Alden L. Hatheway married Fanny Watson in 1872. Their son, Alden L Hatheway married Anne Fitzmaurice in 1900. These two marriages introduced the Irish component into the Hoffman family. Both families, Catholics from South Ireland, sought escape from deteriorating living conditions brought on by ongoing religious prejudice and a potato famine that lasted between 1845-1852. California offered an opportunity with land, gold (if lucky) and jobs.
Researching Irish genealogy presents challenges. A terrible fire destroyed many important records in 1922 including the censuses. Wars and neglect have left many surviving records in poor shape. The Irish came to California by wagon, rail and sea (Cape Horn, the Panama Canal and Australia), making it difficult to track migration routes. These obstacles traditionally frustrate genealogists.
The family of Feltham Henry Watson
Feltham (also spelled as “Felthan” and “Felton”) represents the first Hoffman Irish ancestor to enter the United States. We are fortunate to have his detailed obituary and his published testimony at a court hearing. It feels like you are hearing his story in his own words.
from “The Vallejo Evening News Chronicle”, 6 Dec 1902 (newspapers.com)
Mr. Watson has been continuously for the past thirty-six years a respected resident of this city, having built his home at 538 Florida street, when the surroundings were almost unimproved. In the early 50’s Mr. Watson came to Sacramento, and for many years thereafter he mined in Sierra County, moving to Napa Junction in 1864, and to Vallejo two years later. Deceased is survived by the following daughters, all of this city: Mrs. Fannie B. Hatheway, Mrs. Charles H. Grayson, Mrs. Stasia Stratton and Mrs. Joseph J. Cunningham; also six grandsons, one granddaughter and two great granddaughters, his wife having died eleven years ago He was a native of Nenagh, Tipperary, Ireland, aged 75 years and 6 months.
from “Napa Register”, 27 May 1887 (cdnc.ucr.edu)
Felton H. Watson Testimony – I reside at Vallejo; have lived in Napa county since ’55; Geo. Watson is my brother; John Watson’s grandfather and my father were first cousins; I left Dublin in ’52; Ring and John accompanied me and we three started to St. Louis, U.S. in a sailing vessel; John, George and myself then went to Soscol; I left sometime after for the mines but John remained in the employ of George; Geo. settled in Soscol in ’55, and has lived there ever since; between John and George Watson and family there were very friendly relations;
Let us see if I can explain this complicated story. Dorothy Garesche Holland wrote an excellent family book, “The Fitzwilliam, O’Brien and Watson Families”, that covers the St. Louis branch of the Watson family. The author used family letters and diligent research to put together a family tree that extends back into Ireland. The Watson family came out of Garrykennedy, county Tipperary. The town of Nenagh mentioned in Feltham’s obituary lies nearby. The unusual first names of Feltham and Ringrose represented last names of some of the ancestors. It is said that Cromwell deeded a Lieutenant Henry Feltham a large tract of land in the 1660’s. The Watsons then inherited this land. They profited from a valuable harbor in Garrykennedy which they maintained along the Shannon River. The estate house, owed by a Feltham Watson in 1837, still stands, but has unfortunately fallen into disrepair.
The first of this Watson clan, Ringrose Drew Watson (1785-1856), arrived in St Louis around 1819. He had enough money to buy 100 acres outside St Louis, build a fine brick house and open an import/china shop in town. As economic conditions in Ireland deteriorated, he offered an entry point for future Watson immigrants, including our Feltham.
When gold fever struck, Feltham came out west with a bunch of this blended Watson family. You can see them in the 1852 California census. Some of these folks returned back to St. Louis, while others settled in Northern California. Feltham initially lived with three other Watson men: John (1830-1884), Ringrose (1833-1887), and George (1822-1891) who all bought ranch land at Napa Junction. It turns out that George & Feltham were brothers, and John & Ringrose were brothers. John never married. When he died in 1884, he left most of his property to the children of George. John and Ringrose had a sister, Margaret Sommerville (1840-1925), who objected. She traveled from Ireland to Napa, and sued the estate. The implication was that George’s wife used her wily ways to convince John to leave the property to her children. The local newspapers loved the story, and covered the trial in great detail.
