Patrick Comerford
An interesting Comerford family in California is descended Michael Joseph Comerford (1797-1892) from Dundalk, Co Louth. I have come across the details of this family in recent days, and earlier this week I updated the page on the Comerford family of Dundalk on the Comerford Family site. But I thought it was worth sharing these findings here too.
Michael Joseph Comerford (1797-1892) was born on 28 September 1797 in Co Louth. He emigrated from Dundalk first to England in the early 1840s, and then to Sydney in Australia, where he lived from around 1844 or 1845 until 1851 or 1852. He then moved to California, where he lived in San Francisco before buying a large 154 acre ranch at Laguna Alta in San Mateo County, California, in 1869. The house was known to as Salada Beach and was the Comerford family home until at least the late 1930s.
Michael Comerford was married three times, and was the father and grandfather of a large family.
He married (1), Sarah Jane Jordan (1826-1869) in January 1840 in Co Louth. Sarah was born in January 1826 in Dundalk, Co Louth. She died on 18 November 1869, probably at the family ranch, Salada Beach. They were the parents of 11 children, four sons and seven daughters:
1, Peter Comerford, born Dundalk, Co Louth.
2, Margaret (1843-1924), born 8 January 1843 in England, although there is a possibility that she was born in Dundalk. She married (1) Louis Richard de la Hautiere at Mission Dolores in San Francisco on 8 January 1861, and they were the parents of a daughter, (Dr) Rosalie Sarah de la Hautiere (1861-1944). Richard died in San Francisco in 1864, and Margaret married (2) in San Francisco George C Chandler (1832-1896) from London. They were the parents of a son, George Louis Chandler (1868-1941). Margaret died aged 81 on 13 March 1924 in San Francisco.
3, Sarah Jane (1845-1886), born 20 March 1845 in Sydney, New South Wales. She married John James Michael Carroll (1822-1914) from Ireland, in January 1862 at Mission Dolores, San Francisco, and they were the parents of 13 children, nine sons and four daughters.
4, Catherine Agnes (1847-1912). She was born 7 May 1847 in Sydney, New South Wales. She married William Sylvester Chandler (1829-1898), originally from London, chief steward on the SS City of Tokio and the SS City of Peking with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. They lived on Duncan Street, San Francisco, and were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters. She died aged 65 on 18 December 1912 in San Francisco.
5, Mary Scholastica (1849-1929), born 5 March 1849 in Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales. She married as his second wife Joseph Johnson Hill (1828-1884), from Co Antrim, previously married to Ellen Mary Stott (1833-1868). Mary and Joseph lived on Duncan Street, San Francisco, and were the parents of a son and a daughter.
6, Joseph Mauries (sometimes Morris) Michael Comerford (1851-1899), born 15 January 1851 in Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales. He married on 1 December 1874 in San Francisco Elizabeth C (‘Eliza’) Kellet, daughter of Charles Kellet and Ellen F (née Quinlan). They lived on Folsom Street, San Francisco. Joseph died on 11 March 1899, aged 48, and the widowed Eliza married (2) Frank Herbert. Joseph and Eliza Comerford were the parents of 13 children:
• 1a, Sarah (‘Marie’) A (1876-1879), born in San Francisco 1876, died 4 November 1879.
• 2a, Emmet Robert (sometimes Robert Emmet) Comerford (1877-1925), born in San Francisco 11 September 1877, died at Salada Beach, San Mateo County, 28 May 1925.
• 3a, CA Comerford (1879-1879, gender and full name unknown), born in San Francisco in January 1879, died 25 May 1879, aged 3-4 months, San Francisco.
• 4a, Joseph Howard Comerford (1880-1912), born in San Francisco 13 December 1880, died aged 31 on 6 September 1912 in Santa Cruz, California.
• 5a, Mary A (1882-ca1937), twin, born 29 April 1882 in San Francisco; unmarried; died aged 55.
• 6a, May J (1882-1882), twin, born 29 April 1882 in San Francisco, died 2 August 1882.
• 7a, Elizabeth Lydia (1883-1972), born 28 May 1883, Colma, San Mateo; she married William P Fahey (1881-1914), and they were the parents of one son, William P Fahey (1914-1927); she died 9 July 1972, aged 89, in Alameda, California.
• 8a, Jeanette (‘Nettie’) Therese (1885-1982), born 3 January 1885 in San Francisco; she married Herman Halsted ‘Dutch’ Pierson (1885-1972) ca 1916 in California; she died on 30 May 1982, aged 97, in Alameda, California.
• 9a, Alice Agnes (1886-1926), born 3 January 1886 in San Francisco. She married … Taylor after 1910, and they were divorced before 1920; she died 26 January 1926, aged 39, in San Mateo.
• 10a, Francis Comerford (1888-1888), born 4 March 1888 in San Francisco; died 16 March 1888 in San Francisco.
• 11a, Ethel (1891-1986), born May 1891 in San Francisco; died 15 October 1891 in San Francisco.
• 12a, Irene (1892-1986), born 13 July 1892 in San Francisco. She married in Saint Michael’s Cathedral, San Francisco, on 14 Jul 1917 Ernest (‘Ernie’) Joseph Bracchi (1896-1957). They were the parents of one son, Ernest Comerford Bracchi (1929-2020), a teacher, of Stockton, California. Irene (Comerford) Bracchi died 18 February 1986 in Capitola, California.
• 13a, Raymond (‘Ray’) Joseph Comerford (1895-1913), born May 1895 in San Francisco; he died aged 18 in a road accident on 31 December 1913.
7, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Gertrude (1853-1914), born 18 April 1853 in San Francisco. She married Amadeo J Fava in 1874 in San Francisco, and they were the parents of two daughters and a son. She died on 17 March 1914 in Oakland, Alameda.
8, Agnes (1854-1868), born 30 December 1854 in San Francisco, died 21 February 1868, aged 13, in San Francisco.
9, Scipio Comerford (1858- ), born in California in 1868, may have died in childhood.
10, Charlotte Louise (1860-1918), born 4 November 1860 in San Francisco, she married … Moffat, and died in San Francisco, 30 July 1918, aged 57. She was the mother of a son and a daughter.
11, John Joseph Comerford (1865-1956), born San Francisco 9 February 1865, died 1 August 1956, aged 91.
Michael Joseph Comerford married (2), Alice English (ca 1817-1877), on 12 November 1870 in San Mateo County, California. Alice was born ca 1817 in Co Waterford, and she died at the family ranch, Salada Beach, in Laguna Alta, San Mateo County, California, on 4 February 1877.
Michael Joseph Comerford married (3), Catherine (Kate) Mulvey on 27 September 1878 in San Mateo County, California. Kate was born in Ireland ca 1849-1853.
Michael Joseph Comerford died aged 95 on 17 December 1892 in his daughter’s the home his daughter, Mary Scholastica (Comerford) Hill on Duncan Street, San Francisco. He was buried in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County.
For the Comerford family of Dundalk, Co Louth, visit HERE
Last updated: 4 May 2023.
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