St. Bridget's Cemetery, Simpson

In 1853, the Michael Buckley family came to what is now St. Bridget's parish. The first mass was offered by Fr. Michael Prendergast in the Buckley log cabin located about 500 feet west of the present church. The land for the church and cemetery was donated by Mr. Buckley.

The early Irish settlers were served by priests coming from Winona. Later the parish was cared for by priests from St. John's parish, Rochester. In 1879, Fr. Edward Stack became the first resident pastor.

The church was built in 1859 of native limestone with parishioners furnishing most of the labor. Originally the church opened to the south to face the stage road from Winona. Sometime before 1883 a tornado destroyed the church roof. It was rebuilt with the door to the north, since the road to Simpson, a railroad town since 1865, now passed there. In 1914 a bell tower and sacristy completed the church as it stands today.

First settlers included the Buckley, Twohey and Campion families. The Buckley family settled along the stage trail from Winona to High Forest. In 1855, the first Mass was said in the Buckley home, located about 500 feet west of the present church. A kitchen table was used as an altar.

The Rev. Michael Pendergast from Winona's St. Thomas parish was in charge at St. Bridget's in those early years. He traveled by horseback where needed.

John C. and wife Bridget Buckley donated 10 acres of land in 1858 as a site for church and cemetery. Parishioners began constructing a church from native limestone, while lumber, glass and millwork were hauled up from Winona.

By 1859, St. Bridget's was completed and dedicated by Bishop T.L. Grace of St. Paul. Father O' Gorman of Rochester served St. Bridget's until 1879. Then the Rev. Edward Stack became the first resident pastor.

The cemetery was platted to the east of the church and just south of the stagecoach road leading to the Buckley Settlement and High Forest. Records show Margaret Campion was the earliest known burial, in 1854.

St john's church 1863 completed 1871 the cemetery dates from 1874.

Catherine Lawler and Daughter Hannah

Margaret  dau of Richard and Mary (Lawler) O'Connor

St. Bridget's Cemetery - Dropbox
St Bridget's Cemetery - Find A Grave
ST. Bridget's Church
As the Spirit Moves Me
St Bridget Church - A Walk About

The Lawler Farm

Betty and Mary Louise Lawler and Jean English @1938

As a child, Mom (Jean English) spent many hours on the Lawler Farm.  This was the farm of  her Great Aunt and Uncle, Eva (Baier) and William Lawler.   On my visit in July, I was fortunate to not only see this farm where she had spent parts of her summers but to meet Steve Lawler and his wife Brenda who are still living on the farm as well as Martha Bowen, who lives on a farm just across the way and with her sister Margaret offers a B&E (as she says that is eggs, you get to cook them yourself.)  I toured the house and it looked like a wonderful place to stay.  Check it out  Irish Ridge B&E.

Evie Lawler and Jean English @1935

John English in the tree

The area is gorgeous, some of the most luscious farms I ever seen.  If it weren't a couple thousand miles away, I would be renting that house on a regular basis!

Grandpa English, who had spent many summers on the Baier Farm which was just minutes away, also loved to visit.  Although Eva was his Aunt, she was just a few years older than he.  Although I didn't know Grandpa well, my memories were all pretty much of a fun loving man who would definitely be climbing the trees!

The Original Building

Eva's Grotto

Steve and Martha

More Lawler Farm Pictures

1883 Plat Map.  Note Bowen Farm and Lawler Family Farm in lower right corner

Thomas Lawler and Catharina Sweeney

Olmsted County Democrat
Friday 20 January 1898 p3 c7

Mary Lawler left no records that named her parents, however, her brother John's death gives us the name of his father. When she died in 1909 her age is listed as ninety, giving an approximate birth date of 1819.  This would most likely make her the oldest child of Thomas Lawlor.

John's  obituary names all of his living siblings and lists where they live. Mary is the only one still living in Ireland, two are living in New York and the rest are in Minnesota.

