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