Mary A. Carey Bagan 1851-1923

BAGAN, CAREY, YEPSEN, LYNCH, SWIFT, DOYLE, NOONAN, MARTIN, GRANAHAN, MULICK

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/15/2011 at 00:20:24

Mrs. Mary A. Bagan, One of Our Pioneer Women, Passed Away
Mary A. Bagan, who has resided in this county since eighteen eighty-one, passed away in this city on May the 12th at seven thirty a.m. Mrs. Bagan has resided in this city for many years although she lived in the county in Lincoln township when there were but very few of the early settlers residing there. Mrs. Bagan was not a woman of wide acquaintance as some people, but her friends were of the close friendship type, and she was greatly beloved by those who knew her. She was a devout member of the Catholic church and was a regular attendant to her church duties.

Mrs. Mary A. Bagan was born in Watertown, Wis., on January third, 1853. Her maiden name was Mary A. Carey and she was united in marriage to Patrick J. Bagan, of Chester, Iowa, on June third, 1874. Their first home was near LeRoy, Minn., on a farm, and they moved from there to this county. Her husband passed away twenty-six years ago and Mrs. Bagan passed away on the date of his eightieth birthday.

Mrs. Bagan came from a family who were very devoted to each other, and during her last illness which has been for the past eleven weeks, she has had six sisters and two brothers to visit her, she being the first of a family of nine to pass away.

The funeral services were held from the Catholic church on Monday morning, the Rev. C. P. Conway, officiating and the remains were laid to rest in St. Patrick’s cemetery south of this city.

There are left to mourn the death of a mother, seven children of a family of eleven, and there are twenty-one grand children who will miss a grandmother. The children are Mrs. R. C. Yepsen, Detroit, Mich.; Mrs. Roy Lynch, Eldora, Iowa; P. J. Bagan, Waterloo, Iowa; David Bagan, Fort Dodge, Iowa; Mrs. W. E. Swift, D. A. Bagan and W. E. Bagan, Estherville, Iowa.

Those from out of the city attending the services were: Mrs. P. J. Noonan and son, Pat, Crosby, N.D.; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Carey, Albert Lea, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. M. Burns, Cleveland, Minn.; Mrs. M. Mulick, Grand Island, Nebr.; and daughter, Mrs. L. Costello; Peter Bagan, Vancouver, B.C.; Mrs. Mike Doyle and daughters, Mayme, and sons, Mike and Will, Albert Lea, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. George Bagan, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Carey, Pat Carey, Mrs. Bridget O’Leary, Mr. and Mrs. Frank O’Hearn, Mrs. Tom Bagan, all of Albert Lea, Minn.; Mrs. Pat Granahan and two daughters, Nellie and Mayme, Mr. and Mrs. John Carey, Frank Bagan, Chester, Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. James Martin and son, Jim, Fort Dodge, Iowa; Mrs. P. McGuire, Albert Lea, Minn. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, May 16, 1923)

The Passing of County’s Old Settler
Mrs. Mary Bagan Dies at the Home of Daughter
Came to County in 1881
She and Husband Located on Quarter Section in Lincoln Twp. – Mother of Eleven
Mrs. Mary Bagan died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Wm. Swift in this city last Saturday morning, May 12th, following an illness of stomach and liver trouble for nearly three months. At the time of her death she was 70 years, 4 months and 7 days of age. She was the beloved wife of Mr. P. Bagan, who passed to his reward on the old homestead in Lincoln township in this county on July 22, 1897, twenty-six years ago.

The death of Mrs. Bagan witnessed the passing of another one of the pioneer settlers of Emmet county. She came to this county with her husband in 1881, forty-two years ago, and with the exception of the time spent in visiting relatives she has resided in the county continuously since that time.

Mr. and Mrs. Bagan were real pioneers. They purchased the quarter section on which they lived from Union county, Iowa, for $720. They paid one hundred dollars down and the balance was paid in annual installments expanding over a period of four years. There was no railroad in the county at that time and Mr. Bagan helped to build the old B.C.R. & N. railroad when that line was built here from Cedar Rapids. When they came to the county Estherville was not much more than a post office, with perhaps three or four business establishments. Swan Lake was the metropolis of the county at that time and Mr. Bagan was assistant mail carrier and stage driver between Fairmont, Minnesota, and Swan Lake, his brother, J. P. Bagan had the contract from the government.

