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.
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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.
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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.
