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Maurice Conway

Posted by Kevin Cullen <kcullen01@yahoo.com> on Sun, 30 Dec 2007

I have a family tree up on ancestry.com that goes back to the early 1800's and their arrival in the US from Ireland.

Would love to hear from any additional relatives.

Best,

Kevin Cullen
kcullen01@yahoo.com

http://distantcousin.com/Cemetery/NJ/Monmouth/StJosephs/_Photo.asp?Photo=6/P1010139

The Conways came here from Ireland to escape the Irish potato famine landing in Keyport, New Jersey sometime in 1851. Once here, they took a tenancy on a farm in Mattawan. The family consisted of my great grandfather, Maurice Conway, and my great grandmother, Ellen Welsh Conway. Additionally, there were several children some of which were born in Ireland. The names of the children are very vague, but I do remember visiting some of them.

My great grandparents, Maurice and Ellen rest today at St. Joseph’s graveyard located in Keyport, New Jersey. Their grave stones can be found in Section 0, plots 137&140(Conway/Cavanaugh). The grave stone indicates Maurice lived from 1815-1882 and Ellen, known to me as “Little Grandma,” lived from 1825-1916.

The stone also lists three sons buried there: Charles, James, and William. My great grandparents had eight children all together: John, Margaret, Elizabeth, William, James, Mary, Joseph, and Charles. I know much more about William’s life than the others’. As for the other Conway children, I must rely on memory. Joseph P. Conway (born 1860) was a New York City policeman . He may have been the eldest, because he had acquired the skill of breaking horses to the saddle. I always thought that skill had come over with him from the Old Country. He used his skill for breaking the two-hundred horses which were brought in annually from the west to be trained as remounts for the mounted force. His family was quite large. They lived in the Bronx some place near a brewery. Of this I am sure because, on the one occasion, I remember visiting on a very hot summer Sunday afternoon. We traveled there by trolley, Hudson tubes, and subway. The weather being very hot, the kids of the family took me down to the brewery to enjoy the cooling effects of the water aerating tower. It really was cold.

Another Conway son was also a policeman serving for the Plainfield, New Jersey force. Like his brother, he also had a large family. Dad and I visited there, at least once, when Peg attended Holy Trinity High School located in Westfield, New Jersey. A grand son of this family was in Peggy’s class; his home was in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

William Conway was a carpenter working in the Philadelphia area. He was involved in the labor movement and was killed in an accident at a Philadelphia construction site. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Catherine Murphy nicked name “Kate.” It is speculated that William met, and became engaged to, Kate through his sister, Elizabeth. William’s sister was working as a domestic in New York. Kate also had a sister, Maggie, working in New York as a domestic during the same time period. As Elizabeth and Maggie were in domestic service for prominent New Yorkers it seems logical the two may have known and been friendly with one another; possibly introducing William and Kate. Another possible connection may have occurred through Joseph P. Conway who was making his home in the Bronx while serving on the Bronx police force. This chapter remains open.

Elizabeth married into the Cavanaugh family and her name appears on the family head stone at St. Joseph’s cemetery. The story goes that Elizabeth married young; only fourteen or fifteen years of age. Her husband was eighteen. Elizabeth’s husband had some type of mishap and died shortly after the marriage. Left to fend for herself, Elizabeth became a "lady maid" to a Mrs. Major, the wife of J.P. Morgan’s business partner in association with the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company. The Majors lived in New York City and Englewood, New Jersey. Elizabeth earned a good pension from her employment with the Majors; she rented a home in Englewood where she lived to be 100 years old. She shared her home, and life, with “Little Grandma,” after Maurice's death.

Charles Conway was another brother; his history remains to be told. We know that he is marked on the Conway/Cavanaugh stone at Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Keyport, New Jersey: see Section 0, plot 137 and 140.

James Conway, yet another brother, is listed on the head stone with his Father and Mother; his story also remains to be told.

Margaret Conway (1845-1901), married a John Mulhall (1837-1907). She and her husband, John are buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. There is not much known about the Mulhall offspring. I recall meeting a Mulhall daughter in Jersey City around 1916 or 17. She married a man who was president of a railroad; I think his name was Loomis.

John W. Conway, my grandfather, was born in Mattawan, New Jersey and was older than his brother William. He became a printer and finally a linotype foreman for the “Daily Advertiser” in Newark which is no longer in publication. John was twice married. His first wife was Mary A. King, who died around 1883 or 1884 leaving him a widower with four children: Eleanor (Nellie), Elizabeth (Lizzie), Mary (Mamie) and Joseph. John was also well-known for his gardening skills, maintaining a large backyard garden at his future residence (383 Summer Ave), where he grew grapes and the largest turnip my father had ever seen.

Responses

• the conways and the mulhalls : Nancy M. Conway -- Mon, 20 Oct 2008

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