Sunday's Obituary - Timothy Coakley

Timothy Coakley was born in Ireland and lived in Clinton County, Ohio by 1852. He was one of the oldest Irish residents in the county when he died on October 22, 1912. I found three obituaries for Timothy with different dates and stories on his immigration to the US. Details on the obituaries for Timothy Coakley are below.

Clinton County Democrat, October 24, 1912

From the Clinton County Democrat obituary, Timothy was 83 years old at his death placing his year of birth around 1829. This obituary states that he came to the US with his father Jerry, but it appears that they didn't know exactly when since the year is given as 18--! I don't think I've seen that before, but it's repeated in one of the other obituaries. This obituary mentions Timothy being present at the first mass celebrated in Clinton County and says he is survived by three daughters and two sons.

 

The Wilmington Journal, October 30, 1912

The Wilmington Journal, October 30, 1912  part 2

The second obituary is from the Wilmington Journal and states that Timothy was 82 years old at the time of his death. This obituary states that he came to Ireland at the age of 18 which would've been around 1848. It gives some details on his work history at Patrick Denver's farm and the railroad. It says he married Catherine Powers on January 3, 1853 and that they had ten children, five that were still living. It also gives Catherine's year of death as 1909 and says that Mrs. John Burke is the only surviving member of the older family. Timothy's sister Mary was married to John Burke. 

An interesting difference between the obituaries is that this one says Timothy's parents and sisters didn't come over until later, but says the family arrived in the early 40s. That doesn't add up with Timothy's age at death and arrival in the US at the age of 18.

The third obituary was published in the Clinton Republican on October 24, 1912 and is available on the Ohio History Connection website. This obituary states that Timothy was 82 when he died at his home in Wilmington. It adds some new details about Timothy being from Cork, Ireland and that "with other of his people he came to this country about the year ----". So, this time the year is a complete blank! A few more facts are added including that he worked in New Orleans for some time before coming to Wilmington and that he was Street Commissioner and a fireman after his work on the railroad ended. This obituary names his surviving children as Mary, John, Timothy and Elizabeth living at home and Mrs. Katherine Murphy of Cincinnati. 

I often can't find even one obituary, so finding three is a bit unusual. They agree roughly on Timothy's age, work history and surviving relatives, although some provided more detail than others. They disagree on when he came to the US and whether or not he came with other family members.

The 1900 census says Timothy's year of immigration was 1860 and the 1910 census says 1836. Nether of those years seem correct based on the other information about Timothy. I wasn't able to find a Timothy Coakley in the 1850 census for Ohio or New Orleans and haven't found Timothy in any passenger lists so far. Based on the information I have, my guess is Timothy came over between 1847-1852.  I know he was in Clinton County by 1852 when the first mass was celebrated and also that he was married in Ohio in 1853.

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.