Week 5 -- Challenge - Daly family

     Joseph Thomas Daly was my husband's maternal great grandfather and was born 31 Dec 1872 in Stratford, Perth, Ontario, Canada. He was the fourth of five children born to William and Mary (Harris) Daly.

By 1876, the Daly family had moved to Columbiaville, Lapeer County, Michigan. Records indicate that the family entered the United States in 1874, and by 1910, Joseph had been naturalized as an American citizen.

On 2 December 1903, Joseph married Francis Sweet, a local schoolteacher. 'Frankie' was born 16 Dec 1871 in Elba, Lapeer County, Michigan the daughter of Joseph Carpenter and Adelia (O'Brien) Sweet. 

Joseph Thomas was listed as a farm laborer in 1900 and in 1910 he is listed as a farmer on his 'own account'.

He and Francis purchased a farm in Marathon twp., Lapeer County, Michigan and they had two children, Ralph (b1905) and Joseph Kenneth (b1909 - my husband's grandfather). A daughter Mary Adelia had been born and died in 1907 at age six months, from pneumonia.

In April 1912, Joseph Sr. tragically fell from a barn loft and, 11 days later, passed away from pneumonia at home. At the time of his death, his sons were just seven and three years old, and his wife, Francis, was four months pregnant with their third child.

In 1912, women did not have the legal right to own property in many areas. While laws were beginning to change, progress was slow, and in most cases, a woman's husband or another male relative held control over any property that had been bequeathed or allotted to her.

Francis was not listed on the mortgage for the farm and so she did not own her own home after her husband died. Due to this, the farm had to be sold at auction.  Luckily, Joseph had taken out a life insurance policy and Francis was the beneficiary of it. Francis wrote a letter to the local judge requesting permission to pay off the farm, but her request was denied. Undeterred, she had her brother-in-law purchase the farm at auction, and when the laws later changed, he transferred the deed back to her.

In the midst of all this turmoil, Francis gave birth to twin boys.  Arthur and Adrian were born on September 3, 1912. Suddenly, she was tasked with managing a farm while raising four young children.

The family survived. Although the two older boys left school at very young ages in order to help their mother on the farm, both went on to marry and have families. Art married and had a family, but Ade remained single. 

Francis never remarried. Despite facing many challenges, she lived until 1947 and died at the age of 75 at the 'Daly farm'.

Barbie







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