Susan Keough Mullen

So this is where things start to get interesting in the family history, when the data gets scares and family lore and stories start to take over. I think this is common for the Irish immigrant story, where children were often orphaned or sent to America on ships alone. People where poor, transient and expendable. They followed the work, followed the mills, so details become fuzzy. What I will start with is the data I have records to back up, then we will move in to the family verbal history that I got from my mom and grandmother.

Susan V Keough was born in 1883, likely in Lowell MA, although some records and family tradition have her being born in Canada. Her parents, Thomas Keough and Mary Ann Hand were originally from Ireland and Canada, although when they immigrated is unclear. Thomas was born in Prince Edward Island, his parents from Ireland. Mary Ann was born in Ireland. They had five children, Susan, Margaret, John, Mary, and Albert. Mary died in childbirth in 1888, Thomas dying of typhoid a year later, leaving the 5 surviving children orphans. After this, they lived with the Burns family in Lowell. Family history says that the parish priest took them under his wing and found a good home for them in the parish, most likely Sacred Heart.
Susan married Francis Mullen on Oct 22, 1902, and they had 14 children total over the course of 20 years, although unfortunately half did not make it to adulthood.  Susan died in 1943 of cancer, although type unknown. W omens health was not spoken of at all in this time, so how long she was sick or what type of cancer she had was unknown.

Susan Mullen with John, circa 1904

Her brother Albert fought in World War I as a Sargent in the 64th Infantry, and is buried with a military grave in Maynard MA. Her sister Mary married Patrick McDermontt and moved to Quincy, were she lived the rest of her life and had many children. She stayed close with her sister Susan, and I would often hear my grandmother speak of her Aunt Mary.

Family lore comes into play a lot around Susan.  I was told she was born and orphaned in Canada, and that through a network of Irish priests she and her siblings found a home in Lowell. Given that she was orphaned at a young age, this very well may have been her recollection, even though death records show her parents dying in Lowell. They moved around quiet a bit, living in Maine, Worcester and Lowell, working in the mills.

She was a mill girl herself, which is how she met Francis. She was working the looms when Francis, a steam fitter, dropped a pipe on her head knocking her out cold. As a gentleman, he called on her several times to make sure she was ok, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Adoptive home with the Burns in Lowell MA







                        Susan later in life

Francis Mullen

Francis Mullen birth certificate and family photos

Francis Mullen was born in 1878 to Michael Mullen and Mary Jane (McNabb) Mullen in Lowell MA. He was one of 3 children, the others John and Ella Mullen. Little is known about Ella, however with his brother John he did remain close to. He was in one of the first graduating classes at Lowell Technological Institute as a steam fitting engineer. He met Susan Keough will fitting steam pipes in a Lowell Mill, and dropping a pipe on her head.

Francis and his uncle Jim McNabb

Francis and Susan later in life (circa 1930-1940s)

Francis as a young child

Family History Blog

Hi All!

Rather then filling up your email and sending huge files, I will upload all the family info here. For simplicity sake, I am going to start with the Mullen clan as we know it, the sisters Ella, Alice, Rita (Sr Suzanne) Clare, Agnes, Grace and their brother Frank, and work backwards from there. Most of this information has been compiled by others, I am merely the organizer/librarian. My mom did a lot of this research in the 1970s in Lowell, and I built upon it using Ancestry.com. Alice and Ella are responsible for keeping all the old photos and cemetery documentation. As this develops, I will also include the family stories around some of the cast of characters that have been handed down to us. Enjoy!

Ella, Alice, Grace, Rita, Agnes, Clare abt 1926

Francis and Susan (Keough) Mullen were married Oct 22 1902, and between 1904-1923 had 14 children, seven of whom made it to adulthood. There were a number of stillbirths, babies lost in infancy, and deaths during the flu pandemic of 1918.

Surviving Children:
Frank Mullen (1904-1960) -married Julia Murphy- one daughter
Ella (1907-1980)- married Leo Toupin- 4 children
Alice- (1912-1993) married Walter Wagner-1 child
Grace (1917-2007)-married Ralph Carnevale- 5 children
Rita- (1918-2004) entered convent- became Sr Suzanne Mullen
Agnes(1921-2006)- Married Ned Kenney-4 children
Clare- (1923-2010) Married Ray Foye-4 children