Mary Josephen McQuillan Healy

My grandmother Mary Josephen McQuillan Healy was born May 5, 1889 in County Meath, Ireland near the town of Drogheda.  Her father John McQuillan grew up in the gatehouse of a "gentleman farmer" where "he met the scholars coming back from school."  Her mother Catherine Murphy's family ran a bakery in Haggard's Cross.  One of her two brothers, while delivering bread, met John McQuillan.

Catherine sold her interest in the bakery and that money was used for her, John and the infant Mary Josephen to immigrate to the United States later that year.  While traveling in steerage the baby Mary Josephen contracted smallpox.  The ship's captain ordered that the baby be thrown overboard to prevent contagion.  Catherine held Mary tight in her arms and said they would have to throw her overboard with the baby.  The captain relented and all three McQuillan's safely made the passage.

They moved first to Joplin, MO where John worked in the lead mines.  He later obtained a job as a farmhand near Wilson KS.   Mary Josephen met my grandfather Daniel Richard Healy in nearby Vesper, KS and they were married the day before Lent in 1911.

The Healy home in Lincoln KS sat on a deep lot with a second vacant lot.  In the second lot Mary Josephen had a flower garden along the sidewalk, then a large area of grass where we did fireworks on the Fourth of July and in the rear a large vegetable garden.  Behind the house was a garage (she pronounced "GAR age") and then a chicken coop and yard.  

When Mary Josephen took care of her grandchildren, she did not leave them alone while she prepared meals.  Instead, she had them in the kitchen, wearing aprons and helping peel and dice while she cooked the meal.  

Mary Josephen preferred tea to coffee.  She served oyster stew on Christmas Eve and made hot cross buns for Easter.  As children we were often late for school on St. Patrick's day as she insisted everyone attend early morning Mass at St. Patrick's Church.

Mary Josephen had a framed picture of an American flag on a flag pole which picture had pride of place in her dining room.  She was an avid supporter of John F. Kennedy when he ran for President and traveled to Wichita to attend a campaign appearance.

In the 1960s Mary Josephen determined to see the place of her birth.  The trip was delayed because she had difficulty obtaining an American passport.  John McQuillan had been Mr. Republican in Lincoln County, KS, had voted in every election but there was no evidence that he had ever become a naturalized citizen.  

Instead, Mary Josephen's citizenship turned upon her marriage in 1911 to an American citizen.  Her husband Daniel had been born in Lincoln County but there was no certificate of birth.  Nannie Dillon, as a young girl, had been present at his birth and she testified before a Federal judge in Junction City KS who declared Mary Josephen's American citizenship and opened the way for Mary Josephen to obtain her passport and travel with her eldest daughter to the Olde Sod.  They smuggled a handful of the olde sod back to St. John's Cemetery near Vesper to place on the graves of John and Catherine McQuillan.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.