52 Ancestors, Week 11: Martin Gleeson (1859-1924)

This is week 11 of the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge” by Amy Crow from No Story Too Small.  I am a bit behind but intend to catch up.

This week I’m writing about Martin Gleeson (1859-1924).

Martin Gleeson was born 25 Jan 1859 to John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney.[1] He was their first child. If they used common Irish naming patterns, they named their first son after John’s father, Martin Gleeson (1787-1859). Martin would have never known his paternal grandfather who died in October of the same year he was born.

baptism at St. Philips Church, Richmond, Ontario

Martin lived on the family farm in Carleton County, Ontario until about 1879, when they all moved to Dakota Territory. On 7 October 1880, he presented himself to the clerk of the District Court in Davison County with his intention to become a naturalized citizen.[2] He became a citizen on 6 November 1886.[3]

The five Gleeson sons of John & Margaret Gleeson.
Not certain which one is Martin, but he would be the oldest.

Martin purchased about 142 acres of land for $10 in Dakota Territory on 30 May 1881.[4] The records from the Bureau of Land Management showed his sister’s husband, John H. Sullivan, land not for from his.  Census records and directories indicated that Martin had a dairy farm.

He married sometime in 1893 or so to Hannah Kane.[5] They had three children: Marguerite (1894-1962), Florence Ann (1896-1979), and Frederick Kane (1899-1938).[6] Hanna was born 4 Jan 1860 in Michigan and died 3 Feb 1917 of pneumonia.[7] She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Mitchell, South Dakota.[8]

Martin moved to Oregon and was living on a farm on Watson Road in Beaverton, Washington County in 1920.[9] His two daughters lived with him.

He died on 18 Aug 1924 in Bend, Oregon.[10] It was due the result of an injury he sustained on 24 July the same year. A board that was going through a planer split at the Brooks-Scanton planning mill and a large splinter went into his hip. [11] He actually died from pneumonia but his body couldn’t fight the infection. According to the obituary, Martin had arrived in Oregon six years prior and had served as the county commissioner and city councilman.

The funeral was held 20 Aug 1924 at St. Francis Catholic church and he was buried at the Pilot Butte Cemetery in Bend. There is no photo of a tombstone, though there are tombstones for his two daughters who were also buried there.[12]

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[1] St. Phillips Church, Richmond, Carleton Co, "Ontario, Canada, Parish registers, 1836-1917," digital images, FamilySearch, http://familysearch.org, film 1304679, B2, Feb 1859, Martin Gleeson. The baptism record gave the birth of “25th of January last.”

[2] Davison County, Dakota Territory, 2nd Judicial Division Court, Declarations of intention 1880-1886, p 24, 1880, Martin Gleeson, familysearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed21 Apr 2013) citing Declarations of intention (first papers),V00229, 1878-1886, film 1220949 item 23, from South Dakota State Archives, Naturalization Records, Box 2 of 24.

[3] Davison County, South Dakota, “Petitions for naturalization 1882-1892 vol 2D, box 12,” p 133, 1886, Martin Gleeson familysearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed21 Apr 2013), citing Citizenship papers (second papers), v. 2D (V00239), 1882-1892,  film 1221054 Item 1, from South Dakota State Archives, Naturalization Records, Box 12 of 24.

[4] U.S. Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, Dakota Territory, volume 12, p 134, Martin Gleeson, digital images, familysearch.org (http://familysearch.org : 30 Jan 2013), citing Digital images of originals housed at Records Improvement, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C.

[5] Based on married 6 years on the 1900 census.

[6] “Mrs. Gleeson Called Beyond,” obituary, Mitchell Daily Republican, 3 Feb 1917, p 5.

[7] Ibid.

[8] "Find A Grave," database and digital images, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Memorial# 102004392, Calvary Cemetery, Mitchell SD, Hannah Kane Gleeson.

[9] Washington Co, Oregon, 1920 Federal census, pop. sched., ED 436, sht 3, p 280b, dwl 91, fam 79, Martin Gleeson, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Jun 2012), citing NARA roll 1505.

[10] Oregon State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, State no. 88, Local no. 57, 1924, Martin Gleeson.

[11] “Fatal Complication Sequel to Injuries,” The Bend (Oregon) Bulletin, 18 Aug 1924, Martin Gleeson.

[12] A researcher, Deborah Herrison, checked cemetery records in 2003 and found records of his burial but at the cemetery only the daughters, Florence Ann and Marguerite had tombstones.

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past