FIFTH GENERATION

18. John FOLEY ^{(55)(56) (57)(58) (59)} was born in 1813 in Glanmire Near Cork, Ireland. He immigrated in 1863 to New York.⁽⁵⁷⁾ He died on Feb 25 1888 in at age 75. He was a Laborer.⁽⁶⁰⁾ He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ. Died at 75. In 1870 Census he is listed as age 55. which would make the date of Birth 1814 or 1815. He was married to Mary BURKE on Apr 25 1842. John Foley, son of Bartholomew and Julia Foley, was born in Glanmire, near the city of Cork in the County of Cork, Ireland in 1813, one of a family of three boys and two girls. They lived near a river and when food was scarce, John would be sent off to catch fish for the family's breakfast. As a youth, he went to Wales to learn the iron business. He began by loading coal, but gradually worked his way up to managing a blast furnace. Later, he bought a tavern called "The Pelican" in Merthyr Tydfil, County of Mid Glamorgan, Wales.

On April 25, 1842, John Foley married Mary Burke, only child of Roger and Ellen Colman Burke, and they established their home in Merthyr Tydfil. Mary Burke was born in 1824 in Middleton, County Cork, Ireland. Her father's family owned the famous Burke's Distillery, and included two sisters: Margaret, who became Mrs. James Hackett; and another sister who married James Matthews, brother of Father Matthews, the renowned preacher.

Mary Burke was educated at South Presentation Convent, Cork. When she was sixteen years old, her parents decided to move to Wales. Their marriage had not found favor with the Burke family, as Ellen Colman had been Mrs. Burke's maid. Eventually, James Hackett and his wife obtained control of the family business, and in time moved into the family home. The younger Burkes lived out their lives in Wales and were buried in Rhymey, about five miles from Merthyr Tydfil, where their grand-daughter Margaret Foley visited their graves in 1927.

As their family grew, John and Mary Foley felt that the United States of America offered better opportunities than the British Isles, due to recurring cholera epidemics in their area and bitter hostility, toward Catholics in Wales. In 1863 they decided to cross the Atlantic. Taking Daniel and William, his oldest sons, John Foley set out for America in May, 1863. They had a stormy voyage. A school of whales followed their sailing vessel, to the terror of passengers and crew, and the weather was so severe that the passengers were kept below decks for most of the voyage, which lasted for six weeks.

Upon arriving in New York, the Foleys were hired immediately to work at the charcoal furnaces owned by Abram Hewitt, Mayor of the City of New York, which were located at Long Pond (Greenwood Lake) near Hewitt, New Jersey. Eager to have the family reunited, the boys and their father began at once to build a log cabin as a temporary home, and sent to Wa1es for the mother and younger children.

Bartley, Dan's twin, a kind and gentle lad, had been left to help his mother care for the family and get them safely to America. With Bartley, 19; Nary, 13; Julia, 11; Ellen, 7; Margaret, 4; and David, who was only a year old, Nary Burke Foley embarked at Liverpool, England, on the last commercial voyage of "The Great Eastern", the most modern ship of its day. This ship had a unique history, which was re-corded in a book called "The Great Iron Ship" by James Dugan, published by Harper & Co. in 1954. This was the ship used to lay the Atlantic cable.

When middle-aged, Margaret Foley recalled the cry-ing of the women in the group of friends who came to see the family off. Her sister Ellen recalled how pleased she was when a neighbor of whom she was very fond, took off her white scarf and gave it to the little girl as a keepsake. Ellen said she was waving the scarf in farewell as the ship pulled out, when a sudden gust of wind tore it from her grasp and blew it away. "At that moment," she said, "I realized that I was leaving home and everything familiar and I thought my heart would break. Mother was wonderful, gathering us all around her, soothing and encouraging us b saying that soon we would be with Father and the boys in America."

