IA-IRISH-L Archives

From: Thomas Flynn <>
Subject: [IA-IRISH] Biography Sketch of James Patrick Condon
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 22:13:45 -0700

CONDON, WILLIAMS, MEAGHER
I offer the following biographical sketch of my wife's grandfather
because it deals with many of the things that we have been discussing on
IA-IRISH over the past few months. His granddaughter, a cousin of my
wife, wrote the sketch in 1991. It contains information about a
typical, albeit remarkable, Irish emigrant family from Tipperary, to
Philadelphia, then Iowa.
By Mary Callista Hood-Ott (1991)
Both William Condon and Catherine Williams Condon were born in
Ireland. William was born in 1795 in Townsland, Kiltankin near
Ballyporeen, County Tipperary. Catherine was born in 1800 in
Waterford. They were married on Thursday, the 19th of February, 1824 in
the corrigvested Catholic Church (now the Assumption) at Ballyporeen in
the diocese of Waterford. They were farmers and worked the land
diligently. Their first child Maurice arrived on the 16th of December,
1824 and died at birth. Two years would pass before Patrick was born.
The year was 1826 in a little village named Clogheen near Ballyporeen
when Patrick make his appearance. He would be the first living child to
be born to William and Catherine. The years passed and the children
kept coming. James 1828, William (died at birth) 1830, John 1832, David
1835, William 1837, Mary 1839, Ellen 1843, Thomas 1845 and Johanna 1846.

The records show that a devastating potato blight arrived on the
Irish land in 1845 and continued through 1850. It was a most disastrous
event that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. The young family
regrouped and continued to work the land, but the seed had been planted
in their minds that someday they would leave the land of their birth and
go to America.
Two years after the start of the potato blight, in the year 1847
Patrick and James left for America. Patrick was 21 years old and James
was 19. The six weeks journey ended in Pennsylvania. The Atlantic
crossing was uneventful, but now they must work to replenish their
depleted funds.
In 1850, John and David came to America and after a stopover in
Pennsylvania, they went on to Omaha, Nebraska where they both worked
driving stage coaches and teaming between Omaha and the Rocky
Mountains. After working hard and saving, they were able to homestead
in Johnson Township in Webster County Iowa.
Back in Pennsylvania, Patrick and James had saved some money and
sent for the rest of the Condon family that was still in Ireland.
William (Dad) and Catherine (Mom) along with William, Ellen, Mary and
Johanna arrived. It was about the time that things got pretty bad on
the East Coast of America. After five years of mass immigration from
Ireland, the area was clogged with poor Irish immigrants seeking to
start a new life. Signs sprang up on businesses saying "Irish Need Not
Apply" and eventually the immigrations laws were tightened. Several
years passed and the youngest of the Condon family, Johanna, died.
Thomas, the youngest son did not come to America and probably died in
Ireland. William II ventured west to Colorado where he was a Pony
Express rider and was later killed by Indians. Patrick, about this
time, conferred with his brother after learning of the vast prairies (to
the west) with unclaimed acres, the clear creeks and timberlnad. A
decision was made for James to leave Pennsylvania and head west. After
a summer and fall of getting his affairs in order, he purchased a stage
coach ticket and headed west--destination Des Moines Iowa. The year was
1855 and winter arrived in the area about the time James arrived on the
scene. After some debate it was decided to head northwest of Des Moines
to the area around Fort William (Fort Dodge). James, along with the
nine other men set out on foot along the perilous trail. The journed
took four days and ended in Fort Dodge, then only a row of log cabins.
In 1856, brother Patrick followed and settled there also.
Patrick then went on northwest of the settlement to an area rich in
prairie top soil near Lizard Creek. He applied for, and settled on the
land in section three of Johnson Township in Webster County, Iowa. The
arduous task of clearing and cultivating the land began, and shelter
from the elements was the top priority. Although it was hard work from
sun up up to sundown, they made good progress. Things were going along
fine when a short time later William and Catherine arrived from Ireland
to make their home with their son on the frontier of America. Patrick
was now 30 years old.
Bridget Meagher was born in 1830 in Waterford Ireland. Waterford is
located in the southeast part of the country near the St. George
Channel, the body of water that separates the British Isles from
Ireland. Waterford is an industrial community most noted for its
Waterford crystal plant. County Cork, where Patrick Condon was born is
about 50 miles southwest of Waterford and its coast line is on the
Atlantic Ocean. There is no information on Bridget's early life, or for
that matter any portion of her life prior to meeting Patrick. We could
assume that she migrated to America sometime after the Condons and then
moved westward to join other friends and family near Iowa City and then
later on moved again to the area around Clare, Iowa.
It was in late 1859 that Bridget met Patrick and fell in love. It
was to be a comparatively short courtship, because on Sunday July 22,
1860, Patrick Condon took Bridget Meagher for his wife in a ceremony at
St. Mary's Church in Iowa City, Iowa. Bridget was 30 years old and
Patrick was 34. After the ceremony they returned to the Condon
homestead in Webster County. Patrick surveyed and laid out most of the
roads in Jackson Township. He was also the first supervisor elected in
Webster County.
The young family worked hard and settled into a froutier family
routine. William would be the first child born to Pat and Bridget--he
was born in 1861, the year the Civil War started. It was interesting to
note that when they were building roads in those early days, that
compensation for eight hours labor and the use of an ox team was $1.00.
In the year 1861 Patrick was torn between going into the Civil War or
staying home to feed his young family. During this time a person would
be excused from military duty if he could supply a substitute to go in
his place. A few of Patrick's friends collected $500 and were able to
secure the service of a Condon cousin to go in place of Patrick (for the
$500 fee, of course!). The war ended before the cousin had to go, he
took off and kept the $500 anyway!! Patrick resented this, and from then
on there was strained relations between the two branches of the
Condons. Patrick stayed home, and he and Bridget continued to have more
children. John arrived in 1863, Patrick Jr. in 1865, James came in
1867, Margaret arrived in 1870, Mary Ellen, the baby of the family, was
delivered in 1873. Four boys and two girls completed the Bridget and
Patrick Condon family.
James, the fourth child of Bridget and Patrick, went throught the
normal childhood of a person brought up on the frontier. His father and
tolder brothers taught him the many facets of farming, and he also had
the basic primary formal education. At the age of 16, his school
education was over and he became a bearer of the hard knocks of the real
world helping his family scratch out a living on their 172 acre farm.
In 1881, Clare, Iowa was founded and given this name because of the
number of its residents that came from County Clare, Ireland. The need
for a town was evident with the coming of the railroad, an extension of
the Des Moines, Fort Dodge line to the area. The actual town was
plotted in the spring of 1882, and work on a depot, and other community
buildings began in earnest. In 1883, James was 16 years old, and he did
not know that less than a mile to the west lived a young lady who would
be his partner for life.
To Be Continued in the Biographical Sketch of Mary Margaret Lawler.

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• [IA-IRISH] Biography Sketch of James Patrick Condon by Thomas Flynn <>