52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 11 Large Family

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This topic gives me a plethora of choices. There is my Norwegian great-grandfather who had ten surviving children with two wives, or there is my German 3^rd great-grandfather who had 13 children with two wives. More recently I could choose my own family since I am one of nine children or my paternal aunt Dorothy who has eight children. (I always kind of felt sorry for my dad’s parents who only had two children but wound up with seventeen grandchildren.) I could write about my mother and her siblings, numbering ten or either of my maternal grandparents who also came from large families. Did I say I had lots of choices?

Decision made: I will write about my Grandmother Alice Fleming and her siblings. My plan is to start at the top of the list and take them in order.

Mary Anne was the oldest and the first to marry and the first to immigrate. Mary Ann Fleming married Thomas Walsh on 24 Oct 1863 in Ballylanders, Limerick, Ireland. They immigrated to Detroit, Michigan in the 1about 1865, based on the age and birthplace of their oldest daughter, before settling in Port Huron, Michigan where they raised eleven children before Thomas’s death in 1896.

John H Fleming also initially immigrated to Detroit before settling in Eau Claire to establish an Undertaking business. He married Lavinia Flattery in Michigan about 1873 and after her untimely death in 1882, he married Ellen Waters in 1887 and was the father of six children.

Eliza Fleming was born in Limerick in 1850 and married John Hogan in Ireland. John died in Ireland and Eliza then immigrated to Chicago in 1884 with her four children.

Michael Joseph Fleming was born in 1852 and immigrated to the United States before 1880. In the 1880 census, Michael is living in the Port Huron home of his sister Mary Ann Walsh. Michael became a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit. At one time he was the chaplain of St Joseph Academy in Adrian, Michigan. This is the school that several of his nieces and great-nieces attended. After originally being buried in Detroit, Fr Michael Fleming is now buried on the grounds of the Dominican Motherhouse in Adrian, MI.

Thomas, called “Poor Tom” because of a severe knee injury, came to the United States and worked as a bartender in Detroit. It is not known that he ever married and he died in Detroit, MI in 1891.

Hannah Fleming, born in 1856, was also living in the Port Huron home of Mary Ann Walsh and in 1882 became a Sister of Providence. She joined the order in Terre Haute, Indiana and became Sister Mary Regina, She died in 1933 and is buried in St Mary of the Woods, Vigo County, Indiana.

James Fleming was born in 1858 and immigrated in 1879 at twenty years of age. In the 1900 census, he is living in Biwabik, St Louis, Minnesota with his wife Mary Brennan and three daughters. His occupation was a tailor. During his lifetime, James held several occupations and was said to be something of an artist and a poet. He and his wife had nine children and left the Midwest for Texas before his death in 1958.

Patt S Fleming was born 12 Jan 1860 and is the only family member to immigrate but decide to return to Ireland. It is said that he believed you had to work too hard in America. I don’t have dates for his immigration and return but by 1893 he had opened a “Fine Groceries, Wine and Spirits” shop at One Sandymount in Dublin. He married Kathleen English and they had four children. Patt died in Dublin in 1933.

Ed Fleming was born 12 Jan 1862 and died in Sept 1865.

William Fleming was born 8 Jan 1864 and died 8 Sep 1865.

Edward Edmund (or EE) was born 7 Mar 1866 in Ballylanders, Limerick, Ireland and arrived in the United States about 1885. He may have gone to stay with his brother John since all records indicate that was his only place of residence. He did journey to Chicago in 1890 where he married Hannah G Griffin. EE was in the jewelry business although records show he was also an undertaker with John and had some kind of store selling pianos with John and James. EE had three children and died in Eau Claire, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He and my Grandmother Alice were the closest of her siblings and there were many visits between them.

Alice was born on 1 Jan 1872 in Ballylanders and owing to the advanced ages of her parents was allowed to do pretty much as she willed. Perhaps that is why word was sent to Michigan that she was “running wild” and should be taken to America to be married. Fr Michael Fleming was delegated to return to Ireland to bring his sister to the Michigan home of Mary Walsh. Alice had already set her heart on marrying Michael Connery to whom she was introduced by her friend Ellen Connery. Michael was home to visit and impress his family with how well he had done for himself in America. After Alice moved to Michigan she made several trips to Wisconsin to visit her brothers and may have been able to meet Michael while traveling between Michigan and Wisconsin. In any event, she and Michael were married by Fr Michael Fleming at the Port Huron home of her sister Mary Ann Walsh on 28 June 1893 and moved to Chicago. There they raised their family of ten children. Alice died in 1962 in Chicago.

I said it was a large family and I can’t begin to count the descendants but I’m trying to keep the record straight!