The Family Mystery
Hugh McCleary was my maternal grandfather. I only have one photograph and a few items that document his life, which include a manifest document for his arrival in America and his World War I draft registration card, as well as a few census documents.
What I do know is that Hugh McAlarey (later McCleary) was born in 1873, in Ireland, and married my grandmother, Mary Ann Harte on New Year’s Eve, 1902 in Glasgow, Scotland. He and my grandmother were living in Scotland at the time with his occupation listed as a Locomotive Stoker while Mary Ann identified as a Collar Dresser. The marriage document also lists his parents as Hugh McAlarey, a Coachman, and Elizabeth McLister McAlarey and Mary Ann’s parents as John Hart, Farmer, and Alice McGoldbrick Hart.
Their first child, John, was born in Glasgow, Scotland on September 24, 1903. A second son, Hugh was born in Ireland in 1907.
Hugh Sr. emigrated alone to the United States, arriving in New York City on November 7, 1906. His intended destination was to the address of Mary’s sister, Alice Harte, at 510 West 21 Street, Manhattan. Mary, John, and Hugh Jr. followed to the same Manhattan address almost a year later, arriving in New York on 29 September 1907.
Tragedy Hits
During the next several years, there was constant change and disruption. Records show that Mary and Hugh moved frequently, often just a few blocks. They suffered the loss of their four-year-old, who died two months after his family’s arrival, and later, three additional infants died shortly after their birth. My mother, Mary, must have been a great joy when she was born on December 5, 1913. Another strong baby, Joseph, was born in 1919, only to be killed in the street by a commercial truck in 1923. Of Hugh and Mary’s seven children, only two survived past four years old, and they lived into their 80’s and 90’s.
Hugh, handsome with dark hair and gray eyes, was 5’10, considered tall for a man at that time. For many years, he worked as a “Stationary Fireman” for the New York Central Railroad, 30th Street Yard, NYCRR, an important freight train facility which was later known and Hudson Yards.
While he registered for the draft at age 38 in September of 1918, he never served, since World War I ended in November of that same year. After the census of 1920, there are no more traces of Hugh. Family members have different stories, one that he died at work due to a train accident; others have said he abandoned his family. I have never been able to locate his death certificate.
Whatever the reason, one fact remains clear: There now was no father figure in the McCleary household, leaving his wife with three children and no income.
Lessons from Hugh
What can we learn from a life with little information and one photograph? I believe Hugh was an immigrant who sought a better life for his family in America. He was steadily employed in a job at the railroad during a time when wages were low and unemployment high. Dutifully, he registered for the draft.
But stories do not always have a happy or defined ending. Dreams do not always come true. Hugh never saw his children grow up and become parents. Sadly, he never lived to meet his eight grandchildren. The dream had to be postponed; it was realized in the next generation when Hugh’s grandchildren grew up healthy, received an education, became loving parents, and finally, inheritors of the American dream.