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Francis J. May was born in Baden Germany, and wi his brothers and father left Baden and took a ship, probably from Le Harve in France, and immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. An 1840 census for Boston shows a German family named May farming in West Roxbury .. a head of household named Benjamin with at least three sons younger than 16. Perhaps as Boston changed by rapid population growth, Francis May became a baker, serving the West Roxbury-Brookline & Dorchester areas and the rapidly growing German Catholic community. He likely worshipped at Holy Trinity German Catholc Church on Shawmut Avenue. Also growing up in West Roxbury were a family of Fitzmorrises from Ireland .. and Francis would meet and married Adelia Fitzmorris .. the daughter of John Fitzmorris who had brought his family over from Ireland. They wed in West Roxbury in 1848 .. their first of eight children, Caroline, was born in Brookline in 1851. Francis and Adelia moved little from that area but at least two children were born in Plymouth. By 1870 he was living in the Boston area again with his family in West Roxbury-Brookline. In 1873, Caroline married a young prospering Canadian emigrated blacksmith Daniel F. McCormack - maybe meeting him in the neighborhood - or at her mother's church St. Patrick's in Dorchester (they spoke German at Holy Trinity). Francis would lived most of his life in the Brookline area; and had a few shops and is listed in the Boston Almanac & business directory. When he died he was last living at Centre Street opposite Beech in Brookline. He came to America, became a citizen, married and raised a family .. sometimes in the bakery business if he worked for others he was six-months out of work. But the Europe he left experienced the Great Famines and upheavals of three or more revolutions in 1848 and 1870. 1879 had been a recession year in America, and Francis was a baker during the transition to mass foods production. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses he rented the home in which he lived. His home in Baden State is not yet known, perhaps near Karlsruhe. He was born in 1823-5, became a US Citizen in 1846 and is my great-great-grandfather. He is buried at Holy Hood Cemetery; or St. Josephs. Adelia May died in 1897 pre-deceasing Francis. more about the May family here 1846-1851 Francis May to Adelia Bridget Fitzmorris West Roxbury or Boston Thanks Roxbury VRs: FITZMORRIS, Bridget and Francis May, int. Apr. 17, 1848 Via RootsWeb Norfolk COunty Look-Ups "Early Vital Records of Suffolk County, Massachusetts to about 1850". (It covers Boston, Brighton, Charlestown, Chelsea, Dorchester, Revere, Roxbury and Winthrop.) CD-Rom via Suffolk County Look Ups "Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849" Volume II - Marriages and Deaths Page 149 Roxbury, Suffolk County, MA Vital Records to 1850 CD, the following: Roxbury, Suffolk, MA - Marriages: MAY, Francis, and Bridget Fitzmorris, int. Apr 17, 1848. Vol 2, Page 274 Francis May & Bridget Adelia Fitzmorris children: Death record Delia A. May ..in Boston,March 6, 1897 ..Mass State Vital Records: Book: 474 Page: 97 ..Entry #16, a female, married, Age: 67 ..wife of Francis J. May; mdn [name] Fitzmorris; residence at death: Centre [sic] Street; Cause of death: chronic nephritis, artheroma of arteries; Birthplace: Ireland; Father's name John [Fitzmorris]; father's birthplace Ireland; mother's birthplace: Ireland.
F.(Francis) May
Birth Record Caroline May
Volume 52 Page 214 Entry #222
Marriage License Daniel F. McCormack & Caroline May
1840 Census Francis May Boston 1849
Please note ... this information is not for sale and has been compiled from family records and reserach by SCott M Connolly for use here at Rootsweb .. also published in part at Tribalpages & in the family degree via RootsWeb World Connect. [please excuse the ads at top |