Lifescapes

Road to Reno
Madeline Kenyon

McMahon Family Roots

Madeline W. McMahon 1930

1830-1930

The McMahon family roots are in Ireland and I find no indication that there are any other nationalities in our history. The first McMahon that I know of is my Great Grandfather, James E. McMahon, who was born in Dublin County probably in the l830's. His family was very large. Five sons came to this country an early age settling in New York City at the time. James E.and two brothers, John and Pat, eventually settled in New Hartford N.Y. ( a town near Utica) perhaps after helping dig part of the Erie Canal as many young Irishmen did at that time. Another brother Mike, went into the retail liquor business in New York City and another brother, Tom, became a lawyer in Washington D.C. The latter two were highly successful but drop out of the family story at this point.

My great-grandmother, Bridget Hogan, was born in County Clare, Ireland around l840. She came to this country with her parents at the age of six and settled in New Hartford, N.Y. She married James E. McMahon and although I do not know how they met, I do know that after their marriage, James bought the old homestead on Paris Road outside of New Hartford and the Hogans lived down the road a short distance. The homestead remained in the McMahon family until the l990s when Cousin Agnes Scholl sold it at the age of 89, when she entered a retirement home. ( I do hope I have time to tell stories of Agnes and Uncle Jim and our visits with them at the "farm.")

James E. and Bridget had eight children, some of whom I remember quite well. Michael, my grandfather, (born Nov. 8, l866 died Nov.l5, l954 ): Margaret, Jane, Mary, Emma, James (my father's namesake) , Ida, and Stephen. Emma and Stephen died at early ages. I remember Mary who married the Utica undertaker and became licensed undertaker herself, a rare female in the business. We visited her at home in the l960s and I remember the big marble table in the kitchen.. Frank said I was not to comment on it! Aunt Jane lived in town and was a dour woman as I remember. Ida married a southerner from Manassas, Virginiaand moved to Brooklyn where she lived in apartment that we visited on holidays.

Michael, the oldest, ran away from home at the age of l6 and joined the U.S.Postal Service in New York City. He was a good son, sending $ 25.00 a month home to his parents until he married. This was a great deal of money in those days!. He did very well in the Postal Service his route ( walking twice a day) was in down town N.Y. where he met many influential men, among whom was Bernard Baruch, a noted financier. He advised Mike to invest in Long Island real estate. I remember going out to the Rockaways on Long Island, to collect rent with Michael in the l930s. I think JFK airport is on that property now!

My grandmother Bridget Brennan came from Hugginstown Ireland to work as a domestic servant for a wealthy N.Y. family ,who had paid her passage in about l889. The family was named Altman and it may well have been the department store family that founded B Altman and Co. She was the only daughter in Ireland and girls did not inherit any part of the family land in those days. The parish priest obtained the passage money for her in return for which she agreed to work for the family for seven years. I was told that she tied her few clothes in a handkerchief, said good-bye and walked to Cork where she boarded a ship as a steerage passenger. I wish I had been able to talk to her about this trip but she was a very private person and I do not remember ever being alone with her. She and Michael met as she answered the door to collect the mail and when her indenture was finished they married on August l4 l896 and moved to Brooklyn where my father, James J., was born on May 24, l897. A second son ,John was born a year later, but he died as an infant and is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn next to Michael and Bridget.

My father, James J,. nown later as Daddy, and later as Grand-Pop (but never James J. to his face at least) spent his early years growing up on Quincy Street in Brooklyn as the only child in an Irish-Catholic family. I am told he was lonely and severely disciplined. Hard as it was, I am sure this discipline shaped his strong character and did indeed rub off on his three daughters years later. James J. went to Boy's High School, one of the best in New York City and after graduating in l914 was told he could live at home rent-free as long as he was in college . He won a full scholarship to St.John's University as a civil engineering major and played on the baseball team, winning fame as the first St. John's player to pitch a no-hit game. He also received an appointment to West Point but turned it down as he felt that he was not strong enough for Army life. When St. John's ended its engineering program, he transfered to Manhattan College graduating with honors in l918. At this point, James J. took off for Pittsburgh and employment with a company called Blaw-Knox. He was a free young bachelor living in Miss Fahrner's Boarding House and traveling around the country building bridges etc. The Key Bridge in Washington D.C. provided his first patent about concrete bridge supports. This was a heady time to be alive for a single, curious young man. KDKA radio station was started and James J. built his own crystal set radio. He also wanted to be free of the Pittsburgh Trolley System so he built a Stanley Steamer Automobile and explored the hills around the town. Judging from his early l920s address book, he also took many young ladies with him. One of these young ladies was a student nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital named Madeline Teresa Walsh. On December 31, l924 they were married in grand style and took off for a new job in New York City. As was the custom in those days, they moved next door to his parents where his mother had furnished it for the couple without any consultation with them. If my father had a strong personality, my grand-mother met, in the bride, a really strong young woman. Alas, they never got along at all and were barely civil to each other the rest of their lives.

Left: James J. McMahon

1924

Below: Madeline T. Walsh

1924

Madeline T. Walsh was born in Pittsburgh on July 8,l900, the oldest of another large familly. Her mother was usually pregnant and teens and entered nursing school there. When she was retrieved, she entered St. Joseph's Hospital Nursing School and graduated as an R.N. She treasured this degree to the end of her life, renewing her license each year although she never worked as a nurse Three daughters were born to James J. and Madeline McMahon. Madeline (Bo), Patricia (Pat) and Janet (Sugar). Their lives took the McMahon roots in many different directions and will be told in subsequent chapters. The parents lived together on Long Island for 42 years when James J. died and Madeline followed l0 years later.

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To Chapter Two