The Children of Bartley and Judy Lacey: Mark Lacey

This is the fourth post in my continuing series about the Lacey family of Rossadillisk, Ireland. Thus far, I have written about our earliest known Lacey ancestors, Bartholomew "Bartley" Lacey and Judith Corbett. I've also shared information about their eldest child, Mary Lacey, and her descendants.

This post is devoted to Bartley and Judy's second child, Mark Lacey, and his descendants. This is my Lacey line.

Mark Lacey

Mark Lacey was born about 1848 in Rossadillisk. He remained in Rossadillisk his entire life. Like his father, he was a fisherman and farmer. These were the primary options available to young men in this part of Ireland.

On January 13, 1873, Mark married Bridget Feeney of Rossadillisk. Bridget was born about 1845. There were several Feeney families in Rossadillisk at that time, all connected, and I have not been able to determine who Bridget's parents were yet. In this small community, with many people sharing the same handful of surnames, and with a propensity for using the same given names generation after generation, it can be very difficult to distinguish all the cousins with matching names. Examining both Griffith's Valuation and the 1901 Irish Census reveals that in 1855 there were at least two Feeney men in Rossadillisk of the appropriate age to be Bridget's father. They were Michael Feeney (born about 1823, married Ellen) and Festy Feeney (born about 1826). In 1901, these men lived in houses 13 and 14 in Rossadillisk, very near the Lacey house (10). However, at this point, there is no clear evidence to indicate which one of these Feeneys might be Bridget's father.

Mark and Bridget's marriage was registered in Omey. It's possible this could refer to Omey Island, the traditional site of burials for the Rossadillisk community and surrounding towns. There was a church there at one point, although it is now a ruin. There is currently a church in Claddaghduff, just above the shoreline where one would begin the approach to Omey Island. It's not certain exactly where Mark and Bridget were married. The witnesses to their marriage, as specified in the marriage registration, were Joseph Feeney and Anne Jamison.

Mark and Bridget had two sons:

1. John Lacey (b. 1874)
2. Thomas Mark Lacey (b. 1877; d. 1960 in CA; m. in 1908 Sarah Kilcullen)

Bridget Feeney Lacey died on October 2, 1880, at the age of 35. The cause of death was listed as "disease of uterus, three months." This could mean a variety of things. It could have been uterine cancer, uterine fibroids or endometriosis. It could have been the result of an ectopic pregnancy or other pregnancy-related issue. Her sons were six and three years old at the time of her death.

In 1883, Mark married for a second time, to Mary Coyne. Mary was born about 1858. The parish record indicates that Mark and Mary were wed in Ballinakill, northeast of Rossadillisk, near Letterfrack. This distance would take about 25 minutes to travel by car today, and would have taken considerably longer in pre-automobile days. It's possible that Mary was from Ballinakill, although there are no Coyne families listed there in Griffith's Valuation. It's also possible that the couple simply traveled to this popular recreational area to get married. There were several Coyne families in the immediate vicinity of Rossadillisk at the time, so it's likely Mary was connected to one of them. The witnesses at their wedding were William Lacey and Catherine Corbett. Together, Mark and Mary had seven children:

1. Mark Lacey (b. abt. 1887; d. October 28, 1927 at sea)
2. Patrick Lacey (b. abt. 1888)
3. Mary Lacey (b. abt. 1890; d. 1961; m. Patrick O’Toole)
4. Martin Lacey (b. abt. 1891; d. October 28, 1927 at sea)
5. Margaret Ellen Lacey (b. 1899; d. 1969 in S. Boston; m. Coleman Hernon)
6. George Lacey (b. abt. 1901; d. October 28, 1927 at sea)
7. William Lacey (b. 1906; d. 1976 in Boston; m. 1st Beatrice, 2nd Dorothy Barrett)

Mark Lacey died on August 20, 1909, at the age of 61. Mary lived to experience the Cleggan Bay Disaster in 1927, which we know because her grief at losing three of her sons in that storm is recorded in the book The Cleggan Bay Disaster: An account of the savage storm in October 1927 that devastated the Connemara communities of Rossadilisk and Inishbofin by Marie Feeney. Mary Coyne Lacey died in June 1930 and is buried on Omey Island.

