Catherine Foulks Finnigan

 Catherine is my third great-grandmother.

1834 ~ August 9, 1885

Born in Castleisland, in County Kerry, Ireland, Catherine was the first child of Edmond Foulks and Ellen (née Connor). 

After her father-in-law passed away, Catherine and her family packed their bags and braved the journey to America. Led by her mother-in-law, Hanora, the Finnigan clan, including Catherine's husband Michael, four of Michael's brothers and his one sister, Hanna, as well as her own brother John, closed the chapter of their lives on the Emerald Island to begin anew in a strange land across the pond. This took place somewhere between 1847 and 1851.

At the height of the Irish Potato Famine, when a mass exodus of Irish farmers fled in the hopes to find healthier land, the Finnigans sought to seek their fortune in the land of opportunity. And in their new home, they would indeed find it.

I used this image to represent Catherine, because it was a church in Castleisland, County Kerry,
where she was born. Castleisland is one word—this is not a typo.

New York became their first home in the New World. Mary and James, Catherine's first two children, were born in New York.

Because her husband came from a family of farmers, New York City wasn't going to be their home for very long. Some time between 1853 and 1856, the family headed west for greener pastures in Washington Township, Iowa. This included not just Catherine's husband and children, but the entire extended family who had joined them on their journey to the States. While many of my ancestors left their extended family behind, the Finnigans stuck together like glue.

It would be in Iowa where the Finnigans created a home and built their first farm in America. Michael ran the farm, while Catherine ran the household.

Iowa is where Hannah "Agnes" was born in 1856. While she was known as Hannah to her family as a youngster, she preferred using her middle name as an adult. She would grow up to be the mother of Winifred Tunney who would become the mother to Helen, Jack and Jim. Therefore, it was Agnes who was our direct ancestor.

Catherine and Michael were blessed with four more children through 1864: Patrick, Michael Jr., Edward, and John. But 1864 would bring change to the family, beyond the addition of more babies.

For three years, the country had been ripped apart by the ravages of The Civil War. It was the war between the States. It was a war between brothers. Although Iowa did not face the dangers of wartime battle itself, the men took up a call to arms in order to fight in battle-torn states. Catherine's husband, as well as her brother, joined the cause by enlisting in the military. Fighting on the side of the Union forces, they participated in the brutal and victorious March to the Sea under Major General William Techumsah Sherman's command.

While the bulk of the Iowan men were off fighting in the war, the women stepped up to the plate and filled a plethora of positions that were considered men's work. Analogous to "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, "women experienced new job opportunities from nursing (which had been an all-male profession) to army laundresses to spies, government clerical positions to cottage factories in the home...some women even disguised themselves as men in order to serve as combat soldiers on the battlefield."* In fact, the women of Iowa specifically often cared for the injured in hospitals and volunteered for duty in the military camps, as well.

While it is unclear what role Catherine may have played during the Civil War, it seems more than likely that she had to pick up the pace in order to take care of the business at home. There was a farm to run and without too many able-bodied men around, she must have stepped in to work on the farm in her husband's absence.

Women Nurses during the Civil War

Within a year's time, the war had mercifully ended. Both her husband, as well as her brother would return home to their families.

On a side note, John had been married to Michael's sister Hanna. So, at least two Foulks siblings married into the Finnigan family.

After a year apart, it didn't take long before four more children were added to the Finnigan clan. Katie, Margaret, Eliza and Tim were all born by 1872.

While neither she nor Michael were educated, her children went to school. Education was not compulsory in Iowa until 1902, but Catherine and Michael saw the wisdom in educating their kids.

One room school in Iowa.

Regardless of the parents' lack of education, it didn't seem to hurt the family from a financial perspective. The Finnigans lived the American dream. They left Ireland, ostensibly to get away from famine and therefore poverty and turned their world around to create prosperity. Most of the clan stuck together. No matter where they lived in the country, the entire brood of siblings, children and their matriarch, Hanora, moved together, all helping to build their fortune.

At this point, when they lived in Iowa, their combined personal property and real estate was valued at $4,200.00, which would have been nearly $700,000 in today's world. Some of our farmer ancestors did not fare well on the farming front, and had to take up other positions. However, a few of our farmer ancestors, including the Finnigans, did very well for themselves financially.

Their finances would only improve when they packed up once again. This time the entire Finnigan brood moved to Wolf River in Doniphan County, Kansas and finally settled in a town known as Good Intent. It was here where their combined real estate and personal property was valued at $6,000 (nearly a million in today's standards.)

In Good Intent, the Finnigans became leaders in their community. Led by their matriarch, Hanora, they all worked very hard in creating familial prosperity.

While Good Intent is no longer in existence, it was a part of Atchison.

In Kansas, Emma, Thomas and Dennis completed the family's list of children.

While the economics of the family were set, hardship was about to befall the family once again. It began when daughter Emma died in March of 1885. She was only seven years old.

Catherine passed away only a few months later in August. She is buried in St. Benedict's Cemetery in Bendena, Kansas.

Catherine's Headstone (close-up below)

Supposition: 

*Kansas didn't keep consistent records until 1911. I have no idea how Catherine died, but perhaps it was due to a broken heart after losing her daughter at such a young age. That being said, it could have been due to illness. After Catherine's death, several of her children passed away in the next couple of years. Perhaps they all had the same illness.

I do know that in the following decade, one of her sons went to California to try to release whatever illness he had, only to pass away a mere two weeks before his father in 1899.

*It truly astonishes me that the entire family moved from Ireland to the U.S. to start a new, including her mother-in-law, who was in her 50's at the time. Fifty was not a young woman in her day. Additionally, once they got here, they stuck together regardless of where they moved. The family bond was clearly important to them.

*Catherine's mother Ellen and her mother-in-law Hanora's last name was Connor. It is possible that Michael and Catherine were cousins. That may seem strange to us, but it was a common practice to marry cousins.

*Even before I saw the finances in the records, I knew by looking at the various family headstones, that these people were prosperous. Some of the headstones are several times larger than this one that belonged to Catherine, which is still quite impressive.


Catherine's Parents:

I know so little about her parents, I do not want to create a full page unless I find out more information. This is what I know.

Her father was Edward Foulks, born circa 1810 in Ireland.

Her mother was Ellen Connor Foulks, born circa 1814 in Ireland. She was possibly the sister of Catherine's mother-in-law, Hanora.

*A Note About Kansas Property Laws: 

Generally speaking, only the men held the rights to property, but things were slightly different from a legal perspective in the state of Kansas. While Michael was considered head of household and owner of his property, I looked up the state laws. To this day, Kansas does not have community property. However, in the case of divorce, even in the 19th century, the property acquired during the marriage generally would have been split in half if the two were to divorce. Two such cases of divorce occurred in the 19th century where the women received half of the property.

I am not claiming that the Finnigan's were headed for divorce. Indeed they were in it for the long haul, but from a woman's perspective, I do like the fact that their property belonged to both of them since it was acquired during the marriage. This is an extraordinary thing for 19th century standards. While Michael worked on the farm, Catherine kept their home in order. They were truly a team.

*I looked online to see if they received their property from the Homestead Act. They did not.

The Meaning of Her Names:

Personal name meaning: Catherine ~ Originally French. The name symbolizes purity and clarity.

Surname meaning: Foulks  ~ The old Welsh surname Foulks comes from the popular personal name Fulk, originating from the Normans and then used as a Germanic personal name meaning  "folk," or "people."

*Quote from the Kansas Humanities Council Blog.

*Iowan Civil War information from the article The Civil War and Iowa