Sunday, November 11, 2007

Minnesota?

Does anyone know where in MN the Mulherns started out? What about other branches? McCarty, O'Kane, Bohan... Once in Iowa did they always farm the same land or did they have other farms first? Have they always farmed or were there other professions? Dad just recently told me that Grandpa turned down college scholarships because he wanted to farm... How awesome is that! He was a man who knew what he wanted!

Thanks, Annie, for doing this! Are YOU in charge of the "Moderate Comments" control or are we just going to let the "blarney" flow? *wink* -Morgan

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Grandpa James and the family farm

Can anyone tell me how Grandpa James came to live and work on the family farm? I'm curious about how, out of all of his brothers and sisters, he came to own the place. -Deirdre

Eugene? Mulhern


When Eugene Mulhern (Cecilia's father) was 10, he and his father came from south-east Minnesota to Sheldon without his mother and siblings. They came by wagon, and the wheel is still at the farm. He missed his family so much, that for the year until the family came, he sucked on his upper lip. It became deformed and he wore a big mustache for his whole adult life.

(according to Margy, only vaguely remembered by Annie, who will check with her later) Picture from Kathleen, so if it's not the right guy, don't blame Annie.
The following was written in 1972 by Joe Mulhern (Cecelia’s brother) for the Sheldon Centennial.

Mrs. Mary Davis Mulhern’s brother, William Davis, worked for the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, laying the tracks through Sheldon, Iowa in 1876. his wife mrs. Rose Weir Davis, had relatives around Sheldon, so they spent their time between Sheldon and southeastern Minnesota. On William’s visits to Minnesota, he would say to Micheal Mulhern, “Mike, you should take a trip to Sheldon, Iowa, and take a look at that land around there, that’s the best productive soil there is”. In 1886, Michael Mulhern and Patrick Malia came to Sheldon to take a look at the land. They liked what they saw and made arrangements to buy a quarter of a section apiece. This is the history of Section 11, Grant Township, Sioux County, Iowa as recorded in the Auditors office in Orange City. On March 28, 1885, George Seney and his wife sold all of section 11 to Claus O. Collman. On May 31, 1887, Claus O. Collman and his wife sold the southeast quarter to Patrick Malia, for $15.00 an acre (total $2,400). The deed was filed on July 23, 1887. On the same day, they sold the northeast quarter to Michael Mulhern for the same price. This deed was filed Nov 7, 1887. In the fall of 186, Patrick Malia came to Sheldon and broke up a few acres on the southeast quarter. When Michael Mulhern got back to Minnesota, he spent the winter selling the eighty acres he had and trading everything he had for cattle that could make the trip to NW Iowa. The country then was covered with prairie grass, plenty of food for cows. In 1887, they headed for their new land five miles northwest of Sheldon. Eugene Mulhern was 11 years old, and James Mulhern was 9. They drove the team on the covered wagon with the cattle trailing behind. Their dad, Michael Mulhern was on horseback following the cattle. From all I gathered from what my dad Eugene Mulhern used to tell, bits at a time about that trip through with the cattle, it was on hectic trip for boys 9 and 11 years old. All went great for a few days, a lot of the relatives went along to help them get started, but they had to get back to their farmin around Wykoff MN. It took two weeks to make the 220 miles. Eugene and James had left behind 5 sisters, their mother, who was a good cook, cousins, friends, uncles and aunts. James couldn’t stomach the camp cooking, he could hardly stand to look at it, so didn’t eat very much. He soon became weary and listless and laid in the back of the wagon, but always got up and acted brave when his dad was around. People along the way weren’t very happy or friendly toward “those outfits going through”. The boys weren’t used to being treated like that. When they got to their new land, there wasn’t a tree or a post on all of section 11. It was all prairie grass, except the few acres Pat Malia had broken up the fall before. They lived in the covered wagon while Michael and a hired man built a story and a half house 18 feet by 12 feet. Eugene and James herded the cattle on the prairie and drove the cattle to the river, one mile north, to drink everyday. Life was rough, but if they had changed their mind, it was as far back as it was coming. The neighbors were good to them. Across the road to the east were the Palmitere’s. Mrs. Palmitere thought the boys looked rough after having been on the road for two weeks. Mr. Palmitere came from Virginia and did a lot of truck gardening, so they used to bring the Mulherns fresh vegetables and baked goods. He used to visit with the boys as they herded cattle and brought pieces of sugar can e which was real sweet for them to chew on. When the house was completed, Mrs. Mulhern and the girls came to Sheldon in an immigrant car. An immigrant car was a regular boxcar where you could put the household possessions and ride there with them at a much cheaper rate, because the government and the railroad wanted people to come to the unsettled areas. Then the boys had their sisters to help herd the cattle and to visit with. They still had to drive the cattle to the river to water every day until a well was dug. To add to the misery, the price of cattle went way down. For awhile the farmers would kill the calves soon after birth to save feed and have more milk for the household.

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