The grave of Mark Lacey, his wife Mary Coyne Lacey, their daughter Mary Lacey O'Toole, 

son-in-law Patrick O'Toole and grandson Michael O'Toole.

The Children of Mark Lacey

John Lacey

John's birth is recorded on 23 May 1874 in parish records. After that, he appears again in the 1901 and 1911 Irish census, living with his father (until his death in 1909), stepmother and half-siblings in Rossadillisk. In 1911, he is age 35 and unmarried. Like his father and half-brothers, he is a farmer and fisherman. My family had heard that John might have come to America, like his younger brother Thomas. Immigration records show that on April 12, 1907, John arrived in New York on the ship Majestic. He was 32 years old, with a ticket that was paid for by his uncle, George Lacey. This note is odd because John did not have an uncle George Lacey, to my knowledge. He had a half-brother named George Lacey, but he was only five years old in 1907. It's possible it could have been a great uncle, but I can't place this reference. The immigration record says that John was en route to San Francisco after arriving in New York. Likely, he was headed to visit his brother, Thomas, who had emigrated to San Francisco several years prior. However, after this point, I cannot find records for John in America. If the Irish census is correct and John returned to Ireland by 1911, then he didn't stay in San Francisco long. I'm not sure what became of John but will continue researching.

Thomas Mark Lacey

Thomas Mark Lacey, our immigrant ancestor, emigrated to San Francisco, arriving in 1902 or 1903 at the age of about 25. Thomas never returned to Ireland. His reason for leaving would likely have been lack of opportunity. His ability to make a living in Rossadillisk was limited to fishing and farming. We believe that Thomas sailed to San Francisco because Lacey family friend Valentine King was living there and he would have support from the King family upon arrival. It is curious, though, that he was one of the only Lacey family members who emigrated to an American city other than Pittsburgh. With so many family members working in the steel mills outside Pittsburgh, that would have been an easy path to choose. Instead, Thomas headed to California.

Thomas Lacey in California

Thomas did not go through any of the major American immigration centers, like Ellis Island. We do not have a ship's manifest or date of arrival. It's long been legend in our family that Thomas took a job on a shipping vessel and sailed with it across the Atlantic, around the tip of South America, and then north to San Francisco, a perilous journey that would have taken many months. Since there is no evidence of his arrival anywhere else in the United States, it's entirely possible this account is factual. The 1920 U.S. Census indicates that he arrived in America in 1902. The 1930 U.S. Census says it was 1903. Either way, Thomas arrived just a few years before the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. We do not know where he was living in the city when the earthquake struck on April 18, 1906, but he survived the massive 7.9 quake and the devastating fire that followed. The 1907/1908 San Francisco City Directory shows Thomas living at 351 Missouri Street, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, in the same dwelling as Valentine King. Famous for being one of the sunniest places in an often cold and foggy city, Potrero Hill did not suffer the damage of some other parts of the city, and became a refuge for working class San Franciscans after the earthquake. 

The "South of Market" people, forced out of their homes by fire, quickly escaped to the Potrero slopes of green pastures and scattered settlements. The residents of Potrero at that time could clearly remember the masses of people carrying assorted personal belongings; a bird on a woman's shoulder, a man carrying one chair, another carrying a blanket. Up the hill they wound their way, where they watched the burning of San Francisco. Here on the green pastures of Potrero, the people without homes settled. During the period of reconstruction that followed the fire, small two-room shacks were built by the city for refugees. Many of these still stand, and can be spotted by the presence of the building on the back of the lot. The small temporary dwellings were scattered all over the hill, and thus the area of Potrero began to develop as an integrated community, instead of the various groups located in certain areas.¹

The home of Valentine King and Elizabeth McCormick King at 351 Missouri Street on San Francisco's Potrero Hill.
Thomas Lacey lived here with them briefly after the 1906 Earthquake.

