The SHAY Family

SHAY, WHEELAN, SHEA, KRECKLE, VOORHIES, TURNER, SHEIL, BRABY, HART, OTOOLE, CUNNINGHAM, LAMBERT, MONAGHAN, REED, MULLIN, OCONNELL, DALE, CARTER, BOWMAN, FINCH, ROOF, MELTON, HOLMES, JOHNSTON, FISHER

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 9/2/2011 at 11:33:51

MALOY, IOWA CENTENNIAL HISTORY: 1887 - 1987
Family & Biographical Pages

THE SHAY FAMILY

Luke SHAY (1824-1896) grew to manhood on a farm in County Laois in the central plain region of Ireland which contains most of the farmland of the island.

Luke's father's farm was a relatively good one consisting of 11 acres allotted to him by an absentee landlord. No Irishman could own land, and most allottments were for one or two acres. In addition to raising small patches of oats, barley and potatoes, Luke's father was a drover (cattle man).

Luke grew up with a yearing for land of his own and decided early to come to America where land was said to be available.

According, in 1848 just three months after his married to Julia WHELAN, the young couple booked passage out of Ivanhoe. The log book of that ship lists Luke SHEA, his wife Julia, and his brother Thomas. It also lists their stated destination as Baltimore.

Nevertheless, the ship landed at Castle Garden, New York, and somehow or other Luke made his way to Baltimore.

Laborers were in demand for building the railroads west from Baltimore. Luke found work immediately, and as the railroad moved west, so did Luke. After living briefly in Kentucky and Indiana, in 1851 he set out for the West with $360 in his pocket. Following the trail of the Mormans, he arried at Mount Pisgah in Union County, and spent the winter there on Morman land. In the spring of 1852, Julie, with two babies and a featherbed, made her way to Keokuk where Luke met them with a wagon.

A year later he purchased land in Ringgold County in what is now Jefferson Township. In 1854 he built a log house, and the Shays were in Iowa to stay.

While they were still living in the log cabin, a priest, Father KRECKLE from Ottumwa, visited them and conducted the first Catholic services in the county in their home.

After a few years Luke built a fram house and presented the log house to the community to be used as a school.

In addition to clearing and lanting his initial purchase, he bought more land, and before 1856 he had received patents from the Federal Land Office in Chariton for 800 acres.

in 1855 when Ringgold County was organized, the first business of the District Court ws the naturalization of Luke SHAY. Court records of 1857 show that a homeless 16-year-old boy, Cornelius VOORHIES, was remanded to his custody. The boy made his home with them until Luke left Jefferson Township. At that time he conveyed to the young man 80 acres of his land in that area.

In 1864 Luke traded 400 acres in Jefferson Township to Josiah TURNER for 800 acres in Benton Township in Sections 16 and 23. Luke lived there until 1867 when he bought the John DALE farm adjoining his and built his home there.

It was there that Luke and Julia reared their family of nine children, and kept open house for incoming settlers who needed help in establishing their own homes.

Knowing from his early experiences in Ireland that the lush prairie grass would sustain livestock, he became one of the county's most successful stockmen. At first the cattle were drivin to Keokuk or Ottumwa, but he lived to see the coming of the railroads and to ship countless loads of stock to Chicago.

He was a man of principle and honor. His religion was important to him, and he lived according to his beliefs. It was a happy day when, at the urging of Mrs. SHAY, a resident priest was assigned to the church in Maloy.

Julia had been educated by the Ursuline nuns in Limerick, but Luke had no opportunity for education. They agreed that for their offspring, education was a must. As the family completed their school days at Benedict's in Atchinson, Kansas, and daughter Margaret to Vititation Academy in Ottumwa.

In 1881 the SHAYS moved to a farm just north of Mount Ayr. At that time he gave his sons, Tom and Doug, 200 acres each from the TURNER and DALE farms, and they lived in the homes Luke had built.

In 1890 Luke and Julia moved back to Maloy and built a house at the west edge of town where they lived until their deaths in 1896 and 1899.

The house was sold to James L. SHEIL and has been occupied continuously through the years. Robert Edward SHAY (Luke's great-great-grandson) and family lived there from 1969 until 1980. It is currently occupied by Craig and Kathi BRABY and family.

Three of their children died at an early age. The surviving sons were John Valentine, Jeremiah, Thomas Stephen, William Henry "Doug" and Michael Chancey. Their only daughter was Margaret (Mrs. Michael HART).

