Mary Howe & Edward Hayden

The life of Mary Howe Hayden is, in many ways, the epicenter of the research into the Howe family since much of what is known about the family was extracted from the letters addressed to her.

Church records show that Mary Howe and her twin William were born in the Parish of Tempo, County Fermanagh on November 17, 1843.[1]  Little else is known about her childhood.  However, as mentioned earlier, there is some evidence that Mary emigrated to NYC with or following William. 

Based on the birth date of their eldest child on 16th January 1876, it is likely that Mary immigrated to New York prior to 1876. She and Edward Hayden were probably married in 1875.  However, it is not clear where they were married.  Reverend Armstrong of Tempo was unable to search for a marriage record for Mary as these records are listed by the groom’s name and at the time he was not aware of her husband’s name.[2]  Nonetheless, it seems more likely that Mary and Edward married in New York simply based on their birthplaces.  On their son's birth certificate, Edward's place of birth is listed as "Dublin," quite a distance from Mary’s home in Northern Ireland.