We do not know for certain what the relationship was between Valentine King and Thomas Lacey. They might have been cousins, or just friends with a common background in Rossadillisk. We assume there was a connection in Ireland because the surname King is so common in and around Rossadillisk. Valentine was born about 1874 in Ireland and arrived in America in 1887. He worked as a laborer at first, but by 1907, Valentine owned a bar on Illinois Street in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood, right near the docks. The 1904 Crocker-Langley San Francisco City Directory indicates that the saloon was located at 901 Illinois Street and that Valentine resided at 907 1/2 Illinois Street. The house at 351 Missouri Street was built in 1907, and Valentine King and his family moved there upon its completion. We believe that Thomas just lived with Valentine and his family temporarily after the earthquake and it was not a long-term arrangement. The 1910 U.S. Census shows Valentine King, saloon owner, living at 351 Missouri Street with his wife, Elizabeth J. King (nee McCormick), and their six children. Also in the household are a nephew and a servant, an indication that Valentine was prospering as a business owner. By 1910, Thomas Lacey had married and moved to his own home, just a block away, at 228 Missouri St. An interesting anecdote is that Valentine and Elizabeth King's son Emmett, born in May 1909, not long after Thomas moved down the street, was given the full name Emmett Thomas King.²

In 1908, at the age of 31, Thomas Lacey married Sarah Kilcullen in San Francisco. Sarah was also an Irish immigrant. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, Sarah arrived in America in 1903, at the age of 20. She was from County Sligo, Ireland, the daughter of Patrick and Bridget Kilcullen. She had a sister, Annie, who also moved to San Francisco and married Matthew Duffy. 

Thomas and Sarah lived for some time at 228 Missouri Street. Thomas continued to work as a laborer, and the 1910 U.S. Census indicates that he was a brake man on the railroad at that time. Between 1909 and 1911, Thomas and Sarah had three children in San Francisco. Sometime between 1911 and 1914, they moved across the bay to Alameda. They lived first on Clinton Avenue, and then moved to 1341 Pearl Street, the place their descendants regard as the Lacey family home.

Thomas Lacey and Sarah Kilcullen had eight children together; seven sons and one daughter.

1. Mark Thomas Lacey (b. 1909 in San Francisco; d. in New Mexico. Mark was a Catholic priest.)
2. Francis "Frank" Joseph Lacey (b. July 1, 1910 in San Francisco; d. August 28, 1999 in Oakland, California. He married Nunciata "Nancy" Cellini. They had no children.)
3. Kathleen Sarah Lacey (b. August 8, 1911; d. May 14, 1998 in Santa Clara, California. She married 1st. Henry Fine and 2nd. Charles Brooks. She and Henry Fine had two children.)
4. Milton Peter Lacey (b. February 9, 1914 in Oakland; d. November 6, 1996 in Sand Point, Idaho. He married Betty Moore McCune. They had no children.)
5. Herbert Brendon Lacey (b. October 14, 1915 in San Francisco; d. November 19, 1993 in Fremont, California. He married Florence Freitas. They had two children.)
6. David Austin Lacey (b. September 24, 1918 in Alameda; d. April 27, 2004 in Fallbrook, California. He married Jeanette Mary Beck. They had three children.)
7. Edmund Owen Lacey (b. March 20, 1922; d. May 22, 1922)
8. John Bernard "Bernie" Lacey (b. July 31, 1924; d. November 17, 1985 in Alameda, California.)

Sarah Kilcullen Lacey died on December 3, 1939 at the age of 56. Thomas Lacey died on May 4, 1960 and is buried alongside his wife at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California. His sons Herb Lacey and Frank Lacey are also buried in this cemetery, along with their wives.

I knew several of the children of Thomas and Sarah Lacey, and my father either knew or at least met most of them. Besides my grandfather, David Lacey, we were especially close with Frank ("Uncle Frank" to all of us) and visited him and his wife Nancy in Oakland regularly. Frank had a long career as an agent for Midland National Insurance Agency. Nancy was born in Italy and adopted by an American family in Wisconsin. She trained as a nurse and served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. After the war, she continued to work as a nurse. She and Frank were married in 1949, when she was 37 and Frank was 38. They did not have children, but they raised my father for quite a while after his birth, when my grandmother was recovering from polio. They always treated him like a son. Frank and Nancy were enthusiastic world travelers, and I remember always looking at a large globe and travel souvenirs in Frank's home office. When we visited, Frank and Nancy would take us out to dinner, or to the circus and other Bay Area attractions. Frank was a boisterous and good humored man, and Nancy was his level-headed and dependable partner. In 1991, Frank and Nancy lost their home in the Oakland firestorm. Thanks to Frank's career in insurance and wise coverage of their home, they were able to rebuild the house and lived there until their deaths. 