After a fast crossing of fourteen days, the Foleys arrived in New York in August, 1863. John Foley met them joyfully and guided them to a stagecoach. After a long ride that seemed to take them "deeper and deeper into the wilderness" as my Grandmother Nell Foley once said, they finally reached Charlottesburg, New Jersey, the nearest coach stop to Hewitt. The newcomers found their little house set in a grassy field, with a brook running nearby. The boys and their father had done their work well, but for one thing: the door was not finished. Grandmother Foley took a quilt from her trunk and hung it over the opening, calmly announcing that would serve as a door until morning. That action was a keynote to her character. She always made the best of circumstances without fussing.

There were no nearby neighbors, but out on the main road lived a good woman named Sarah Laird, who befriended the Foleys and gave them dough to be used as yeast for their first baking. Some distance away there was a com-pany store and a small school attended by children called "Jackson whites'.

On January 6, 1864 it was Sarah Laird who came to the aid of Mary Foley when a little daughter was born, and the baby was named in her honor. All winter the parents wor-ried about having the little one baptized, but the nearest Catholic church with a resident pastor was in Boonton and it was not until July that they could make the trip over. John Foley borrowed a team of mules and a wagon, placed the little girls and their mother on plinks used for seat-ing, and with the boys walking beside him as he guided the mules, the family started for Boonton.

In 1864 Boonton was a prosperous village where English Irish and Welsh immigrants had found employment in the forge, furnaces rolling mill of the New Jersey Iron Company in "The Hollow". here were schools, stores, the society of friendly decent people, and above all, the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Baptismal records at that church show that Sarah Foley was baptized by the Rev. Dominic C. Castet, pastor, on July 21, 1364, with her brother Bartley and her sister Nary as her sponsors.

At her daughter's christening, Mary Foley made a resolu-tion: She would make a permanent home for her family in Boonton. Temporary lodgings were found with a family on Lib-erty Street; John Foley found immediate employment at the ironworks because of his experience - and because the manager of the furnace was a Welshman, who was glad to be able to talk to the newcomer in his native tongue.

Before a home was established however, the Foley family was depleted by two. Bill Foley, boyish and eager, listening to the talk of Lincoln and the War Between the States, ran off and enlisted in the Union Army. His distraught mother felt he was throwing his life away in an unknown wilderness, and sent Dan to Newark to try to find his brother and bring him home be-fore he enlisted. Then an reached the city, he found the war excitement contagious. Bands playing, crowds waving and cheer-ing as regiments marched to the railroad station swept Dan off his feet and he, too, promptly volunteered.

After a few weeks of Army life, Bill repented of his haste and in a fit of homesickness, wrote and begged his mother to obtain his release, saying he had lied about his age to enter the service. A letter was sent to Wales to obtain his birth certificate, but weeks passed before that document was received and forwarded to Washington. Meanwhile, Bill had become accus-tomed to Army life and when his release was finally obtained, at the exorbitant cost of 300., he found life as a civilian singularly flat and dull. So, after a stay of three weeks, he rejoined the Army. Dan never did get back until his enlistment was served.

The Foleys set up housekeeping on Myrtle Avenue in Boonton, and the first piece of furniture John Foley purchased for their new home was a Bible stand for his wife. Mary Foley was a deeply religious woman, who found strength and comfort in the daily reading of her Bible. The stand, bearing lamp, Bible and her copy of Butler's "Lives of the Saints", stood in the center of her living room always.

In 1866 a son, Richard, the Foleys' youngest child, was born. Bill and Dan returned from the Civil War and joined their father and brother Bartley in the ironworks. The sons became puddlers, the most difficult job in the mill, but the highest paid, with the rate of $5.00 per day for ten hour shifts.

Julia, Ellen and Margaret Foley attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, which occupied two rooms in the church base-ment. the Rev. Dominic Castet, pastor, taught with the aid of a lay faculty. Tuition, payable every three months, was one dollar for the first child of a family; seventy-five cents for the second child; and fifty cents for the third. No charge was made for any additional children. (When this School was opened, the average wage was $4.10 per day.)

