Saturday, September 26, 2020

The Memoirs of James Moynahan Published On Amazon

It gives me great delight to announce that the Memoirs of James Moynahan are now available in eBook AND paperback form on Amazon. 

I am SO delighted to see this work published and available to others. 

I have been aware of the existence of these memoirs since 2002 when I was corresponding with Lynn and Andrew Muras' aunt June Frances Woeber (1930-2014). I regrettably lost touch with June, and I often wondered what could have possibly happened to those papers? 

 

The top two reasons (I have many reasons) for my excitement about yesterday's official release of this book are:

  • I get to read about James life in his own words (not from the history books and newspapers)
  • I am eternally grateful to have "met" his descendants Lynn and Andrew Muras and thankful for their painstaking transcription and research - all during a global pandemic - that made this book possible.
 
James Story Told in His Voice

I have been writing about James Moynahan (1842-1919) and other Colorado Moynahans since 2015. 

I have relied on newspapers, archive collections, genealogical resources and other genealogists (like June Woeber) to fill in the dashes between B-M-D ( Birth, Marriage and Death dates) but NOTHING can compare to the stories told first person by James himself.

For example, we knew from archival records that James was wounded several times during the Civil War (ie. at the Spottslvania Court House Battle 1864) and that he went home to Michigan on furlough to recover with his family. In James own voice, the telling of this event becomes a telling of a love story about Mary (Monaghan) who would later become his wife at the end of the Civil War.

"I got off at Portage Lake and visited with my youngest sister, Mrs Clinton and her family, then went up to Copper Harbor and visited a day or two with my brother Mathew and also with my Sweet Heart [Mary who eventually became his wife] who had been faithful to me notwithstanding the advice and I might say pressure of her parents and friends.


Of course I had a rival for her possession and although I had knocked him out completely he renewed his attention after I went to the war and pressed his suit with great vigor (as I was afterwards informed by my brothers wife who seemed to have kept well posted)......


Which resulted in her father interviewing her [Mary] on the subject of her future domestic affairs and adviced, if he did not command her, to marry my rival. She was always very reticent even after we were married upon what passed at that interview. But her father confided to his family and it leaked out and finally reached me.


That the father after using all the argument he could command said to her, "well the marrying of Moynahan is out of the question. I see from the papers that he is severely if not mortally wounded and in either case the chances are that he will never return as even a severe wound these times results in death and should he return he will be disabled and crippled for life and of course you could not afford to marry a cripple.'


Then waited for the answer which come slowly but surely "If Jimmie returns though he be shot to pieces I will marry him." Her father said no more. 


It was several years after we were married that the story come to me and upon my asking her about it ..."

The book is filled with passages such as the one above which I find absolutely delightful. 

The Kerry Moynahans arrived in North America in the early 1800s and settled on the homeland of indigenous people; were granted land by the government of the day that needed clearing; were given limited educational opportunities (if any) and had to survive cold Michigan and Ontario winters. These events all made their way into James' memoirs and he did not hide his feelings about the hard work of working on the family farm.

James was one of many first generation North American sons and daughters of the Moynahan family from Kerry, Ireland like my 2nd great-grandfather (James' cousin) Jeremiah Moynahan (1837-1922) in Maidstone, Ontario. I can't help wondering, as I read James' words,  if they both felt the same about early settler life in Ontario and Michigan.

"Meeting" Andrew and Lynn Muras

In July 2019, I received the following message through the contact form on my Moynahan Genealogy Blog 

"Was cleaning out my father-in-laws home and came across James Moynahan’s handwritten memoirs-several hundred pages of his life and civil war. He was my wife’s gr-gr grandfather. They are descended through A.E. Moynahan. Wasn’t sure if you had these or were interested in a copy."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

We (Andrew Muras and I) continued to correspond by email and I was grateful to receive snippets of text from the memoirs and photographs and news clippings. With each email I grew more enchanted by the colorful character who accomplished so much in his lifetime and excited to read MORE!.