John gave up the farm and moved to Blockton where he became a cattle buyer, and Margaret's family eventually moved to St. Louis. The other four children and their descendants were a part of Maloy history for the next hundred years.

NOTES: Luke SHAY was born to John SHEA (1793-1868) and Margaret (O'TOOLE) SHEA (1791-1873) in February 22, 1824. Luke SHAY served during Iowa's Honey War and during the Civil War with Company C of the 3rd Battalion of the Southern Iowa Border Brigade. He married Julia WHELAN March 6, 1848. They arrived in New York May 10, 1848. Luke SHAY died at the age of 72 years on December 24, 1896.

Julia (WHELAN) SHAY died at her Maloy home at the age of 72 years on February 26, 1899. Luke and Julia were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery located east of Maloy.

Luke and Julia's nine children:

1) John Valentine SHAY, born 14 Feb 1849, Baltimore MD; died 27 Apr 1931, Blockton IA

2) Jeremiah "Jerry" SHAY, born 15 Dec 1850; died 03 Mar 1919; married 09 Feb 1873, Maryville MO Anna Bridget CUNNINGHAM Anna Bridge CUNNINGHAM, daughter of John and Roseanna CUNNINGHAM, born 01 Sep 1855, Perry Co. OH; died age 48 of typhoid fever, 07 Sep 1903, Maloy
children:
Margaret Mary "Maggie" SHAY, born 19 May 1876; died aged 4 11 Mar 1881, Maloy
Marinetta SHAY, born 26 Sep 1878; died aged 12 years 27 Apr 1891, Maloy
Julia SHAY, born 15 Apr 1883, Maloy IA; died aged 3 19 May 1886, Maloy

3) Thomas Stephen SHAY Sr., born 19 Dec 1855, Ringgold Co. IA; died 29 Sep 1941, Maloy; maried 30 May 1880 Rosa LAMBERT Rosa (LAMBERT) SHAY, daughter of William & Ann (MONAGHAN) LAMBERT, born 10 Mar 1851, Wilmont WI; died 27 Feb 1929, Maloy
Children:
William Luke SHAY, born 05 Mar 1881, IA; died 15 Jan 1956, Maloy IA married 16 Jun 1915 Carolyn Maxenta HART
child:

William Edward SHAY, born 10 Nov 1918, Maloy; WW II Veteran; died 16 Nov 1982 (obit)

married 24 Nov 1945 Mabel REED
Robert Emmett SHAY, born near Maloy 08 Jul 1884; died 27 Dec 1983, Mount Ayr married 16 Jun 1909 Margaret Ellen HART
Marie Julia SHAY, born 01 Jul 1891, Maloy; died 8 months 07 Mar 1892, Maloy
Thomas Stephen SHAY, Jr., born 05 Jul 1888, Iowa; died 15 Oct 1954; married Mary E. MULLIN
Mary E. (MULLIN) SHAY born 1892, died 1951.

4) Margaret Ellen (SHAY) HART, born 21 Nov 1857, Clarke Co. IA; died 31 May 1940, St. Louis MO; married 01 Feb 1875, Benton IA Michael N. HART. Michael N. HART, son of Richard and Mary Theresa (O'CONNELL) HART, born 22 Feb 1847, Franklin Co. NY; died 18 May 1909, Maloy.
Child: John Edward HART, born 1886, Maloy; died age 3 11 Mar 1887, Maloy

5) William Henry "Doug" SHAY, born 19 Dec 1858, Ringgold Co. IA; died 27 Nov 1937; married 03 Feb 1879 Anna Margaret HART

6) Luke Hamilton SHAY, born 16 Mar 1860; died 06 Oct 1862

7) Michael Chancey SHAY, born 20 Feb 1862, Maloy; died 05 Jan 1945, Maloy. married October 20, 1885, Maloy Ellen Josephine "Nell" MULLIN

8) Mary Jane SHAY, born 09 Jan 1864; died 01 Feb 1897

9) Edward Luke SHAY, born 15 Sep 1866; died 26 Sep 1886

JOHN V. SHAY FAMILY

John Valentine received his rather unusual name for perfectly logical reasons - John in honor of Luke's father, and Valentine because he was born on February 14 1849 in Baltimore.

John was a much traveled young man when he arrived in Benton Township at the age of 14. Groving up on the farm west of Maloy, he married Emma TURNER, daughter of Bazzel TURNER and granddaughter of Jesse DALE in 1872.