The Foleys next moved to a farm on the outskirts of the village. Surrounded by woods and fields, their big house was on the site of the present Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery. There they planted garden and an orchard and pastured their cows in nearby fields. Mary Foley trained her daughters to be good managers and housekeepers. She taught them to cook and to bake; to sew and to quilt; to plant and cultivate a garden and to can and preserve its produce. Compassionate and kindly women, they all had a special skill in caring for the sick. The life was one of hard work but much peace.

When the panic of 1876 came, the Foley family was self-sustaining and for the rest of his life John Foley always said, "Thank God, we never had to go on the town.' In current language that meant to seek welfare assistance. Aunt Mag and Aunt Sarah recalled once, "Corn meal and Molasses were the staples and were given out at Morris' s Store (now Martancik's Market)." "Men had no money for tobacco they said, "and Mr. Dunn (my Grandfather) and Mr. Devine, who lived on Brook Street, used to walk over to the farm on Sunday afternoons to search for mullein leaves, which they dried and burned in their pipes as a tobacco substitute."

To go back bit, when the Civil War veterans were resuming civilian life, the older Foley girls had become young ladies. Mary, for instance, was a sweet, blue-eyed girl of fifteen, who was proudly escorted to homecoming parties by her tall brothers. At one such gathering, a young artilleryman named Billy Smith fell in love with her and decided she was the girl he wanted to marry. But would she make a good housekeeper? He called at the Foley home, met Mary's parents, and managed to peek into the Kitchen. What he saw there sealed his fate. In the neat room there stood a shiny black stove, polished to the nth degree of brightness. That was Billy Smith's test of an ideal house-keeper and he had no fear of Mary's ability thereafter. Mary's loyal family never divulged the secret that stove- polishing was one of their father's favorite hobbies.

After their children, with the exception of Maggie, had married, the Foleys kept the farm for a few years. Grand-father pastured his cows where the National Sokol Hall now stands on Hillside Avenue. My mother used to recall how every evening he would walk to the pasture gate calling, "Here, Guttai! Come, Guttail" and the cows would obediently follow him home. Grandmother Foley supplied all her child-ren and their families with milk and delivered it herself. regardless of the weather. On icy roads or sidewalks, she would throw a woollen shawl down defore her and walk safely on the steepest hill.

Eventually, the Foleys left the farm for a smaller house at 226 Oak Street. Deeply loyal to their parents, the Foley children and their families were constant visi-tors and loved to celebrate holidays together. Christmas celebrations were fondly recalled throughout the lifetimes of all of them. preparing dinner for that holiday was a monumental task. Mary Foley and her daughters cooked and baked right through the night before Christmas. Children were put to bed upstairs and the menfolk visited with Grandfather and played cards. At dawn, the women, wrapped in hooded cloaks or bonnets and shawls, joined the men and walked over to five o'clock Mass at Mount Carmel Church. Afterward, they reclaimed their children, went to their own homes for a few hours, and returned at noon to greet the relatives arriving from Dover. Then they sat down to the bountiful dinner. Recipes for the mince pie plum puddings and currant bread they ate had been brought from Wales by Grandmother Foley and are used by her great-granddaughters to this day.

In the late l880's, the Foleys moved to a house on Pine Street, where John Foley died with a sudden heart attack on February 25, l888 at the age of 75. After that Maggie and her Mother lived in a little house at 130 Liberty Street and then moved to the Reilly home at 716 Birch Street. Early in January, 1902, Mary Foley was stricken with pneumonia and passed away on January 21 at 78 years of age.

Although Grandmother Foley had no brothers or sisters, Grandfather had two sisters and two brothers, but we do not know their names. One sister married a man named Lamb and came to the United States, settling near Boston. Her son, Bartley Lamb, who resembled Uncle Bill Reilly somewhat, was the only member of Grandfather Foley's family we ever met. He visited Boonton in the 1920's and I remember his bringing my Mother's box of chocolates tied with blue ribbons and an individual silver butter knife, which we still use.

