THOMAS A. CLANCY, A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Tom Clancy was born in the Third Ward on August 24, 1862. He was the son of Patrick Clancy, born in County Cavan, and Margret (McAuliffe) Clancy, born in County Cork, Ireland. In early life, Pat and Maggie came to the United States, were married in Goshen, NY where they settled. They came to Milwaukee's Third Ward in 1858. They remained until 1870 and then moved to a small farm in Waukesha County. After Maggie's death in 1903, Pat retired and returned to Milwaukee where he died in 1914. Patrick and Margret Clancy are buried at Marcy, Wisconsin.

Young Tom received his early schooling in a public school in Marcy. During the smallpox epidemic the school closed and Tom and another Irish lad were forced to attend a nearby German school at which only German was spoken. At the age of 15 he left school to help his father on the farm until he ws 18, at which time he returned to Milwaukee. In 1880, he obtained employment with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in the Milwaukee Shops until 1885. During that year he joined the No. 4 fire department of Milwaukee. He advanced through the ranks and in due time he was made a captain and assigned to the No. 10 station in the Third Ward. In 1905, he was made chief of the Milwaukee Fire Department and retired 20 years later. Clancy was with the Milwaukee Fire Department for 40 years.

In 1886 Tom married Helen Quirk of Milwaukee, the daughter of James and Mary (Keating) Quirk also of Milwaukee. They had three children - Francis, Blanch and Florence. Blanch married Dr. George W. Wilson, who later became the Dean of the Marquette University School of Dentistry. They had four daughters - Janet, Audry, Patty Ann, and Phylis. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson and their family made their home on Washington Boulevard in Milwaukee. They were members of St. Sebastian's Catholic Church nearby.