For some years the couple lived on farms near their families. They eventually moved to Blockton and John became a cattle buyer. John and Emma are buried in the Blockton [Rose Hill] cemetery.

They were the parents of five children: Ralph Leo, Roy Olaf, Luke Earnest, Flora Dorinda (namesake of Mrs. John D. CARTER) and Mary Margaret.

Ralph married Della BOWMAN [(1877-1961)] and had one son Hulan (Happy). After Ralph's death in 1904, Della married Creston FINCH, who ran the Maloy Mercantile for a number of years.

Flora Dorinda (Fay) married Edward ROOF. They and their son Haldane lived in Blockton where Ed was a banker. They later moved to Denver, Colorado.

Roy established his home in St. Joseph, Missouri where he was a member of a livestock commission firm.

Earnest and Mary (Mrs. Frank MELTON) lived in Kansas. Earnest was a veterinarian.

Most of their descendants live in Colorado or Missouri.

NOTES: John Valentine SHAY died at the age of 82 years April 27, 1931, Blockton. He married Mary "Emma" TURNER on April 4, 1872. Mary "Emma" (TURNER) SHAY, daughter of Bazzel and Mary (DALE) TURNER, was born near Corydon, Iowa on June 23, 1854, and died at the age of 71 years July 26, 1925, Blockton, Iowa. They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Blockton, Taylor County, Iowa.

Della M. (BOWMAN) SHAY FINCH, daughter of Wilson Clark and Inez G. (HOLMES) BOWMAN, was born in 1877, and died in 1961. She was buried beside Creston Earl FINCH (1880-1970) at Oakland (a.k.a. Shannon City) Cemetery.

1) Ralph Leo SHAY, born 1874; died 06 Oct 1904; interment Rose Hill Cemetery, Blockton.

Hulan A. SHAY, son of Ralph Leo SHAY and assistant manager of Armour & Company in Creston, married Mildred JOHNSTON, daughter of George A. and Sadie Frances (FISHER) JOHNSTON.

Ralph "Jack" SHAY, son of Hulan A. "Hap" and Mildred (JOHNSTON) SHAY, was born in Creston on May 11, 1928, and died at the age of 81 years August 15, 2009, Mountain Home, ARK.

Dennis SHAY, son of Hulan A. "Hap" and Mildred (JOHNSTON) SHAY.

2) Roy Olaf SHAY

3) Luke "Earnest" SHAY,

4) Flora Dorinda "Fay" (SHAY) ROOF

5) Mary Margaret (SHAY) MELTON died at the age of 46 years March 30, 1933. She maried Frank MELTON and they had two sons, Paul and Wilford Shay MELTON, and a daughter, Iowa "Faye" (Ivan) WOODRING. She was buried at Goodland, Kansas.

MICHAEL N. & MARGARET SHAY HART

Michael HART and Margaret SHAY were married in 1875 in the home of her parents. They lived at various places in and around Maloy before acquiring the farm known later as the HART place from Thomas S. SHAY.

Mike operated a hardware store where the bank building now stands. He was also associatied for a time with the Maloy Mercantile Company. He passed away in 1909.

They were the parents of eleven children: Julia (Mrs. Jim NOLAN), Mary (Mrs. Tom SHEIL), Luke F. (married Catherine O'CONNOR), Richard (married Alice BUTLER in St. Louis), John (died in infancy), Leah (Mrs. Jack O'CONNOR), Michael (married Marie HAGERTY in St. Louis), William Thomas O'Connell "Oke" (married Agnes O'ROURKE) and Herbert (married Helen QUIGLEY in St. Louis).

Julia married Jim NOLAN in 1900 and they and their family lived in Maloy. Jim died in 1955 and Julia in 1960. They were the parents of seven children: Margaret, John, Mary, Leah, Roger, Herbert and Julia Rita.

Mary and Tom SHEIL lived for a time near Maloy, but moved to Des Moines in 1918, and Tom died in 1964. They were the parents of ten children.

Luke E. and Kate moved to St. Louis soon after their marriage in 1905. Luke became an attorney and took an active part in St. Louis politics. He also became Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus and spent his later years in New Haven. Connecticut. His brothers, Mike, Dick and Oke also practiced law in St. Louis. They too were politically active.

Herbert, although a graduate of St. Louis College of Law, spent his career in the navy, retiring as captain in 1951.

