The Joyce Bricks Start to Crumble

Well, who would have guessed that when I sat down at the computer this morning to drink my coffee, that I'd end up breaking down a significant portion of the hardest brick wall I've ever encountered?

Certainly not me, or I'd have brewed up a whole pot.

Two years ago, I lamented on the difficulties I encountered while researching Michael Joyce.

This latest chapter of the story actually started last week, when I knew I'd have a three day weekend with nothing planned.  I "got off my wallet" and plunked down the $28 for monthly access to an Irish records database.  I was searching for Michael Joyce, b. abt 1829 in County Galway, to "Pat Joyce" and "Rose Maden."  I came up empty handed.  No birth records, no baptismal records, no parents of anyone listed as Pat Joyce and Rose Maden.  I searched every way I could think of.  I did come to the conclusion, as I had expected, that "Maden" was actually "Madden," but learned little else.  Because I couldn't quite give up, I left the browser, with several potentially pertinent tabs, up.

This morning, I decided I'd putz around on the computer while I drank my morning coffee.  I took a look at some of those browser tabs I'd left up last week, and started following links here and there, eventually ending up at FamilySearch.  For kicks, I typed in Michael Joyce, and didn't get anything too exciting, but before I started the laundry I decided to type in "Patrick Joyce" and "Rose Madden" as parents, and left all other fields blank.  I got one return - a death certificate for Bridget Cummings.  Bridget's parents were listed as Patrick Joyce and Rose Madden.  I dug into the life of Bridget Cummings a little deeper, and realized she was just six years younger than our Michael.  My hopes began to rise, but when I realized that she lived and died in Clinton, Massachusetts, where our Michael lived after his arrival in the U.S., I had a strong hunch that I was on the right track.

After collecting a fair amount of information on Bridget Joyce Cummings, I turned to Ancestry family trees.  While I am cautious about information listed there, I like to get an overview of the family I'm researching, and potentially some clues.  I saw on Bridget's timeline that she had a brother, Thomas, in Berlin, Wisconsin.   I nearly fell off my chair - several years ago, we made a research trip to that area, as Michael lived in Berlin, and later moved to nearby Ripon, Wisconsin.   In our research, we ran across records on this Thomas Joyce, but could not make a connection despite feeling that there had to be one somehow.

The family tree I found listed the children of Patrick Joyce and Rose Madden - and among them was Michael, with no information other than that he died in North Dakota.  Our Michael died in South Dakota.  If you ask people who don't live in either area, it's all interchangeable!  :)

Now, the hard part.  I sent off a message to the tree owner, and I now am waiting for a response, although I think I already have the answer.  I will dig out the information I saved on Thomas Joyce from Berlin, and try to find more documentation that he and Michael are of the same family.

There's still more work to do, but it's good to know that Michael Joyce did NOT just drop out of the sky.

Oh, and I'm going to brew up another cup of that coffee.  And I'll do the laundry tomorrow.

Michael Joyce: The Man Who Can’t be Pinned Down

Michael and Catherine Joyce

When you’re researching a man named Michael Joyce from Ireland, you have to expect that things aren’t going to be easy.  Probably much like researching a man named John Smith from New York City, I’m assuming.  I have been able to prove Michael and his wife, Catherine Finnerty, back to 1850, but no further.  With a date of birth, emigration from Ireland, death date, etc., I was hoping for a way to differentiate him from all of the other Michael Joyces out there, and find his immigration information as well as maybe trace him back to to Ireland. Ah… we can always hope…

So, when and where was Michael born?  His obituary states that he was born in 1829 in Fraemstown, County Gall, Ireland.  However -

     -1855 Massachusetts State Census indicates 1830
     -1870 Federal Census indicates 1830
     -1880 Federal Census indicates 1831
     -1900 Federal Census says Sept. 1830
     -1910 Federal Census indicates 1830
     -his obituary says Sept. 29, 1830
     -his death certificate says Oct. 2, 1829
     -his original headstone says Sept. 29, 1829.

And regarding his place of birth – there is no county in Ireland by the name of Gall, and “Fraemstown” appears to be nonexistent.  The general vicinity for the Joyce family in County Galway has been established, but an 1781 map of the area doesn’t show “Fraemstown” or anything similar, which is a bit troubling.  His wife was still living at the time of his death, and came from the same area of County Galway, so if it were she who supplied the information, one would have to give it some sort of credibility.

