One of my favorite walks through my imaginary genealogy village lets me wander around a colorful neighborhood in Washington, D.C. This was a Fourth Ward neighborhood, an enclave of mostly Irish immigrants, built in the frequently flooded low-lying area of the Timber Creek. The name is thought to have originated from a newspaper account referring to it as an area of swamp and puddles. This description was blurred with the Irish brogue to "Swampoodle".
Swampoodle became home to many of the "potato famine" Irish from the mid 19th to the early 20th century. It was an overcrowded, rough area with gangs, prostitutes, and bootleggers. Unafraid of hard labor and used to meager housing, the Irish worked as carpenters, stonemasons and common laborers in the construction of the Federal Buildings that can be seen on and around the Washington Mall today. Their work was within walking distance and so was their Catholic Church, St. Aloysius, and their schools. In the early days, they lived, sometimes a few families together, in ramshackle structures, often without indoor plumbing or electricity. Chickens and goats were kept in the alleys. Laundry was strung between buildings.
Each generation got a little stronger and more economically stable. Living conditions improved. They became the office workers, storekeepers, policemen, firefighters and professionals in this Washington district. When Union Station was built in 1907, over 300 homes were torn down and 1600 people forced to relocate. More was destroyed over the next few years with development around the station. The neighborhood's Irish identity was destroyed. Some parts survive today and are being reclaimed as trendy businesses and upscale offices. St. Aloysius is still there as is Gonzaga College High School.
I have several paternal ancestors who lived in Swampoodle but today I am writing about:
MARY JULIA FITZGERALD BUCKLEY
Not a lot is known about Mary Julia's mother, Julia Wrenn/Breen. Even her maiden name is in doubt. My research has shown that she is probably the daughter of Patrick Breen (1820-c.1900), who is recorded in the 1870 and 1880 Federal census with his wife Mary (1825-c1901), and their son, Patrick, who had lost one eye. This is consistent with the description of the Patrick that later lived near, and then with, Mary Julia.
Based on census information, we know Mary Julia's father, John Thomas Fitzgerald, was born in Northern Ireland but was in the United States by the time of Mary Julia's birth. For a while, he drove a wagon for the District Transit company. At some point, he owned an ice delivery company where his son, Nicholas, worked. Nicholas took over and ran the company after his father's death.
The family lived in Swampoodle, in a predominantly Irish neighborhood along North Capitol Street near today's Union Station. St. Aloysius Church was the nearest Catholic parish. This and the Gonzaga School were run by the Jesuits and were an integral part of my ancestors' lives.
Mary Julia was the oldest of six children. She had four brothers and one sister. Family tradition says that she was baptized Mary Francis but changed her name because she had a cousin in Troy, NY with the same name. She attended Notre Dame Academy in Washington, D. C.
In 1892, age 20, she married Thomas Buckley. Two years later, February 1894, she was widowed when her husband died of pneumonia. She was eight months pregnant, with a one-year old, my grandmother, Marie Genevieve Buckley.
According to family accounts, Thomas came home from work and felt very cold so his wife piled coats on top of him to keep him warm, including her fur coat. When she was tending to baby Marie in another room, Mary Julia heard a female voice talking to Thomas. She went to investigate and there was a woman in the vestabule of their home who said she was going door to door selling shoelaces. She was inside what Mary Julia had thought was a locked door. This woman asked if the priest had been called. Before this, Mary Julia had not realized how sick her husband was. The unknown woman, never seen again, summoned a priest and final rites were given. Thomas died shortly afterwards. According to my aunt, Jean Travis Roche, the family referred to this woman's appearance as a miracle.
Thankfully, Mary Julia had her mother and brothers to help her in this terrible time and probably moved in with them soon after her husband's death. Her daughter, Catherine Bernadette, was born in March 1894 so Mary Julia would have needed a lot of support. She is recorded as living with them at 25 F Street NW in 1902. She is still there in 1903 and, at this time, was employed at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Both of her daughters would have been in school all day by then. She worked there until about 1938. Her later years with the Bureau of Engraving were in the department that accounted for the currency removed from circulation. Her granddaughter, Jean, says that she was always impatient with anyone who would continue to use soiled or worn currency. Mary Julia worked for the Bureau until about 1941, Monday through Friday and a half day on Saturday.
When her mother and brothers moved to 30 Massachusetts Avenue NW in 1906, part of the Union Station displacement, Mary Julia moved with them.
By 1912, her mother has been dead two years and Mary Julia is living at 512 1st NW with daughters Marie, a stenographer, and Catherine. Catherine was known to the family as Bernadette, and later as Aunt Bernie.. In 1920, she bought a home at 1310 Longfellow Street. Her daughter Marie and husband, Thomas A. Travis, lived next door at 312 Longfellow. Thomas was a photographer. In 1924, her daughter, Bernadette, and new husband, Dalton Galimore, bought a home down the at 1326 Longfellow. Mary Julia paid for all three of these homes. Sadly, Bernadette was widowed in 1931. Her husband, a Washington motorcycle policeman, died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage. Bernadette never remarried. She died of cancer in 1944.
Mary Julia was recalled by her grandson, my father, Thomas Travis, Jr., as a local gypsy. In addition to her government job, she reportedly supported her family by whatever means were available in their Irish Catholic area of D.C. She was considered a clairvoyant and consulted as a Palmist. Apparently, this was a respectable profession in D.C. at the time. Palmists are recorded in the city directory. Perhaps not so respectable but definitely colorful, Mary Julia backed the "numbers" gambling in her area. Thomas recalled going to his grandmother's house and helping her count the coins at her kitchen table when he was quite young. He said this was a weekly activity. Supposedly, she also sold alcohol by the drink out of her home. Whether this was from stock that she brewed or was single servings from larger product that she bought, there is no way of knowing. Her brother James was a bartender in D.C. at least until prohibition, so certainly could have provided her access. In 1933, when Thomas was eight years old, Prohibition was repealed. Thomas' memories could have been from after this except that Mary Julia moved from her own home by the time he was nine or ten. Or, Mary Julia was enterprising and skirting the law during Prohibition. She certainly believed in making money where she could.
Jean Travis Roche recalls that Mary Julia and her uncle, Patrick J. Breen, lived with the Travis family from as early as she can remember. Since Jean was born in 1930, they must have moved in with Marie and Thomas in the mid-thirties. Known as Uncle Pappy, he was a grocer in his early years. City directories show him at 69 G Street NW along with his father, a grocer. Uncle Pappy had only one eye and had been exempt from military service. Always an admirer of railroads, in later life he became a hobo riding the rails. He owned rental property in Swampoodle and supported himself from that income. When he was in D.C., he lived with the Travis family. Uncle Pappy died in 1947. He is remembered as a happy, laughing man who frequently told people he was "the handsomest man in Swampoodle."In 1952, Mary Julia moved with Thomas, Marie, and their daughter, Jean, to 1124 Jackson Avenue in Tacoma Park, MD. My father, Thomas Jr. had left home in 1943 for the Navy. Mary Julia had accumulated some money through her various enterprises and had her government retirement. She contributed generously to their household and always made sure that her daughter and grandchildren were dressed fashionably. She died December 15, 1956.