1987 finds John and Mary Foley and their children William Bartley, David, Richard, Ellen, Margaret and Sarah at rest in St. Mary's Cemetery, Boonton, NJ. Their son Daniel is buried in Philadelphia. their daughters, Mary Smith and Julia Conlan Kelly, are buried in St. Nary's Cerne-tery, Dover, N.J.

The recent death of William Ringleib, son of Sarah Foley Ring1eib marked the end of the second generation of the Foley family, but hundreds of members of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth generations are scattered throughout the country.

The Foley clan has served America well in peace and war and has found the opportunities John and Mary Foley sought for their family when they emigrated from Wales in 1863. How-ever, they could never have envisioned the achievement of one of their great-great grand-daughters, Ann D. McLaughlin great-grand-daughter of Julia Foley Conlan Kelly, who is Secretary of Labor in the Cabinet of the president of the United States.

19. Mary BURKE ^(56)(61) was born in 1824 in Middleton, County Cork, Ireland. She immigrated in Aug 1863 to New York, NY. ⁽⁵⁷⁾ Crossed with 6 of her children a few months after her husband and two oldest sons. She was a Keeps House in 1870. ⁽⁶²⁾ She died on Jan 21 1902 in Boonton, Morris Co., NJ.⁽⁶¹⁾ She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ. Died at 78 Children were:

i. Bartley FOLEY⁽⁶³⁾ was born in 1845 in Wales. He was living in 1880 in Straight St. Paterson NJ. ⁽⁶⁴⁾ He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ. Stayed in Ireland when father first came to the US to take care of his mother and younger brothers. Twin brother was Daniel. Name listed in 1880 Census as Bartholomew. Based on Census data, it is assumed that Daniel and William were twins and Bartley was older.
ii. Daniel FOLEY was born in 1847 in Wales.⁽⁶⁵⁾ He served in the military.⁽⁶⁶⁾ Enlisted in the Union Army.

Daniel F. Foley - not sure if this is the right person!

Residence not listed;
Enlisted on 8/13/63 as a Private.

On 8/13/63 he mustered into "I" Co. NJ 1st Cavalry
He deserted on 10/5/63 at Camp Stoneman, VA

Sources:

- Register of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War 1861-65
Historical Data Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 196
Kingston, MA 02364

He was buried in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA. Came to US in 1863 with Father and brother William. Listed in 1880 census as living at 42 Washington Ave. Paterson NJ

iii. William FOLEY^{(67) (68)} was born on Jun 18 1847 in Wales. He died on Aug 2 1903. He served in the military. Enlisted in the Union Army. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ.⁽⁵⁷⁾ Came to US in 1863 with father and brother Daniel. In 1880, He lived at 196 Spring St., Paterson NJ.
iv. Mary FOLEY^{(56) (57)} was born in 1850 in Wales.⁽⁶⁹⁾ She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Dover, NJ. 13 when She came to the US
v. Julia FOLEY^{(57) (56)} was born in 1852 in Wales.⁽⁶⁹⁾ Census records indicate birth was in Wales but family information listed it as Ireland. She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Dover, NJ.
vi. Ellen FOLEY^{(70) (56)} was born on Jan 14 1857 in Merthyr-Tydfil, County MidGlamorgan, Wales.^{(71) (72)} She died on Mar 25 1913.⁽⁷³⁾ She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ. Came to US at age 7.