Leah HART O'CONNOR passed away in 1919 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She had been in Albuquerque for three years seeking improvment in her health. She and Jack had two sons, James and Jack. James was reared by Dr. and Mrs. Tom O'CONNOR in Imogene, and Jack by the Luke E. HARTS.

Agnes O'ROURKE HART also passed away in Albuquerque in 1919. Her son Michael made his home with his grandmother, Margaret HART.

~ ~ ~ ~
The following is a letter written by Julia SHAY to her daughter Margaret on January 13, 1886. The SHAYS were living near Mount Ayr and Margaret near Maloy. The original was found in Margaret's Bible by her grandson Mike HART and is in his possession.

Mount Ayr, Ringgold County

January 21, 1886

My Dear Child,

I received your and Julia's letter last night and was glad to hear that you are well. The weather has been very cold here. your father stated to Chicago last Saturday from Redding but was snowbound between Delphos and Mount Ayr for 6 or 7 hours. They went ot Pat GARRITY'S for dinner. You did not say whether you'd got Lukey's mittens and Mary's done or not. Chan is talking of building as soon as your pap has given him the 200 acres where the pasture and feed lot is and will sell him the John MILLER 80.

Tom was here last Thursday, he rode up with Mr. Co____, and having the children's stockings done. I thought it would be a good chance to send them down. We had Mass here the first Sunday of this month and the feast of Epiphany. I supposed you were disappoint at not having Mass, but it was so bad the priest couldn't make it. Your Father found Luke's mitten behind the stable in the manure pile. I am glad that Julia's and Mary's desires are satisfied as I see by Julia's letter they both have gotten (illegible) I hope they will be good girls and deserve lots of presents.

Oh yes, you wanted to know about selling your turkeys. You can sell them any day for 5 cents a pound. If Mike comes up to our house in the evening, I will have our boys catch ours and we can take them all up the next day. I have abou as many as you have. I didn't seel the geese as I thought we had better keep them another year and then sell them. Eddie is much better. he went down to SHIEL'S Sunday and didn't get hom until Monday evening. He send his love to you all. I just asked your Pap what he had to say to you. He says tell them I am well with love to all particularly Richards as you didn't name him in your letter.

Your affectionate mother,

Julia SHAY

NOTES: Margaret Ellen (SHAY) HART was born in Clarke County, Iowa on November 21, 1857, and died in St. Louis, Missouri on May 31, 1940. She married at Benton, Iowa Michael N. HART on February 1, 1875. Michael N. HART, son of Richard and Mary Theresa (O'CONNELL) HART, was born in Franklin County, New York on February 22, 1847, and died May 18, 1909, Maloy. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

1) Julia Mary (HART) NOLAN was born November 1, 1875, Maloy, and died October 5, 1960, Maloy. She married November 1, 1900, Des Moines, Iowa to James Michael NOLAN. James Michael NOLAN, son of Roger and Bridget (FENLON) NOLAN, was born February 4, 1874, and died August 2, 1955. Their son Roger J. NOLAN was born in Maloy on July 2, 1913, and died November 16, 1976. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.
Their seven children were: Margaret, John, Mary, Leah, Roger, Herbert and Julia Rita.

2) Mary Mercedes (HART) SHEIL was born July 4, 1878, and died June 25, 1950. She married Thomas A. "Tom" SHEIL. Thomas A. "Tom" SHEIL was born October 22, 1875, and died August 8, 1964. They were interred at Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa.

Of their ten children:
John Parnell SHEIL, believed to have been born July 19, 1900
Fay SHEIL, interrred Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines IA
Luke E. SHEIL, born 1908, died 1972, married Mary H. SHEIL (1912-2009), interred Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines IA
Richard C. SHEIL, born July 20, 1911, died May 18, 1997, married Leona M. SHEIL (1914-2010), interred Glendale Cemtery, Des Moines IA
Marie C. (SHEIL) KLEMM, born March 27, 1914, died Febuary 27, 1993, married Francis I. KLEMM (1914-1971, interred Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines IA
Leah Mary (SHEIL) FERRING, born November 16, 1916, died September 27, 2006, married Harlow FERRING (1912-1993), interred Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines IA
Marion O'Connell "Jack" SHEIL, born October 1, 1919, died November 7, 2003, World War II U.S. Army Veteran, married Marie SHEIL (1921- ), interred Mearle Hay Chapel Hill Cemetery, Des Moines IA
Julia "Eileen" (SHEIL) WICKSTROM, born 1923, Polk Co. IA, died 2010, Kane Co. IL, married Richard WICKSTROM (1921-1998), interred St. Michael The Archangel Catholic Cemetery, Palatine, Cook Co. IL
and Willard SHEIL.

