The Widow O'Rourke

99 Years Young

This is my Great-Great-Grandmother,

Bridget O'Connor O'Rourke.

Our family is lucky to have our very

own genealogist Lynne Taylor Klemens.

This post would not have been possible

 without her and I'll turn this over to her

words and her research.

From the Donegan -O'Rourke Family History:

" Bridget O'Connor O'Rourke was born

in County Tipperary in 1817.  She and

her brother were the only children of

Edward O'Connor and Mary McDonald.

She married the handsome but sometimes

wild John O'Rourke and they had 3 children.

By the 1850's only two of the children

survived:  Ellen born in 1846 and William

born in 1849.  Father, John, was also gone

by then having been killed by a stone

thrower.  Both of Bridget's parents had

died as well by the early 1850's so this

fiesty widow left Ireland with her two

young children and headed to America.

She and her children arrived in New Brunswick,

New Jersey.  She later gained employment

as a servant to two noted New Brunswick

families.  These families were very kind

and helpful to her.  They helped her to

invest her money.  Daughter, Ellen was

able to go to work in the Hosiery factory

and son, William,  later worked on the

railroad as a fireman.  Bridget was able

to purchase her own home by 1870

at 22 Stone Street, not far from Rutgers

College and a very Irish neighborhood.

She remained in her home until her death

in 1916 at the age of 99 years.

From the New Bruswick Times

of February 2, 1916:

Mrs. John O'Rourke celebrated

yesterday her 99th birthday at

her home 22 Stone Street.  She was

showered with post cards and

gifts of all description.  Although

within a year of the century mark,

Mrs. O'Rourke retains her faculties,

has a remarkable memory and takes

a keen interest in the doings of New

Brunswick.  A few years ago Mrs.

O'Rourke fell and dislocated her hip

and since that time has been

compelled to lay on a cot.

Mrs. O'Rourke has two children,

William O'Rourke, Sr. and a daughter

Ellen O'Rourke.  Mrs. O'Rourke was

born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1817 and

came to this country with her children

when a young widow.  She was a faithful

servant in the household of Jacob Carpender

and also in the home of the parents of

Doowe D. Williamson.  These families

have looked after her comfort for years

and their decendants yesterday extended

their greetings and showered suitable

gifts upon the honored one.

In talking about her trip from Ireland,

Mrs. O'Rourke says,

" I had to leave Ireland because times

were so hard.  The young girls at

that time were paid only a sixpence

a day for their labor, which was hardly

enough to live on.  The landlords were

hard on the people and often put them

out of their homes.  When I came over

the young people were leaving Ireland

by the boatload."

"My father - his name was Edward O'Connor

- was a surveyor.  He did the engineering

work for the first railroad built in Ireland. 

He was the first one to put a spade in the soil

in the building of this railroad.  My mother's

name is Mary Mc Donald.  Before I left Ireland

both of my parents died."

"All my people lived to be old.  I had an aunt

in Ireland who lived until she was 104 and I

had a brother who lived to be eighty years

old.  My parents lived to a good old age. 

And twas 1817 I was born."

"When I came to this country I wasn't

going to stop at New Brunswick,  I was

going to Newburgh, NY.  But didn't have

much money so I had to stay here with

my daughter.  The steamer John Nelson

which went between New York and New

Brunswick brought me to this city.  I had

a friend with me but she did not remain

here, continuing to Newburgh."

"When I got here I was without friends

and had to take lodging in the hotel, which

was at the corner of Albany and Neilson

streets.  This hotel was at one time

Washington's headquarters.  Among the

other hotels in the city at that time was

one at the corner of Washington and George

streets.  Benjamon Still was the proprietor.

When I came to this city the people did

not burn kerosene oil and have gas and

electric lights but used candles.  My, but

the city and times have grown since."

"I am one of the oldest, if not the

oldest member of St. Peter's Catholic

Church.  I saw them lay the cornerstone

of the present church and attended the

first Catholic Church erected in the city.

This was built at the corner of George

and Bayard Streets.  At the time it was

called St. Patrick's Church.  Later the name

was changed to St. Peter and Paul and

then to St. Peter's Church.  I cannot

remember the name of the priest in

charge when I first went to the church,

but I do remember that Father Rogers

came after him and worked hard in

raising money for the present church. 

The old church was enlarged in the

year 1865 when the construction of

the present church was commenced."

Mrs. O'Rourke remembers when the

Sixth Ward in which she now lives

was a wilderness.  She is happy and

cheerful and likes to talk of the days

of her childhood and to tell of her

homeland.

I'm very proud of my spunky

Great-Great-Grandmother whose

life must have been so hard. 

I hope she looks down on

her descendants fondly.

Thanks, Lynne!