Catherine (Unknown) Higgins (abt. 1819 - 1882)

Born about 1819 in Ireland

Descendants

Died 20 Jul 1882 at about age 63 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Catherine (Unknown) Higgins migrated from Ireland to New York, in the United States.

Catherine was born circa 1819 in Ireland. She was reportedly married to Henry Higgins (according to her daughter's death certificate). She apparently lived in New York City in the early 1840s.

Searches in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 Federal censuses failed to locate a Henry and Catherine couple. Daughter Elizabeth was reportedly born in New York City in 1841, and there was a Henry Higgins living there in 1857 and a widowed Catherine Higgins in the 1860s.

The first possible record for Catherine is in 1872, she may be the Catherine Higgins, widow, livings at "bds. Forrest Av., Woodburn" in Cincinnati.^[1] In 1873, she appears to be the Catherine Higgins, widow, listed as "h.n.e.c. Park and 5th" in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.^[2]

In 1875, she may be the Catherine Higgins, widow, "b.d.s. n. s. l. M.R.R. nr. Vance."^[3]

No Catherine Higgins is listed in the 1876 directory for Cincinnati.

In 1877, Catherine, a widow, lived at 494 Fulton Avenue in Cincinnati.^[4]

In 1878, widow Catherine Higgins lived at 494 Fulton Avenue in Cincinnati.^[5]

In 1879, widow Catherine Higgins lived at the rear of 502 Fulton Avenue in the same household as her daughter Eliza Swegles.^[6]

On 3 June 1880, Catherine lived with her daughter Eliza (Higgins) Swegels and Eliza's five sons at 494 Fulton Street in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. She was helping out the household by working as a washer woman. She could not read or write.^[7]

On 20 July 1882: Killed by the Locomotive.

Mrs. Catherine Higgins, a widow, aged about sixty years, met with a sudden and violent death yesterday on the track of the Little Miami Railroad in front of her home, 494 Fulton avenue. The time was half past 9 o'clock in the forenoon. The old lady was out driving her flock of geese across the track. She, herself, had just reached the center when the inward bound passenger train came thundering down the grade. Either she did not hear the train or was physically unable to get out of the way. The engine struck her in the back, throwing her some distance. Her lifeless body fell on the rails, and the wheels passing over it, mangled it horribly. A number of people living in the neighborhood ran to her assistance, but she had passed beyond human power to aid. The engineer of the train was A. A. Clark, and he, it was said, tried every means in his power to avert the accident. The deceased lived with her grown up daughter at the number named above.^[8]

Patrick C. Fallon, administrator of Catherine Higgins' estate, brought suit against the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad Company for $10,000 damages in August 1882. "It is charged that the company was culpably negligent in failing to provide a watchman at the crossing, and left it in an unguarded condition.^[9] The case failed.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1872, page 429.
2. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1873, page 407.
3. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1875, page 443
4. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1877, page 470; https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/4251141?ssrc=&backlabel=Return
5. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1878, page 450; https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/3756405?ssrc=&backlabel=Return
6. ↑ Cincinnati, Ohio, City Directory, 1879, page 463; https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/4239787?ssrc=&backlabel=Return
7. ↑ 1880 Census: "United States Census, 1880" Citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm . FamilySearch (accessed 17 March 2022) FamilySearch Image Image number 00709 Eliza Swegals (35), widowed head of household in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States. Born in New York, United States.
8. ↑ Killed by the Locomotive. Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, Ohio), 21 July 1882, page 3, column 2.
9. ↑ Large Damages Wanted. Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, Ohio), 21 August 1882, page 6, column 2.
10. ↑ Withdrawn from the Jury. Cincinnati Commercial Tribune (Cincinnati, Ohio), 25 April 1883, page 6, column 1.