The earliest Loughneys recorded in our branch (my 3rd great grandparents) are Patrick and Ann D'Arcy (Darcy) Loughney. Not much is known about them, other than they had four (known) children: Roger, Patrick, Jane (Moran), and Mary (Duggan). Tithe records show Patrick was a farmer in Shanvallyhugh in the early 1830s. However, by the 1840s, the "Starvation Times" were every where in Ireland. The Loughneys, like most of their countrymen of the time, were tenant famers and, undoubtedly, suffered considerably during the famine.

February 19, 1847
THE DISTRESS
The following melancholy details of the rapid progress of starvation in the west are copied from the Mayo Constitution of yesterday: "In the neighborhood of Newport, on Sunday morning last, a poor man, named Mulloy, was found on the road side. His emaciated frame betokened that his death was the result of want. He was a native of Burrishoole. On Friday last a poor man died at Deradda, near Newport, of actual hunger, leaving a family to follow in rapid succession. On Saturday, a poor man was also found expiring from exhaustion at Rooskeen, and notwithstanding relief being brought, the poor man died, food having come too late! In the neighborhood of Breaffy, near this town, the following deaths have occurred from starvation and disease: Michael M'Enally, of Roemon, on the 12th; Peter Sworde, of Deerinachrisham, on the 12th; his wife on the 12th; James Gavan, of Ballyshawn, on the 8th; his wife on the 10th. On Sunday, the 7th inst., Mr. Alkinson, coroner, held an inquest on the body of Patrick Maughan, at Ceonarrow. The deceased has left a family, who are in the most indigent state. The jury verdict was "Death by starvation." In this village there is not a family that do not appear likely to fall victim to famine. On the same day, on the body of James Brislane, at Kilrimmin. The deceased was put on the public works a few days previous to his death, and was hastening on Saturday evening to the office of the pay-clerk, but being very weak from want of food, he fell on the way, and was found dead next morning. Verdict -- "death by starvation." On Monday, the 8th, on the body of Pat Howley, at Smisfield. The deceased was employed on the public works, and was found lying on the road, where he had fallen, by a person passing by; when removed to the nearest habitation he died shortly after. Verdict -- "Death by starvation." On the same day on the body of William Sheridan, at Cloondes. The deceased had been in a great state of destitution, and going from one village to another he he fell into a small rivulet which he attempted to cross, and from his debility was unable to extricate himself! Verdict -- "Death by drowning, but attributed to starvation." This coroner states that there were 12 more inquests reported in his district, but which from indispostiion he has been unable to attend. During the past week Mr. O'Grady, coronorer, held inquests on the following persons: Anne Philibin, Patt Hemnon, Francis Gannon, Jordan Morrison, Anne Teatum, Patrick Corey, Thomas Costello . . .

Famine was probably the reason my great-great-grandfather, Patrick (son of the above mentioned Patrick), left Ireland with his wife, Annie O'Malley, and daughter, Cecelia, in May 1846. Canadian land records show a Patrick Loughey leasing 100 acres on 25 September 1846, in Russell Township, Russell County, Ontario, Canada. He paid $3.00 rent annually on concession 1, lot 13. Since no one in the family has ever mentioned Patrick stopping in Russell Township, it is not known if Patrick Loughey is the same person as Patrick Loughney, but the dates appear to makes sense, giving Patrick and his family four months to make the trip from Ireland and find a plot of land to farm on.

Annie O'Malley Loughney had two brothers, William and George, and three sisters. The first names of the sisters are unknown, but their married names were Gibbons, Fitzgerald, and Grady. Annie's parents were William O'Malley and an unknown Sweeney. A book on surnames states, "although the O'Malleys were never a very large sept, they were one of the most illustrious. Situated on the west coast of Connacht in what is now Co. Mayo, the family is one of the few clans of Ireland celebrated in the native histories as seafarers. Their motto is 'terra marique potens,' and many O'Malleys won fame, or at least notoriety, for their daring and sometimes unscrupulous naval exploits." It is one of the few Irish "O" names from which the prefix was seldom dropped.

