Edward H. McArdle : Short Biography

Edward H. McArdle was born November 24, 1868 and claimed he sailed from Queenstown to America in April, 1894 and resided 26 years in the US from 1894 to 1920 on a passport application he completed on November 1920 along with his brother Joseph. They were planning to visit their brothers and sisters.  It was confirmed that Edward and his older sister Kate (Catherine), arrived in New York on the Majestic on April 12, 1894.  Their destination was Port Chester, where older sister Rebecca presumably lived with her husband Patrick and newborn son William.  Rebecca (1857-?) and Catherine(1863-1914) McArdle were two more siblings of the 11 born in Enniskerry who made the trip.  Rebecca married Patrick O'Brien and had a son William who she may have left with her sister Catherine and husband Joseph Patrick Wogan.  We don't know what happened to Rebecca and Patrick, or where they may be buried.

Edward lived at 32 Robinson Avenue in White Plains. His brother Joseph swore to these facts and reported he was a gardener at 69 West Post Road, White Plains. Edward was the eleventh child. Edward was 5’5” in 1920, aged 52, had blue eyes, a large nose, gray hair and a round chin. His ears also stuck out slightly from his head. Both applied for passports at the same time “to see brothers and sisters” in Ireland. Edward was most likely the uncle who paid for Helena Flynn’s passage to America. It was expected of many left behind in Ireland that they would receive mail with news and money, not just the news! She reportedly was carrying 2 bags when she made her trip on the Majestic in June 1896, and Edward would be the most likely able man to meet her and help with her bags.  Edward also likely helped Helena get work at Gedney Farm, where she met Patrick Weldon and married him in 1899.

Edward married Nora (b. 1874), in 1899 and had their first child Edward J. McArdle (Eddie, Jr.), on May 22, 1900. Edward's petition for US citizenship dated August 7, 1901, showed he was a coachman at the Gedney Farm.  They lived on North Street in White Plains. Nora died in 1904 and Edward then married Ellen (Nellie) Ahern on January 29, 1908. This was his second marriage; he reported on the marriage license that his first wife, Nora, died. Edward reported he was a coachman and was 36 years old. Ellen reported as a domestic, was from County Cork and was 29 years old (born 1879).  Ellen died in 1914.  Edward and Ellen had a daughter Mary born in 1910.  She was 4 years old when she was put in the care of Cornelius and Mary Kelleher nee Ahern after her mother died.  Edward H. McArdle was found in the 1910 US Census living with his wife Ellen, his son, Edward J. McArdle who is now 9 years old, and a newborn daughter Mary. He reported that he was a coachman for a private family. They lived in the Town of Greenburgh at 12-14 Elmsford Hartsdale Road. There was also a hired laborer who lived with the family and worked the premises from France named August Fowminill.  All the McArdles except for Rebecca (b. 1857), and young daughter Mary, were buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in White Plains NY.  Two were missing grave markers:  Edward's niece, Rebecca McArdle Mowbray (1886-1959) and her son George, and Edward's sister, Catherine McArdle Wogan (1863-1914).