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From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [IA-IRISH] Considine Bios, Co. Clare>Canada>IA
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 16:18:44 -0500


FYI - I am not related...
History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and Its People. Harry Church and Katharyn
J. Chappell. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.

Michael R. Considine, a prominent factor in financial circles of
Buchanan county, being vice president of the Jesup State Bank, is equally
well known as a farmer and stockman of this section. He is a native son of
the county, born on a farm in Perry township, September 8, 1867, his parents
being Patrick and Ann (Crane) Considine, both of whom were natives of
Ireland. In 1852 the father emigrated to Canada in company with two
brothers, a sister and his parents, Patrick and Susan (Keane) Considine,
natives of County Clare, Ireland. There Patrick Considine, Sr., and his
three sons worked on a railroad for about five years during which time they
carefully saved their money, and in 1856 the son Patrick, father of our
subject, was sent to Iowa to buy a home for the family. Looking about for a
suitable location, he decided upon Perry township, Buchanan county, as a
desirable place in which to invest his money. He purchased a tract of one
hundred and sixty acres near Littleton, and the following year he was joined
by the other members of the household. Father and sons then bent their
engines toward the improvement and development of the farm. In the course of
time the sons married and established homes of their own, all becoming
well-to-do farmers of Perry township. Patrick Considine, Sr., spent his
remaining years on his farm in Perry township and there passed away. The
mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Ann Crane, emigrated from
Ireland to the United States in her girlhood, her arrival here being in the
same year as that of Mr. Considine. They were married in this country and
became the parents of four children. Through the death her husband Mrs.
Considine was left with the care of her family but she managed to keep them
together on the farm, carefully rearing them and giving them the advantages
of an education such as were enjoyed in those early days. She is still
living at the age of ninety years and now makes her home with her son
Michael. She is a communicant of the Catholic church. The children are:
Ellen, the wife of John Keane, a farmer of Black Hawk county, Iowa; Mary,
who is single and makes her home with her brother, Michael; Thomas, who died
at the age of seventeen years; and Michael R. of this review.|
Michael R. Considine was deprived of a father's care at the age of two
years but he was carefully reared by his mother, who is now in turn cared
for by him. His older brother died when a youth of seventeen years, so that
as soon as he was old enough the care of the farm devolved upon Michael. The
place comprised one hundred and sixty acres, which he cultivated until 1912,
when he rented the farm and with his mother and sister Mary removed to Jesup
where they occupy a beautiful and substantial home. Prior to leaving the
farm in 1901, Mr. Considine formed a partnership with Z.A. Comfort in buying
and shipping stock, and he is still dealing in live stock, disposing of
several carloads of cattle and hogs in the city markets each year. His
business interests are varied, however, for in addition to his stock
business he is acting as vice president of the Jesup State Bank of which he
was one of the organizers and now is serving on the board of directors. He
likewise owns stock in the telephone and creamery companies of the city.
It was on the 28th of October, 1895, that Mr. Considine was married to
Miss Bridget Meaney, who was born on the Emerald isle but in 1891 in company
with a brother emigrated to the United States. Like the other members of the
family Mr. Considine is a communicant of the Catholic church, while
politically he supports the democratic party. For several years he has
served as township trustee. He is an alert and enterprising business man,
possessing all the requisite qualities of a sturdy Irish ancestry, and fully
merits the high esteem in which he is held alike by business and social
friends.



History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and Its People. Harry Church and Katharyn
J. Chappell. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.

Thomas Considine is well known as a pioneer of Buchanan county and
Perry township for he has been identified with the agricultural interests in
this section since 1857, covering a period of fifty-seven years. He was born
in County Clare, Ireland, September 14, 1842, a son of Patrick and Susan
(Keane) Considine, who were likewise natives of County Clare. Patrick
Considine followed farming in his native county and in 1852, in company with
his wife, three sons and one daughter, left the Emerald isle for Canada, the
family home being established in Hamilton. There father and sons worked on
the railroad for a few years. Their greatest ambition was to get to the
United States and make for themselves a good home. To this end they worked
diligently and saved their earnings, and in September, 1856, the son,
Patrick, Jr., was sent out to invest in farm land. He decided upon Buchanan
county, Iowa, as a desirable place in which to live and purchased a farm of
one hundred and sixty acres near Littleton, in Perry township. He then
joined the other members of the family in Canada, but the following year
they came to this state, though for several months they worked on the
railroad, in the meantime making their home in Dyersville. In December of
1857 they took up their abode upon the newly acquired farm and at once
undertook the task of breaking and developing land in this then new and
largely unsettled region. The father remains on this place throughout the
remainder of his life and passed away at the advanced age of ninety-two
years. The mother died in 1878 at the age of seventy. He was a democrat in
his political views and both he and his wife were devout members of the
Catholic church. Their four children were as follows: Patrick, who engaged
in farming in Buchanan county and died at the age of thirty-eight years;
Michael, who was also engaged in farming in that section and died at the age
of seventy-three; Thomas, of this review; and Margaret, the widow of Michael
Cunningham, and a resident of Waterloo, Iowa.
Thomas Considine was in his tenth year when the family left the land of
their nativity for Canada, so that his early education was acquired in the
latter place. He worked as a water boy for the railroad company and was a
youth of fifteen years when the family home was established in Buchanan
county, subsequent to which time he continued his studies in the schools of
Littleton. He remained on the home farm until he had reached the age of
twenty-seven years, when he established a home of his own by his marriage.
He purchased a part of his present farm property in Perry township and has
added to it until the place now embraces two hundred and seventy-three
acres. He has improved his property with substantial buildings and now owns
one of the most valuable and up-to-date farms in that section of Buchanan
county.
Mr. Considine has been married twice. His first union was with Miss
Bridget Meany, the marriage ceremony being performed January 31, 1870. She
was a native of County Clare, Ireland, and in 1866, during her girlhood,
emigrated to the United States. She passed away January 6, 1879, leaving two
children: Charles James, who is associated with his father in the operation
of the farm; and Mary, who died at the age of fifteen years, on the 12th of
November, 1885. For his second wife Mr. Considine chose Mrs. Annie (Nolan)
Brown, whom he wedded April 30, 1880. She was born in County Wexford,
Ireland, and was there reared and married, after which she came with her
husband to the United States and located in Freeport, Illinois. Later their
home was established in Winthrop, Iowa, and it was in that city that Mr.
Brown's death occurred. The widow then made her home in Independence, Iowa,
until her marriage to Mr. Considine. By this union there is a son and a
daughter: Thomas Joseph, who is still with his parents; and Frances
Margaret, the wife of James Meany, a resident farmer of Perry township.
In politics an ardent democrat, Mr. Considine has always manifested a
deep concern in public affairs, although he has persistently refused to
accept public position at the hands of his fellow citizens. He and his
family are communicants of the Catholic church. It was the pioneers who
through their patience and energy and their wise foresight organized and
built up a community here which in its general prosperity, its orderly
society, the pleasantness of its homes and the intelligence and moral tone
of its people is all that goes to make up a desirable civilization, and in
this work Thomas Considine took a large part. In the fifty-seven years that
have passed since he took up abode in Buchanan county, he has witnessed
many changes and now in the evening of life he can enjoy many comforts, as
the result of a life spent in usefulness and activity. At the age of
seventy-two years he is still hale and hearty and is surrounded by a host of
warm friends who entertain for him the highest respect and esteem.

Cathy Joynt Labath
Irish in Iowa
http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/index.htm




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