Tombstone Tuesday - Notice the Shamrocks on this headstone.



 Shamrock from Wikipedia

   A transcribed entry from the Balinakill Roman Catholic Church Registry shows that James Welch was baptized in May of 1832.  The youngest of seven known children of William and Elizabeth "Bessie" (Cahill) Welch, James came to the United States in 1852, according to information recorded when he was enumerated in the 1900 U. S. Census in West Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  Possibly James traveled from Queens County (now Laois County), Ireland with his older brother William who also arrived in 1852.  Brothers Thomas and Michael had arrived in previous years, and had settled in Worcester County, Massachusetts.  Eventually James' parents and all of his known siblings came to Massachusetts.
   James married Catherine Moran probably in 1859, although I have been unable to locate their marriage record.  Catherine, also born in Ireland, was the daughter of John Moran and Katherine Carey.  A daughter, Mary Ann followed in 1861, although, again, I have found no birth record.   Mary Ann married John Ducey on 1 July 1882 in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. 
  James Welch died in Worcester State Hospital on 7 August 1909.  Catherine died 13 February 1926 in West Brookfield.  They are buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in West Brookfield.

Jerome P. Ducy/Ducey - born Sept. 28, 1862

West Brookfield Vital Records show the birth, Sept. 28, 1862, of Jeremiah Ducy, son of James, Shoemaker, & Mary Martin, both born Ireland.  He was the seventh child in a family of eleven children.  He is called Jerome in the 1870 census in West Brookfield, and also in 1880, when at age 17, he was working in a boot shop.  After the death of his father James in 1890, Jerome, along with his mother and sisters moved to Worcester.  Jerome's mother Mary died in Worcester in 1899, and he continued to live there with his sisters.  The 1900 census taker enunmerated the family on Bancroft St.  Jerome, enumerated as Patrick, was working as a shoe stitcher.  Patrick and his sisters Mary, Martha, and Agnes lived on 20 Stoneland Rd. in 1910.  Patrick was employed in a shop as a machinist.

Sadly Jerome Patrick Ducy died of Lobar Pneumonia on April 27, 1913.  The record of his death included the following information: Patrick J. Ducey of Worcester, born West Brookfield, son of James and Mary (Gilmartin) both born Ireland, died at 20 Stoneland Rd. on 27 April 1913, of Lobar Pneumonia,, and was buried Apr. 29, 1913 in Sacred Heart Cemetery,  West Brookfield.  He was a stitcher for Warren Leather Goods.

A notice in the Springfield Daily Republican of April 30, 1913 read, "The body of Jerome P. Ducey, a former resident of West Brookfield, was taken there for burial yesterday morning for burial in Sacred Heart cemetery."  The notice also stated that he was born in West Brookfield.  Siblings who survived him were named as Frank [John Francis] Ducey of San Francisco, James Ducey of Brockton, and sisters Mrs. Kate Fitzpatrick, and the misses Mary, Marie, Mattie, and Agnes Ducey, all of Worcester.

[There were two families in West Brookfield with the name of Ducey or Ducy.  These families seem to have been unrelated.  The family of James Ducy, which included Jerome Patrick, most often spelled the name DUCY.  The family of John Ducey, most often spelled the name DUCEY. ]

More information about these and other West Brookfield families may be found at
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wb2006&id=I1626

Robert Emmet Ducey and Florence Irene Allen married July 2, 1917 in Thorndike

Robert Emmet Ducy was born March 5, 1884 in West Brookfield, the son of John J. Ducey and Mary Ann Welch.  Robert became a steam fitter and a master plumber.  He and his brother Edward owned and operated Ducy Brothers' Plumbing.

Robert married Florence Irene Allen on July 2, 1917 in the Thorndike section of Palmer, MA. Flossie was the daughter of William and Jane (Nimmens) Allen and was born in Ware, MA on June 7, 1893 according to town birth records. Three sons and a daughter were born to this union, most likely in Thorndike where the family lived.

The 1941 obituary of Robert's brother Edward indicates that Robert and family had moved to Manchester, CT.  Since the family was enumerated in Thorndike in 1930, we know the time period of the move to have been between 1930 and 1941.

Robert died August 1, 1955 in Los Angeles, California where he had been a plumbing contractor and a member of the Congregational Church. His obituary stated that he had moved there in 1946.  Florence died Dec. 28, 1966 also in Los Angeles County, California.

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John J. Ducey and Mary Ann Welch married July 1, 1882 in North Brookfield, MA

John J. Ducey, son of John Ducey and Ann Meehan, and Mary Ann Welch, daughter of James Welch and Catherine Moran, were married in North Brookfield, Massachusetts on July 1, 1882 by C. M. Foley, Catholic Priest, St. Joseph's Church. 

John and Mary Ann lived on Church St. in West Brookfield and raised a family of 12 or 13 children.  John, like his father was a Boot Maker.  The area of town where they lived was sometimes referred to by West Brookfield folks, as "Gahway" because many of the inhabitants had come to the United States from County Galway, Ireland.  John and Mary Ann Welch both claimed West Brookfield as their place of birth, and although no birth records have been found, it was likely true since both families were living in town when John and Mary were born.

Mary Ann's father, James was most likely born in Ballinakill, Queens County, Ireland.  A Welch family researcher has evidence of the marriage of James' parents and the baptisms of some of his siblings there.  John Ducey's father, came from County Waterford, Ireland, according to his naturalization papers.  His mother, Ann, was also Irish, but I have been unable to discover more about her origins thus far.

My husband is a descendant of John and Mary Ann Ducey, and I have over the past 12 years, collected a great deal of information about them, their ancestors and their descendants, some of whom are living in West Brookfield today.  I am always willing to share my research and love to hear from folks with similar interests.
A family tree with information on the Ducey and Welch families is located at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ls046&id=I01172