What Happened to Matthew Finneran?
DGS 2022 Writing Contest Submission: Your family’s black sheep
by Michelle Dwyer Cohen
One of the black sheep in our family is my 4th great uncle, Matthew Finneran. Or, maybe he wasn’t a bad guy, just an unlucky one.
taken by the author
Matthew was probably the fourth child of his parents, Patrick Finneran and Margaret Kelly.1 The children of this couple came to America in the 1850s, likely driven from County Roscommon, Ireland, by the dire conditions following the Irish famine. The parish that they originated from, Taughmaconnell, does not have extant church records from that time, so the birth order of the children is my best guess, based upon American records for them.2
Matthew arrived in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1854, according to his naturalization papers.3 He “signed” those papers with just his mark; he was not able to write his name. He said he was born 14 June 1832 in County Roscommon, Ireland. He married Bridget Craffey 31 December 1855.4 They had nine children together, three of whom died as infants.
Shortly after the loss of the last child, Matthew disappeared from the Worcester city records. Bridget remained in Worcester, with the six children, and was enumerated with them in 1880. An 1881 city directory listed a Mrs. Bridget Finneran, at 55 East Worcester Street. Further down the page was Matthew Finneran, listed as “rem’d from city”.5
For the next eight years, Bridget continued to be listed as Mrs. Bridget Finneran (but never with the word widow) in the directories.6 In 1892, Matthew’s brother Patrick died. Matthew was not mentioned in Patrick’s will as alive or dead, which is an interesting omission. Patrick left money to three of Matthew’s children, and also left money to children of his sister Catherine, but specifically identified her as deceased. Patrick also left bequests to his living sisters, yet nothing to Matthew.7
Did the family know that Matthew was alive, or were they just not sure if he was dead?
An 1895 newspaper article shed some light on the situation, but left many unanswered questions. Matthew had departed Worcester “over some slight difficulty”, to go to New York, before 1880.8 No court record or newspaper account has yet been located to explain what that difficulty may have been.
What happened in the intervening years is also unclear – but Matthew ended up working as a coke worker in the mining industry in Pennsylvania. In a work accident in late 1894, he lost both his legs from the knees down.9 The hospital discovered that he “should be” in Worcester and contacted the local postmaster in hopes of locating family, since it was clear the man would not be returning to work, and undoubtedly the Pennsylvania town did not want the cost of caring for him.
In the article, Matthew admitted to “wandering about for years, being ashamed to return home.” He also would have had no way to write his wife a letter, since he was not literate.
The Worcester Spy quoted an earlier article from the Boston Globe which claimed that Matthew had left Worcester on a “spree to which he was addicted” and taken $1700 with him – a story that Bridget claimed was untrue. But it is certainly possible that it was more important for her to deny the story details and spare her children the embarrassment, than it was to be truthful.
The Worcester reporter concluded the article with the statement that although the burden for Bridget to care for her husband would be heavy, “ it was a happy reunion”.10 Was it? A man who abandoned his family for fifteen years is returned home in a condition leaving him unfit for work and needing full-time care, and she was happy? Perhaps I am too harsh, and he was more of a victim of an unfortunate series of circumstances than I will ever know.
Interestingly, Matthew’s death record has not been located anywhere in Massachusetts, (a state known for its very good vital records), but Bridget was enumerated as a widow in the 1900 census. Matthew was listed in the Worcester city directory as late as 1899.11 I have some theories of my own about this development, but no evidence. Sounds like a Massachusetts research road trip is in order!
I’d love to know what DGS readers think about Matthew! Share your thoughts with me at newsletter@dallasgenealogy.org.
Sources
1 Massachusetts Vital Records, City of Worcester, p. 752, no. 1694, Patrick Finneran, death, 24 Nov 1892, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; images online, Ancestry, “Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915”, image 1917 of 1949. His parents were given as Patrick Finneran and Margaret Kelly. Patrick’s will mentions Matthew as his brother, so having the same parents is an assumption at this point.
2 Gravestone photo, Patrick Finneran, St. John’s cemetery, Worcester, MA, Taken by the author. The headstone of Matthew’s brother Patrick in St. John’s Cemetery, Worcester, MA, indicated that he was born in Taughmaconnell, County Roscommon, Ireland. John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd ed., p. 466, states that existing Roman Catholic baptismal records begin for that parish in 1842, well after these siblings would have been born.
3 Worcester, Massachusetts, Superior Court Naturalization Petitions, vol. 10, no. 3-229, Matthew Finneran, 1873; NARA Waltham, MA; images online, Ancestry, “Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950”, image 291 of 772.
4 Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910, City of Worcester, vol. 89, p. 280, no. 363, Matthew Finneran-Bridget Craffey, 31 Dec 1855, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; images online, Americanancestors.org, “Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910”.
5 The Worcester Directory, (Worcester, MA: Drew, Allis & Company, 1881), 141, entry for Matthew Finneran; images online, Ancestry, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995”, image 141 of 648.
6 The Worcester Directory, (Worcester, MA: Drew, Allis & Company, 1881), 141, entry for Mrs. Bridget Finneran; images online, Ancestry, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995”, image 141 of 648; similar directories found on Ancestry through 1889.
7 Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Court, Will of Patrick Finneran, case no. 14535, 5 Nov 1892.
8 “After Many Years”, Worcester Daily Spy, Worcester, MA, 11 Feb 1895; images online, GenealogyBank.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 The Worcester Directory, (Worcester, MA: Drew, Allis & Company, 1899), 187, entry for Matthew Finneran; images online, Ancestry, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995”, image 191 of 886.
All sources accessed as of August 2022.
©2022 Michelle Dwyer Cohen
Published by Dallas Genealogical Society with the author’s permission