Documents received by email from the Muras family as they painstakingly organized the memoirs

In February 2020, on the cusp of the world pandemic, Andrew wrote to me again to let me know that he and Lynn were back to the time-consuming, hard work of transcribing the memoirs. 

"I'm 'hooked' again. Almost feels like I'm living 150+ years ago and I'm anxious to find out what's going to happen next.  I try and do 3-4 nights a week, usually takes about an hour to work through 5-6 pages - unless they're out of order or mostly unreadable and then longer.  Looks like I have another 140 pages or so to go, and then have to go back through to place things in the right order, re-look at words/phrases that we couldn't figure out, etc."

I was hooked too! I loved the way James described his life, his attitude, his recollections and even though he admitted not knowing a great deal about his Irish roots, his handwritten notes helped me in my Moynahan research because, for the very FIRST time
  • I learned the names of ALL of Matthew and Honora (O'Leary) Moynahan's (1770-1860) children! This was HUGE! I knew that there were six sons and three daughters (thanks to Timothy Moynahan 1813-1902) but I was missing many names, especially of the women (except Mary named in Matthew's will)
  • I learned that they all came over at once except for two sons (James and Jeremiah) who arrived later (around 1830 or 1831)
  • I learned that the eldest son received an education (all the others did not)
  • I learned that the Moynahans "were all large men and women. "My father James being 6 1/2 feet in his stockings and heavy built with large bones and muscles"
 
I am so grateful that Lynn and Andrew reached out to me and that they allowed me to witness their journey and invited me to contribute in a small way.
Thank You Lynn and Andrew Muras
 
I/we owe a debt of  gratitude to the whole Woeber family for safeguarding these stacks of paper as they were moved into various homes over the past one hundred years. 
  • Zelda (Moynahan) Woeber (1901-2002) for making sure there was a written record, writing on the backs of so many photos (like the Krolicki engagement photo, etc. I love her memories which were also included in the book)
  • Zelda's daughter June Woeber (1930-2014) and son James Warren Woeber (1926-2018) who safeguarded these precious papers over the years
  • Last but not least Lynn and Andrew Muras for finding the papers while cleaning out James Woeber's home after his death and making the decision to share them with ALL of us. And Laurie Linderman for her contributions and editing efforts as well.
  • Special thanks to our Tilbury cousin Randy Moynahan who visited Colorado and walked in the footsteps of James Moynahan and passed on a book and some photographs to me that were also used with his permission in the book.

Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren't for James Moynahan himself. 

The Moynahans of County Kerry could not have dreamed that their first generation American-Irish son would become a farmer, a miner, a Civil War soldier and hero, a Colorado senator, a mayor of Alma Colorado, a postmaster, a successful merchant, a fire chief, and a devoted and loving family man.

And I believe that our common ancestor (my 4th great-grandfather/James' grandfather) Matthew Moynahan (1770-1860) is looking down with all of the other ancestors and saying "That's a life well-lived in service to family and community James Moynahan....well done!"

eBook from AMAZON

The book "First Alma Citizen: The Memoirs of James A. Moynahan (1842-1919)"  can be purchased in eBook form from:

 


 

Kindle eBooks can be read on 

 Paperback Book from AMAZON

The book "First Alma Citizen: The Memoirs of James A. Moynahan (1842-1919)"  can be purchased in paperback form from:




Write A Review

This book is a pleasure to read for everyone interested in reading personal memoirs and biographies and would be really useful for researchers, genealogists, family historians, Civil War Historians, historical societies and genealogical societies in Ontario, Michigan, Colorado and Ireland.

I do hope that I have inspired you to purchase a copy. Lynn and Andrew Muras purposely kept the costs as low as possible motivated by the intention to share this remarkable story more broadly rather than turn a profit.

If you do purchase a copy and enjoy this treasure, please consider leaving a customer review and share your thoughts with other potential readers. Enjoy!

 

More Moynahan Blog Post Links

The Colorado (USA) Moynahans:

The Michigan (USA) Moynahans:

The Maidstone (Ontario) Moynahans

The Tilbury (Ontario) Moynahans

 


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