Hannah "Agnes" Finnigan McCabe Meagher

Agnes is my 2nd great-grandmother.

1857 ~ September 30th, 1929

Grandma Finnigan. That's what Jack and Bette called her. But before she became a grandmother, she was Hannah Agnes. Named after her aunt Hanna and her grandmother Hanora. Hannah is the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name Hanora. She was called Hannah or Hannah Agnes throughout her childhood, but by the time she reached adulthood, she preferred to use her middle name, Agnes, as her personal name.

Born in 1857 to Catherine and Michael, Agnes joined the growing Finnigan clan. She was the third child of fourteen. Her parents and extended family emigrated from Ireland after her uncle and grandfather passed away, more than likely from reasons associated with the Irish Potato Famine. The expatriate Finnigans initially landed in New York, but made Washington Township, Iowa their second home in the United States. This is where Agnes made her way into the world.

While her parents were uneducated, they made certain that their children attended school. Agnes would be a part of the generation who could read and write.

For at least some of her school age years, her father was not at home. He along with her uncle went off to fight in the Civil War. She would have been about four years old when war broke out and about eight when it ended. Thankfully, Iowa never saw battle, so she never had to bare witness to the ravages of wartime, but it must have been difficult for her to not have her father or her uncle around during her formative years.

After the war ended, her father and uncle both returned home from the front line. Not long after that, the family packed up and moved to Good Intent, Kansas. The Finnigans were a family of farmers and through their hard work, fortune was bestowed upon them. They grew to be quite prosperous. Moreover, they were regarded as a pillar in their local community, which lasted for generations.

However, Agnes seemed to have wanted a different life for herself. By the time she was 22 years old, she had packed her bags and headed for Colorado City, which is now known as Colorado Springs. She worked for the Curr Family as a servant. I am uncertain if she cleaned their home or if she helped to raise the four Curr children in the household, but whatever her position was, she did reside with them. However, she didn't have to work for them for very long.

On November 16th, 1981, she walked down the aisle for the first time. Her groom was named Thomas McCabe. He worked for the railroad as a night baggage man initially. Legally, her first name was Hannah and so the name listed on the marriage certificate was Hannah A. Finnigan. They were married in Colorado Springs by a Catholic Priest, Father J.J. Ifortner (I initially thought that the last name Ifortner was a typo, but I did look it up and this is a surname).

They had one child, Thomas Jr. who was born in 1885. They also had another child who did not live past infancy. I have no record of that child's name.

On December 1st, 1886, Thomas Sr. was killed in a train accident in the Idaho Territory. By this time he was the brakeman of a freight train. On the night of the accident, the car ahead of him lost control and moved at "a fearful rate of speed," according to the newspaper. It crashed into his car, causing so much damage, his body could not be extricated for 24 hours. I can only imagine that he must have died instantly. He was only 26 years old.

Agnes became a widow for the first time as well as a single mother. It would have been an easy decision to head home to Kansas to be with her family so she could have help raising Thomas, but thankfully for all of us, she decided to stay in Colorado.

After four years of being single, she took the plunge and married once again. On September 4th, 1890, Henry "Harry" J. Meagher (pronounced meer) became her husband. This time she disregarded using the name Hannah all together on the marriage certificate and just referred to herself as Agnes McCabe.

A year later Agnes and Harry received a present on Christmas Eve. On December 24th, 1892 they welcomed their only child to their family. Her name was Winifred Helen Meagher. She would grow up to become Jack's (Da's) mother. So, she is our direct line ancestor. One week after being born, on New Years' Day, she was baptized into the Catholic Church. Catholicism played an integral role on all branches of Jack's Family.

While Harry considered himself a professional painter, Agnes also dabbled in the art world. In 1912, an exhibit was planned for local artists and Agnes was one of the featured painters showing off her work. Thanks to Susie, we are fortunate to have this image of one of her creations, along with her signature below.

Painting by Agnes.

"Mrs. Agnes Meagher" ~ Signature on the painting.

Painting was her hobby, but she also had a profession. In 1900, she managed their boarding house.

However, somewhere between 1900 and 1910 Agnes and Harry had acquired either a large sum of money or an income that was not from a profession. They were able to pay off their mortgage and they no longer needed to work. That being said, local politics interested Harry and he decided to jump into the political arena. He initially was a city marshal, then an alderman and finally he became a justice of the peace.

