How is it we are here, walking this path in life? What circumstances had to happen in order for our great grandfather Henry Mattimore to be born in Renovo, Pennsylvania in 1862 in the midst of the American Civil War? His parents, unknown to each other, had come from different parts of Ireland on different ships at different times, and had somehow ended up in proximity to each other in the same American city.

The odds of our Irish immigrants meeting seem pretty astronomical. Yet here we are, grateful that they did. While we will never know the details about how Michael Mattimoe and Theresa Madden met, we can certainly learn about, and try to imagine, what what life was like for them at that time.

The defining and shared tragedy that brought them both to America was An Gorta Mór — The Great Hunger. The Irish Famine of 1845-1852 occurred when Ireland’s potato crop failed in successive years, devastating the country and leaving millions without food. The Potato Famine killed more than 1 million people in five years and generated great bitterness and anger at the British for providing too little help to their Irish subjects. Between 1845 and 1855 more than 1.5 million adults and children left Ireland to seek refuge in America. Most were desperately poor, and many were suffering from starvation and disease. The immigrants who reached America settled in Boston, New York, and other cities where they lived in difficult conditions.

Theresa Madden left her family and sailed from the docks of Dublin, her hometown, on a ship called the Odessa in late August or early September of 1850. The Odessa arrived in New York on October 8, 1850 after what was likely about 40 days at sea. Theresa was listed as 20 years old, although I suspect she was actually younger than that based on later marriage records.

Considered one of the so-called Famine Ships, the Odessa was portrayed by artist Rodney Charman in the photos below. It was a decent size for the crossing — triple masted and 99 feet long at the water-line, weighing 323 tons. It was built in 1839 in New Brunswick, Canada, and owned by one of Dublin’s foremost shipping merchants.

Less is known about Michael Mattimoe’s journey. But unlike Theresa who came from Dublin — a more urban area less directly dependent on the potato crop — Michael came from rural County Roscommon, an area known for farming. His family would feel more of the famine’s devastating impact. He was a laborer, and his journey to America was likely not just one of opportunity, but one of survival. Records vary on the exact timing of his arrival in America, but I believe it was about 1852 after having lived through the very worst of the famine that ravished his homeland.

The New World was often hostile to the flood of impoverished Irish immigrants. In America’s cities they arrived to face the new Know-Nothing movement, which defined “American” in terms that excluded the newly arriving Irish as “papists,” “foreign paupers,” “a motley multitude.” Most came from rural, agricultural backgrounds, but they landed in an urban, industrial world. Many had never been more than twenty miles from home before undertaking the hazardous transatlantic journey. Apprehensive, but eager to start a new life in freedom, they were often greeted with the message “No Irish Need Apply” when seeking employment. But against great odds, they endured. They sought whatever work could be found, becoming newly industrial America’s cheap laboring force. They built railroads and bridges, dug canals and tunnels, went into mines, tended furnaces, worked as servants and seamstresses, and fought and died to preserve their new found home.

Michael and Theresa both arrived in New York Harbor, but we don’t know if they met in New York or at some later point in the Boston area. We do know that they were both living in Dedham, Massachusetts when they married on October 12, 1854 in neighboring Roxbury, MA. The records indicate Michael was 23 and Theresa 20 (hence my belief that Theresa was younger than the stated 20 when she arrived four years earlier). One thing I have discovered in doing genealogy is that keeping track of birth dates and ages was not something the Irish did back in those days. They didn’t celebrate birthdays like we do today, and tracking dates was simply not a priority. Many immigrants guessed at their ages.

What is clear in the marriage records is that Michael’s parents were named Michael and Mary, and Theresa’s parents were Henry and Ann — our 3x great grandparents! These remain the only documents I’ve uncovered so far that give us their parents’ names. But this points to the fact that our great grandfather Henry was likely named for his grandfather Madden.

Shortly after their marriage, the young Mattimores moved to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, near Renovo, where Theresa gave birth to a son named James in 1855. Unfortunately James did not live to make the 1860 census. In fact, the 1900 census shows that Teresa gave birth to 11 children, 8 of whom were living at the time. So in addition to James, the family lost two additional children. [In the census photo below, Theresa, by then a widow, is living with her son Joseph, her sister Catherine Cody and adjacent to two of her daughters and their families: Kate Ryan and Theresa Higgins. You can see that for Theresa Mattimore it shows 11 children born but only 8 living.]

It was Michael’s work as a laborer that brought the family to Renovo, where they lived for the rest of their lives. The surviving eight children were Mary, Michael, Henry, Catherine, Lawrence, William, Theresa and Joseph. I touched on what life might have been like in Renovo for Henry in a previous post (and I’ll give some additional information on his brothers and sisters in a future one).

I know at times I’ve listed Michael’s surname as Mattimoe and at other times as Mattimore. This is because he is the immigrant ancestor who was born a Mattimoe but became a Mattimore.

Michael Mattimore died on December 8, 1899 after a five-week illness according one of the two obituaries in the local newspapers. His death certificate says he died of a tumor. He was 68. At the time, our great grandfather Henry was living in Tucson, where his wife Mary was struggling with tuberculosis. I don’t know if Henry made it home to Pennsylvania for his father’s funeral.

Theresa died six years later on November 27, 1905 at about 74 years old. I am still searching for additional details of her death. There is not yet a 1905 digitized newspaper account for Renovo or Lock Haven. Son Henry was in Panama when his mother died, having been at the new job building the Panama Canal for only about 7 months. Looking at his service record, it is clear that he was not able to go home for his mother’s funeral.

Michael and Theresa left their families back in Ireland when they fled during the Great Hunger. Were they ever able to go back and see their families again? Or see their beloved Ireland? Probably not. We don’t know.

So we celebrate our ancestors’ remarkable courage and honor the tremendous sacrifices they made. As the great great grandchildren of these Hunger immigrants (and speaking for the following generations, also) we have prospered and are grateful for the bountiful blessings in our lives.

And for decades now, we, the descendants of Michael and Theresa, have continued to gather annually for a family reunion to celebrate our vibrant heritage.

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