Meehan, Michael

  General Notes:

The following is from Martin Conway

The St. Joseph Church in Rock Island you reference no longer exists. During my years on the bench I sat most of the time in Rock Island at the courthouse, located immediately at the foot of the Centenial Bridge (connecting Rock Island with Davenport). St. Joseph's was located adjacent to and on the west side of the courthouse. However due to population shifts , and the extreme deterioration of the structure of the church (with few parishoners to support any repair costs) the Bishop decided to close the parish in around 2001 or 2002 as I recall. The property sat vacant for a few years as Rock Island County negotiated with officials of the Diocese of Peoria to purchase the property. The County of Rock Island finally bought the property and now use it as a parking area for both the courthouse and the Sheriff's Department and Correctional facility (located to the south and sourtheast of the old church.
St. Joseph's was the church the Irish attended, while the German community attended St. Mary's and other ethnic groups attended Sacred Heart. All three churches were with a mile of one another...in the downtown area. St. Mary's and Sacred Heart still stand with active congregations. The largest Catholic Church in Rock Island however is St. Pius X which is located south of the downtown area in the residential part of Rock Island.


1870 U S Census, Illinois, Rock Island, Camden Mills
Page 7, sheet 46, line 31, dwelling no 57, family no 56

Meehan, Michael, age 35, male, white, farmer, $2500 value of real estate, $1000 value of personal estate, born in Ireland, parents foreign born, male citizen over the age of 21
Hannah, age 30, female, white, keeping house, born in Ireland, parents foreign born
Margaret, age 9, female, white, at home, born in Illinois, attended school
Thomas, age 7, male, white, at home, born in Illinois, attended school
Annie, age 3, female, white, at home, born in Illinois
Bridget H, age 3/12, female, white, at home, born in Illinois, April
Bridget, age 64, female, white, lady, born in Ireland, parents foreign born
Peterson, Otto, age 17, male, white, works on farm, born in Sweden, parents foreign born

Book 41, page 342, $450

Declaration of Intent

1880 U S Census, Illinois, Rock Island, Black Hawk twp, T9_245
ED 235, sheet 9A, page 189, line 48, dwelling no 85, family no 88

Meehen, Michael, white, male, age 51, married, farmer, born in Ireland, parents born Ireland
Hannah, white, female, age 40, wife, married, keeping house, born in Ireland, parents born in Ireland
Maggie, white, female, age 18, daughter, single, at home, born in Illinois
Thomas, white, male, age 16, son, single, at home, attended school, born in Illinois
Annie, white, female, age 12, daughter, single, at home. attended school, born in Illinois
Bridget, white, female, age 10, daughter, single, at home, attended school, born in Illinois
Agnes, white, female, age 8, daughter, single, at home, attended school, born in Illinois
Nellie, white, female, age 5, daughter, single, at home, born in Illinois
John, white, male, age 3, son, single, at home, born in Illinois

1860 U S Census, Illinois, Rock Island, Coal Valley twp, M653_222
Page 491, sheet 743, line 24, dwelling no 3925, family no 3712

Michael Mahan, age 24, male, white, farmer, $800 value of real estate, $200 value of personal estate, born in Ireland
Bridget, age 53, female, white, born in Ireland
Bridget, age 20, female, at home, born in Ireland

Lot 4, block 11, $350

Book 44, page 470, W1/2 SW1/4 T17, R2, $2150

W1/2 SW1/4 T17, R2, $250

Naturalization Record
Book A, page 489

In 2007, Jeannie and I did some reseach in Manilla and found a small article in the 1986 Centennial Book that stated the following in the section on Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery:

"A Mr. Michael Meehan, who died in 1881, is buried here but was more than likely brought from another cemetery. The cemetery was first used in 1888 or 1889."

This is important to me since there is no other record of his death. Grandma Clare and I both have tried to get copies of his death certificate and have been told that there is none on file. This is not unusal for the times, since recorders where just beginning to be kept.

Michael married Hannah Ayers, daughter of Richard Ayers and Unknown, on 3 Feb 1861 in Rock Island County, Illinois, USA. (Hannah Ayers was born in Jan 1837 in Carrigaholt, County Clare, Munster, Ireland, died on 8 Mar 1922 in Crawford County, Iowa, USA and was buried on 10 Mar 1922 in Mt Olivet Cemetery, Manilla, Crawford County, Iowa, USA.)