Downtown Taghmon

Downtown Taghmon
Main Street, Taghmon, County Wexford, 2011

About James Connor and Anastasia Colfour (Colfer)

About James Connor and Anastasia Colfer

James Connor (c1818-1897) and Anastasia Colfour (Colfer) (c1821-1884) married in the Parish of Taghmon in 1842 and emigrated from County Wexford, possibly the town of Taghmon, between c1852-1854. History states that James preceded Anna by two years. Shortly after arriving in America, they settled in Evanston, Illinois. They lived and farmed in an area of Evanston now known as Stockham Park until about 1862 when they moved to the corner of Ridge Avenue and Lake Street in Evanston. Several siblings of James' also came to the U.S. around the same time and resided in Evanston. They include his twin siblings Katherine and Thomas, both of whom never married; and, his brother Patrick who married Margaret Welsch. James and Anna had six children, the first five of whom were born in Ireland. They include Ellen (Sullivan) (1843-1919), James C. (1846-1890), Bridget Lucy (Headen/Hayden) (1849-1876); John A. (1852-1932); Mary E. (Haughey) (1854-1934); and, Thomas E. (1857-1929). Anna died of typhoid pneumonia on April 15, 1884. James, lived to be 79, spending the last thirteen years living with his son Thomas. James died on October 2, 1897.

Monday, May 31, 2010

School built by Connor and McCann, c1892

"To replace the old North Ridge School, District 1 commissioned D. H. Burnham to prepare plans for a new building at 927 Noyes Street in 1892. Built of Milwaukee brick by Connor & McCann, the $35,000 Noyes Street School was thought to be 'a much finer building than the Haven building,' which had been designed by Burnham & Root. The two-story school, 60 feet by 136 feet, had large windows to provide ample light for all the young scholars and a combined hot-air heating and ventilation system that seemed to be 'the most efficacious and sanitary yet devised.' In 1949 there was an auditorium and gymnasium addition designed by Perkins & Will. After the District 65 School Board closed the school in 1976, it leased the property to the Noyes Cultural Arts Center. The city bought the building in 1980, and the center continues to provide space for artists, sculptors, actors, musicians, and the Evanston Arts Council. (Photograph by Waterman, courtesy Evanston Historical Society)"
Buchbinder-Green, Barbara J., Evanston: A Pictorial History, G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1989, page 102.
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