Margaret (McHugh) Kehoe was born in Ireland ca 1829 and emigrated to the United States of America in her teenage years in the mid-to-late 1840s. She settled in Mobile, Alabama, USA and was an accomplished businesswoman specializing in millinery who generously shared her American-made wealth with the Roman Catholic Church and a Catholic Charity benefiting Irish orphans. Margaret married Joseph P. Kehoe in Mobile, Alabama, in 1869. He was an immigrant from Waterford in Ireland. They did not have any children. Margaret died 11 Mar 1904 in the U.S..
Margaret’s Irish county of origin is unknown, even after many years of extensive research. In this writing, Cavan is being mentioned as a possible birth county for Margaret because it is known that Margaret did associate in the U.S. with other Cavan immigrants, as mentioned in a related Ireland XO Chronicle for Delia (Teevan) Lewis.
The biggest obstacle to finding Margaret’s county of origin has been that we have not been able to discover her mother’s maiden surname nor her father’s given name. Margaret’s mother is named as Mrs. Ann McHugh in her 1867 Mobile, Alabama, obituary, but that is the only mention of her in the U.S. She lived ca 1797 – 23 Jan 1867. She is buried in Catholic Cemetery in Mobile along with four of her children. No mention of her husband, nor any reference to his given name, has ever been found.
Below is a list of Margaret’s siblings who appear to have emigrated from Ireland in the mid-to-late 1840s when all of them would have been quite young in age. The McHugh children listed below lived in Mobile, Alabama and, as with Margaret, their first appearance in the U.S. is on the 1850 Mobile federal census. On the census, they were sometimes separated, living with other families, and did not appear to have any parental supervision or live in a family unit after their arrival in the U.S. It is suspected that Mr. and Mrs. McHugh in Ireland may have sent their children to the U.S. alone and that maybe the mother, Ann, joined the children in the U.S. at a later date, perhaps after her husband’s passing. Without the parents’ complete names, it has not been possible to research and confirm the Irish county of origin.
All of the siblings listed below died in the U.S. James, Anna, Patrick and Margaret are buried with their mother in the Catholic Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama.
- James McHugh (ca 1824 – 24 Oct 1864)
- Catharine (McHugh) McManus (ca 1830 – 1894). Catharine married John McManus of County Cavan in 1849. He left this world in 1851.
- Mary (McHugh) Hannon (ca 1833 - ????). Mary married Thomas Hannon in Mobile, Alabama, in 1864).
- Bridget/Anna (McHugh), widow Masterson, Bock (ca 1836 – 12 Jan 1905). Bridget referred to herself as “Bridget” until the mid-1860s and then began using the first name of “Anna”. She was married to Edward Masterson in Mobile 1855-1859. From 1868 until her death, she was the wife of Hugo Bock who also lived in Mobile.
- Patrick (ca 1838 – 21 Feb 1857)
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1829 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 11th Mar 1904 | |
| Names of Siblings | Five known siblings: James (ca 1824-1864); Catharine (ca 1830-1894); Mary (ca 1833-????); Bridget a/k/a Anna (ca 1836-1905); Patrick (ca 1838-1857) | |
| Place & Date of Marriage | Married Joseph P. Kehoe in 1869 in Mobile, Alabama, USA | |
| Number of Children | No children | |
| Occupation | Margaret (McHugh) Kehoe was an astute businesswoman specializing in millinery. She also invested her money wisely in stocks, real estate, and mortgage lending. | |