It is believed through the O'Malley branch there is a connection to pirates. My mother always told me stories of my grandfather talking about the Loughneys being chased out of Ireland because they were river pirates. The famous pirate, Grace O'Malley, also known as Granuaile, was "reputed to have command of three galleys and some 200 fighting men with which she was able to give the merchant ships to and from Galway a hard time. In fact, she became so successful in this that in March of 1574, the English sent an expedition of ships and troops to put an end to her maritime exploits. They laid seige to the castle for many days but Grace turned the tables on them and the hunters became the hunted. The expeditionary force only just escaped capture themselves. It is perhaps all the more remarkable then, that some years later in 1593, Grace, captaining her own Galley, sailed from Rockfleet bay, round the south coast of Ireland, through the Straits of Dover, and up the Thames estuary in order to speak with Elizabeth I. How she escaped a hanging for being a pirate and a rebel, let alone being granted an audience with the English queen, is a tribute in itself to the courage and determination of this legendary woman." Grace's castle, Rockfleet, also known as Carrickahowley Castle, stands at the mouth of a small inlet on the northern shores of Clew Bay, just a few miles from Newport. Grace died in about 1600, and was buried on Clare Island, in Clew Bay.
(Source: www.ivorob.demon.co.uk/Rockfleet.html)

Patrick and Annie, after saving enough money farming on the leased land, would move their family to Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. While in Simcoe County, Patrick owned several concessions in Flos and Medonte townships, where he was a yeoman farmer. (Click HERE to see some recent photos of the area.)   Land records show Patrick buying 100 acres (Concession 1, lot E 1/2 69 EP Rd) in Medonte Township, on 7 July 1852. On 13 Sep 1859, Patrick purchased 100 acres in Flos Township (Concession 6, Lot S 1/2 7), at a price of $100. Flos is what my great-grandfather, William Patrick (Seen in photo on right, taken in 1925.) considered his childhood home. There were a total of eight children of Patrick and Annie O'Malley Loughney: Cecelia, Roger, Bridget, Ann, William Patrick, Sabina, George, and Helen.

Bridget, Ann and William Patrick Loughney

 
Annie O'Malley Loughney

In April 1864, Patrick would move his family to Ironton, Sauk County, Wisconsin, entering the US through the Port of Detroit by train. Patrick obviously was in contact with his brother, Roger, who would move his family from Newport to Ironton in March 1864, entering through the Port of New York, just a month before Patrick settled in Ironton. (It is not known what happened to Patrick's sisters or any of Annie O'Malley's siblings.) Patrick purchased a farm of 120 acres in Section 16 in the Township of Ironton, while his brother, Roger, settled on 160 acres in Section 26. Patrick died in November 1874, leaving a family of young children. (It appears that Roger looked after his brother's family, to what degree is unknown. But, my grandfather's generation would consider Roger their grandfather.)

Years after Patrick died, his son, William Patrick (known back then as Billy), who was a farmer and blacksmith, along with his wife, Helena Victoria "Nellie" Hawkins (seen at left), moved their young family, with six children, from Ironton to Troy Township, St. Croix County, Wisconsin, in April 1903. Eventually, the family would grow to include ten children. A son, George Adrian, died in infancy, leaving my grandfather, Mark Adrian, the only son to live to adulthood among eight sisters, Ethel, Claire, Bernice, Monica, Mary Josephine, Veronica, Florence, and Ellen.

William Patrick's sisters often came to visit at the farm in St. Croix County. Anna was single and made her living as a seamstress in an Elroy, WI, tailor shop. Bridget was married to Steve Timlin and lived with her three sons in Chicago. After their mother, Annie, died, Anna moved in with her sister Bridget, who by then was a widow. Sabina married Dwight Johnson and had no children. They lived in and around Washington State. Bina would visit often, carrying an assortment of large trunks. Her nieces were thrilled to get the empty brown bottles that had contained her anemia medication. Bina later died from pernicious anemia. Cecelia married Martin Barrington and had a large family that remained in contact with the Loughneys for many years.

Mark and several of his sisters attended the Red Brick School in Troy. After completing high school in Hudson and qualifying for a teacher's license, Mark taught one term in an elementary school in one of the Dakotas, after which he returned home to help his father on the farm. William Patrick and his son, Mark, farmed their acreage growing primarily corn, oats, sugar cane and hay. They had a herd of Holstein cattle and sold the milk to the Twin City Milk Producers Association. In addition, they raised chickens, hogs and beef cattle. William Patrick, who had brought his blacksmith forge with him from Ironton, continued to do blacksmith work for himself and neighbors whenever they needed a horse shod.

