52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 7 “Love”

All my Grandparents have a love story to remember and although there are differences in their stories, many things are the same: faith, loyalty and a commitment to each other. Their stories serve us well as examples of love.

Michael and Alice
photos probably taken at their respective commencements in Ireland.

In 1890, Alice was a young woman who had finished her education and was adrift to travel the meadows and glens of County Limerick with her cousin Molly. Her parents were aged since Alice was the youngest child and almost all her siblings had immigrated to the United States. Soon word was sent to the siblings in the States that something needed to be done about Alice, so her brother Michael returned to Ireland with the intent to take Alice back to Michigan with him where she would live with their married sister Mary Ann Walsh. Mary Ann was 26 years Alice’s senior and had children Alice’s age and older. There was friction in the family as Alice suffered the taunts and insults of her sister’s children for her old country clothes and manners. 

Alice frequently traveled between Michigan and Wisconsin to stay with her brothers Edmund or John as a way of escaping the teasing of her nieces and nephews. On one such trip she ran into Michael Connery, a young man she knew from her home in Ballylanders. Michael had immigrated to the United States several years before and when Alice first saw him and “set her cap for him”’, he was home visiting his parents and repaying them for the cost of the farm animal he had sold to pay for his ticket to the America. Michael had settled in Chicago, Illinois and done well for himself, so he was happy to show off his fine clothes and gold headed cane to the neighbors.

Alice was happy to meet Michael again and endeavored to find out about his traveling plans since he lived in Chicago and her brothers were based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Evidently Michael traveled to Wisconsin often, and Alice arranged her visits to coincide with his. And so their romance bloomed.

Michael and Alice 28 June 1893
Port Huron, Michigan

On 28 June 1893,  Alice Fleming married Michael Connery at the Port Huron, Michigan home of her sister Mary Ann Walsh. Fr Michael Fleming, brother of the bride was the officiant, while the witnesses were members of both the bride and groom’s families. The newlywed couple journeyed to Chicago where they would make their home.

Michael’s profession changed over the years from barkeeper to Saloon owner, then as he branched out into real estate, he also invested in property ownership himself. At Alice’s request he eventually gave up the liquor business and concentrated on the real estate.

Life was good for the young couple and they prospered as their children were born and the family grew as the west side of Chicago grew and prospered.  They eventually had eight children, six daughters and two sons, who survived to adulthood. Unfortunately suffering the loss of their first son, Leo, who died at the age of seven in 1905. As time passed Michael and Alice often returned to Ireland for family visits, often taking one of their children with them. This may have spawned the love of travel so many of the children exhibited later in life.

Strong supporters of education, all their children attended boarding school at some point. The girls going to St Joseph’s Academy in Adrian, Michigan and the boys to a Jesuit High School, Champion, in Prairie du Chine, Wisconsin.  It probably began when Alice’s brother Michael, then a Catholic priest, was assigned to serve at St Joseph’s Academy in Adrian. There the girls would grow close to their Uncle Michael.

As time passed Michael Connery’s business grew and expanded to include the travel and insurance industries in addition to real estate. He provided employment for his children when they finished school and two of his children would remain with the business until they retired, and the business closed in the 1960s.

Michael worked at his office into the 1950s when illness forced his retirement. He died in 1953 having raised his family to be outstanding citizens who worked hard, attended church and were raising the same strong families that their parents did.

Michael died in 1953 ending a sixty-year marriage that saw their love demonstrated to their family friends in their respect for each other and sharing of their faith. Faith got them through the loss of their son Leo and a stillborn infant, it helped them survive the depression years when Michael sold half of his real estate to pay off mortgages on other properties.

On the occasion of Michael’s funeral, the parish grade school was given the day off to attend the funeral. A sure sign of the respect Michael and Alice commanded in the parish they had belonged to for over fifty years.