Mary Roddy : Short Biography

Tragedy in Philadelphia

Mary Roddy was born April 14, 1893 to parents Bryan Roddy and Mary Duffy. She was the sixth of eight children and the family lived in Knockanaconny townland just outside of Ballaghaderreen. Her older sister, Nora, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1906 and was a servant. Nora paid to send Mary to Philadelphia and she arrived in October 1910. Mary also was a servant. In January 1912 she was working in the Biddle household. The weather in Philadelphia was snowy and very cold. Mary and some other servants hired a carriage to take them to early Mass at St. Dominic's church in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia which was rural. It was dark when the carriage approached a train crossing and a freight train was headed south. The driver waited until the freight train passed. There was no guard at the train crossing since a substitute guard failed to show. The driver began to cross the tracks totally unaware that a delayed express train headed northbound to New York was fast approaching at sixty miles an hour. The engineer tried to apply the brakes but it was too late and the train hit the carriage full force. The five servant girls including Mary Roddy and the driver and horse were killed instantly. Nora was notified of the tragic accident and then had to write to her parents back in Knockanaconny and tell them that Mary was dead. Mary was almost 19.

The picture shows Mary (the taller girl on the right with Nora probably taken in Philadelphia in 1911