3) Luke Edward HART was born in Maloy July 31, 1880, and died at the age of 83 years February 19, 1964, New Haven Connecticut. He married Catherine "Kate" O'CONNOR, the daughter of James and Mary (GRIFFIN) O'CONNOR, and they were the parents of two sons, Luke Edward HART, Jr. and John T. HART. Luke and Catherine were interred at Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis.

4) Richard Cleveland "Dick" HART died at age 66 years in November of 1950. He married Alice BUTLER (?-1963) in St. Louis where they are both interred at Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.

5) John Edward HART, born 1886, Maloy, and died at the age of 3 months March 11, 1887, Maloy; interment St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

6) Leona HART

7) Leah M. (HART) O'CONNOR was born Febuary 1, 1888, and died December 1, 1919, Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was the first wife of John T. "Jack" O'CONNOR. John T. "Jack" O'CONNOR, son of James and Mary (GRIFFIN) O'CONNOR, was born January 25, 1889, and died January 17, 1971. He married second Ella CARMODY (1899-1984). They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

8) Michael J. "Mike" HART died at the age of 74 in July of 1965. He married Marie HAGERTY in St. Louis, Missouri. Marie died at the age of 78 in July 1973. They are interred at Calvary Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri.

9) William Thomas O'Connell "Oke" HART married Agnes O'ROURKE. Agnes (O'ROURKE) HART was born in County Kildare, Ireland June 6, 1894, and died October 2, 1919, Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

10) Herbert Malcolm HART married Helen QUIGLEY (d. 1964) in St. Louis, Missouri.

11) child HART

JERIMAIAH SHAY FAMILY

Jeremiah SHAY was born in Kentucky in 1851, and came with his parents Luke and Julia SHAY and his brother John to Iowa in 1853. Jerry was 12-years-old when the family moved to Benton Township.

In 1873 he married Annie CUNNINGHAM, whose parents had moved on to Colorado. They were married in Maryville, Missouri, where they had gone by train from Bedford. They lived on the north edge of Maloy in a house built by Samuel HARTLEY.

Jerry donated land for a right-of-way to the St. Paul-Kansas City Railroad, and the town of Maloy was platted on his land.

Their children were Luke Charles, John Clement, Margaret Mary (died 1881), Julia (died in 1886), Marinetta (died in 1891) and Edward B. Annie died in 1903.

Edward was a career army officer and died in Phoenix, Arizona in 1974.

Charles and Clem both farmed. Charlie and his wife, Gertrude SHEIL, and their family established a home in Rice Township. Their older children attended school in Delphos. They eventually moved to Des Moines. Their children were Gladys, Paul, Lucille, Ralph and Edward. Gladys, Paul and Ralph remained in Des Moines. Lucille (Mrs. Tom McGRATH) lived in Denver, Colorado and Edward in California. Only Edward is still [1987] living.

Clem lived in the Maloy vicitnity until he moved to Mount Ayr shortly before his death at age 91.

All of Clem's children went to elementary and high school in Maloy.

NOTES: Jeremiah "Jerry" SHAY was born December 15, 1850, and died March 3, 1919. He married Anna Bridget CUNNINGHAM on February 9, 1873, Maryville, Missouri. Anna Bridget (CUNNINGHAM) daughter of John and Roseanna (CUNNINGHAM), was born in Perry County, Ohio, and died at the age of 48 of typhoid fever on September 7, 1903, Maloy. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Margaret Mary "Maggie" SHAY was born May 19, 1876, and died at the age of four on March 11, 1881. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Marinetta SHAY was born September 26, 1878, and died at the age of twelve on April 27, 1891. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Luke Charles SHAY

John Clement SHAY was born February 5, 1881, and died September 22, 1973. He was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr.

Julia SHAY was born in Maloy on April 15, 1883, and died at the age of three on May 19, 1886. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Edward B. SHAY died in Phoenix, Arizona in 1974.

JOHN CLEMENT SHAY

John Clement (Clem) SHAY was born in Maloy, Iowa, February 5, 1881. The son of Jeremiah and Anna (CUNNINGHAM) SHAY, his grandparents were Luke and Julia (WHELAN) SHAY, among the first settlers of Ringgold County. Luke and Julia emigrated from Ireland and settled in Ringgold County in 1854.

