Fifth and last in the March 2017 series about my Irish (Dempsey) and Welsh (Owen) ancestors in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Despite a dwindling parish, Baltimore’s stately St. Martin Church was still open when I traveled there with a friend in 1993. A high mass of requiem had been celebrated there for some of my ancestors, so I was pleased to finally visit the church and review their records.
In the chancery, Sister Eleanor showed me church registers that confirmed the death and funeral dates for my great grandmother Elizabeth (Dempsey) Owen in 1922 and my great-great grandmother Katherine (Gormley) Dempsey in 1923.
When I asked the sister why their cause-of-death columns were blank, and she studied the registers for a moment.
“That depended on how thorough the record keeper was,” she replied. “Some filled in the column, some didn’t.”
Alas, there was no parish record for my great-great grandfather William P. Demspey, the blacksmith.
Church tour and the monsignor
After I finished making notes, the nun led us into the church.
Surveying the vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and elevated altar, I could easily imagine the packed Sunday services my Welsh-Irish ancestors attended — their pew likely crowded with family worshiping together.
On our way out, Sister Eleanor pointed to a bronze portrait on the wall. “Well, there he is,” she announced.
“Who?” I asked.
“Monsignor O’Donovan,” she replied. “He’s the pastor who left the information off your ancestors’ records.”
We all laughed, and I was reminded of my dad’s sense of humor –a legacy from my grandmother Mary Frances (Owen) Charboneau.
Stops at family homes
My Baltimore trip wrapped up with stops at the onetime homes of my Dempsey and Owen ancestors. Some we couldn’t find because street addresses and routes had changed. Elizabeth’s last home, where her wake was held, had been torn down for a new highway.
Yet we found the two locations I most wanted to see.
- 1954 W. Fayette Street. Described in Katherine’s obituary as her last residence, this may have been where a huge Dempsey family reunion was held shortly before she died.
- Webster Alley (renamed Webster Lane). Where Katherine, William and their children lived from 1870–1889 and the likely location of his blacksmith shop.
The Webster Alley house no longer stands, replaced by newer dwellings. Katherine’s last residence was modernized with a stone facade and awnings.
But both were situated where I expected, in solid, working-class neighborhoods that once housed a tremendous influx of Irish, Welsh and other immigrants — and later welcomed a northward migration of African Americans seeking a better life.
Baltimore mystery solved
Which brings me back to the mystery of the 1963 Dempsey-Owen stone. When I returned from Baltimore, I called my dad to tell him about it.
“Do you know why there was no stone for so long?” I asked.
“Oh, sure,” Dad replied. “The family was arguing for years over who would pay for it.”
He said most of the Dempseys and Owens were supporting big families and couldn’t afford to buy the costly monument. Yet they clearly wanted a memorial for their departed loved ones — why else discuss it over and over?
Finally, almost sixty years after the first burial, one of grandmother’s sisters resolved the family dilemma. Charlotte (Owen) Wilson — then 70, married and childless — stepped up in 1963 and purchased the Dempsey-Owen stone.
Discovering Aunt Charlotte’s generosity and love of family was the perfect ending to my Baltimore genealogy road trip.
Up Next: Please join me daily in April for the 2017 A to Z Blogging Challenge. My theme this year is “Whispering Chimneys: An Altamont childhood”…where my genealogy journey began.
© 2017 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.