John McCloskey and his wife, Mary Mullen, emigrated from County Derry to the United States during the mid-19th century. Their county of origin was identified in Mary’s obituary as well as the biographical obituary of their grandson, Msgr. John Bernard McCloskey, which reported that his father, Bernard McCloskey, had been a tinsmith from County Derry.
We’ve identified John and Mary’s names primarily from sources linked to their daughter, Susan (McCloskey) Gough. Susan’s death certificate identified her parents as John Mullen [sic] and Mary Mullen. About 1887, both Mary McCloskey and her unmarried daughter Mary Ann came to live with Susan in Hazleton, where Mary (the mother) died seven years later. Mary’s obituary identifies her surviving children as “Rev. P.J. [sic] McCloskey of Franklin PA; Bernard McCloskey of Woodstown NJ; Mrs. J. Campbell of Philadelphia; and Miss M.A. McCloskey and Mrs. John Gough, both of Hazleton.” Given that Mary spent so much time in Hazleton living with Susan’s extended family, we believe that the identification of “Mullen” as John’s surname was a transcription error and that it should have been “McCloskey.”
Given the rather wide gap in ages among Mary, Bernard, Susan, and James P. McCloskey (the only children whose birth years we’ve been able to determine), it is quite possible that the John and Mary had more offspring who remained in Ireland and we simply don’t know who they are at this point. All the obituaries found to date point to only these five children.
It is unclear exactly when the family emigrated to the United States or whether they all came together or separately. Their daughter Susan told census enumerators in 1900 that she had arrived in the United States in 1847, one of the peak famine years, when she would have been about 15 years old. However, her brother Bernard and sister Mary Ann reported to enumerators that they had arrived in America only in 1862, suggesting that at least some family members stayed in Ireland for a while. It was not unusual for a family to send one child to America first, depending on their finances and what they could afford to do. (This happened with Bernard’s wife, Susanna, who was selected by her parents to be sent out of Ireland—alone—at the age of 14.)
John apparently had died by 1880, when Mary was listed as a widow visiting her son Rev. James McCloskey in Tidioute, southeast of Erie, PA. Mary herself lived on to her 90th birthday; her obituary describes her as having lived to “a ripe old age.” Mary, her daughter Mary Ann, and her son James are all buried in “the family plot” at the Old Cathedral Cemetery, just west of the Philadelphia Zoo.
After Mary’s death, her eldest daughter Mary Ann moved back to Philadelphia where she lived at Saint Anne’s Widow’s Home until her own passing in 1913. We know nothing more about the third daughter, who married “J. Campbell” and evidently was living in Philadelphia in 1894.
John McCloskey (b. ca. 1800, County Derry, Ireland — d. before 1880, place unknown)
m. about 1826, probably County Derry, Ireland
Mary Mullen (b. ca. 1804, County Derry, Ireland – d. 18 Sep 1894, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
Children:
i. Mary A. McCloskey (b. Dec 1829, County Derry, Ireland — d. 2 Dec 1913, Philadelphia, PA); never married
ii. Susan McCloskey (b. Apr 1835, County Derry, Ireland — d. 31 Mar 1912, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA); m. John J. Gough
iii. Bernard McCloskey (b. May 1836, County Derry, Ireland — d. 18 Oct 1900, Woodstown, Salem, NJ); m. Susanna MacIntyre
iv. Rev. Fr. James Philomena McCloskey (b. 1844, County Derry, Ireland — d. 15 Dec 1900, Erie, PA); never married
v. (unknown first name daughter) McCloskey (b. ?, County Derry, Ireland — d. aft Sep 1894, possibly Philadelphia); m. J. Campbell
Sources:
- Mary (Mullen) McCloskey obituary, “A Well Known Lady Lives to a Ripe Old Age,” Hazleton PA, Hazleton Plain Speaker, 19 Sep 1894, p 4 (identifies five surviving children, listed above).
- Susan (McCloskey) Gough obituary, “Mrs. Susan Gough, Mother of Priest, Died Sunday,” Scranton PA, The Times-Tribune,” 2 Apr 1912, p 1 (identifies surviving sister as Miss Mary A. McCloskey of Philadelphia)
- Mary A. McCloskey death notice, Philadelphia PA, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 Dec 1913, p 7 (identifies her as the sister of the late Rev. James P. McCloskey).
- Rev. John Bernard McCloskey obituary/biography, History of Sacred Heart Parish, Camden NJ, http://dvrbs.com/Camden-religion/CamdenNJ-Church-SacredHeart.htm (identifies father as Bernard McCloskey from County Derry).
- Rev. James P. McCloskey obituary, “Well Known Priest Dead,” Hazleton PA, The Plain Speaker, 17 Dec 1900, p 4 (identifies sister as Mrs. Susan Gough).
- Rev. Jas. P. McCloskey household, 1880 US census of population, Tidioute Borough, Warren Co, PA, enumeration date 18 Jun 1880, ED 263, SD 10, page 25, dwelling #204, family #207, Jefferson Street.
- Mary McClosky, Register of Deaths, Luzerne County, PA, FHL #960580, DGS 7621883, filed 17 May 1895, died 19 Sep 1894, old age, aged 90 years, born Ireland, parents not given, informant not given, widow, resided in Hazleton, buried 21 Sep 1894 (page 127, image 425).
- Mary McCloskey, age 90, buried 21 Sep 1894, Section I, range 2, #14, west margin, Pennsylvania & New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013, Philadelphia, Roman Catholic, Old Cathedral Catholic Cemetery, Vol. 1890-1895, page 11, image 3263; Ancestry online
- Mary McCloskey, aged 90, buried 3 Dec 1913, section I, range 2, lot 14, 2 West occupied; Pennsylvania & New Jersey, US Church & Town Records, 1669-2013, Philadelphia, Roman Catholic, Old Cathedral Catholic Cemetery, Vol. 1903-1913, no pagination; Ancestry image 4483
- Rev. James P. McCloskey, age 56, burial date 19 Dec 1900, section I, range 2, lot 14, east margin, new; Pennsylvania & New Jersey Church & Town Records, 1669-2013, Philadelphia, Roman Catholic, Old Cathedral Catholic Cemetery, 1900 burial index, no pagination, Ancestry image 3501