The somber headline in the “Evening Bulletin,” from Maysville, Kentucky, dated March 10, 1904, painfully announced, “Death darkens the Hayes home and claims a wife and mother.” The article conveys the family’s deep sorrow as they mourn the loss of a beloved mother, who, while carrying new life, passed away on March 8 at 8:00 PM. Her untimely death from pneumonia cast a shadow over her loved ones. This particularly cruel strain of pneumonia could steal lives in just three days as in Hannah’s case. In the early 1900s, with antibiotics still years away, pneumonia was a relentless and leading cause of heartbreak and death.
Hannnah Nora Quinn, the mother and wife described in the newspaper article, was born in Maysville, Kentucky, on June 2. Her birth year is a bit unclear, as records show either 1868 or 1869, and her name sometimes appears with different spellings. Her father, Patrick, was born on March 12, 1826, in Tipperary, Ireland, and later moved to the United States. According to the US Census from the 1860s and 1880s, he worked as a farmer. Ellen Carroll, his wife and the mother of his children, came from Limerick, Munster, Ireland, and was born on Christmas Eve in 1834. The Census listed her occupation as a housewife. I have found records of ten children from their marriage, but one national database mentions four sons and nine daughters born between 1856 and 1881.
Maysville is the city where Hannah came of age and learned to read and write-according to the Census of 1880. When she was about 25, Hannah Quinn married Thomas Hayes, who was born on December 22, 1866. They wed on February 1, 1893, in Maysville, Kentucky. Thomas worked as a laborer and painted for a furnace company. The couple rented a house at 705 City Park in Maysville, where they raised five daughters during nine years: Mary Ethel (1893), Annie Agnes (1895), Ellen Josephine (1898), Julia Elizabeth (1900), and Sarah Ruth (1902). After Hannah passed away in 1904, her funeral was held on a Saturday at St. Patrick’s Church in Maysville, and she was buried at Washington Cemetery. Soon after, Thomas realized he could not care for his daughters alone. Sadly, no relatives from either side were able to help, and no one stepped forward to take in the girls.
Not long after Hannah was buried, the family decided to send the girls to St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Cold Spring, Kentucky, about 50 miles from Maysville. At one time, St. Joseph’s had around several hundred resident students, both boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 12, and was run by the Sisters of Notre Dame whose Mother House is now in Covington, Kentucky. I can only imagine how much grief Thomas felt, having just lost his wife and now surrendering his children to an orphanage so that their basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter were met. Also, what of the emotions the girls experienced after their mother died, and then having to live in a new place, cared for by people they didn’t know? When I think about my nephew Luke Kirchgassner and my niece Audrey Swales, who are about the same age Grandma Bessie (Julia Elizabeth) was when she probably boarded a train for that fifty-mile ride to the orphanage it is painful to comprehend the realities of this situation as I write this blog. Enjoying the development stage, Luke and Audrey grow at this age makes me think even more about what a difficult experience this must have been for Grandma, her sisters, and so many other children who were sent away from their families in the early 1900s
Next time: There will be more information about St. Joseph Orphanage in future blogs. The next blog will be about Anna Marie Murray, who became a mother in every sense of the word to the Hayes girls when she married Thomas Hayes in 1912, forever changing the dynamics of their lives. Anna was a petite, feisty Irishwoman full of spirit and resilience, who despite experiencing significant personal tragedies, including loss and hardship, managed to radiate warmth and love. She found lasting love from the family she embraced so willingly as her own, becoming a pillar of strength and affection for the girls who looked up to her as a nurturing figure. I have some historical facts about Anna, collected from various archives, but I also have a few cherished stories that were shared with me by my mom and her siblings, stories that reflect the profound bond they formed with Anna—a bond that transcended traditional familial ties and showcased the depth of her caring nature. I will share these anecdotes with you, painting a fuller picture of the remarkable woman who played such an important role in their lives.
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