George’s children won the case. Son Augustus later developed the land by building a lime quarry in 1900. He sold out to the Portland Cement Company in 1902. The ruins of the factory remain. Today you can visit Watson Ranch as developers build a new housing complex there. Maybe they will give you the family discount if you want to buy one of their homes.
Meanwhile, our Feltham H. Watson gave mining his best shot. He can be seen in Whiskey Diggings in the 1860 census with wife, Kate, daughter Frances, age 8, and a newborn, Dora. Later newspapers would announce the birth of one child in Hepsidam in 1862 and another at Newark in 1864. All of these locations describe the same basic place. My son and I located Whiskey Creek during a backpacking trip in 2002, but could find no evidence of the town. Now you can use Youtube to explore. The creators of the video below do a great job scouting the countryside and explaining the mining process.
Whiskey Diggings may be gone now, but, in its day, it offered a real home for the Watson family. In her excellent book, “Roar of the Monitors: Quest for Gold in the Northern Sierra”, Jann Garvin combed through old periodicals to lay out a chronology of the area. Be sure to check out the amazing 1860 sketch of Hepsidam. I have included the pages from the Watson years, estimated from 1858 to 1864. In that 1860 census, Whiskey Diggings had 272 people with 40 wives and children. In addition to the saloon keepers, you could find blacksmiths, butchers, dentists and teachers, The last mine operated in some capacity until the 1940’s.
How Feltham would have mined as explained on the Youtube site
“After California’s famous ‘Gold Rush’ started, all of the easy gold was picked out of these creeks and rivers within a year or two. So, that led the miners to start seeking the gold that was in the ancient river channels. The only problem is that these ancient rivers were buried hundreds of feet underground. One way to get to them was to run adits (tunnels) through the earth until one ran into these ancient rivers and to then haul out as much gravel and rock as possible to sift through for gold. Another way, was to take water cannons to the sides of mountains and to literally wash away the mountains until the ancient river channels were exposed. Once the miners had reached the ancient rivers, they would set up large sluice boxes and would turn the water cannons (called monitors) back on and blast away the ancient river channels, sending the river rocks and gravel down through the sluices. The gold would be caught in the riffles, the rocks would be tossed out in piles and the mud and sand would wash down into California’s Central Valley (which is the reason hydraulic mining was outlawed).”
Feltham’s wife, Catherine Agnes “Kate” O’Brien, leaves no trail to her parents. Given that Feltham’s sister married a John O’Brien, you would think that Kate might be a close relation. However, John likely came from Tipperary county, while Kate’s obituary names her county as Wexford. We don’t even know the birthplace of her first child, our Fanny (Watson) Hatheway. Although she later claimed she was born in Vallejo, 1860 and 1870 censuses name Ireland. Let’s go with the Irish birth since people sometimes change their background story later in life. Feltham and Kate would have married in Ireland around 1850. He would have left behind a pregnant wife to look to work. He then shows up in the 1852 California census, the same year that Fanny is born. Mother and baby would have left Ireland on their own to catch up with Feltham. Finally, the growing family spends 6 years in Whiskey Diggings (including winters) while he mined. Quite the early life for Fanny.
After Feltham and Kate settled Vallejo in 1866, he worked as a laborer, although he never indicates the kind of labor he did. The modest house he built on Florida Street does not exist anymore. Concerning their children: Fanny (1852-1920) married Alden L Hatheway. Dora (1860-1922) married and had one son, Harry William Grayson (1889-1923), a mining engineer, who died young in an automobile accident. Stasia (1862-1935) married and had one daughter, Katherine Virginia Stratton (1897-1982) who remained single. Elizabeth (1867-1936) married, moved to Washington state and had one son, Paul Louis Cunningham (1906-1968), who left descendants.
Regarding the DNA, the ancestry thruline tree for George Watson and Frances O’Sullivan of Ireland shows expected results. We see descendants from his brother, George, of Napa Junction and his sister whose son, Dr. John O’Brien, settled in St. Louis. We also see a match of one of Paul L. Cunningham’s grandchildren.
