Everyone wants to believe their ancestors were upstanding people who worked hard and made sacrifices, paving the way for succeeding generations. Of course, a few black sheep are always appreciated, they add spice to the story. But an entire family of them is something else.
My great-great-grandfather, James O'Hora, who emigrated from Ricketstown in County Carlow, Ireland was by all accounts, a man to be proud of. The local newspaper that covered the small hamlet of Littleville, New York where his farm was located, had not a bad word to say about James nor his wife Maria McGarr in all the decades they lived there. Coincidentally, James' older brother John had married Maria's sister Catherine McGarr in Ireland. After the birth of their first child, John and Catherine set sail for New York, immediately settling in the Auburn, New York area where they had relatives.
James and Maria married in Auburn after arriving in America several years apart, and they too lived in the Auburn area for a time before purchasing their farm in Littleville. That is where all similarities between the two families end.
John passed away around 1872 I'm guessing, he doesn't appear with his wife Catherine and their children in New York's1875 census, and that year of 1872 is the first one in which his widow appears on the rolls of the overseer of the poor in Auburn. Things seemed a little off with this family when I found the marriage record of their oldest daughter, Mary, in 1861, only fifteen years after her baptism in Ireland. That was incredibly young for an Irish woman to marry. Her first child came along in 1863, perhaps she miscarried one in 1861? Her sister Anne waited a few years, marrying at age eighteen, but still quite young. Her firstborn came two years later. Something seemed fishy here.
Then there were the boys. Daniel, Michael, John, Peter and Richard, all of whom were, shall we say, well known in Auburn. Particularly in police circles, and all had lengthy rap sheets. The following article published in July of 1880 says it all-- "Michael O'Hora, one of the famous O'Hora gang was brought in last night by officer Crosby for public intoxication on Perrine Street". And that was one of their more innocuous violations. Everything from theft, assault, general mayhem, they did it. Their sister Elizabeth married William Ferris at the more appropriate age of twenty-two and raised a large family in Auburn. Elizabeth managed to keep herself out of the news unlike her siblings. That leaves Catherine, who was a year older that Elizabeth.
Catherine lived with her widowed mother, earning her living as a laundress. For a long time, I viewed her as the dutiful daughter caring for her poor, aging, widowed mother; see, that's me still wanting to believe the best of my relatives. Then while doing some newspaper searches recently, instead of typing in "Catherine O'Hora" I used the search term "Kate O'Hora", and the floodgates opened.
In 1891-- Kate O'Hora Willis last week pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing $5 from Mrs. Mary Eager of Delevan Street. Wait one minute...Willis? After a search of the NYS marriage index, I found Catherine did indeed marry Thomas Willis in 1887, at age 30, there in Auburn. Also, in 1891 I found Kate Willis arrested for intoxication and disorderly conduct with Mark LaDuce, a Salvation Army man no less.
John passed away around 1872 I'm guessing, he doesn't appear with his wife Catherine and their children in New York's1875 census, and that year of 1872 is the first one in which his widow appears on the rolls of the overseer of the poor in Auburn. Things seemed a little off with this family when I found the marriage record of their oldest daughter, Mary, in 1861, only fifteen years after her baptism in Ireland. That was incredibly young for an Irish woman to marry. Her first child came along in 1863, perhaps she miscarried one in 1861? Her sister Anne waited a few years, marrying at age eighteen, but still quite young. Her firstborn came two years later. Something seemed fishy here.
Then there were the boys. Daniel, Michael, John, Peter and Richard, all of whom were, shall we say, well known in Auburn. Particularly in police circles, and all had lengthy rap sheets. The following article published in July of 1880 says it all-- "Michael O'Hora, one of the famous O'Hora gang was brought in last night by officer Crosby for public intoxication on Perrine Street". And that was one of their more innocuous violations. Everything from theft, assault, general mayhem, they did it. Their sister Elizabeth married William Ferris at the more appropriate age of twenty-two and raised a large family in Auburn. Elizabeth managed to keep herself out of the news unlike her siblings. That leaves Catherine, who was a year older that Elizabeth.
