Updated 06/25/09

A Submission from Clare H Higgins
Date: 31 May 2004
Area: Ireland, USA, New York

My great-great-grandfather was Maurice Higgins. 

Maurice was born in 1820 in Kilfenane, City of Limerick, Ireland. 
Maurice married Kathryn Flanagan and the couple emigrated to New York (I don't know when), but they lived in Hudson, NY,  had  8 children (among them Kathryn Frances, later Mrs. Edward Reid, Helena, Edward Andrew, William Richard  & Jane Agnes) and all the family passed away in Hudson between 1850-1880 and are buried in the Hudson City  Cemetery. 

One son, Michael Francis Higgins (12/24/1854 -  10/15/1921) was my great-grandfather. He married  Anne  Josephine Keyes (1860-12/10/1895) on July 23, 1885 in New York City, and died October 15, 1921 in New York City. 
 He is buried in Hudson City Cemetery, Hudson, NY..

View 1850 Moira, Franklin, N.Y. Census Scan

Morris Higgins 30
Catherine Higgins 28
Margaret Higgins 2
Honore Higgins 0

 
View 1860 Hudson NY Census Scan 

Name Age
Morris Higgins 40
Catharine Higgins 40
Morris Higgins 20
John Higgins 16
Cornelius Higgins 13
Michael Higgins 4

 Great-Grandpa Michael and Anne Higgins lived in Hudson, NY where Michael was a police officer. See Photo 
I would love to find a wedding photo of Michael and Anne Higgins and/or any photos of Anne. 

I have 2  pictures of him in uniform from 1919 but no pictures of Anne, and I'd love to find one. They had 2 girls  named Catherine (I think one of them died in  infancy),  and Anna Josephine Higgins, (born 1895) and 3 boys: William Owen (1886-1946) (who  later married Sarah Veronica Siegars), Maurice Jr. and   Edward Lawrence, my grandfather (born 8/10/1892 - 1954).
 
Edward Lawrence Higgins married Adeline Vosburgh on March 5,  1916 in New York. Edward and Adeline had 3 children: 
 my father Edward Michael Higgins (1916 - 1997), 
 my Uncle  Joseph Charles Higgins  (1918 - 1966) and 
 my Aunt Rita Adeline Higgins        (still living in Pennsylvania). 

My father, Edward Michael Higgins, married Margaret Mary Canny in 1946
 They had 4 children: Edward  Daniel Higgins,  
                                    Clare Helena Higgins (me), 
                                    Ellen Margaret Higgins and 
                                    Daniel John Higgins.
 
 Other Higgins in our family: 
        My grandfather's nephew, William J.  Higgins, 
            an army chaplain during WW II. 
       My grandfather's grand-nephew, also named William Higgins: 
            born October 22, 1947 in Newark, NJ, 
            son of George Michael Francis Higgins 
                and Mary Josephine McDonnell, 
                and with an older sister, Rosemary.
 
PHOTOGRAPHS

  Michael Francis Higgins 1919

 See Michael Higgins' Obituary from the October 17, 1921 New York Times

31 May 2004
 Contact Clare
 


Other Higgins in Hudson, Columbia County, New York
* Relationship to above Higgins families awaiting verification

View 1870 NY Census Scan   Morris Higgins    age 30 Head of Household

1880 Census Household:

Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age
Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace 

Maurice HIGGINS  Self M Male     W 40 IRE Moulder IRE IRE 
Maria B. HIGGINS   Wife M Female W 35 NY Keeping House  IRE IRE 
John HIGGINS       Son S Male     W 15 NY Works In News Office IRE NY 
Maurice HIGGINS   Son S Male     W 13 NY Attending School IRE NY 
Cornelius HIGGINS Son S Male     W 12 NY Attending School IRE NY 
James HIGGINS     Son S Male     W 10 NY Attending School IRE NY 
Francis HIGGINS    Son S Male     W  4 NY IRE NY 

Source Information:
Census Place 1st Ward, Hudson, Columbia, New York Family History Library Film 1254821 
NA Film Number T9-0821 Page Number 293D 

1880 Census Household:

Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age
Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
 
Cornelius HIGGINS Self M Male    W 33 IRE Keeping Saloon IRE IRE 
Bridget HIGGINS   Wife M Female W 32 IRE Keeping House IRE IRE 
Katie HIGGINS      Dau S Female  W  9 NY Attending School IRE IRE 
John HIGGINS      Son S Male      W  7 NY Attending School IREIRE 
Thomas HIGGINS  Son S Male      W  4 NY IRE IRE 
Ellen HIGGINS      Dau S Female   W  2 NY IRE IRE 
Maurice HIGGINS  Son S Male      W  1 NY IRE IRE 

Source Information:
Census Place 1st Ward, Hudson, Columbia, New York Family History Library Film 1254821 
NA Film Number T9-0821 Page Number 293D 

View 1900 NY Census Scan  Cornelius Higgins age 55 Head of Household

View 1910 NY Census Scan  Catherine Higgins age 65 Head of Household

View 1910 NY Census Scan  James J Higgins   age 20 Head of Household 

Updated 06/25/09

        My great-great-grandparents, Morris Higgins (c. 1815-1879) and Kathryn Flanagan (c.1815-1863) were married in Kilfinnane on February 2, 1838. In 1850 they emigrated to the U.S. to escape the Great Famine. First they settled in Moira, Franklin County, NY, and in 1853 they moved to Hudson , NY . They had 17 children, 14 of whom survived.

The children were:

Morris Higgins
John Higgins
Cornelius Higgins
Michael Higgins

The youngest was my great-grandfather
    -  Michael Francis Higgins -

Born: December 24, 1854. First surviving Higgins child born in the U.S. and last child of Morris and Kathryn Higgins.

Birthplace: Hudson , NY

First known job: Bartender in Hudson , NY , 1870. Later worked at New York Central Railroad, Hudson , NY . Later: police officer in New York City .

Married twice:

1) Bridget Gillespie (1851-1883). Married May 6, 1872, Saint Mary’s Church, Hudson , NY . One son: John G., born July 16, 1872, two months after they were married. One daughter: Maria, born c. 1875. Maria’s name disappears from the records after the 1880 census. What became of her is unknown. Bridget died on May 18, 1883 at age 32. The cause of her death is unknown.

2) Anne Josephine Keyes (1858-1895). Married July 23, 1885, Hudson , NY , Saint Mary’s Church, Hudson , NY

Children: William Owen Joseph (1886-1946), Edward Lawrence (1892-1954), Anna Josephine (1895 -1965). Three other children died in infancy: Catherine, Maurice and Catherine II.

Michael and family moved to New York City , c. 1886.

Michael became police officer, later detective/desk officer.

Lived at 176 East 78th Street with John G., Anne and their children, Anne’s mother Catherine Keyes, and Anne’s sister Katie.
 
John G. died of TB April 2, 1892. Katie died of heart failure on February 2, 1895. Anne died of TB and miscarriage December 10, 1895. Catherine died of a stroke December 19, 1899. Michael died of intestinal cancer on October 15, 1921.

.Family Resting Place: Hudson City Cemetery , Hudson , NY , Section C, Lot 53.


See another posting by Clare Higgins
http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/story/392439

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