Margaret (Maggie) Forgrave Hutchinson : Short Biography

Margaret Forgrave "Maggie" Hutchinson, the oldest daughter of Knox Hutchinson and Margaret Elizabeth Forgrave, was born Presbyterian in Garvagh, Errigal, Coleraine, Ireland, on 3 July 1880. Her siblings were William John Meek Hutchinson, born in 1882 in Garvagh, and married Elizabeth E. Chism in 1908 in Philadelphia, PA; Mary Ann (Minnie) Huchinson, born in 1884 in Garvagh, and married William E. Morrison Jr in Alleghany, PA, USA in 1906; Thomas James Hutchinson, born in 1886 in Garvagh, married Martha Jane Halliday in 1912 in Belfast and after her death, married Euphemia Clark Bethune in 1921 in Niles, OH; Robert Knox Hutchinson, born in 1889 in Garvagh, married Johanna Dalton in 1915 in Belfast; Elizabeth Forgrave Hutchinson, born 1891 in Garvagh, married John Henry Bradley Sr in 1915 in Belfast; Isabella Alexandra McNeary Hutchinson born in 1894 in Garvagh, married George Cree Jamison in 1914 in Belfast and after his death, she married Hugh Wallace about 1941 in Belfast; Sarah Jane "Sally" Hutchinson born in 1896 in Aghadowey, Coleraine, married Robert Charles Stanley Bower Jr in 1919 in Belfast; Hugh Smith Morrison Hutchinson born in 1898 in Belfast, and married Alberta A. Swager in 1935, in Erie, PA, USA. Maggie suffered from epilespy, a condition that did not allow for her to consistently work outside the home, and often led her to stay with family to help care for her. Maggie did work, taking in laundry and mending clothes, and became a stitcher in the linen trade, once the family moved to Belfast in 1898. By 1911, she was working as a Maid/House Servant for 37 year old Mary N. Quigley, and 33 year old Ida Quigley, at 15 Waverly Drive, Bangor, Ireland. Bangor is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough, about a half hour outside of Belfast. The Waverly Drive house was an eight room house with five front facing windows and no outbuildings. In March of 1920, Maggie, her sister Sally and husband Stanley, their mother Margaret Forgrave Hutchinson, and brother Hugh, all immigrated to the United States, sailing in second class, aboard the Columbia, a ship originally commissioned as the "Belgic" for the White Star Lines, but was delayed in its completion by World War I until 1917, bound for Niles, OH. They all lived with Maggie's brother, Tommy Hutchinson, upon their arrival in Niles while getting settled in. On 20 April 1922, Maggie and her Mother, Margaret, together purchased the house at 304 Cherry Street for $3000. They put $100 down and took out a mortgage from McKinley Savings and Loan Co for $2900. Upon the death of her mother, Margaret, on 12 September 1923, the mother's share of the house passed to Maggie's brother Hugh. Maggie decided she wanted to return to Belfast, so she sold her half of the house to Hugh for $1 on 22 November 1923. Maggie returned to Belfast where her brother, Robert Knox Hutchinson, and sisters Elizabeth Hutchinson Bradley, and Isabella Hutchinson Jamison still resided. Margaret passed away 6 July 1937, in Belfast, from complications of epilepsy, just three days after her 57th birthday.