The family of Garrett Fitzmaurice
As above, we will start with contemporaneous accounts about the Fitzmaurice men. You can read a very complete obituary of our Garret Fitzmaurice, a Washington newspaper profile of his father and a biography of his brother, Edward.
from “The Solano-Napa News Chronicle”, 25 Feb 1907 (newspapers.com)
“Mr. Fitzmaurice was a pioneer citizen and businessman of our city, and for fifty-four years followed his occupation of butcher at 123 Georgia Street, having been 30 years with the late W.H. Tobin and 20 years with Mr. McCudden at the same location previous to being in business for himself. He was a native of Ireland and came to San Francisco in 1852, shortly afterwards coming to Vallejo. His father, grandfather, and uncle were all butchers, and now his sons are engaged in the same business. The deceased had reached the age of 72 years and came of a long-lived family, his father dying at the age of 98, and his mother at the age of 102. Mr Fitzmaurice, both in his business and domestic relations. was a man of sterling integrity and high character, and won the esteem of all. He leaves to mourn his loss, six children – Gary, Frank, Robert, Leo, Mrs. A.L. Hatheway and Mrs. J. Avala – to whom the sympathy of the community goes out.”
from “The Tacoma Daily News”, 3 Jun 1891 (newspapers.com)
“Nearly a Century Old – Garrett, father of M.C. Fitzmaurice, of Snohomish, says the Son, is the oldest person in Snohomish county if not in the state. ‘Grandpa,’ as he is familiarly known, is 99 years old. He is hale and hearty; has never been sick a day in his life; has all his faculties; can read without glasses; write a legible hand, and walk to the neighbor’s without feeling the least wearied. He is a good conversationalist; can converse on any subject. He took the pledge from Father Matthew, the great temperance advocate, 68 years ago, and in that time, not even for medical purposes, has he ever broke it. His wife died in California three years ago at the ripe old age of 92.”
From “The San Francisco Bay Region” (archive.org)
“Early records of San Francisco show that one of the men largely responsible for much of the upbuilding of the city was Edward Fitzmaurice, one of its successful merchants, and a citizen of high repute. He was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1837, a son of Garrett and Bridget Fitzmaurice. Edward came to the United States in 1852, and after one year stay in San Francisco went to Benicia and later to reside permanently in the vicinity of Vallejo, of which, with General Vallejo and others, he was one of the founders. He then sent to Ireland for his parents and two brothers. Edward Fitzmaurice was educated in church schools and college, and was given special training on the violin. He became a pioneer merchant of Vallejo, and made the first contract to supply, during the regime of Admiral Farragut, the government at Mare Island with its meats, and this contract he continued for many years, besides holding other government contracts of importance. He invested largely in real estate there and in San Francisco and was a man of large means.”
The family consisted of three brothers: Edward, Garrett and Martin. The oldest, Edward, arrived first around 1852. Garrett, Martin and their parents, Garrett Sr. and Bridget, followed probably around 1858. Ed had the most financial success as shown in his biography above. Martin also did well in business. After a short stay in Vallejo, he ran a successful ranch in Washington state that grew hops. Health issues forced him to move to Arizona. Both of Garrett’s parents lived to a very old age as shown by the newspaper article from Washington state.
The Fitzmaurice family came from Ballylongford, county Kerry, Ireland. Enough of the church books survive to show the 1827 marriage of Garret Fitzmaurice and Bridget Carrol. Although previous records appear lost, a long history exists of the Fitzmaurice name in the region. They were part of nobility and landed gentry (landowners) which tended to keep a written record of their importance. Any Fitzmaurice from this region is said to tie somewhere into this tree. It is not clear how or when Fitzmaurice, the nobleman, transitioned to Fitzmaurice, the butcher.
Our Garrett may not have been a hugely successful businessman, but he was certainly a big family man. He married his first wife, Julia White, in 1859. She must have had a very hard life. Records refer to her variously as Julia Dixon or Julia White. She was apparently born in 1845 out of wedlock in Boston to John White and Mary Brennan. It looks like John’s sister Bridget (White) Dixon raised her. She then married Garrett at the uncomfortably early age of 15. Over the next 8 years, she had 6 children. She died at the age of 23 shortly after the birth of her last child.
