Esther's parents, James and Honora Wade Fitzgerald, were married in January of 1846 in Roscommon and Kilteevan Parish. She was baptized on January 5, 1847 in Athleague parish. I think her father may have come from Tromaun with connections to Knockcroghery and Rabbitboro. Her mother was from Stonepark.
The family immigrated between 1847-1849. Her brother, Francis was born in New York City in August of 1849. There would be 10 children with 7 surviving. Esther was the oldest and only girl of the family.
Her father James worked as a stone cutter in a bluestone quarry in Kingston, NY. When her mother died in 1877, Esther took over caring for the men in her family, all of whom still lived at home. They owned a brick building on the edge of town that eventually had train tracks along side of it. The ground floor had 2 stores in it where the eldest son, Francis, ran a grocery for awhile. Only 2 of her brothers married and only 1 had children. Patrick Michael Fitzgerald married Mary Ann Phelan in Kingston, NY in 1884. They had 4 sons, James, Michael, John and Joseph. When Mary Ann died in 1903, Esther helped raise her brother's boys. Joseph was only 5 years old at the time of his mother's death.
Esther never married, but always kept house for a variety of brothers over the years. She died in 1938 at the age of 92 in Kingston, NY.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Dec 1846 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 22nd Nov 1938 | |
