Home
Helprooneys-minnesota.com | |||
 Hugh M Rooney, son of John Rooney and Mary McCool.Born 5 Jun 1854 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died 27 Jul 1948 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 94 years, buried Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Baptismal sponsors: Hugh Rooney and Catherine Rooney Hugh and Winifred were first cousins. Hugh M Rooney was born in Ottawa, Canada and immigrated, with his family, to the U.S. about 1864 (or 1869, according to the 1895 census). They moved first to St Anthony Falls, the site of the present city of Minneapolis, which at that time was so small the town could be covered in a half hour by horse and buggy. Hugh attended a parochial school there until they moved to Padua, MN. In 1889, he was united in marriage to Winifred S Rooney at Sauk Centre, MN. They moved to the farm near Brooten where they made their home until the time of their deaths. Winifred died in1942, at the age of 77 years. Hugh was a lumberman in northern Minnesota for a time, and grew well acquainted with the Indians, learning their languages and customs. He lived also in Montana for a short time, engaged in hunting. Family stories are built around these early days, when his party would often sleep on the ground during the winter, shooting 15 or 20 buffalo before breakfast. At times the Indians would cause trouble, ruining the buffalo skins, terrorizing the men, and breaking up camp . It would appear that Hugh's cousin Michael W. Rooney probably accompanied him to Montana, as he often talked about hunting buffaloes and being acquainted with the Indians. This was at the time when the locusts ate the farmers' crops and of necessity they had to go elsewhere to earn money. Farming, however, was Mr Rooney's livelihood, and he practiced it for 60 years. Hugh was 94 years of age at the time of his death and had resided on the homestead five miles west of Brooten for almost 60 years. Newspaper Article: 9 Jun 1899 Hugh Rooney and Family Narrowly Escape Death by Fire Bangor township in this county was the scene, on Tuesday evening of last week, of a terrible fire caused by a bolt of lightning, during the rain and thunder storm on that evening, the house of Hugh Rooney of the village of Brooten was struck by lightning and almost instantly burned to the ground. The bolt entered the chimney, scattering the brick all over the lower floor, Mr. Rooney was partially stunned by the shock but recovered his physical and mental activity in an instant and with the assistance of his wife managed to rescue the children who were asleep upstairs, by Mrs. Rooney handling them out through the window from which she afterward jumped herself. In their scant night clothing they made their way in the drenching rain to the house of a neighbor where they were sheltered through the night. Some of the children were obliged to stay in bed the next day until kind neighbors came to their assistance with clothing. Mrs. Rooney who was in a delicate condition, gave birth to a child after reaching the neighbors house, the excitement and exertion no doubt hastening the process of parturition. According to latest report mother and baby as well as the other members of the family were getting along all right. It certainly was a narrow escape from death on part of these people, wither by the electric stroke or the fire it instantly originated. The loss to Mr. Rooney is a severe one, as he is a poor man, but he may consider it a fortune that the lives of his dear ones were saved. From the Glenwood Herald of June 9, 1899 Cause of death: Cardiac decongestion at age 94. According to his grandson Roland Rooney, Hugh was the last person in Pope County to be "laid out" at home. They placed the casket on two chairs or saw horses in the front parlor. Chairs were set up for mourners paying their respects. Person were assigned to take turns during the night sitting in the parlor with the casket. A note from probably June 1975, from Ambrose Rooney: He said his sister Helen once asked Hugh Rooney if he'd tell her all about all the old relatives so she could write it down. He said, "Sure," and that he'd come over sometime soon and tell her about them. He died the next week. So this must have been July of 1948. Married 17 Jul 1888 Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minnesota, age 34 years (married 53 years) to:  Winifred Sophia "Winnie" Rooney, age by marriage 23 years, daughter of Thomas Rooney and Bridget "Biddie" Brown.Born 3 Aug 1864 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died 16 May 1942 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 77 years, buried Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Cause of death: Pulmonary edema due to hypertension and encephalitis (transmitted from horses to humans). Hugh and Winifred were first cousins. Mrs. Hugh Rooney The Hugh Rooney home at Brooten was saddened last Saturday, May 16, when the mother of the home passed away at 11 A.M., following an illness of a few minutes. Winifred Rooney was born at Ottawa, Canada on August 3, 1864, and was therefore 77 years, 9 months and 13 days old at the time of her death. Her parents were Thomas and Bridget Rooney. She came with her family to Padua and was there united in marriage to Hugh Rooney in 1889. Their union was blessed with five sons and two daughters. A son, Harry, preceded his mother to the grave. The surviving sons and daughters are: Rupert and Arthur of Brooten, Peter and John of Milwaukee, Wis., and Mabel and Emily at home. A grandson, Roland Rooney, made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Rooney, since his mother died when he was an infant. He is now in the U.S. Navy and had been home on a week's furlough and had left eight days before for Panama and so was unable to be present at the funeral. Besides her husband and children, Mrs. Rooney leaves a sister, Mr. J. F. Landwehr and a brother John P. Rooney, both of Sedan. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, May 19th at 10 A.M. from the Church of Immaculate Conception of Sedan, of which she had been a faithful member. The services were conducted by Rev. Adolph Schmidt. Burial was made in the Brooten cemetery. Pallbearers were: Steve Mitchell, John Redmond, James and Edmund Rooney, Jack Casey and Joe Egan. Mrs. Rooney was a kind and loving wife and mother, always willing to do things for her family and friends. She will be sadly missed by all who know her. Those from a distance attending the funeral were: Miss Anne Mitchell, Miss Donna Syverson, Minneapolis, Mr. and Mrs. James Martin, Eden Valley, Mrs. Sam Stauffer, Mr. Mike and Mr. Owen Batterbury of New London. Taken from the Pope County Tribune of May 21, 1942. Typed for the Pope County Historical Society September 18, 1972 by Muriel Mattson. Children: 1. Bert Nichols "Bert" RooneyBorn 23 May 1889 Bangor, Pope County, Minnesota, died 29 Nov 1957 Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 68 years, buried Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Burial: St Donatus cemetery, Brooten, MN. 2. Mabel Agnes RooneyBorn 7 Sep 1890 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died 15 Nov 1967 Buffalo, Wright County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 77 years, buried 18 Nov 1967 Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Mabel died at the Retirement Center in Buffalo, MN of cerebral thrombosis. Mabel was a registered nurse, a 1919 graduate of Mounds-Midway school of nursing in St Paul. A member of the St Paul Archdiocesan Council of Catholic nurses, the Mounds-MidwayAlumnae association, the 4th District Minnesota Nurses association, the Cenacle Retreat League in Wayzata, and St. Francis Parish in Buffalo. She was engaged in private duty nursing at Midway hospital, St Paul, until her retirement in 1962 at the age of 72. She died at age 77. Ambrose Gaffaney knew Mabel and Emily, who were both registered nurses. They used to visit James and Catherine Gaffaney. Mabel never married. 3. William Arthur "Arthur; Art" RooneyBorn 6 Jun 1894 Bangor, Pope County, Minnesota, died 20 Apr 1962 Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 67 years, buried 23 Apr 1962 Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota In the University of Minnesota archives, Walter Library, is the book Students Enrolled in the School of Agriculture, 1888-1935, is listed William Arthur Rooney of Brooten. He attended in 1913 but did not graduate. The 1940 census shows William as single. He died of Leukemia. 4. Emily Winifred RooneyBorn 11 Dec 1894 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died 10 Mar 1956 Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, age 61 years Emily attended rural school in Bangor township and took nurse's training at Mounds Park and Midway hospitals in St Paul. She worked as a registered nurse in the Twin Cities until her marriage in 1951 to Mr Lesmeister. Matthias Lesmiester is the popular owner and operator of Lesmiester Motors and is one of Glenwood's prominent business men. 5. Peter Edward "Pete" RooneyBorn 31 Jan 1897 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died 6 Sep 1984 Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, age 87 years Peter died, at the age of 87 years. He was a retire employee ofthe Milwaukee Railroad with 52 years service and member of YardMasters of America Union. 6. Harry "Harry (on gravestone)" RooneyBorn 31 May 1899 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died 15 Feb 1922 Brooten, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery, Brooten, age 22 years Baptismal sponsors: Thomas Egan, Helena Rooney. He was christened "Dennis." 7. John Thomas "Jack" RooneyBorn 28 Mar 1903 Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota, died 27 Jul 1956 Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Event Description: Holy Cross Cemetery, age 53 years Baptismal sponsors: Michael Killeen, Anna Killeen. Died: at St Joseph's hospital. Funeral: St Anne's church. Burial: Holy Cross cemetery. John T Rooney was born in Brooten, MN in 1903 and went to Milwaukee, WI in 1935. He worked for Omar Bakeries for seven years before becoming an insurance agent for the PrudentialInsurance Company, where he worked for 14 years. He had suffered from a heart ailment for two years prior to his death. Jack's nephew Rolland Rooney, age 11, son of William Arthur Rooney, is living with them in Bangor Township in the 1930 census. 8.  Babe RooneyBorn 10 Aug 1904 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, died 10 Aug 1904 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota 9. Babe RooneyBorn 21 Sep 1905 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, died 21 Sep 1905 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota | |||