Ireland – 17 July 1881 in Chicago
Bridget Clark immigrated to the US from Ireland in 1865 with her young adult children: Patrick J., James, and Mary. Due to everyone’s ages and the lack of an inscription for a father Clark, I believe that he likely died prior to 1865.
The 4 were living with a woman named Catherine Benson and her 3 children in 1870, but that census doesn’t include the relationships of those who lived together at an address. I suspect Catherine was also Bridget’s daughter, likely also widowed, but it’s also possible the 2 families were simply pooling their funds to make ends meet.
I can’t trace the younger women beyond this, the names too common and the information too spotty to be certain of anything I might find. One can presume Mary married since she is not buried with her mother and brothers; likewise, if Catherine were a sister, she likely remarried, too.
Bridget died at 78 — a good old age — in 1881. Sadly, James passed away at only 37 years old just 2 years later.
Patrick married at last in 1890 to a woman named Annie. I could only find their census record for 1910, and it recorded them as having had no children. Patrick died just a few months later in that same year at the age of 66.
As she was not buried with Patrick, I suspect Annie may have been married before — she would have been 40 when she and Patrick married. I think I located her at Mount Olivet, but, again, the names are too common and the information too shaky to validate that.
Patrick and James were both stonecutters by trade, and I rather wonder if they made this headstone themselves. The design is beautiful and full of subtle, elegant details. I am especially in love with the finely scored border all around the arched panels AND the clovers on the cross above Bridget’s inscription.
RIP Clark family