PHOTOS
TIMELINE
FAMILY TREE
DOCUMENTS

last updated
10 July 2003

Timeline

1834: Rose O’Connor, mother of Catherine Rowe, born in unknown location.

1851, October: Thomas J. Boyle born in either Armagh (According to tombstone) or Cookston to Thomas and Rose (McGee) Boyle. This is a particularly dangerous time in Ireland - the potato famine was at is zenith when he was conceived, and more than 2 million Irish either emigrated or died, reducing the population of the island by a quarter. Important to remember that all of the Boyles in Ireland were British subjects - Ireland did not gain home rule until 1886, limited independence until late 1921, and independence didn't come until 1949 when Ireland left the British Commonwealth. 
     Armagh was the city where St. Patrick built his stone church, on a hill where a Protestant cathedral now stands. Brian Boru, who led the Irish against the Viking invaders,  is buried in the Catholic graveyard. The city of Armagh was described in an 1851 report as "well built, chiefly of hard, red marble; the streets diverge from the cathedral down the sides of a hill, and are clean, lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. It has a Protestant chapel of ease, 2 Roman Catholic, 2 Methodist, an Independent, and 3 Presbyterian chapels, a county court-house, prison, county infirmary, lunatic asylum, 5 banks, a public library with 14,000 volumes, observatory with fine apparatus, and barracks for 800 men. The city has a large inland trade in corn, linen, and yarn. Assizes, and quarter sessions are held here, besides a manorial court by the archbishop for pleas of 10 L. and under. Pop. (1851) 8,849"

1859: Anne Gallagher, mother of Mary Quinn, born in unknown location, prob. Ireland.

1856, Jan. 1: Catherine Rowe, mother of Thomas P. Boyle, born in Stradone, Co. Cavan (according to tombstone), Ireland.

1872, Nov. 13: Thomas J. Boyle, general labourer, and Catherine Rowe married by Fr. Richard Lacy in St. Mary’s Catholic Chapel, Middlesbrough, in the district of Stockton, England. John Connor and Mary Boyle were witnesses. At the time of marriage, the Boyles lived on Hutchinson Street, Linthorpe. The Rowes live on Francis Street, Linthorpe. Thomas Boyle I is listed on marriage certificate as a general labourer, and is said to be deceased by the time of the marriage. Philip Rowe is a general labourer and apparently living. Marriage is entered into the official record on Nov. 14 by R. Atkinson. One Richard Atkinson, of 3 Wilson Street, is listed on the GENUKI page as being Registrars of Births, Deaths, and Marriages - Middlesbrough District.
From the New Advent history of Catholicism in Middlesbrough: "In 1872 Rev. Richard Lacy was entrusted with the charge of the Middlesbrough Mission. In August, 1878, St. Mary's church (replacing the original modest chapel) was opened with great solemnity ... In December of the same year, St. Mary's became the cathedral of the new Diocese of Middlesbrough." Fr. Lacy later became the bishop of the new Diocese, and he too was an Irishman. Bishop Lacy was born at Navan, Meath, Ireland, 16 January, 1841 and was ordained at the English College in Rome on 21 December, 1867.
     According to a register of businesses on GENUKI, the Rowes' neighborhood grocer would have been one Thomas Costello. Middlesbrough's population in 1881, as the Boyles prepared to emigrate to America, was 89,853

1880, Jan. 7: Thomas P. Boyle born in Middlesbrough, England .

1881, July 13: Thomas J. Boyle departs from Liverpool, England aboard a ship.

1881, July 27: Thomas J. Boyle arrives in Philadelphia aboard a ship.

1882: Catherine Rowe-Boyle and the children come over to America. Port of departure/entry unknown. Citizenship status unknown.

1886, July 16: Mary Quinn, mother of Thomas R. Boyle, born in Mineral Ridge, Ohio.

1886, Aug. 18: Joseph C. Sirl, father of Eleanor Sirl-Boyle, born

1886: Rose O’Connor, mother of Catherine Rowe, dies in unknown location

1888, Sept. 11: Thomas J. Boyle declares intentions to become a US citizen in New Castle, Pa. He is 30 years old. To see a PDF file of the immigration log, click here.

1890, Nov. 16: Anna Mae Schutt, mother of Eleanor Sirl-Boyle, born.

1892, March 26: Thomas J. Boyle is granted citizenship.

1907, Dec. 28: Francis X. Boyle writes his father, Thomas J. Boyle’s, last will and testament. He puts Catherine in charge of his “to houses and three lots” on Walter Street in New Castle . Francis writes, in the will, that “I all wase be leave my father to be a man of a sain mind.” Philip M. Boyle witnesses this document on the same date. He writes that his father was a “Natur lized citizen of the United States and he loved her souls.”

1908, Aug. 15: Thomas J. Boyle dies in New Castle, Pa. To see a PDF file of the front-page story on his death, click here. To see the funeral announcement, click here.

From the New Castle News, Aug. 17:

FATALLY HURT IN A RUNAWAY, SEVENTH WD.
Thomas Boyle, Milkman Was Thrown From Wagon at Mahoningtown Race Track
FOUND UNCONSCIOUS, SKULL IS CRUSHED
At the Hospital it is Given Out That He Cannot Live Throughout the Night – No Definite Statement of Runaway is Obtainable.

Bulletin- City Hospital 2:30: Thomas Boyle died at the city hospital at 2:30 this afternoon, without once regaining consciousness, or even recognizing the members of his family

     Fatal injuries were sustained about 8 o’clock Monday morning by Thomas Boyle of 10 Water street, as the result of a runaway along the Willow Grove road south of the Seventh ward.

    Mr. Boyle, who is a dairyman, had been to William Wallace’s, near Moravia, for milk When nearing the race track, just outside the limits of the Seventh ward, the horse he was driving took fright, and ran away. Mr. Boyle soon lost control of the horse and was powerless to stop the course of the frightened animal.

    When directly opposite the last house on the Willow Grove Road the horse shied and Mr. Boyle was thrown out violently on the hard ground.

     In falling his head struck directly on a sharp stone, fracturing his skull. He was rendered unconscious immediately and was found lying at the side of the road when help arrived a few minutes later.

    Cochran’s ambulance was summoned and the injured man was taken to the hospital, where an examination was made of his injuries.

    It was stated Monday afternoon by the hospital authorities that the injured man may not live longer than Monday evening. His skull is badly fractured, and there is said to be absolutely no chance for recovery. He has not regained consciousness since the time of the accident, and will undoubtedly pass away without giving any sign of recognition to his wife and two sons who have been at his bedside ever since he was first taken to the hospital.

    Mr. Boyle is past 55 years of age and has resided in this city for many years.

     The rig was not badly damaged during the runaway, and the horse was stopped about a quarter of a mile up the road from where the accident occurred.

Other stories on the front page of the New Castle News that day included a story about how the Wright Aeroplane was to be tested in Washington the next day as the government sought to see if it may be of use. Also, a giant race riot in Springfield , Ill. Was being quelled with 200 leaders of the riot in jail. Two black men were lynched, and three white men were shot and killed.

From the NC News, Aug 19: Solemn high Mass will be said for Thomas Boyle in St. Mary’s church at 0900. Fr. P.E. Maher will say the Mass, and Frs. J.V. Sharp and P.F. Quinn were deacons.

Note: According to Jack and Joan Chmura, the Mahoningtown racetrack was likely where the wastewater treatment plant stands today, on Rt. 18 just past the railroad overpass.

1909, Aug. 26: Thomas P. Boyle marries Mary Quinn at St. Mary’s Church, New Castle , Pa.

1909, Nov. 24: Joseph C. Sirl marries Anna Mae Schutt at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Cleveland.

1910, June 12: William Quinn dies at his home at 112 N. Ray St., New Castle. He was 50 years old, and had been the foreman of Carnegie Co. No. 2 furnace for “a number of years (NC Herald). Funeral on June 15 at St. Mary’s with burial in St. Mary’s cemetery. Death was a shock, as he had not been ill. He is the father of Mary “Mayme” Quinn-Boyle. To see a PDF file of his obituary from the New Castle Herald, click here. To see the story from the New Castle News, click here.

1911: Aloysius Schutt, grandfather of Eleanor Sirl-Boyle, dies.

1912, March 31: Thomas Richard Boyle born in New Castle, Pa.

1914, Sept. 20: Eleanor Sirl born in Cleveland, Ohio .

1917, April 11: Catherine Rowe-Boyle, mother of Thomas P. Boyle, dies at her home at 10 Walter Street at 0700 in New Castle, Pa. It was a Wednesday. She had been ill for two weeks. She was buried on Saturday at St. Mary’s cemetery, New Castle

1937, June 12: Thomas R. Boyle marries Eleanor Sirl at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Cleveland

1937, 17 Oct.: Thomas P. Boyle dies at age 57 in his Cleveland home. It is a Sunday morning. Funeral Mass is a 0900 Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Cleveland. Body taken back to New Castle for burial at St. Mary’s cemetery. To see a PDF of his obituary, click here.

1944, July 20: Sgt. Paul Boyle, brother of Thomas Richard Boyle, killed in action near St. Lo, in World War II.

1944. Sept. 13: Mary Elizabeth Keller born at military hospital in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

1946, Dec. 15: Joseph C. Sirl, father of Eleanor Sirl-Boyle, dies.

1948, Mar. 17: Joseph Patrick Boyle Sr. born in Cleveland.

1975, Jan. 5: Joseph Patrick Boyle Jr. born around 9 p.m. at Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio

1976, May 14: Kathryn Marie Slawinski born around 11:45 at Toledo Hospital.

1985, June 14: Thomas R. Boyle dies in the early morning at Deaconess Hospital, Cleveland.

1989, Nov. 10: Eleanor Sirl-Boyle dies in Cleveland