A Great-Grandfather's Heritage

My Great-grandfather, James Patrick McEvilly was born in Louisburgh, County Mayo, Ireland, on March 5, 1835. In 1848 he left Ireland to settle in the western part of the United States. We are not sure if he travelled alone, because he was so young.

My Great-grandmother, Mary Anne McCormick, was born in 1837 in New York City, one of nine children. Her father William McCormick was born in County Sligo, Ireland in 1814 and was a shoemaker by trade. Her mother Eliza Faucett was also born in County Sligo, in 1812.

On April 17, 1854 Mary Anne married James Patrick McEvilly in the Church of St. Vincent DePaul, on West 23rd street in New York City. James sailed around the Cape to San Francisco and then on to Alder Gulch and Helena Montana around 1864 where Mary Anne met him and they settled with their family.

He and Mary Anne had seven children, two of whom died in infancy. One son also died from injuries received in a fire when he was eleven years old. The family stayed in Montana, but three of the children eventually moved to NY.