Margaret O'Shea ^{3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11}

   Other names for Margaret were "Mary" O'Shea, Margarite O'Shea,⁷ Margarey Shay and Margaret Shea.

  General Notes:

Watergrasshill: north of Cork City in the Parish of Kilquarne, Barony of Barrymore, County Cork.
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Margaret had to go to work to support her children after her 1st husband, Michael, died of disease in Nebraska where he had to work when so many US men were going to fight in the Civil War. If the accurate date of Michael's death was in 1862 instead of 1869, then that would mean that their 4th child was born after his death in 1862 in Nebraska.

While she was still living in Canada, a French family agreed to care for infant William while his mother worked. Later, the French family moved away taking baby William with them and Margaret had no idea where her son was until her other son, Edmund, was in the post office one day when one of the townspeople received a letter from the French family and talked about it. Edmund went home and told him mother that William was in a settlement called Frenchville, which received its mail through Trempealeau, Wisconsin. Margaret then began a correspondence with them and as a result she decided to leave Canada and follow them to the US. She caught a Great Lakes boat to Toledo, Ohio and went overland to Cincinnati where she got on a riverboat that took her to St. Louis, MO. At that city she was able to catch a steamboat that would drop her off in Trempealeau. Some say that she couldn't afford the whole fare, and was dropped off before Trempealeau, and some native Americans let her travel in a wagon with them. William was six years old before he was reunited with his family and didn't understand a word of English. All he knew was French. So it was around 1867 before the O'Keeffes were in Trempealeau.
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Margaret O'Shea, later married Barney Carroll McGraw. He was hired to fight in someone else's stead during the Civil War. When the war was over, there was considerable delay in getting discharged, and he finally went AWOL with many others, so was ineligible for any bonus, etc. Barney McGraw was one of the first settlers in Trempealeau.
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  Noted events in her life were:

• She has alternate birth date of 2 July 1825 and a birth location of Watergrasshill, County Cork, IRELAND.

This birth date comes from Carl Michael Keefe, grandson of Margaret O'Shea.

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• She has alternate birth date of 1828 and a birth location of Ireland.

This birth year was referenced by her age of 24 on the 1851 Canada West Census conducted in 1852.
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• She has alternate birth date of 1835 and a birth location of Ireland.

This birth year was referenced by her age of 70 on the 1905 Wisconsin State Census.
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• She appeared on the 1851 Canada West Census in West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville, Ontario, Canada on 1851. ⁹

1851 Ontario, Canada
Page 55, Line 9 Sub-District 103
West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville County, Ontario (Canada West), Canada
Margaret Keeffe..24..Roman Catholic..IRE

(Living with husband and 2 children.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 2 Jul 1831, then her age should have been about 20 instead of 24.
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• She appeared on the 1861 Canada West Census in Kemptville, Ontario, CANADA on 1861. ¹⁰

1861 Canada West Census
Page 5, Line 47, District 1
Kemptville, Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Frame House, 1-1/2 Stories, Single Family Home
Margaret Keeffe..33..IRE..Catholic..Married..Widowed

(Widowed and living with 3 children.)

NOTE - The census record for Margaret is confusing because it says she is both married and widowed. Because the date of death for her husband was either in 1862 or 1869 it would seem very doubtful that she was actually widowed in January of 1861. This most likely was during the time in which her husband was off into Nebraska and Kansas looking for work where he eventually died.

In addition, her 5th child was not born until December of 1862 so it is impossible for her husband to have died before January of 1861, the date of the census. In reality, the husband must have come home for a visit with Margaret sometime around March of 1862 and then returned back to Nebraska or Kansas.

If her birth date was 2 Jul 1831, then her age should have been 30 instead of 33.
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• She appeared on the 1870 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 11 June 1870. ¹¹

1870 US Census
Page 13, Family 107, Roll 1737
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Margaret Keefe..38..IRE..Laundress
Edmund Keefe..19..CAN..Laborer
Elisa J. Keefe..16..CAN
William Keefe..8..CAN
Barney McGrath..23..NY..Laborer

(Widowed and living with 3 children and Barney McGraw whom she would later marry in 1873.)
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• She appeared on the 1880 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 1 June 1880. ³

1880 US Census
Page 176D, District 72, Family 238, Roll 1448
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Margaret McGraw..Wife..47..IRE..Keeping House

(Living with 2nd husband and 2 sons from 1st husband.)

