copy as well to make it easier to read.

A wake at home was the norm in the 1920s. As difficult as it was, I think death was considered more a part of life in that time. Multiple generations of a family lived together - so the family saw older relatives decline and die. Today families are scattered, and there are more life saving treatments  - doctors can keep people alive longer - people as well as doctors seem to be afraid to talk about death - people don't die - they pass away or just pass.

I wonder if Jim and my mother attended the funeral? Did someone stay home with Hannie and Peggy? Who were the pall bearers? How did everyone get to the church and then the cemetery - not everyone had cars back then.

Then there was the incident at the cemetery when the police arrested Con Butler - did they wait until people were leaving?  Con had gotten Sheila Donovan "in the family way" - she went out of state to have the baby but had come back to the Boston area. Family lore is that she knew that Con would be at John Keohane's funeral and had gone to point him out to the police. Did she have the baby with her? Did anyone notice or was it done discreetly? Was it the topic of conversation when they all went back to the house on Park Ave.? 

It cost Ma $60 for Lot No. 1824, $9.00 for opening it, and $5 for an Evergreen - Total $74.00. Ma paid it or someone went and paid the Arlington Cemetery Department for her on July 22, 1929. 

Ma paid $3 for the Care of Lot No. 1824 for the year 1930 on May 29, 1930 for a bill dated May 1, 1930. 

The final bill I have is for Perpetual Care for Lot 1824 for $63 - the bill is dated August 7, 1951 - Ma paid it August 28, 1951.

These papers for the cemetery were in the envelop that Hannie had given me with John Keohane's naturalization paper and death certificate among other forms.

Ma was pregnant with my aunt Rita when John Keohane died. Did she even know at this point that she was pregnant? Or did she find out soon afterwards? She said she thought about her own mother, Ellen Leary Moriarty - remember her from an earlier blog post, being pregnant with Ma when Myles Moriarty drowned in 1893. Here it is  -  35 years later and the same thing is happening to Ma. It must have been terrible wondering how she would manage - how could she support 4 - soon to be 5 - children?

We know that Aunt Hannah and Aunt Nellie Keohane helped her - they were still single, but were they able to take time off from their jobs to stay with the family? I seem to remember that Aunt Nellie stayed with them for a while. Life was different back in 1929 - I don't know what social services were available if any. I know my Aunt Hannie told me that Ma had a bank account in Newton Corner, but how much money was there. Did she have a mortgage to pay? John Keohane had had the car - Ma gave that to Jimmy McCarthy because he was the only one she knew who drove. 

And how was Ma feeling while she was pregnant? Some of the kids went to stay with Aunt Catherine Moriarty Cronin when my Aunt Rita was born. Hannie said that my Aunt Peggy loved their uncle Tim Cronin because she was missing their father. But Hannie said she didn't like him because he would rub his bushy beard against her face. Hannie said it was the same in Roxbury as it had been in Belmont - no bathtub - Aunt Catherine would fill up a big steel tub and all the Cronins as well as Hannie and Peggy would take a bath in the same bath water. My mother might have been there too. I seem to remember that Jim stayed with John Reardon and his wife Bertha. 

We know that the Keohanes were still at 104 Park Avenue North in Arlington Heights when the 1930 Census was taken on April 4. The census is interesting - it says Ma was the head of the family, and she is paying $20 per month rent! What?! The question is what is the value of the home if owned or monthly rent if rented - there is no option re whether the house is owned outright or if there is a mortgage. So is the $20 the mortgage or did the bank take the house and is charging Ma $20/month? A road trip to the Middlesex Registry of Deeds is definitely in order to see if we can figure this out.

Anyway, the census goes on to tell us that Ma has a radio, she does not live on a farm, she is a 36 year old widow, she reads and writes English, she and her parents were born in Ireland, she immigrated in 1912, she is a naturalized citizen, she speaks English, she has no occupation.

Jim is now 10, Ellen is 9, Hannie is 7 - they all attend school. Peggy is 5. Rita was born in March - the census lists her as 1/12 or a month old although it looks somewhat like 11/12 or 11 months.

George and Annie Carpenter are listed next door at 108 Park Ave North. They own their home like everyone else listed on this page - it is worth $6000 - the other houses are worth between $6000 and $7000 although #146 is only worth $4500.

August 1928 Peggy with Mrs Carpenter

On top of everything else, the Stock Market crashed in October and the Great Depression started. Things worsened for the Keohanes - Ma lost the house - they had to find some place to live. 

I am thinking of Ma's mother like Ma said that she did - Ellen Leary Moriarty's husband drowned in October 1893 - Ma was born in March 1894 - Ellen Leary could not afford to pay the rent and taxes on the property in Loughane - plus her 7 year old son, who was the only boy and the oldest child, was taken to live in Annascaul by his uncle James Moriarty - leaving Ellen Leary Moriarty with 3 little girls and another child on the way - and no way to support herself.  Ma must have thought history was repeating itself.

Speaking of Ma's mother, Ellen Leary Moriarty O'Sullivan wrote to Ma sometime around 1932 after Franklin Roosevelt was elected. 

So what did Ma do?