Timeline for Bridget

Working again with Claude.AI, I asked it for assistance building a timeline in the life of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. The back and forth exchange provided some good ideas for further exploration.

Timeline for Bridget (1824-1859)

Early Life in Ireland

• c. 1824: Born in Ireland
• Possible marriage between 1839-1844 (no marriage record found)

Immigration to America

• Before 1845: Immigrated to the United States, possibly with husband Patrick or before marriage

Life in Illinois

• c. 1844-1845: Possibly married Patrick Dooner in Illinois (no marriage record found)
• c. 1845: Son John Dooner born in Illinois, possibly in La Salle County.
• 1846: Son Hugh Dooner born in Illinois, possibly in La Salle County.

Cholera Epidemic and Family Tragedy

• July 1849: Son Hugh Dooner died of cholera at approximately 3 years old
• August 1849: Husband Patrick Dooner died of cholera
• August 1849: Son John Dooner died of cholera at approximately 4 years old
• August 1849: Patrick's father Hugh Dooner died of cholera at approximately 45 years old

Birth of Last Child with Patrick

• 16 March 1850: Son Michael Dooner born in La Salle County, Illinois, about 7 months after Patrick's death

Life as a Widow

• June 1850: Husband Patrick and children Hugh and John appear on the US Federal Census Mortality Schedule for La Salle County, Illinois, confirming their deaths in 1849 and the birth state of Hugh and John has recorded as Illinois.
• 24 August 1850: Recorded in the US Census in La Salle County, Illinois with son Michael

Second Marriage and Family

• c. late 1850-early 1851: Likely married John O'Brien in La Salle County, Illinois (no marriage record yet found)
• 1852: Daughter Anna Maria O'Brien born
• 1853: Daughter Isabella O'Brien born
• 1 August 1854: Son John J. O'Brien born
• 20 November 1858: Daughter Agnes O'Brien born

Death and Afterward

• 1859: Died in La Salle County, Illinois, shortly after the birth of her daughter Agnes
• 3 Aug 1860: John and John J. O'Brien appear in the 1860 US Census in Shelby County, Illinois.
• 14 Aug 1860: Anna Maria, Isabella and Agnes appear in the Sisters of Charity Convent in La Salle County, Illinois in the 1860 US Census.
• 15 Aug 1860: Michael Dooner appears in the household of his uncle Owen Dooner in La Salle.
• 29 Jul 1861: John O'Brien remarries in Shelby County to Margaret Fegan

Some other important details highlighted by Claude. She immigrated to the US as a young woman, and made her way to Illinois where her husband Patrick's family had settled. Losing her husband and two young children within a month while she was pregnant would have been an unimaginable tragedy for Bridget. She would have faced emotional heartbreak and significant economic hardship as a pregnant widow. The fact that she and Michael survived the cholera epidemic that killed the rest of the immediate family, along with Patrick's father Hugh shows remarkable resilience and perhaps some degree of natural immunity.

Bridget shows a lot of strength as she navigated life in La Salle County as a young widow with her son Michael, and starting a new family with John O'Brien. Her life ended relatively young, about 35, possibly due to complications from childbirth or other health issues common in that era.

The cholera epidemic of 1849 was devastating across America during this time, particularly in the Midwest. I asked Claude for pointers to additional resources:

1. "Cholera in Illinois and the Old Northwest: 1849-1850" - This study examines the impact and spread of cholera throughout Illinois and neighboring regions.
2. "Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828-1965" by Mark Aldrich - While focusing broadly on railroad safety, this work includes sections on how cholera spread along transportation routes in Illinois.
3. "Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866" by Charles E. Rosenberg - This is considered a seminal work on American cholera epidemics, with significant coverage of the 1849 outbreak that affected Illinois.
4. "The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History" by Libby Hill - Contains information about how the cholera epidemic impacted Chicago and surrounding areas.
5. The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society has published various articles over the years examining the 1849 cholera epidemic and its effects on specific communities.

"The fact that Hugh and John were born in Illinois according to the Mortality Schedule is very significant for your research. This confirms that:

1. Bridget and Patrick were already in Illinois by 1845, when their first son John was born.
2. They had established themselves in La Salle County early enough to start their family there.
3. The Mortality Schedule is a particularly valuable resource because it captures information about people who died in the year before the census was taken, which would have been missed in the regular census.

"This information narrows down your search for Bridget's immigration to before 1845. It also suggests that if Bridget and Patrick did marry in Ireland, they would have immigrated together very shortly after their marriage.

"For further research, you might want to:

1. Look for church records in La Salle County from the early 1840s that might document Bridget and Patrick's arrival or early presence in the community.
2. Search for birth records for John and Hugh in Illinois, which might provide additional details about their parents.
3. Check land records in La Salle County from the early 1840s to see if Patrick purchased property.
4. Investigate if there were any Irish settlement patterns in La Salle County that might help identify where Bridget came from in Ireland."

During RootsTech, Ancestry introduced a new feature called Networks. I might try to create a network of the Irish immigrants who died in La Salle County of cholera between 1849-1850 to see if any of them provide some connection to the Dooner family and Bridget. I may also try to create a network using Bridget's neighbors in La Salle in the 1850 Census entry.