Garrett’s second wife, Mary Haley, shows up in the 1870 in Vallejo working as an Irish servant girl. She married Garrett Fitzmaurice in 1872, and bore him an additional 7 children. The parentage of Mary Haley remains a mystery. Many years ago, I went to the Vallejo Historical Society with Mary Anne to look for clues. They have the St. Vincent church books which lists baptisms, marriages and burials since 1860. Although we found some mention of Haleys, Healys and Halys, we could not connect them to Mary. The research stalled. However, JS’s DNA results may provide some answers. It suggests that Mary had siblings James and Catherine. Parents would be Thomas Haley and Marie Collins. However, the baptism records do not yet support the DNA records, so more work needs to be done.
What the DNA and the Vallejo Church books show
- A search of JS’s DNA with all people who list a birthplace of Vallejo revealed a user name “Terry Butler” with a 27 cM match. His tree shows a James Slattery born 1880 in Vallejo to William Slattery and Catherine Healy. This Catherine Healy was born May 1851 in Limerick IRE and died in Vallejo in 1914. Ancestry users name her parents as Thomas Haley or Healy and Marie Collins.
- A list of shared matches with Terry Butler and JS gives another interesting 46 cM match with user “rong59”. His tree has a James Healy born 1843 in Cork, IRE and died 1897 in Gold Hill, Nevada.
- Baptism in 1873 of Garrett Patrick Fitzmaurice. Godparents are Thomas J Casey & Anna Haly. Could not find any more information about this Anna Haly.
- Baptism in 1880 of Richard L Fitzmaurice. Godparent is Richard Healy. He was born May 1844 in Ireland, married Ellen Minahan, and eventually moved to San Francisco where he died in 1910.
Only 4 of all 13 children would marry and produce offspring. Della married John Avila, and moved to Modesto. She has many living descendants. Martin E. Fitzmaurice had one child by his second wife. A few descendants remain. Frank T. Fitzmaurice became a butcher making him the 4th generation to pursue this occupation. He married Reta Ward and raised three children who remained in the Bay Area. One of his granddaughters kindly sent me his photo. Taken around 1920, it is the oldest known old photo of a Fitzmaurice.
Garrett Fitzmaurice initially raised his family in a house located on 317 Capital St. This plot of land would play a central role in the lives of the Fitzmaurice, Hatheway and Hoffman families. Sometime before 1900, Garret built an adjoining house at 315 Capital, described later as a “Vallejo showplace”. The 317 residence had became a boarding house, possibly as early as 1880. Initially the new abode housed the Fitzmaurice family including the children Garrett, Frank, Leo, Robert and Annie with her new spouse, Alden Hatheway. After the death of the elder Fitzmaurices, Alden and Annie occupied the house with their 4 children along with Leo & Robert Fitzmaurice, both single. Leo Fitzmaurice, who now controlled the boarding house, decided to tear it down in 1915 after a small fire. By 1927, the Fitzmaurice men had all left, but Alden and Anne Hatheway family added their new son-in-law, Harry Hoffman, and their grandson, Richard. Harry Hoffman was learning the family business, listing his occupation as butcher. By 1930, the house is down to four: the elder Hatheways with their two unmarried children, Mary and Alden, Jr. This number would continue to dwindle following the death of Alden Sr in 1940 and Annie in 1952. Mary and Alden Jr moved to a smaller 2 bedroom house after selling the house in 1960 to the Vallejo Redevelopment Agency. In 1961 a large fire promptly gutted the property. Today we are left with a scenic parking lot in downtown Vallejo.
By the way, fire seems to be a theme at this property. A 1926 newspaper article reported that Dick “had a narrow escape from being burned to death” after a fire started in a bedroom near his bassinet.
The DNA record for Garrett and Bridget Fitzmaurice looks very complete. There might even be enough surviving DNA to suggest an additional Fitzmaurice ancestor. If you search all of JS’s matches for trees which contain a Fitzmaurice in it, you will find one tiny 8 cM match with a user who claims an ancestry of Ulick Fitzmaurice (1705-1738) of Duagh, County Kerry, one of those landed gentry. Ulick’s father was named Garrett Fitzmaurice. This match may mean nothing, but it gives hope we are on the right trail.
Conclusion
Given the difficulties of Irish genealogy, we should consider ourselves fortunate to know as much as we do. With any luck more information about Mary Haley will surface. I would say you can avoid a visit Whiskey Diggings, unless you like a walk through the woods. Downtown Vallejo may also be a bit of a letdown since so few landmarks remain. However, we know the towns to visit on our next trip to Ireland.