-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Y-IRL] Biography of Michael DOLAN, County Leitrim Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 21:17:53 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] MICHAEL J. DOLAN July 14, 1853 - May 12, 1927 Michael J. Dolan was born July 14, 1853 in Kiltyclogher, Cloonclare Parish, County Leitrim and became a fine example of the Irish American spirit. Michael was born to James Dolan and Marie Gordon, in Kiltyclogher, the seventh of nine children . He immigrated to the United States in 1874 at the age of 21, settling first in Scranton, Pennsylvania, joining five siblings who had immigrated before him. The Dolan’s resided in the predominantly Irish Seventh Ward in Scranton, known as Sandy Banks, on the banks of the Lackawanna River. In early Scranton City Directories Michael was listed as a Bricklayer/Stonemason, as were his brothers. He remained in the building profession his entire life. Soon after immigrating, he went west to Yankton, The Dakota Territories. Was he lured to The Dakota Territories because of the discovery of gold in the mid 1870’s in the Black Hills or, the earlier Homestead Act of 1862 which gave to every man and woman 160 acres for the price of $18.00. Perhaps it was a simpler desire to help build the West. In 1880 he became a naturalized American citizen and in 1901 he moved farther west to Denver Colorado. In 1872, the Dakota Southern Railroad reached Yankton, making the eastern half of the territory more attractive and accessible to folks looking for free land. It also permitted Michael Dolan to travel there. If a person wanted to travel further west they went by steamship, wagon train or stage coach. During the 1870’s the Sioux Indians were still conducting raids, disrupting railroad traffic and causing settlers to abandon their land claims and return East. He apparently was not daunted by traveling as he returned east to Scranton at least once in the late 1870’s to act as Godfather to a child of his brother, Frank. In Yankton he met and married Mary Jane Morrison, also of Irish descent. The marriage took place at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in 1881 and they later became parents of five children, all born in Yankton. He and Mary Jane became the parents of five children. The church supplied our first clue as to Michael’s county of birth, recorded on their marriage license as County Leitrim, Hibernia. When Michael’s brother, Frank, died in Scranton in 1902, his obituary listed Kiltyclogher as his place of birth. According to his obituary in both the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post on 5-12-1927: Michael J. Dolan Dies at Home of Heart Attack For many years Michael DOLAN was employed by the United States Government and supervised the building of government schools for Indians throughout the Western United States. At the time of his death in 1927, at the age of 75, he had been managing the Denver office of his son, James’ mining and railroad supply business. Submitted by Mary L. CASEY, grandniece of Michael J. DOLAN ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/dvArlB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/