We also spent time with Herb Lacey and his wife Florence, who had two children close in age to my father. Herb was very involved in his community in Newark, California. He was considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of Newark, as he was a part of the committee that decided in 1947 to incorporate Newark as a city. Herb volunteered with a number of efforts in Newark, including a decade as a volunteer firefighter, and leadership roles in the Newark Kiwanis. 

I did not know Milton Peter, who went simply by Peter. He volunteered for military service after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1940, and spent World War II serving in the Navy, like his brother David and future sister-in-law Nancy Cellini. He later earned a masters degree in theatre arts from UCLA ad spent his career working as a writer. He was the editor of California Dairyman Magazine and also served as the chief copywriter for Sears. He worked in the entertainment industry for some time, writing for documentary films and doing comedy writing for Edgar Bergen, the famous ventriloquist, and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy.  He apparently had quite a love story with his wife Betty. He fell in love with her as a young man, was heartbroken when she married someone else, and then finally married her in his fifties after her marriage ended. 

Edmond Owen, who we call simply "Baby Owen," died at two months of age and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Piedmont. 

John Bernard, "Bernie," did not marry. Unfortunately, he was an alcoholic and didn't socialize much with the rest of the family. 

    

Brothers (L-R): Peter Lacey, Frank Lacey, and David Lacey

Mark Lacey

Mark Lacey was the eldest of Mark Lacey and Mary Coyne's sons. He was forty years old at the time of his death, in the Cleggan Bay Disaster of 1927. He does not appear to have married or had children. According to The Cleggan Bay Disaster by Marie Feeney, Mark was a fisherman and the skipper of a boat. On the fateful day of October 28, 1927, he was at the helm of a boat that also carried his younger brothers, Martin and George. As the storm blew up, Mark, his brothers, and the two other fisherman on their boat were at work tossing their nets in Cleggan harbor. The sudden and extreme gusts of wind tossed the boat against the rocks, killing all on board.

Patrick Lacey

Patrick is found in the 1911 census in his parents' household, and he did not die in the Cleggan Bay Disaster in 1927. I am not certain what became of him. This Patrick Lacey had a cousin nearby, the son of his uncle Michael Lacey and aunt Mary King in Claddaghduff, who was born about the same year and was also named Patrick Lacey. That Patrick Lacey moved to New York and died there. It's difficult to distinguish the records for these two Patrick Laceys. The 1926 Irish Census won't be released to the public for another seven years, so I don't know yet if Patrick stayed in Rossadillisk or ventured abroad.

Mary Lacey

In 1911, seventeen-year old Mary Lacey married Patrick O'Toole of nearby Emlagh. He was the son of Thomas Toole and his wife Mary. Mary and Patrick settled in Emlagh and raised six children: Michael, Thomas, Margaret "Rita", Anthony, Mary and Patrick. Much of what I know about this family comes from the younger Patrick's son, who now lives in Dublin with his family. Thank you so much, Pat! I'm sharing a summary of what Pat shared with me.

When Mary and Patrick married, Patrick's surname was Toole. The "O" was added between the births of Mary and Patrick's 4th and 5th children. Of their six children, only the youngest, Patrick, married and had children.

1. Michael O'Toole (b. 1912; d. bef. 1930. Michael was a teenager in boarding school at St. Jarlath's College in Tuam when he died.)
2. Thomas (b. abt. 1914; d. Nov. 1990. Known as Tommie, he worked in construction in the UK for many years, but returned home when his father died to work the family farm. He did not marry.)
3. Mary (b. abt. 1916; d. Jan. 2006. Mary was a nun in the Presentation Order and a secondary school teacher. Her name in religion was Sister Rita.)
4. Margaret (b. abt. 1919; d. July 1982. Known as Rita, Margaret did not marry.)
5. Anthony (b. abt. 1921; d. Aug. 1990. Anthony was a Catholic priest. He was a parish priest in Islandeasy, County May, when he was killed in a traffic accident.)
6. Patrick (b. abt 1923; d. April 1977. He was known as Padraic, the Irish form of Patrick, to avoid confusion with his father. Padraic moved to Dublin, where he married and had three children.)

Michael is buried on Omey Island in a plot with his parents and his maternal grandparents. Margaret is also buried on Omey Island in a different plot.

