THE CHILDREN OF
JOHN CAREY AND MARY HARRIGAN

John Carey and Mary Harrigan have a numerous posterity. They had fifteen children. Twelve of these lived to adulthood, and ten of these married and had many children. Altogether, by last count, John Carey and Mary Harrigan had 39 grandchildren, 97 great-grandchildren, 125 great great-grandchildren, and 25 great great great-grandchildren, for a total of 300 descendants. (To view the descendants of each of the Carey children, click on the link for that person.)
 

All of the children were christened at Holy Family Church in Chicago. The history of Holy Family Parish gives this insight into the Carey family: "It is said that the Carey family could form a band of their own, all being musicians and there being eight sons in the family."
 

1. Richard was born April 24, 1867 in Chicago, Illinois. He married Kit Meehan, and had five children: Laurette, Richard, Gertrude, Aileen (Sister Mary Madeleine), and James.
 

2. James was born September 3, 1868 in Chicago. He married Anne McCann, and had seven children: Mae, Harold, Raymond, Lillian, Irene, Bill, and Francis. James worked for the Lyon and Healy Company, having charge of the musical band instruments.
 
 
 

3. Ann was born February 24, 1870, and died at 7 months old on October 2, 1870 in Chicago.
 
 
 

4. Edward was born August 26, 1871 in Chicago. He married Bess Murphy, and had one daughter, Mae. Mae was a beautiful red-haired girl. As a girl, she posed for one of the more popular posters used to boost enlistments for World War I.
 
 
 

5. Helena, born 8 April 1872 in Chicago, baptized 8 April 1872 in Holy Family parish, Chicago; must have died young.
 
 

6. Joanna (Joan) was born February 28, 1873 in Chicago. She married James McCann, and had four children: J. Emmett, James, Eleanor, and Robert. Joanna died November 23, 1940.
 
 
 

7. Mary born November 9, 1874, and died at 2 months old on January 16, 1875 at 158 Bunker, Chicago.
 
 
 

8. Margaret M. was born December 24, 1875 in Chicago. She never married. Margaret died 24 February 1956.
 
 

9. Mary Elizabeth (Mamie) was born May 3, 1877 in Chicago. She married Jaspar Wheelock,, and had two daughters: Ruth and Mary. They lived in Fargo, North Dakota, and then Manketo, Minnesota. Mamie died December 24, 1957.
 
 

10. John Joseph was born December 18, 1878 in Chicago. He married Mary J. Hickey, and had three sons: John, Thomas, and James. He died November 21, 1961 in Oakland, California.
 
 

11. Patrick S. was born October 12, 1880 in Chicago. He was an accomplished, self-taught, play-by-ear pianist. The Chicago Historical Society has in its collection "John Ward's Collection of Irish Comic Songs". This book was donated by the family of Patrick S. Carey. The Historical Society states, "Pat Carey was born in Chicago, 1881, of Irish immigrants, and he played a rollicking piano, joyful Irish songs that the folks brought with them. Playing for amateur theatrical performances, he met John Ward, a fiddler, who wanted to record the many Irish songs for posterity. Pat Carey helped him by recalling words and music, both unwritten, to record here." Some of the songs may be found in this book. Patrick married Jane McGarry on June 5, 1909, and had six children: Alice (who was the president of a public relations firm), Robert, William, Betty Jane, Lyda May, and Jack. Patrick died April 3, 1962.
 
 

12. Thomas A. was born August 29, 1882 in Chicago. He married Mary Faehtke, and had four children: Dorothy, Dolores, Patricia, and Mary Catherine. The family moved to Detroit in 1919. Thomas was a Director of Purchasing for the Central Western Division of A&P. They moved to Southern California in 1948. Thomas died in Long Beach, California on May 9, 1969, and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
 
 

13. Joseph G. was born May 5, 1884 in Chicago. He married Mae Butler, and had two sons: Joseph and James. After Mae's death he married her sister, Margaret, and had one son: Richard.
 
 

14. Anne C. was born January 11, 1886 in Chicago. She married Harvey Rossing, and had four children: Harvey (who assisted greatly with the family genealogy - he was kind and helpful to me in my research), John (who became a priest), William, and Francis. Anne died April 7, 1954, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.
 
 

15. William Bernard was born March 5, 1888 in Chicago. He died unmarried on February 26, 1922 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Bill was champion bowler of the U.S. in 1919. He was playing an exhibition game in Minneapolis when he contracted pneumonia, and died. A niece recalls "When he died at the age of 33, and was laid out in Grandma's house on S. Central Park, a young lady came every afternoon, dressed in black, with a hat with a black veil. She would sit all day and evening alongside the casket. Neither Anne nor Grandma greeted her. The young lady did not introduce herself. After two or three days, prodded by Grandma, Anne approached her and asked her if she knew Bill. She answered, "I am his wife." Both Anne and Grandma refused to talk with her any further - would not believe her statement. Bill was Grandma's fair-haired child, and she refused to believe he had married secretly. They never even got the girl's name. Both Grandma and Anne were so incensed that they refused to discuss it with any of the other members of the family."