Michael Patrick Lavelle, my great grandfather, was employed as a bookkeeper by Gilligan and Kennedy; and shared a room at 610 Alaska with his brother, Thomas, a laborer. And, as previously mentioned, the O�Grady family had settled in Walkerville. In 1889, the year of Daniel O�Grady Sr�s death, he is listed in the city directory as being a blacksmith at the Anaconda mine and living on West Daly, Walkerville. That year, the O�Grady brother�s, Dan and George, were recorded as residing with their mother, Catherine, on West Daly. Both sons were gainfully employed in the mines. Dan was an engineer at the Moose Mine; while George was a carman at Belle of Butte. Their sister, Elizabeth, who would marry Marcus Daly�s nephew, Marcus O�Farrell, was also still at home.
Patriarch Daniel O�Grady had died in 1889. Recorded in the Diocese of Helena, Record of Interments for St. Patrick�s Church, is a notation reporting Daniel�s burial. He died of pneumonia on October 6, 1889 and was buried by the Reverend H. J. van de Ven on the 7th. Alas, there isn�t a corresponding cemetery record at the large St. Patrick�s cemetery, although this is where he was buried. [The Reverend van de Ven joined St. Patrick�s in December, 1886; succeeding French Canadian Father L.S. Tremblay. Tremblay had only the previous year replaced Father John Dols, the first pastor of St. Patrick�s. Father van de Ven would remain in Butte until Bishop Brondel transferred him in 1893. It was Father van de Ven who married Michael Patrick Lavelle to Ellen O�Grady; and who would baptize their son, Daniel, my grandfather, on July 22, 1891.
After the death of Daniel O�Grady, Catherine O�Grady took in boarders. It was quite common for widows to do so. Taking in boarders, or doing mending and laundry were the only respectable means for a widow to supplement the family income (Murphy 19). Women did not, and would not, work outside the home for another 10-15 years. Working as a domestic was, perhaps, the only socially acceptable exception.
Late 1889, youngest O�Grady daughter Petronella [Ellen] married boarder Michael Patrick Lavelle. He had left Gilligan and Kennedy to clerk with J.J. Harrington & Co. Catherine O�Grady truly had a full house at the turn of the century. She would have her boys and girls, their spouses and the first of her grandchildren, as well.
The subsequent 1891 city directory actually lists �Catherine O�Grady (widow of Daniel)� as residing on the �n s of W. Daly, Walkerville�. Oldest O�Grady son, Daniel Jr was wed to Nellie Malvin on June 14, 1892 at St. Patrick�s. Once again, Pastor van de Ven would officiate at a family wedding. Marcus O�Farrell (nephew of Copper King Marcus Daly) and wife, Elizabeth O�Grady stood as witnesses. Ellen O�Grady Lavelle gave birth to her second child, James Raymond on August 31, 1894.
By 1895 the city directories assigned the O�Grady address actual street numbers: 107 and 109 W. Daly. The civil listings showed the O�Grady boys serving as Postmaster and Assistant Postmaster of Walkerville that year, but by 1896 they would be back in the mines. Both were engineers, George at the Bell and Daniel at the Blue Wing. Their sister, Petronella [Ellen] O'Grady Lavelle, gave birth to her third child, baby Harold, on October 18, 1896.