Martin Lacey

Martin was born in Rossadillisk in 1892. He died on October 28, 1927, with his brothers Mark and George in the Cleggan Bay Disaster. He was 35 and unmarried at the time of his death.

Margaret Ellen Lacey

Pat, grandson of Mary Lacey and Patrick O'Toole, was able to shed some light on his aunt Margaret. I had always heard that she married a man with the surname Hernon and moved to Boston. However, I had thought her husband was Michael Hernon, and Pat told me that's not correct. His family spoke of her often and said her husband's name was Coleman Hernon. It looks like I've been attaching Margaret to the wrong family for many years. 

Margaret was born on September 22, 1899 in Rossadillisk. On February 28, 1927, at the age of twenty-seven, she arrived in New York on the ship Baltic. She went to Boston, where her brother William had moved a year prior. On naturalization paperwork in 1928, she indicates that she is living in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and working as a domestic servant. In the 1930 U.S. Census, she is listed as a servant in the home of the Frizell family, at the same address she listed on her naturalization papers. Sometime after 1942, Margaret married Coleman Hernon, the son of Martin Hernon and Barbara Mullin of Gorumna, Ireland, near Lettermullen. They were both in middle age at that time. Coleman had emigrated to Boston in 1922, at the age of 25, and worked as a laborer in Boston. Margaret and Coleman settled in South Boston. Coleman had a large, extended family in the area. His brother, Michael J. Hernon, married Margaret Landy and they had five children. His sister, Kate Hernon, married Michael J. Connolly and they had four children. Another sister, Annie Hernon, married Michael Griffin and they had three children. He had another sister, Mary Hernon, who lived in the Boston area and was unmarried. While Margaret and Coleman did not have children, they were surrounded by nieces and nephews. Margaret died on February 5, 1969 in South Boston. Coleman Hernon died on October 28, 1988.

George Lacey

George was born in Rossadillisk in 1902. He died on October 28, 1927, with his brothers Mark and Martin, in the Cleggan Bay Disaster. He was 25 and unmarried at the time of his death.

William Lacey

I had never been able to determine what happened to William, and Pat was able to solve this mystery for me, too. William, known as Bill, was close with his brother Padraic, and they kept in touch. Bill went to America and changed his name, so that is why I had no luck searching for him. In 1926, at the age of nineteen, and just a year before he would lose three of his brothers, Bill emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. In 1933, on his naturalization application, Bill noted that he was single, and applied to legally change his name to William De Lacey. The witness to the paperwork is Frank Coyne, a stevedore, and possible a relative of Bill's mother, Mary Coyne Lacey. When Bill's sister Margaret arrived in Boston, she also started using the surname De Lacey on paperwork. Sometime between 1933 and 1940, Bill married a woman named Beatrice. They were married in 1940 when Bill registered for military service. On his paperwork, he notes that his employer is Harvard University. Pat told me that he believed that Bill worked either for the Boston Harbour Commission or the Boston Police. His Irish relatives regarded Bill as wealthy and successful. In 1970, Bill married Dorothy Barrett, daughter of Edward Barrett and Carrie Sousa of Boston. They lived together in Brighton, Massachusetts, until Bill's death in 1976.

Unlike other descendants of Bartley and Judy Lacey, who largely emigrated to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Mark Lacey's descendants went to San Francisco and Boston. Of course, some remain in Ireland, as well.

In my next post, I'll be writing about another of Bartley and Judy's children and continuing to trace the whereabouts of their descendants.

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1 source: foundsf.org https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=1906_Changes_The_Hill_Forever^↩

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2 The King family is full of interesting people. Emmett Thomas King would go on to be a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1945 he was awarded a Navy Cross "for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving Assistant Damage Control Officer on board the Escort Carrier U.S.S. SANTEE (CVE-29), during operations against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, on 25 October 1944. When his ship sustained severe damage after repeated enemy aerial attacks, Lieutenant Commander King unhesitatingly manned a fire hose from an adjacent bulkhead to fight the raging fires and, despite danger from burning depth charges, directed a steady stream of water on the blaze to prevent further damage from internal explosions." Emmett's elder brother, Valentine J. King, was, according to his obituary, a "leader in the Northern California Democratic Party, Assistant to San Francisco Mayor Elmer E. Robinson, and Assistant to San Francisco City Assessor Russell Worden, and for many years television host of "Heritage" on KGO-TV."^↩