Owens/Walsh Family Research

Pursuing The American Connection

1862 – Thomas A Owens arrives in Boston Mass from Ireland.

1865 – Listed on a Mass census as living with father Peter, sister Eliza & brother O****. Peter is apparently
widowed at this time.

1863 – Catherine Walsh arrives in Boston from Ireland.

1865 – Listed as working as a servant for a Boston family.

1868 – Thomas A Owens Marries Catherine Walsh on the 23 August 1868 in Boston MA.
Parents of the bride – William & Mary Walsh. grooms parents – Peter Owens & Rosanna Foran.

1870 – Census - residing in ward 7 Suffolk South Boston, MA with daughter Rosa aged 1

1880 – Census – residing on Broadway, Suffolk, Boston, MA with as above, also son William aged 9, Mary
aged 8, and James aged 1

No 1890 census available at present time.

1900 – Census – residing at 101 Mercer St, Suffolk, Boston, MA, Household as follows >
Thomas 55, Catherine 53, Rose M 29, William T 28, Mary E 26, & Edward J 18
** Rose M is listed on this census as married, though no sign of her husband here or in the future.
** James is missing in this census, possibly died in 1881 aged 2.
** Census shows Catherine had 8 children of which 4 survived by 1900.

1909 – Thomas A Owens dies in hospital (cerebral haemorrhage) aged 63 yrs 6 mts & 17 days.
Address at time of death was – 101 Mercer St Boston. Buried at Holyhood cemetery Brookline Boston.

1910 – Census – residing at 101 Mercer St Boston > Catherine Owens head 64 widowed, Rose daug 41
(no marital status) Mary daug 37 single.

1920 – Census – residing at 60 Telegraph St ward 10 Suffolk South Boston MA.

** This address is of much interest. *See later notes.
Household as follows > John J Lennehan head(1) 53 single owner. Mary E sister 50 single.
Catherine Owens head(2) widowed 70 *appears to be renting the property. Mary Owens 40 single.
Rose Owens 45 single.
** There is a huge discrepancy in the ages given for the Owens family between the 1910 & 1920 census.

1930 – Census – residing at 298 Dorchester St ward 7 Suffolk South Boston MA. Household as follows >
Rose M Owens head 59, single, owner. Mary E Owens sister, 57, single.
** No sign of their Mother Catherine, assumed she died sometime between 1920 & 1930. No available record
to check this data at this time.

There are no records available at present for Massachusetts deaths after this period until 1970.
So what of the children of Thomas Owens and Catherine Walsh?

From the available census’s it appears they had 8 children of which only 4 survived they are as follows >

Rose M Owens b. 26th Dec 1868

William T b. 6th July 1870
Mary E b. 24th Feb 1872
Edward J b. 6th Dec 1880

Rose in the 1900 census is listed as married but no evidence has been found to confirm this.

Mary doesn’t appear to have ever married and lived within the family household throughout, Inc with her sister
in 1930.

William disappears after 1900, from those census details he appears to be 28 yrs old, read, write, speak English
and is working as a labourer. Can’t find factual info for later dates although there is a William who appears to
match that description in later censuses, these should only be considered as possible, not probable.
1910 census – Inmate at a Boston state hospital.
1920 census – Inmate at a Boston state hospital for the insane.

Edward is the one person in the family who is of most interest, as it’s him who possibly takes us forward to
future generations of this family, and so we’ll deal with him later.

The object of this research was to establish a connection between the Walsh’s from Waterford Ireland and those
of Boston Massachusetts i.e. where did it begin, who did it begin with?
From research done by myself & my cousin in Ireland, we’ve come up with lots of scenarios and possibilities
but nothing concrete as yet, but the above info does give plenty of clues, however none so much as this next
one.

60 Telegraph Street Boston Massachusetts.

As mentioned earlier this was the address of Catherine Owens and her 2 daughters in 1920.

In 1911 William D Walsh (son of John D Walsh of John St Waterford City) immigrated to the US with his wife
Elizabeth to start a new life and build up a business in plumbing. Their 1st port of call was in Revere Boston
then Somerville also In Boston, before moving on to Detroit Michigan and finally St Petersburg Florida.