After being reelected for a second term as a justice of the peace, he passed away from pneumonia. On November 14, 1914, Agnes became a widow once again.

She never remarried.

Her children were grown when Harry died. As an adult, Thomas became a pharmacist and married a woman named Irene. They never had any children.

Winnie married Joe Tunney on April of 1915 and nine months later, Helen was born. Agnes became a grandmother for the first time and Winnie, Joe and Helen lived with Agnes in her home.

After Harry passed away, she once again let out rooms in her home in order to have an income. Not only were the three Tunneys living under her roof, she also had rent-paying tenants living there, as well. They included a single gentleman, as well as a family of four. With six adults and three children, it must have been a home filled with activity.

She advertised her rooms through the local directory. It was very similar to a phone book, as it listed people's names in alphabetical order, however there weren't any phone numbers in it. Instead, it listed the address and the profession of the person. Women tended to be stay at home mothers, so most of the women just had their names in the book. However, if a woman was a widow, it would list her name and then her deceased husband's name in parentheses next to hers with the letters "wid" showing her status as a widow. Even after the husband's death, she still belonged to him. Additionally, since Agnes did have a profession, in that she let out rooms for rent, the directory mentioned that she had rooms available. Colorado City had a great demand for housing as there was a gold ore processing plant as well as over 50 coal mines in town. So, I am sure it was quite easy to rent out her space.

Agnes and Harry's headstone.

On September 30th, 1929, Agnes passed away at her home. She is buried with Harry in Fairview Cemetery in Colorado Springs.

According to her obituary, she was a "pioneer" resident who was "well known in the western part of the city, where she was the owner of a considerable amount of property." She was a member of her Catholic Church, Sacred Heart Parish, and for the last seven years of her life she acted as president of the Altar Society at her church. Additionally, she was involved with the local chapter of the Neighbors of Woodcraft organization, which provided aid to those in need. It ran from 1897 to 1977. Wikipedia states, "The Neighbors of Woodcraft had a ritual which included annual passwords, initiation rites and a ritual obligation. Once each year each member was required to reaffirm their obligation on "Obligation Night."

She seemed to have led a very active life.

Supposition: 

* Agnes must have been a strong woman to leave her entire family to move to another state without a husband. Moreover, after her first husband died, she didn't return to the comfort of her familial home. For a woman of her time to be a widow and a single mother, it must have been very challenging as there were so few positions women could actually have. I am unclear if she and her first husband owned a home or not, so I am not sure if she was able to be rent out rooms as she did when she was widowed the second time.

Sacred Heart Parish

* Agnes' parents were well-off. While it is unknown when her mother, Catherine died, she certainly had passed on before her father did. Michael died in June of 1899. It is entirely possible that the money that Agnes and Harry acquired somewhere between 1900 and 1910 was from an inheritance from her father.

* Jack and Jim were her other two grandchildren, and she was alive when they were both born, as well. The 1920 census was taken before Jack was born so he is not listed on it.

* I have been told by my grandparents that she was a pretty stern woman. I'm not sure how much interaction Jack would have had with her since he was little when he moved away, but at least according to the family legend, Grandma Finnigan was one tough cookie. I guess she had to be to have gone from having a fairly privileged upbringing, to having nothing at the beginning of her adulthood, to becoming powerful in her city in her own right. No matter what her personality type was, she certainly was interesting.

* I also find it interesting that her grandchildren called her Grandma Finnigan, since Finnigan was her maiden name. Agnes' own grandmother, whom she was named after, was a very well respected lady and a pillar in her community. She, too, was known as Grandma Finnigan. So, I suppose she wanted to use the same name as her honored grandmother.

* Any information in quotations has been taken directly from newspaper articles written about her.

The Meaning of Her Names:

Personal Name Meaning: Hannah ~ From the Hebrew name Channah, meaning favor and grace.

Personal Name Meaning: Agnes ~ a female given name, which derives from the Greek name Ἁγνὴ hagnē, meaning "pure" or "holy". 

Surname Meaning: Finnigan ~ Irish origin. Anglicization of the Gaelic "O'Fionnagain" - meaning the descendant(s) of Fionnagan, an Old Irish personal name derived from the word "fionn," which means white, fair-headed.