Mary Miner's Page

Hi, Mary,
I too am researching the Quirk family. I am particularly trying to untangle the relationships of the family in the late 1800's and early 1900's, most of them in the Chicago area. My great grandmother was Emma Quirk, born in 1866 in Lockport, Illinois, to Mary (I believe) Stanners Quirk, and John Quirk. I am unable to find anything solid on either Mary or John. However, I know that Emma had a large family, and it appears they were fragmented after their mother's death, and Emma lived with various family members, often with her Aunt Mary and uncles James and Peter, all unmarried (although James may have been married at some time). The three single siblings lived together until their deaths and left their estate to the Catholic Church in Kewanee Illinois, where Visitation St. Mary's Church was built on their land, with money from their estate. Peter died first, while the family lived in Maryville, Missouri. He made a trip back to Ireland to visit family and died while there. Mary and James had their priest go to Ireland, to bring his body home. When the remaining siblings moved to Kewanee, they then brought Peter's body there. The siblings, and my great grandmother Emma, are all buried together in that cemetery. Emma had a large family, including sisters named Margaret (married to Tim Murphy) and Catherine (married to Joseph McGarry. I am searching for the rest of them - but they are difficult to locate in the census, as they were farmed out to various homes when their mother died, and they were all quite young. I am hoping that our Quirk families may be connected. Please let me know what you think! I can share more, if that helps. one item of interest is that Emma was hospitalized in Chicago for four years, around the turn of the century. She had a small daughter, my grandmother Pearl Catherine Menzer. While she was hospitalized, Emma's husband, William Menzer, deserted them. During this time, Pearl lived with relatives - a Mary Quirk's family, in Chicago. After some extensive work, I have discovered that this Mary Quirk was married to a Quirk, but her own maiden name was also Quirk. So it is complex, and confusing! Hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Gwen Gransberg