Our maternal Grandmother Ellen Foley Rielly was born in Merthyr-Tydfil, County of Mid-Glamorgan, Wales on January 14, 1856. Her parents, John and Mary Burke Foley, were natives of County Cork, Ireland, who had emigrated to Wales. John Foley was the son of Bartholomew and Julia Foley and was born in Glanxnire, County Cork, in 1813. His wife, Mary Burke, daughter of Roger and Ellen Coleman Burke, was born in Middleton, County Cork, in 1824. The Foleys' came to America with eight children in 1863. Two more were born in New Jersey.
vii. Margaret FOLEY^{(57) (61)} was born in 1859 in Wales.⁽⁷⁴⁾ She died in 1953. ⁽⁵⁷⁾ She was also known as "Aunt Mag". ⁽⁵⁷⁾ Known affectionately to many generations. She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ. Margaret Foley - "Aunt Mag" to several generations -lived to be ninety-four years of age. She was her Mother's standby and went to New York to study dressmaking at the Ballard School, so that she might work at home. She taught many local seamstresses their trade and in later life these pupils enjoyed recalling their days in Aunt Mag' s sewing room. She was a patient, gentle teacher, but exacted high standards. Her wit and fun they found especially endearing. All these qualities she never lost.

Although she Never married, Aunt Mag Foley helped to raise numerous children: those of her brothers, Bartley, Dan and Richard, who were left widowers; those of her nieces, Mary Foley Briarton and Mary Conlan Howard; and those of her friends and employers, including the family of New Jersey's Governor John Griggs.

Aunt Mag loved to read and to travel. She visited all branches of her family, keeping in touch with their lives and interests and forging deeper the bonds of kinship between generations. In 1927 she returned to her ancestral homes in Ireland and Wales and sailed for Europe with her two friends, Jane Cummings and Elizabeth Loughlin. So sat-isfying was her pilgrimage that she went abroad again in 1929, accompanied by Mrs. Loughlin, and visited Ireland, England and Italy. When she returned, 121 nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews gathered at her sister Sarah Ringleib's home to welcome her. With characteristic generosity, she had brought back a gift for every one of them!

Aunt Mag was 70 years old then and had never had a home of her own. She decided she wanted one. On a plot of ground next to the Ringleib homestead in Boonton Township, she built her little dream house and lived in it happily for eighteen years. At age 88 she set up an apartment in the home of her sister Sarah, where she remained until God called her in 1953. She was spared her faculties until the end, and although she knew many joys and sorrows in her life, she maintained a calm serenity rooted in deep faith that was her inheritance from her mother.

All her long and healthy life, Aunt Mag enjoyed visit-ing and entertaining relatives and friends. She had a re-markable memory and it was a joy to listen to her reminis-cences. Much of the information contained in these pages was obtained from her.


viii. David FOLEY^{(62) (57)(61)} was born in 1862 in Wales. He died on Oct 18 1879.⁽⁷⁵⁾ Died in a tragic accident at the rolling mill He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ.
In 1879 tragedy struck the Foleys. Their seventeen-year-old son David met with a horrible accident at the rolling mill. He slipped and fell into a bed of molten ore. Fifty years later his sister Margaret shuddered as she recalled the hap-pening. "It was in the fall of the year, "she said, "and as we sat in stunned silence in the darkened room where the coffin lay, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a tall, white-bearded man with his arms full of autumn leaves. It was the Rev. Thomas Carter, the Presbyterian minister. He spoke to Mother and Father with the deepest feeling and said he felt compelled to gather the leaves from the trees around his church as a sign to us that there was beauty still left in the world. Mr. Carter's kindness was never forgotten by any of us."


9 ix. Sarah V. FOLEY.
x. Richard FOLEY^{(76) (77)} was born in 1866 in New Jersey.⁽⁶²⁾ He resided at 119 School St. in Apr 1918 in Boonton, Morris Co., NJ. ⁽⁵⁷⁾ He died on Jul 26 1918 in Boonton, Morris Co., NJ.⁽⁵⁷⁾ He was educated Elementary in Boonton, Morris Co., NJ.⁽⁵⁷⁾ Our Lady of Mount Carmel School He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetary, Boonton, NJ.