Michael supposedly emigrated from Ireland aboard the “Victoria” but I have not been able to find a ship by that name operating in the appropriate time and place.  And when did he emigrate?

     -1848, per his obituary
     -1846, per the 1900 census
     -1849 per the 1910 census

He married Catherine Finnerty in 1851, according to his obituary.  Their first child was born in May of 1852, so this seems to fit – for a change.

They supposedly relocated from Massachusetts to Wisconsin in 1851, but birth places of their children make 1855-1857 more feasible, and a Michael and Catherine Joyce with two children by the appropriate names appear in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, making the 1855-1857 time range more likely.

And his death? At least it’s either October 5 (death certificate and probate papers) or October 6 (original headstone).  Ironically, his obituary never exactly states when he died.

My conclusion is that Michael Joyce just dropped out of the sky and landed in the United States, and from thence we all sprang.  Seriously, the only solid information (I’m making a big assumption here) are the names of his parents from his death certificate.  Unfortunately, his father has a common name as well (Patrick) and his mother is Rose “Maden” – or perhaps Madden.  There are plenty of Maddens in the same area of Ireland as the Joyces, but no Madens that I have been able to find.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find a solid piece of information that will set him apart from the others, and help me to work back back a generation or two.

My Irish Genealogy Treasure

    The best Irish genealogical "find" I ever got, or could ever hope to get, was not a photo, not a document, not any single piece of information.  The best asset to our Irish legacy was Uncle Jimmy.

  
    We already had land documents, plats, birth, death and marriage certificates, baptisms, etc.  We had plenty of facts about our Joyce clan of Hand county, South Dakota.  What we were sorely lacking was a depth to their beings - personal stories about them and their day-to-day lives - which Uncle Jimmy was more than happy to supply in abundance whenever family gathered.  Many of his childhood memories are grounded in the tight-knit Joyce clan on his mother's side of the family.  His stories told of tough times, happy times, stories of he and his young cousins stealing liquor and drinking under the porch at Grandpa Pat Joyce's farm home, family gatherings, and the old folks telling stories of their own and the boisterous laughter drifting across the South Dakota plains.  What he brought to our family legacy can't be duplicated in any courthouse or library.  He brought life itself to these folks long gone.

    Uncle Jimmy joined the ancestors last November.  How blessed we were to have captured some of his stories.  He was, indeed, our greatest Irish genealogy treasure.

A Non-Related Ancestor

George MacConnachie will never have a descendant to memorialize him, but no history of our Joyce clan would be complete without his inclusion. Stories at the last Joyce family reunion often included his name - sometimes a jovial story of drinking whiskey on the front porch with the Joyce men, other more somber times when he was present in a more official capacity.

Father George MacConnachie came to the plains of eastern South Dakota on Oct. 1, 1900, assigned to St. Bernard's Catholic Church at Redfield. He was just 25 years old. He had been ordained in Spain the year prior, and with his parents in Scotland both being deceased, he put his life and soul into the pioneers on the prairie.

The Michael Joyce family came to South Dakota in 1884, having slowly made their way inland after immigrating from Ireland some 40 years prior. Mike Joyce died in 1914; while his obituary does not mention who officiated at the service, I have no doubt it was Father MacConnachie. When Mrs. Joyce died in 1924, it was Father MacConnachie who presided over her last service, and comforted her family. As the grandchildren married, it was Father MacConnachie who joined them in holy matrimony. As they died, it was Father who preached the last sad sermon for them. He baptized their children, and comforted them in times of illnesses and death.

He also enjoyed a relationship of friendship with the Joyces. Father MacConnachie loved to fish and hunt; and like the Joyces, he had a sense of humor and a gift as a storyteller that made him a most enjoyable conversationalist. He made many visits to the various Joyce homesteads in Spink and northern Hand counties.

But Father George MacConnachie's firm dedication to his life's work and the God he served was always his foremost priority. In his years at St. Bernard's, he erected the parish house, and every rock in the church was blasted by him. In his first 15 years at the church, he never missed a service.

He celebrated his Diamond Jubilee at St. Bernard's in 1959, and died four years later in Pierre, South Dakota, at the age of 87. He was buried in the cemetery at Redfield, among the families he served for so many years. He will forever be a part of our family memories and stories, and judging by the stories I've heard, I suspect he is an important part of many other families' legacies as well.