Rooney Family Tree

Modified narrative by Rena Martin Jensen, granddaughter of John F. Martin:

John Francis Martin was born in St. Anthony Village [or St. Anthony Falls - actually, Minneapolis] on April 15, 1868, his father's 30th birthday. He was the first-born child of William Joseph Martin and Catherine Rooney. He was baptized in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in northeast Minneapolis on April 16, 1868.

"Johnny Martin married Mary Brown and Mary Martin married Johnny Brown."

John F. Martin and Mary Brown we're married on November 16, 1892, presumably at Padua, Stearns County, but no verification has been made. Their siblings, John Brown and Mary Ann Martin, were also presumed to have been married there on the same day in a double wedding ceremony.

John Martin's wife Mary Brown was born in Ireland, perhaps at Derryheagh, County Mayo in 1866. [Today û 2015 - Derryheah is perhaps a small area near the town of Newport, County Mayo. There's a Killeen Cemetery 6 miles west of town overlooking Clew Bay in which one couple's gravestone says they're from Derryheagh.] Mary's brother John was also probably born there in 1868. The 1900 census indicates that she was born in Ireland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1879, at which time she would have been 13.

John Martin farmed near Sedan, Bangor Township, Pope County, for several years û possibly adjoining or nearby land owned by his parents. His name has appeared on the plat book of Stearns County on a tract of land that was tenanted by his parents during somewhat earlier years. This was the tract owned by his uncle Mike Rooney in sections 26 and 35 of the Raymond Township. Most of their six children were born while they lived in Bangor Township: Francis Clements (Frank), Ann, Walter Joseph (Joseph Walter), Mary Irene, John Henry, and Robert Irvin (Irwin). Their daughter Ann died in infancy in 1898 in Bangor Township.

After the family left the Sedanû Bangor area it appears they lived in Mandan, North Dakota briefly before moving to Frazee, Minnesota. Mary, John's wife, died of leukemia 1914 and is buried at Frazee. Joseph Walter died in 1918 during World War I while in the service of natural causes in New York. Robert Irwin died tragic death on 7 May 1920 when he was 13. He and another boy we're playing near a cave that they had dug into the riverbank of the Otter Tail River. Just as they ran into the cave it came down on top of them and smothered them to death.

John is listed in the 16 January 1920 census of Burlington, Becker County, Minnesota as a widower and a sawmill worker. His only child with him then is Irwin, age 13. John married Hattie Maxwell in 1920 û presumably while they were still living at Frazee. John F Martin worked in the sawmill at Frazee and drove a four or 64 steam in the woods hauling logs to the mill. When lumbering declined in Minnesota, the company moved to Idaho and the family followed in 1920 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Margie Evelyn Martin was born to John and Hattie on May 1, 1821 in Coeur d'Alene. Later John F. Martin and Hattie were divorced. Can't find him in the 1930 or 1940 census. In May, 1936, John moved to Kirkland, Washington and lived with his brother-in-law (both ways), John Brown. Joe Wirtzfeld, son-in-law of John Brown, later bought a house and acreage in Kirkland and John lived there until he moved to Bend, Oregon 1939. John died there of a stroke on December 5, 1940 and is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery.

Ed L. Martin is buried in the Kirkland Cemetery next to Peter J. Brown, a brother of his sister Mary's husband John J. Brown. Peter had bought 20 acres of land in Kirkland and John J. Brown lived there until he died; John J. Brown is also buried in this cemetery. John Henry Martin is also buried here.
Frank C. Martin and John Francis Martin are buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Bend, Oregon.
Mayme Wolfe Martin and Elmer H. Jensen are buried in Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Bellevue, Washington.