James McNamara & Anne Hassett Family

                                                                                                                      This is the only picture I have of Anne Hassett. No pics of James

This page is devoted to all of the documents and records collected for the James McNamara family. James and Anne were both born in County Limerick, Ireland and married there in 1846. The records from the Catholic Church in Fedamore show that Jacobus McNamara & Anne Hassett were married 18 January 1846. The records are in Latin so Jacobus is James. They had two daughters Kate and Bridget in Ireland. Kate (my GG Grandmother) was born in December 1846 with Bridget following in April 1848. Sometime after Bridget's birth and before summer 1850 the family migrated to America. They went to Kenosha County, Wisconsin where extended family had settled. Two children were born in Wisconsin but one died in infancy. By the early 1850's they moved to Chicago with many other related families. There was a large Irish immigrant population in Chicago and they settled right in. Three more children were born in Chicago.

James seems to have been a bit of a free spirit and was not even listed with the family in the 1860 census. In 1864 he joined the Union Army which was offering a bonus of $ 50.00 and spent the two weeks after his "mustering in" drinking away his bonus. He was declared AWOL and the Army sent a detachment to find him and drag him back. He was sent to Nashville to join the 58th Illinois Infantry there but shortly after his arrival he got a bit of dysentery and caught pneumonia which put him in the hospital. He rapidly declined and died on New Year's Day 1865. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Nashville but his name is misspelled on the headstone as James McMann.

Anne was left with 6 children to raise but managed to keep the family together and survive. Her daughter Mary Anne died in 1867 followed by oldest daughter Kate who was married with two children. Anne takes in the two children to live with her. Eventually daughter Bridget marries and moves to Denver. Anne sends youngest daughter Nellie and granddaughter Irene Martin to live with Bridget. By 1885 her remaining two children at home (Thomas and John) had died of T.B. Anne went to Denver to live with her daughters. Anne dies in Mar 1899 and her remains are sent to Chicago where she is buried with family in the Calvary Cemetery.

James McNamara Family Group Sheet

Federal Census Records :  1850   1860   1870   1880   James died in the 1865 and so only his wife and children are shown in 1870 & 1880

Colorado State Census :  1885 - Irene Martin was sent to Denver to live with her Aunt Anna Bridget McNamara Dohney.

Marriage Record - Jacobus (James) McNamara and Anna Hassett were married in Fedamore, Limerick, Ireland on 18 January 1846

McNamara children with separate web pages:   Kate McNamara    Bridget McNamara    Ellen McNamara

Baptism of Daughter Mary Anne McNamara - This is from St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Chicago September 1854

Baptism of Son John McNamara - This is from St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Chicago July 1857

Baptism of daughter Ellen McNamara - This is from the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Chicago Mar 1860. She was known as Nellie

Announcement of Anne's Death - This is from the Chicago Tribune on March 12, 1899

James McNamara Civil War Pension Records

James McNamara Civil War Service Record

James McNamara Grave Marker - This is from the National Cemetery in Nashville. The name is mis-spelled.

Last updated - 01 February 2018