Jeremiah and Anna SHAY had six children, three boys and three girls. The girls all died in pre-adolescence while the boys, Charlie, Clem and Ed all servivied to a good long lifetime.

On January 28, 1903, Clem married Josephine WARIN and to this union were born a son, John, who died in infancy, and a daughter, Josephine who lives in Peoria, Illinois. Clem's wife Josephine died on September 15, 1910.

Clem SHAY served his country during WW I and was a charter member of the Mount Ayr Legion, receiving his 50-year pin which he wore with great pride.

On January 30, 1924, Clem married Winifred HUBBARD. To this union were born five children, including twin sons, all of whom survive. These include Catherine (Mrs. Tom MULCAHY) of Pleasant Hill, California, John and wife Jean (OVERSTREET) of Manson, Iowa, Thomas (wife Helen RUCKMAN) of Des Moines and Margaret (Mrs. Dale KETTLE) of Creston, Iowa.

Clem and Winifred farmed in the Maloy area where they raised their family. They faithfully attended Catholic church in Maloy every Sunday when weather and health would permit. They retired to their home in Mount Ayr where they enjoyed life to the fullest until Clem died on September 22, 1973, and Winifred on April 6, 1979. Both are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Mount Ayr.

Their greatest pleasure was visits by their beloved family. Old friends and neighbors dropping in for a cup of coffee an a chat was a highlight for them on many occasions.

THOMAS & JOHN SHAY

Winifred SHAY, wife of John Clement, gave birth to twin boys, John and Thomas, December 15, 1928 on the Uncle Tom [SHAY] farm six miles northwest of Maloy. This event was complicated by a December thaw during which the mud was anxle [axel?] deep.

John and Thomas went to Maloy to school and played basketball and graduated in 1949.

Thomas married Helen RUCKMAN of Mount Ayr in 1952. They have a son Tim who is 32, calls Ankeny home and has his own tractor and pulls trailers for North American Van Lines nationwide.

Their daughter Teresa MONTGOMERY, 24, works for the Principal Insurance Company, and is a S/P 4 in the reserves based in Ames.

Son Michael, 23 lives in Norwalk and is with Kemin Industries, starting his fourth year.

Another son, Jerry, 21, is a PFC in the Army stations in Babenhouse, Germany.

Thomas pursued various jobs after his release from the army. In 1959 he started with Butternut Bread and spent the next 16 years as a driver, supervisor and sales manager. He won numerous awards and prizes during this employ. His proudest moment was receiving his Million Mile, No Accident Ring.

Thomas recalls these memories of life in the country around Maloy: huge wood piles each fall, filling hay barns, 1934 dust storms rolling in from Kansas, being snowed in for three to five weeks, country schoolhouses every two miles, high #3 which is now #2 being graveled, the threshing ring crews and the ice cream supper at the end of the run, stortages, rationing, meat and gas stamps during WW II, working for Bob, Cleo and Aubrey LYNCH and eating the good cooking of the wives Liz, Regina and Mary, (how they loved to peel that peck of potatoes to try and fill the workers up) and raiding Bob LYNCH'S watermelon patch.

Twin John SHAY married Jean OVERSTREET July of 1951. They have been married 35 years and have two sons: Dennis and Jeff. They are both married and live in Austin, Texas. Jeff and his wife have a 20-month-old daughter. John has been teaching school for 30 years, 26 of these being at Manson. John served as their basketbll coach 11 years and in 1966 took the first girls basketball team ever to go to the state Tournament from Manson. He was also assistant football coach for three years. John's wife Jean has taught school for 29 years.

MARGARET ROSE SHAY

Margaret Rose SHAY was born on a farm northwest of Maloy, the youngest in a family of five. She attended grade school in Maloy and graduated from high school in Blockton.

She married Dale KETTLE and they have one daughter, LuAnn of Creston. They operated their farm, which is near Blockton, for many years. Although both took outside employment and worked with the public for a number of years, they still retain an active interest in the farm.

The couple currently resides in Creston where Margaret enjoys gardening, cooking and interior decorating, as well as needlework.

Margaret sent these comments:

"My family and I salute the town of Maloy on its 100th year. Although modern society has taken its toll on the small town, time can never erase the fact that the Maloys of the United States helped in the continued existence and development of the entire nation."

