52 Ancestors – 52 Weeks

The writing prompt for this week is “Popular.” I chose to write about Timothy Edmund Fitzgerald, my great uncle because I found an anecdote that describes him in terms of what I would call popular. Tim’s older brother John was my grandfather. Tim was born on November 17, 1889 in the Town of Lebanon, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. The area was settled by Lowneys, Mullarkeys, Sullivans, Flannerys, O’Briens, Hurleys, Fitzgeralds, Maddens and many other Irish families whose ancestors had some from Ireland. Tim was the third child of Robert and Mary Ellen Casey Fitzgerald. He died November 18, 1973 and is buried in St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery in the Town of Lebanon. Tim’s father Robert had opened a general store out in the country. When he retired, Tim took over running the store. I believe Tim was also the postmaster for the area as evidenced in the anecdote.

Although I was twenty-five years old when Tim died, I do not remember much about him because we moved from that area of Wisconsin when I was fourteen. I do remember going to his store and standing on the front porch of that building to look down on the farms below. The view is beautiful and after visiting Ireland, I understand why this area of Wisconsin appealed to the Irish. The land was farmed and crops like corn and potatoes grow well there. The area reminded them of home.

I found an anecdote about Tim Fitzgerald in a book, A Bit of Green in Lebanon (Waupaca County, Wisconsin): The Hurley Family With Related and Allied Lines. written by Mickie Hurley Parr and published in 1991. The book came about after Ms. Parr attended her father’s Hurley family reunion in the late 1960s. That first reunion fueled her interest in the family genealogy and she continued researching the Hurleys and other families in Waupaca County for nore than twenty years. In 1987 her mother gifted Mickie and her sister with a trip to Ireland. They were amazed when they found family records at Kilcoe Church, Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland. Mickie also spent time researching historic records of Waupaca County and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, which was built by the Irish emigrants in the Town of Lebanon. This book has been a valuable asset for those of us who lived in Waupaca County as we research our ancestors. The anecdote about Tim Fitzgerald follows.

“Timothy Edmund Fitzgerald was responsible for so much information about his own and many of the other Irish families that resided in and near Lebanon Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. Having lived in and operated a general stores in the area for so many years, Tim knew just about anyone that spent any time there. He was quite a gentleman, in every sense of the word. If one thinks about it, he had the opportunity to know everything, all the rumor, innuendo and fact, as all must have passed his ears while operating the store. Yet for all the conversation he and I had and all the letters that came to me from him, never did one occurrence that may embarrass someone, or one even slightly prejudicial statement pass his lips or get written down by him. When I did catch wind of something that I was trying to find out if fact or fiction I would immediately seek out Tim to ask for the story behind it, if he thought it was not something that people should know, he simply would not say a word. He just could not bring himself to say ill about any person, whether they were living or dead. He was as I said quite a gentleman. His lovely wife Kit, I knew very slightly. What I did know was she too was a very special, gentle, loving lady.“

I do not know who wrote this anecdote. I find the writing to be reminiscent of the times with its approving words.

Source:

Parr, Mickie, A Bit of Green In Lebanon (Waupaca County, Wisconsin): The Hurley Family With Related and Allied Lines, The Anundsen Publishing Co., 1991