Cornelius Connelly, Stonemason, (1793-1849) from County Clare

Cornelius CONNELLY was born about 1793 in County Clare, Ireland, and died at Fourth Street, Boston, Suffolk Co., Mass. on 30 August 1849.  He was married at St. Stephens, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, on 16 February 1816, to HONORA HIGGINS, who was born about 1798, and died at Boston on 22 September 1855.

Cornelius Connelly was a stone mason and bricklayer.  He came to New Brunswick about 1815 from county Clare, Ireland and purchased a lot in St. Andrews, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada from the heirs of Thomas Bell, who was one of many Loyalists in the town of St. Andrews.

According to family tradition, Cornelius and his son Stephen Connelly helped build an early church in Eastport Maine.  St. Joseph’s Church was the first Roman Catholic Church in Eastport, the cornerstone laid 29 April 1828; and the church dedicated 19 July 1835. This information has not been confirmed.

 Cornelius and his family removed to South Boston, where he is listed at 90 Turnpike near A in the city directories between 1846-1849.  Cornelius Connelly died at 4th st., South Boston, on 30 August 1849, and was buried at St. Augustine’s Cemetery, South Boston.

Cornelius Connelly and his wife Honora Higgins had 13 children. The baptisms of several of their children are recorded in the parish registers of St. Andrews. 

There is a family tradition that Cornelius and Honora Connelly had seven daughters, 6 of whom married and moved west.  One married a millionaire Ryan; another married General Woodruff of the Spanish American War; another had a daughter who was an opera singer Aunt Marge Duff. The tradition supplied valuable clues: it appears, however, that Margaret (Connelly) Duff’s daughter, Louise Virginia Duff, married General Woodruff, and Margaret’s daughter Emma Duff was the opera singer.

My 2nd great grandfather Stephen Connelly and two brothers settled in Boston.  Stephen Connelly was a stone mason like his father. 

Obituary, Boston Pilot, Saturday, September 8, 1849.

DIED

We regret to announce the death of Mr. CORNELIUS CONNOLLY, which took place on the 30th ult, at his residence in South Boston. Mr. Connolly came to this country from the county Clare thirty years ago; and we have seldom had occasion to notice the death of a more estimable man. In every relation of life his character gained him the respect of his fellow citizens. He had all the hospitality of his old country, with the greatest suavity of natural disposition. He was an ardent lover of old Ireland and everything Irish, and he cordially participated in everything done here, for the benefit and assistance of the unforgotten place of his birth. And it was his honor during his life and we hope it is now his reward, that he was a consistent and devoted Catholic. He died lamented not alone by the exemplary members of his respectable family, but by all who knew his worth and his honesty. Mr. Connolly was 57 years at the time of his death. May he rest in peace.