NOTES: John Clement "Clem" SHAY was born February 5, 1881, and died September 22, 1973. Winifred Blanch (HUBBARD) SHAY was born in 1894, and died April 6, 1979. They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr.

Josephine (WARIN) SHAY, Clem's first wife whom he married on January 28, 1903, was the daughter of Frank and Mary (GRILLIOT) WARIN. Josephine was born December 28, 1881, and died at the age of 28 years September 15, 1910. John Warin SHAY, son of Clem and Josephine (WARIN) SHAY, was born in Maloy on April 29, 1904, and died at Maloy on October 6, 1904. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Josephine Eulalia (SHAY) MURRIN, daughter of John Clement "Clem" and Josephine (WARIN) SHAY, formerly of Peoria, Illinois, died at Riverview in East Peoria, Illinois, November 22, 2009 at the age of 103 years. She was interred at Resurrection Cemetery, Peoria, Illinois.

Helen (RUCKMAN) SHAY, Thomas' wife, was the daughter of Homer E. and Diamond RUCKMAN of Diagonal.

Margaret Rose (SHAY) KETTLE was born near Maloy in 1934, and died April 20, 2009, Creston, Iowa. She married at St. Joseph, Missouri on September 19, 1952 Dale Henry KETTLE. Dale Henry KETTLE, son of Henry Allen and Myrtle Mae (BEAN) KETTLE, was born near Delphos July 25, 1925, and died August 30, 2011 at Altoona. Margaret and Dale were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr.

THOMAS STEPHEN SHAY, Sr. FAMILY

Thomas S. SHAY Sr., third son of Luke, was a colorful character known in his later years chiefly as "Uncle Tom."

Born in 1855 in a log cabin in what is now known as Jefferson Township, he was the first white child born in the northwest quarter of the county. The same log cabin became his first school when his father built a frame house and gave the cabin to the school district.

When the family moved to Benton Township, Tom was a small boy and attended school at Bozaris School. In 1872 and 1873 he attended St. Benedict's College in Atchinson, Kansas.

In 1880 he married Rosalia LAMBERT, daughter of William and Ann MONAGHAN LAMBERT, in Chicago. Rosa and her twin sister (Mrs. James SHEIL) were six months old when their father William died near Kenosha, Wisconsin. Tom and Rosa made their home on the farm where Tom spent his boyhood.

Tom was a pioneer farmer and stockman. Much of his time was spent accompanying loads of his stock from the stockyards at Maloy to Chicago on the Chicago Great Western Railway. He loved the cattle business and was a regular attendant at local sales. When sale dates conflicted, he went to one and sent one of his sons to the other.

Flavel MALOY, who operated the Mount Ayr Livestock Auction, said: "We never started the sales until Uncle Tom got there. He and Chan (his brother) would bid against each other."

When he was in his eighties, he still went each week to sales in Mount Ayr and Diagonal with his sons Lee and Rob.

Tom was community-minded. When his church needed assistance, he was always one of the first to "stand up and be counted."

As president of the Board of Education in 1916, he was in the vanguard in promoting the consolidation of the rural schools. He was a firm believer in education and sent his daughter Callista to Mount St. Scholastics in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, and his sons to St. Ambrose in Davenport.

His regard for the community embraced everyone in it, especially everyone who needed a helping hand. His family never knew who or how many would be joining them for meals.

Aside from his philanthropies, he was an astute businessman and manager, and was known and respected throughout the county.

Tom and Rosa were the parents of six children: William Luke, Joseph Leo, Robert Emmett, Margaret "Callista" (Mrs. Edward CONWELL), Thomas Stephen SHAY Jr. and Marie Julia.

William married Carolyn HART and had three children. Lee married Teresa EASON; they had four daughters. Rob and his wife, Margaret HART, were the parents of four children, and Callista and Edward had five children. Thomas SHAY Jr. married Mary MULLIN. They had no children. Marie Julia died in infancy.

Callista (CONWELL) is the only surviving member of this generation. The CONWELLS lived in various places before establishing their home in Red Lodge, Montana, where Ed was a practicing attorney until his death in 1959. Callista celebrated her 100th birthday on September 1, 1988, at the home of their daughter Mary HUDAK in Greybull, Wyoming. Three other children, Rose SULLIVAN, Margaret HEYD and Robert CONWELL live in Montana. A son, Edward, lives in Portland, Oregon.