Catherine lived with her widowed mother, earning her living as a laundress. For a long time, I viewed her as the dutiful daughter caring for her poor, aging, widowed mother; see, that's me still wanting to believe the best of my relatives. Then while doing some newspaper searches recently, instead of typing in "Catherine O'Hora" I used the search term "Kate O'Hora", and the floodgates opened.
In 1891-- Kate O'Hora Willis last week pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing $5 from Mrs. Mary Eager of Delevan Street. Wait one minute...Willis? After a search of the NYS marriage index, I found Catherine did indeed marry Thomas Willis in 1887, at age 30, there in Auburn. Also, in 1891 I found Kate Willis arrested for intoxication and disorderly conduct with Mark LaDuce, a Salvation Army man no less.
In 1894 we see Kate O'Hora charged with threatening violence and using profane language to one Ellen Ryan who was attempting, in vain, to drag her intoxicated husband William from the O'Hora residence. In that case, Kate's mother Catherine was charged with keeping a disorderly house.
In 1901 this headline appeared, "From Jail To Hospital"; Kate O'Hora completed a sentence of 30 days for intoxication and was sent in a carriage to the city hospital on the order of the jail physician. (Notice she no longer used the surname Willis. They were living on Delevan Street along with Catherine's mother in one city directory, but I have a feeling Mr. Willis made his exit after a few years of life with the "O'Hora Gang".)
Auburn's 1902 city directory shows Mrs. Kate Willis living in a room over Falconi's Saloon on Clark Street, a rough and tumble sort of place with no shortage of stabbings, slashings, and even a shooting, as I found after doing a newspaper search for the establishment. In other words, about the last place on earth someone like Kate should call home.
The coup de grace came in 1914,
...five of the defendants represented a raid made on an alleged disorderly house in Genesee Street a few nights ago. The entire five were arraigned this morning. Sarah Simmons who was charged with maintaining the house was given a flat sentence of 61 days in the Onondaga County Penitentiary. The other four defendants were charged with being inmates. Catherine O'Hora was given the option of paying $5 or spending 30 days in jail... The striking feature of the case was that all of the defendants were well past middle life. When judgment was passed on them, some of the elderly defendants broke down and sobbed...
At that time Kate was age 57.
The term disorderly occurs quite often in these articles. What exactly did that really mean back then I wondered? The Cornell Law School has the following definition on its website-A mostly outdated charge against someone creating a nuisance in the area. The most common use of a disorderly house charge was for using a house as a brothel. Other actions that could give rise to a disorderly house charge include dealing alcohol or hosting gambling in a house.I was beginning to have serious doubts about Catherine, aka Kate. Especially after reading that last article referring to her as the inmate of a disorderly house. I think we all know another word for the inmate of a disorderly house. At least it seems she pulled herself together in her later years, judging from her obituary--
Auburn Citizen Thursday Aug 25, 1927
The death of Mrs. Katherine Willis occurred yesterday afternoon shortly after 2 o'clock after a brief illness. While she had been complaining slightly for some time past of a weakened heart, no alarm was felt until she contracted a severe cold which proved fatal yesterday. She had been a resident of this city nearly all of her life and was well known and liked by those who knew her...
Kate was 70 years of age at her death. Her obituary said her only survivors were nieces and nephews; she had outlived all eight of her brothers and sisters. Perhaps that last arrest in 1914 was when Kate hit rock bottom and took stock of her life. Her mother had passed in 1903 and her only surviving sister in 191l, leaving her without any close female relative. I wish I had a photograph of Catherine, I'm so curious about her. I plan to keep looking for more information to hopefully get a clearer picture of her life, particularly her final years for which no census or directory records seem to exist.
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