William and his family made quiet a few trips back and to from America to Ireland, and in 1924 made 2 visits
back to Ireland within months of each other (this was the year of his Fathers death) What is intriguing about
these visits is, his passport was issued in May of that year, and his address given is Wayne Michigan.
On his 1st visit back to Ireland in June of that year the passenger lists his last residency as, 60 Telegraph St
Boston?
On his 2nd visit his residency is given as 3240 Carter St Detroit Michigan, both trips within a couple of months
of each other? On first though it was considered they had moved homes and States in between the visits.
However, with this new evidence that Catherine Owens nee Walsh and her daughters were at the same address
4 years earlier, surely this cannot just be coincidental! My thoughts are this >

Perhaps Catherine died in this year, and that William Walsh & his family, after planning his visit to Ireland
decided first to go and stay with the Owens family for a while before making the trip overseas, or maybe it was
just a courtesy call.
So, what would be the connection between William Walsh & Catherine Owens?

I’m almost sure now that Catherine Owens was the sister of John D Walsh of Waterford, thus making her
William’s aunt, and a great aunt to me.

To summarise the above info, we can now assume it was Catherine Walsh who was the 1st family member to set
foot in America and therefore set the seeds for future generations.

** Edward J Owens**

As mentioned earlier, Edward was probably the last born child of Thomas & Catherine, and definitely one of
the surviving children; he’s possibly the most important of the Owens in regards of establishing facts and giving
credence to this research.

Born on 6 Dec 1880 at 105 W Sixth St Boston. Edward appears on the 1900 census.

23 May 1901 – Edward marries Mary E Finnegan in Boston Suffolk MA.

*for whatever reason his d.o.b. is recorded as 1881 in Massachusetts marriages 1695-1910*
Mary’s parents are Edward Finnegan & Ellen Cronan.

1910 & 1920 census – There doesn’t appear to be any records for the family on either of these census, it’s
possible that they have yet to be fully transcribed.

1930 Census – residing at East Broadway Boston MA. The household members are as follows>

Edward J Owens age 49 head

Mary E 48 wife
Thomas E 25 son
Helen M 24 daug
Catherine M 22 daug
Edward W 19 son
Patrick J 15 son
Mary M 13 daug
Rose 8 daug
All the family members were born in Boston. There is no indication on the census form that any other children
were born and did not survive.

**Other info that is known for this branch of Owens**

Mary M Owens b. 19th May 1916 in Boston MA. married Donald P Bortz of Pennsylvania around 1946. It’s not
known if they had children. Mary died in Hyde Park Boston MA. On 21st Nov 1995 aged 79.

Helen M Owens b.1st April 1906 in Boston MA. married an unknown Hoar, no date, no known children. Helen
died in Andover Essex MA. In March 1993 aged 86.

Catherine M Owens b. 10th Jan 1908 in Boston MA. married an unknown Kenneally, no date, no known
children. Catherine died in Dorchester Boston MA. On 9th Aug 1997 aged 89.

Patrick J Owens b. circa 1915. No additional info for Patrick.

Rose Owens b. circa 1922. No additional info for Rose.

Thomas E Owens b. 24th May 1904 in Boston MA. married Ellen Frances Kelley, of unknown place or parents.
One known child, Jane Owens who married an unknown Hopkins, and was residing in Dorchester Boston MA.
at the time of Edwards death in Jan 1994 in Hyde Park Boston MA. He was 89 years old.

• Thomas leaves his wife Ellen, daughter Jane Hopkins of Dorchester, a brother Patrick J of
South Boston, two sisters, Catherine Kenneally of Dorchester & Mary Bortz of Hyde Park and
two grandchildren.

• Source; Newspaper Obituary.

Edward W Owens b. 15th Jan 1915 in Boston MA. married Catherine Flaherty, date, place & parents of
Catherine unknown.
Edward died in Jordan hospital Weymouth MA. on 23rd April 1990 aged 79

Edward leaves five sons, Thomas, Joseph, Paul, Robert and

Richard; two daughters, Marianne Healy and Kathryn Feeney; two brothers, Thomas
and Patrick; three sisters, Catherine Kenneally, Helen Hoar and Mary Bortz; 25
grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Source; Newspaper Obituary.

• That is where we are now in regards information for this family tree branch. The object now is
to try and move forward, widen the tree and bring more generations of our American cousins to
the fore.

• Any additional info would be most welcome, I can be contacted at; mike139@hotmail.co.uk

• All the above information is to the best of my knowledge accurate. If I have made mistakes,
errors etc it’s my fault, and if so please contact me and I’ll make corrections were necessary.

• Finally, special thanks to my cousin Helena in Ireland, without her input and invaluable
information, we would be nowhere near where we are today with this research.

Mike O’Neill July 2010