Anna Loughney, Sabina Loughney Johnson, Nellie Hawkins Loughney, Bridget Loughney Timlin, with Rita and Mary Loughney in front

William Patrick purchased three different parcels of land in Troy and Hudson townships, all within a mile of the St. Croix River, providing a ready picnic ground and swimming hole. The Loughney children were dressed in "those woolen swimming suits that came down to your knees and that the moths got into. Most of them were black with a white stripe running around the bottom of the over skirt."

In 1920, shortly before the marriage of William Patrick and Nellie's only son, Mark, William Patrick purchased 120 acres in Hudson, St. Croix County, from Alvin R. Cragin and Allie H. Swasey, who had received the land from Sarah R. Richardson after her death. William Patrick paid Alvin $4000 for his interest in the property and paid Allie $8000 for her interest. A mortgage was given to The First State Bank of Hudson for $7000, at 6% interest. The land was situated across the road from St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery and at the intersection of old County Road N and Hiway 35. A new four-bedroom home was built on this land. The newlyweds, Mark and Frances Fable Loughney, then resided with the elder Loughneys along with two invalid siblings and an unmarried sister of Mark's. (The farm house was later moved to the other side of the Loughney barn, necessitated by the widening of Hiway 12, which is now Interstate 94. The County Hiway Committee paid the Loughneys $1525 when they moved their home and took the lands for an easement for "highway purposes.")

The Loughney home grew quickly. Within two years time, three children were born to Mark and Frances. Nellie, who was fond of children (having had ten of her own), was a built-in babysitter. She was a kind lady with red hair and "beautiful freckles" covering her arms. She was her eldest grandchildren's sounding board for all kinds of important questions and a great teller of fairy stories. Often times she heard the grandchildren's prayers before putting them in bed. Her death was a very great loss to her grandchildren, who had lost their constant companion and were too young to understand their grandmother's leaving.

William Patrick is remembered as the "gentliest of gentlemen," who didn't have enough hands to go around for his many grandchildren. He often times could be found sitting in the kitchen before a warm oven, nursing a "runt" or sick animal or playing with the ever present dog. While Frances would be busy in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, he would sit and read her the morning paper. He was a whittler who carved peach pits into small baskets and made his grandson, William, a bow and arrow. William Patrick had been known in the community as the "local vet" and was called to many farms when there was a sick animal. Unfortunately, this was how he met his death. A neighbor had a cow with a lame foot and upon lifting the animal's hoof, dropped dead of a heart attack. His death came only seven months after Nellie's.

Terrible dust storms swept through St. Croix County during the 1930s. There was no water in the St. Croix River and the local farmers pastured their cattle in the river bottoms. Dust from the Dakotas sifted through the windows, creating a fog in the house and obscuring the pattern on the Loughney living room rug. Mark Loughney would go through the community buying, selling and trading livestock of all kinds, sometimes not getting home until late at night. Frances and the children would have the chores to do before he got home. The Loughneys raised, broke and sold horses until tractors were introduced. The first tractor Mark had was a second-hand Fordson on steel. Still, it was quite an improvement over horses...at least it didn't run away.

One of the "runaways" headed up the road with a three-section drag flopping behind it, scaring the other horses in the hitch out of their wits. Fortunately, most of the time no one was hurt. Many of the runaways were green, poorly broke horses that Mark would get in trade, the result of trading a better horse in order to get money "to boot," which was used to pay the interest on the mortgage. In those days no one was able to pay any of the principal on their farm loans and were lucky to pay the interest. Many of the neighbors lost their farms during this period.

A view of the St. Croix County, Wisconsin, farm in 1952
(T29N, R19&20W, Section 31)

In order to put food on the table, Frances Loughney, would take a few dozen eggs to the grocery store where she would trade for flour and sugar. She had a garden that provided the family with onions, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, melons, just to mention a few. Most of the time there were pancakes for breakfast, along with maple syrup. William Patrick had tapped many of trees on the farm and would give the sap to Frances to boil down into syrup. Mark always ate a bowl of oatmeal with toast, as he wasn't fond of eggs. Milk, corn, beef, and eggs were available on the farm. Chickens were incubated in the basement. William Patrick would hold the eggs up to a light to see if the eggs were fertile then kept them covered in the incubator with a damp piece of cheesecloth. After the chicks hatched, they were raised in a small pen upstairs. The farm also had a strawberry patch, along with wild dew berries and currants, which were often made into jams. Fish, primarily cod, was occasionally purchased or traded for. Frances made "prune whip" from whipping cream and prunes (or plums) as a treat. Like many families during the depression nothing was wasted. Clothing was made from the flour and sugar sacks, even down to the Loughney childrens' underwear. The kitchen table was set with a tablecloth made from flour sacks. The laundry was boiled in a large vat on the stove with home-made soap before it was placed into a gas Maytag washing machine out on the porch. The washing machine had a stubborn kick-starter that would give my grandmother, Frances, fits. After a few choice words to the machine, my grandfather would be summoned to get the engine started.