For the first few years these pioneers were here, stock raising was the principal means of livelihood and while the Bagans did not have many head of cattle of their own they had charge of very large herds owned by ----. At one time there were two thousand head in the --- under their supervision. At that time that part of the county was a --- grazing district and most of the county was made up of “swampland.” The state in an early day had sold the swamp lands of the state to the different counties and it happened that Union county bought some that was located in Emmet county. That was why the deed to the Bagan homestead was from Union county. The contract for the particular tract of land on file in the county recorder’s office in Estherville and is an interesting instrument. This land was bought by Mr. Bagan for four dollars and fifty cents an acre but forty years from that time it sold for two hundred and eighty-five dollars an acre.

There were many privations and hardships during the pioneer days in this county and Mr. and Mrs. Bagan experienced them all but with fortitude enduring. They raised a large family of eleven children and all but two grew to manhood and womanhood. By industry and frugality Mr. and Mrs. Bagan prospered and at the time of Mr. Bagan’s death they had a fine home and were among Emmet county’s well-to-do people.

Mrs. Bagan, whose maiden name was Mary A. Carey, was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, on January 3, 1858. Three years after that she moved with her parents to Chester, Iowa, where she grew to womanhood. She was the third oldest child of a family of ten children, all of whom except Mrs. Bagan, are now living. Her parents both lived to be over ninety years of age, her mother dying only five years ago.

She was united in marriage to Patrick J. Bagan, at Chester, Iowa on June 30th, 1872. Soon after that they moved to a farm near LeRoy, Minnesota, where they resided until 1881, when they moved to Emmet county where they had purchased a farm in Lincoln township as above stated.

To this union eleven children were born seven of whom are living. Two daughters died in infancy and two sons after they had reached manhood. The surviving children are: Mrs. R. C. Yepsen, of Detroit, Michigan; Mrs. Roy Lynch of Eldora; Mrs. Wm. Swift, Estherville; Mr. D. V. Bagan, Fort Dodge; Mr. P. J. Bagan, Waterloo; Mr. D. A. Bagan and Mr. W. E. Bagan of Estherville. There are twenty-one grandchildren living.

Besides the children at the funeral, other relatives were in attendance: Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Carey, Albert Lea, Minnesota; Mr. and Mrs. Mile Mulick, Grand Island, Nebraska, and daughter, Mrs. L. Castello, Peter Bagan, Vancouver, B.C.; Mike Doyle and daughter, Mayme and sons Mike and Will of Albert Lea, Minnesota; Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Bagan, Albert Lea, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Carey, Albert Lea, Mr. and Mrs. M. Burns, Cleveland, Minnesota; Mrs. Bridget O’Leary, Albert Lea; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ahearn, Albert Lea; Mrs. Tom Bagan, two daughter, Mayme and Nellie, Chester, Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. John Carey and Frank Bagan, also of Chester; Pat Carey, Albert Lea; Mr. and Mrs. James Martin and son James, Fort Dodge.

Besides the seven children, deceased is survived by the following brothers and sisters: Wm. Carey and Mrs. M. Doyle of Albert Lea; Mrs. P. J. Noonan, Crosby, Minnesota; Mrs. J. P. Bagan, Vancouver, B.C., Mrs. J. Martin, Fort Dodge; Mrs. M. Bagan, Cleveland, Minnesota; Mrs. P. Granahan and Mr. John Carey of Chester, Iowa, and Mrs. M. Mulick of Grand Island, Nebraska, all of whom visited their sister during her late illness.

Funeral was held from St. Patrick’s Catholic church Monday morning and interment made in the Catholic cemetery, Rev. C. P. Conway officiating. Many relatives and friends were in attendance to pay their last tokens of love and respect to a greatly beloved lady.

Mrs. Bagan was a very devoted mother, a faithful wife and helpmeet and kind neighbor. She was a true Christian lady and during all of the trials and tribulations incident to pioneer life and during her period of sickness she bore her burden uncomplainingly. It was her mission to cheer and to uplift. She looked upon the brightest side of life and while others might have faltered by the wayside during the struggles of early days she kept in good cheer and by so doing helped the husband and father to overcome the many obstacles there were encountered half a century ago on the prairies of Iowa and Minnesota. The world is the better for having had such an helpmeet and mother. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, May 16, 1923)

Note: Per cemetery records year of birth is 1851