NOTE - If her birth date were 2 Jul 1831, then her age should have been 48 instead of 47.
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• She appeared on the 1900 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 2 June 1900. ⁴

1900 US Census
Sheet 2A, District 137, Family 27, Roll 1819
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned, no mortgage
Married 28 years
Margaret McGraw..Wife..Jul 1831..68..IRE..Immig. 1848..5/4

(Living with 2nd husband.)
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• She appeared on the 1905 Wisconsin State Census in Trempealeau, WI in June 1905. ⁵

1905 Wisconsin State Census
Page 465, Family 108, Line 16
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned
Margaret McGraw..Wife..70..IRE

(Living with 2nd husband.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 2 Jul 1831, then her age should have been 68 instead of 70.
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• She appeared on the 1910 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 15 April 1910. ⁶

1910 US Census
Sheet 2A, District 173, Family 44, Roll 1739
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned, no mortgage
Married 42 years
Margaret McGraw..Wife..77..IRE..Immig 1867..6/4

(Living with 2nd husband.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 2 Jul 1831, then her age should have been 78 instead of 77.
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• She was buried after 8 January 1912 in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Trempealeau, WI.

No visible marker.
Plot: Row 1, Lot 2, Grave 5
Find A Grave Memorial #100850673
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Margaret married Michael John O'Keeffe in 1842 in County Cork, IRELAND.^{2 7} (Michael John O'Keeffe was born in 1819 in County Cork, IRELAND ^{7 8 15} and died in 1869 in Kansas City, KS ^{8 16}.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1848 Census of Lower Canada in Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville, Ontario, CANADA on 1848.

1848 Ontario, Canada Census
Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
LAC # M-5909
Head of Household: Keef, Michael
Record No. 1649
Lot No. 27
Concession No.: 3
Occupation: Joiner
Total people in household: 3
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• They appeared on the 1851 Canada West Census in West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville, Ontario, Canada on 1851. ⁹

1851 Canada West Census
Page 55, Line 9 Sub-District 103
West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville County, Ontario (Canada West), Canada
M. Keeffe..27..Roman Catholic..IRE..Carpenter
Margaret Keeffe..24..Roman Catholic..IRE
Mary Keeffe..4..Roman Catholic..CAN
Edmond Keeffe..1..Roman Catholic..CAN

(Note: Lived next to a grist mill)
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• They appeared on the 1861 Canada West Census in Kemptville, Ontario, CANADA on 1861. ¹⁰

1861 Canada West Census
Page 5, Line 47, District 1
Kemptville, Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Frame House, 1-1/2 Stories, Single Family Home
Margaret Keeffe..33..IRE..Catholic..Married..Widowed
Mary Keeffe..13..CAN..Catholic
Edmund Keeffe..10..CAN..Catholic
Elizabeth Keeffe..7..CAN..Catholic

Margaret was listed was a widow but Michael O'Keeffe did not die until 1869.
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Margaret next married Barney Carroll McGraw in 1873 in , Trempealeau County, WI.^{3 4 5 6} (Barney Carroll McGraw was born on 4 January 1840 in New York,^{4 5 8} died on 20 September 1928 in Trempealeau, WI ⁸ and was buried after 20 September 1928 in Old Catholic Cemetery, Trempealeau, WI.). The cause of his death was Cancer.

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1880 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 1 June 1880. ³

1880 US Census
Page 176D, District 72, Family 238, Roll 1448
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Barny McGraw..Self..35..NY..Stonemason
Margaret McGraw..Wife..47..IRE..Keeping House
Edward McGraw..Son..26..CAN..Laborer
William McGraw..Son..17..CAN..Laborer

NOTE - Edward (Edmund) and William were 2 sons from Margaret's first marriage to Michael John O'Keefe. Their surnames should have been O'Keefe/Keeffe and listed as "stepsons" instead of "sons".
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• They appeared on the 1900 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 2 June 1900. ⁴

1900 US Census
Sheet 2A, District 137, Family 27, Roll 1819
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned, no mortgage
Married 28 years
Barney McGraw..Head..Aug 1840..59..NY..Stone Mason
Margaret McGraw..Wife..Jul 1831..68..IRE..Immig. 1848..5/4
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• They appeared on the 1905 Wisconsin State Census in Trempealeau, WI in June 1905. ⁵

1905 Wisconsin State Census
Page 465, Family 108, Line 16
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned
Barney McGraw..Head..65..NY..Mason
Margaret McGraw..Wife..70..IRE
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• They appeared on the 1910 US Census in Trempealeau, WI on 15 April 1910. ⁶

1910 US Census
Sheet 2A, District 173, Family 44, Roll 1739
Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Home owned, no mortgage
Married 42 years
Barnie McGraw..Head..67..NY..Plasterer
Margaret McGraw..Wife..77..IRE..Immig 1867..6/4
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