Thursday, February 12, 2009

Mary J. Whalin, Widow

This is a transcription of an affidavit from the widow's pension case file of Mary J. Whalin, the widow of Patrick Whalin.

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Deposition E
Case of Mary J Whalin, No. 773265
On this 16th day of May, 1903 at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Ill, before me, J. H. Stibbs[?], a special examiner of the Bureau of Pensions, personally appeared Peter Lynch, who, being by me first duly sworn to answer truly all interrogatories propounded to him during this special examination of aforesaid claim for pension, deposes and says: I am 78 years of age, and reside at 540 Burling St Chicago Ill. I have known this claimant since she was a child in Ireland.
I came to this country in 1844, & was back & forth to Ireland after that. I saw claimant in Buffalo N.Y. in 1865 or 66, and when she came to Chicago. She came to live in my family. She was then a young unmarried girl.
I knew her husband, Patrick Whalin from 1857. I landed in Chicago in 1856, got acquainted with him in 1857, and knew him well from that time on. He was my wifes brother and a part of the time lived with me.
I knew positively he was not married until he married this claimant. I was at their wedding and saw them married, and I knew they lived together from that time until he died, never were divorced or legally separated. They were living together at the time of his death, and she has not remarried since. She has no property of any kind. The house in which she lives belongs to her crippled son, and she has no income, but supports herself as a scrub woman. I could not give the date of marriage, but it must have been about 1867. I knew she was here in Chicago but a short [?] when she was married. Her husband served in the 90th Ill. That was the only service he ever endured[?] in either the army or Navy that I knew or heard of. He was there[?] until he was wounded.
The affidavit B. J. [?] [?] was signed by me & the facts stated therein are correct.
I am not interested in this claim. The above has been read to me & is correct.
Peter Lynch
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 16th day of May 1903, and I certify that the contents were fully made known to deponent before signing.
[?]
Special Examiner.

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Patrick Whalin was my great grandfather's brother, which I discovered from documents in this pension file.

Interesting points contained in this affidavit:

The witness, Peter Lynch, was the brother-in-law of Patrick Whalin. Peter's wife (who isn't named) was the sister of Patrick.

Patrick Whalin was in Chicago by 1857.

The witness, Peter Lynch, traveled a bit. He arrived in the U.S. in 1844, arrived in Chicago in 1856, and was in Buffalo, New York in about 1865. He also indicated that he traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Ireland.

New questions based on this affidavit:

What was the name of Patrick's sister who was Peter's wife?

Why did Peter Lynch travel so much? Did he have a job that involved travel? Did he bring friends or relatives to the U.S.?

Peter Lynch knew Mary J. Whalin when she was a child in Ireland. Where in Ireland did Peter and Mary come from?

I'm hoping that other documents in this pension file will help me find the answers to these and other questions I have about Patrick Whalin and his associates.

2 comments:

Patti Browning said...

Hope this snippet helps you!

In the 1900 census of Chicago, Cook Co IL:

Living on 540 Burling St is Peter Lynch, born May 1825 in Ireland. Peter is a landlord. He came over from IRE in 1844. He was listed as widowed. Living with him were two women. The first was his daughter Fannie, who was b. May 1858 in Illinois. Fannie is single and a music teacher. Both her parents are listed as born in Ireland. Also living with Peter is his foster daughter Lottie Ballman, born Oct 1886 in Illinois. Both her parents are listed as being born in Illinois.

So I went to find them in earlier censuses hoping to find Peter's missing wife. I didn't find them on the 1880 but I did locate them on the 1870 in the 2nd Ward of Chicago. (Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Chicago Ward 2, Cook, Illinois; Roll: M593_198; Page: 183; Image: 367.)


Peter Lynch, age 40 b. IRE
Margaret Lynch, age 39 b. IRE
Hattie Lynch, age 19 b. IL
John Lynch, age 17 b. IL
May Lynch, age 10 b. IL
James Lynch, age 8 b. IL

Peter and John are listed as day labourers. Neither Peter nor Margaret could read or write.

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I sure hope I've helped!

Kathy Brady-Blake said...

Thanks Patti! I recognize the Burling St. address and the daughter Fannie in the 1900 census. I didn't know there was a foster daughter. Thanks for finding them in 1870. I'm not having much luck finding them in other censuses yet. I'm looking forward to following Peter in Chicago city directories too.