The Olmsted County Death Register (Book D Page 151 Line 16 Jan 18, 1898) 
names his father, Thomas but, unfortunately, not his mother.  So it was a wonderful surprise to find an entry in the Lawlor Mortuary Book Bk 6 page 256 that named his mother 

Kath Sweeney.  She is named in the christening records of three children, Bridget, Margaret and Catherine.  The information was provided by John's brother Thomas, so is likely to be correct.  No christening records have been found for the six older children or for the youngest, Hannah.   

One problem with trying to identify Kath as the mother of all the children lay in the mistakes in the contemporary records.  The first was the immigration record for the family in 1851 which gives her age as 25 and then lists all her children except Mary who already married stayed in Ireland.

It is unknown whether Thomas had died or perhaps had emigrated earlier and had now sent for his family.  Either way no record after 1850 has been found for Thomas. There is a burial listed on Find-A-Grave in Holy Cross Cemetery in Ellicottville, New York for a Thomas Lawler with no dates.  This is the cemetery where his son William and his family are buried.  Might it be our Thomas Lawler.

The search is on for Thomas emigrating prior to May of 1851. We know the family was in Buffalo for a time as that is where William married in 1854.  If Thomas is buried in Ellicottville, that might put his death before 1855.  It is possible that he had acquired land and actually died before or during the time the rest of the family was in Buffalo. 

The 1855 NY shows Catherine living with her newly married son William and the rest of her children.  Her age is shown as 70. 1860 Census record for Catharine Lawler shows her living with son John and daughter Hannah in Great Valley, Cattaraugus, New York. An age of seventy would make her old enough to be the mother of all the known children of Thomas Lawler.  There is no doubt that this is the correct Hannah and John, the ages are correct, both were born in Ireland and neither is found in New York in 1870. John's obituary states that he lived for a time in New York, and the eldest son William is also living in Cattaraugus County, New York.

Katharine died in 1867 but we are unsure whether she died in New York or Minnesota.  No record was found.  However, she is listed on the tombstone in St. Bridget's cemetery, Olmsted County MN with her daughter Honnorah (Hannah) who died in 1918. Adding to the age confusion, the had been indexed as  1887 in a book of St. Bridget burials.  The stone does say 1867 and age 74 which puts Catharine's birth about 1793.

The Children of Thomas and Catharina  

Note all birth years except Bridgit, Margaret and Catherine are in question.  Only those three were found in the christening records. No two records found for any child gave the same birth information.  

Mary 1819-1909

William 1820 -1911

Thomas 1828-1917

John 1833-1898

Julia 1835-1912

Johanna 1835-1927

Bridget 1836-1908

Margaret 1839-1898

Catherine 1843

Honnorah 1846
 

Haverhill Township - Olmsted MN

Wikimedia

When Jeremiah Lawler settled in the area now known as Haverhill Township is unknown.  He emigrated from Ireland about 1850 and settled first in New York.  He is not listed among the first settlers but was resident by 1860 when he is found in the agricultural census with $1000 of real estate and $100 in personal property.  The population census misnames him as John Taylor.

The area was first settled in 1855 and a town Zumbro was organized in 1859.  The name was changed for a short time to Grant and then to Sherman before finally becoming Haverhill in April of 1867.  By 1883 when the History of Olmsted and Winona Counties was written, our families were firmly entrenched.  John Jeremiah Lawler the son of Jeremiah was an Associate Supervisor.

Baier Farm

What has always fascinated me was the number of families that came from Gullane, Kerry, Ireland and settled in Olmsted County.  Not only did most of the children of Thomas Lawler (3rd GG) end up there, we also find representatives of most other Lawler families found in Gullane, the English family and a lot of the families that had married into those families in Ireland.  Many settled elsewhere in the US, including New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc and gradually found their way to Haverhill, Orion, Rochester and High Stewart as well as many townships in neighboring Winona County.

The Baier family moved to Haverhill from Juneau County WS about 1871. The Delmores soon followed,  joining their daughter, Mary, the wife of John Baier.

In 1880 Edmund English emigrated and stayed with his Uncle John English in Haverhill and his Lawler cousins before leaving to work for the Railroad. During his time in Haverhill he met Anna Baier.  They eventually settled in St. Paul.





History of Winona and Olmsted Counties, 1883