During the depression there was an abundance of hobos, tramps, bums, and people without homes that would come in asking for a hot meal and hoping to sleep in the barn. They never went away hungry, but fearing they might burn down the barn from careless cigarette smoking, they were allowed to sleep in the house. Many nights the hosts slept with one eye open. It was thought that a post or a tree near the road had been marked by the beneficiaries of this hospitality to let others know the Loughney farm was a good bet.

Helena Hawkins Loughney and her daughters
Monica, Claire, Nellie, Josephine, Helen, Bernice, and Ethel

It was always fun for the Loughney children when their aunts would come to visit. Three of Mark's sisters were married and living in Spooner, WI. They generally came for all holidays, bringing gifts and goodies. One of their children always got car sick on the way to the farm and the amount of time it took to get to the farm was based on how many stops had to be made. Ethel married William Bieloh and they owned and ran a bank in Spooner. During the depression the bank failed, but Ethel was quite determined and ensured that all the depositors were paid. After the loss of the bank, the Bieloh's owned the Hartford Insurance Company until their retirement. They had no children of their own, but delighted in their siblings' children. ~~ Monica married Charles Murphy and was also living in Spooner with her two daughters. Uncle Charlie was a government employee during prohibition and went all over Wisconsin breaking up "bootlegging" liquor businesses and destroying illegal stills. He would tell interesting stories about where he would find the illegal stills. ~~ Bernice was single and had been a nurse in the Navy, stationed in the Philippines. She received an early retirement because of having contracted malaria. She returned to the Loughney farm and spent most of her days reading, smoking and playing cards. Later in life she moved to a new home in Spooner. She died suddenly and unexpectedly with a form of flu. At the time of her death, Bernice was caring for her sister, Florence, who had Down's syndrome. Two weeks after Bernice's death, Florence died with the same symptoms. ~~ Josephine married Tom Payton, had two children, and lived in St. Paul. She died at an early age with complications from low blood pressure. Her husband remarried and raised the two children. ~~ Claire was a seamstress for Albrecht's in the Twin Cities and sewed on furs. She married Sid Walls and they would move to Spooner, living on a small acreage, until they retired and moved to Florida. ~~ Ellen worked at the Nelson and Suennen Hardware Store in Hudson as an accountant. She lived on the farm until her marriage to Robert Dillon. She became the mother of two step-children and had two of her own. Ellen died of a heart attack in 1975, and Bob died of pancreatic cancer in 1963.

In the 1940s, Mark lost his entire herd of cows to Bangs disease. The goverment had an inspection program at this time because the disease was so rampant and would test the cattle, painting those infected with a yellow stripe down their back. The cows would then have to be shipped to the stock yards or disposed of in some manner. After the loss of his herd and a complete disinfection of the premises, Mark purchased another herd in Spooner. Also during this time there was an epidemic of sleeping sickness in horses that was carried by mosquitoes. The infected horses couldn't stand up on their own. They would be placed in a sling with pulleys attached to the barn rafters to keep them in an upright position, attempting to keep them from getting pneumonia. Unfortunately, a good work horse and a yearling filly were lost. It was a big loss to lose a horse.

After the death of William Patrick, Mark and Frances were deeded the 120 acres in 1932. Here my grandparents, Mark and Frances Fable Loughney, would raise seven children (Rita, Mary, Bill, Nancy, George, Bina, and Mark), while caring for two of my grandfather's sisters, along with a niece, Marjorie Fable, and nephew, Tommy Payton. They were a close-knit family and all of the children helped on the farm through high school. By all accounts, even though they had to milk cows (or herd them into the yard to graze when there wasn't any hay in the pasture) before going to school in the morning, those who grew up on the Mark Loughney farm had "a wonderful childhood."

(Thank you to Mary and Bill Loughney, and Rita Peterson for their help on this page.)