Photo: Cafferty, Mary Theresa February 19, 1859 - October 23, 1946 *********************************************** Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives Leitrim Index Copyright ************************************************ File contributed by: Gail Moran morang@ride.ri.net October 8, 2009, 9:53 am PHOTO: CAFFERTY, MARY THERESA FEBRUARY 19, 1859 - OCTOBER 23, 1946 Source: Gail O'Brien Moran Author: Gail O'Brien Moran Mary Theresa Cafferty was the first child born to Charles and Mary (Creamer) Cafferty. She was born on February 12, 1859, and baptized in Saint Bridget's Church in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, Ireland, by Rev. Peter Curran. The Cafferty family added seven more children between the years 1863 -1879. They were Andrew, Jane, John, Ellen, Catherine, Charles, Patrick, Hugh and Margaret. Education was important to the Caffertys. Mary and her siblings could read and write when they came to America. Many Irish immigrants were illiterate. Leitrim was a poor county. It was difficult land to farm because of its boggy and rocky terrain. It was hard hit during and after the Famine. By 1874, many young people were leaving. Mary, just 15 years old, was one of them. She left the same year as young Patrick Farrell O'Brien from the south of Leitrim. Perhaps they knew each other for some time, or they may have met on the boat coming to "Amerika", as it was pronounced by the Irish. Mary came to live in the home of Margaret and Patrick Cafferty, her aunt and uncle on Lippett Street in Providence, Rhode Island. Other family relations were also living on Lippett Street. Mary went to work in a Providence woolen mill. Emigrants usually agreed to work for at least five years. They also sent most of their wages back to Ireland to pay passage money for their brothers and sisters who would soon follow. She must have worked very hard, being the oldest, because Ellen, Jane, Patrick and John also emigrated. Her sister Catherine married John O'Reilly, a neighbor in Miskaun Glebe, Andrew remained on the farm, and Charles joined the military. Mary and Patrick were married on August 19, 1879 in Saint Joseph's Church on Hope Street in Providence, Rhode Island by Reverend James Joseph Bric. The O'Briens began their married life in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Patrick found work there in the Bannigan Rubber Boot Factory. Patrick and Mary were living at 22-25 Church Street when their first and only child was born. They named him Thomas Francis Joseph O'Brien. Thomas, as Irish tradition has it, is in honor of Patrick's father.In 1890 they purchased a small home at 73 Massasoit Avenue in East Providence, RI where they lived for the rest of their lives. Patrick became a naturalized citizen of the United States on December 12, 1888 in Providence, RI. This meant that Mary, as his wife, was also naturalized. Patrick held several different jobs over the years. Mary kept house and raised her son. It was said that her house was neat as a pin, a cute homey little place. The porch and yard were filled with lovely flowers and trees. I remember Mary, my great grandmother. She was about eighty years old when I was born in 1939. She was very aged and bedridden when she gave me the lovely white statue of the Blessed Mother Mary which has always been displayed on my bureau in my bedroom. She wanted her great grandchildren to have something of hers to keep always. I will always treasure it, and think of the little girl so long ago who journeyed to America. Patrick died in 1939, and as Mary grew older and more dependent on others she went to live on Walnut Street in East Providence with her son Thomas and his wife Harriet. What a grand storehouse of memories she must have had! I truly wish I could have heard them all. Mary Theresa Cafferty O'Brien died on October 23, 1946. She was eighty seven. Mary is buried with her husband Patrick and her son Thomas and his wife Harriet. Their names are not on the grave as it is a military stone inscribed in the name of Thomas. They rest in Lot 26, Section 50 in Saint Francis Cemetery, Pawtucket, RI.