NOTES: Thomas Stephen "Uncle Tom" SHAY, Sr. was born December 19, 1855, and died September 29, 1941. He married Rosa LAMBERT May 30, 1880. Rosa (LAMBERT) SHAY, the daughter of William and Ann (MONAGHAN) LAMBERT, was born in Wilmount, Wisconsin March 10, 1851, and died February 27 1929, Maloy. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemtery near Maloy.

William Luke SHAY was born March 5, 1881, and died at Maloy on January 15, 1956. He married Carolyn Maxenta HART on June 16, 1916. Carolyn, the daughter of John Gerard and Mary (MULLIN) HART, was born December 2, 1889, and died February 10, 1957. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Joseph Leo "Lee" SHAY was born September 25, 1882, and died October 15, 1961, with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy

Robert Emmett SHAY was born July 8, 1884 near Maloy, and died December 27, 1983 with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy

Margaret "Callista" (SHAY) CONWELL was born September 1, 1886, and died at the age of 101 years on February 19, 1988, Basin, Wyoming. On June 27, 1916, she married Edward "Ned" CONWELL. They were interred at Red Lodge, Montana. They were the parents of five children, Mary HUDAK, Rose SULLIVAN, Edward Shay CONWELL, Margaret HEYD, and Robert CONWELL.

Thomas Stephen SHAY, Jr. was born July 5, 1888, and died October 15, 1954. He married Mary E. MULLIN who was born in 1892, and died in 1951. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Marie Julia SHAY was born July 1, 1891 near Maloy, and died at the age of 8 months March 7, 1892. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Lee SHAY FAMILY

Joseph Leo "Lee" SHAY and Teresa EASON were married September 21, 1911 at St. John's Church in Diagonal.

Lee was the second son of Tom and Rosa SHAY and had grown up on the farm imbued with the values of his father: integrity, industry, generousity, and a sense of duty to his community. He was graduated from the course in bookkeeping at St. Ambrose in Davenport.

Teresa was the eldest daughter of Cornelius [and] Ella EASON, who farmed near Diagonal. Ella died when Teresa was 13 and Cornelius when she was 20. Teresa graduated from St. Joseph Academy in Des Moines and taught for several term in rural schools, including Shiloh.

Following a short wedding trip to Colorado, Lee and Teresa made their home with the elder SHAYS until March 1912 when they moved to the farm in Sections 14 and 23, adjoining the Robert SHAY farm.

The winter of 1912 was unusaly cold and snowy, and they made the file mile journey by sleigh cross country right over the fences.

Their 50 years on the farm were busy ones. Haying was an all summer job; thresing occupied 25 men for days at a time; filling the silo was an autumn job, along with the corn shucking which went on for months.

Lee worked along with the men, usually taking the hardest tasks for himself.

He must have at times wished that one of his four daughters had been a son. On the other hand, the girls were occupied inside helping cook for all the workers. The threshers had two meals each day, and the had crews were on hand for meals all summer.

Most of the farming was done with mules. In the 30's Lee bought his first tractor. He had bought his first automobile in 1915 when he and Art KING drove an Oakland home from Des Moines in a snowstorm. He later added a Model T so he could go in the mud.

Teresa contributed to the total operation by being the "go-fer" (the one who ran the errands) having learned to drive at a time when women were believed to be incapble of handling a car. She somehow managed all the cooking, sewed for her family, read to them and encouraged them.

Lee found time for other things too. He was on the Board of Education for 35 years, was township clerk almost as long, served on the Farm Debt Advisory Council, and was member of the Iowa Order of Foresters and Knights of Columbus.

Their daughters were Mildred, Maxine (Mrs. Maurice CARR), Eileen (Mrs. Kenneth HUTCHINSON) and Rosalie (Mrs. Joe McFARLAND). All four became career teachers accumulating an aggregate of 150 years in the classroom. Their years of service spanned the time from 1932 when Mildred signed her first contract until 1985 when Rosalie retired.

The Lee SHAY house on the farm was always home to children and grandchildren alike and home to Lee and Teresa until Lee's death in 1961. The following year Teresa moved to Mount Ayr where she died in 1975.

NOTES: Joseph Leo "Lee" SHAY was born near Maloy on September 25, 1882, and died October 15, 1961. He married Teresa Cecilia EASON on September 21, 1911. Teresa Cecilia (EASON) SHAY, the daughter of Cornelius and Rosella Agnes "Ella" (DONOVAN) EASON, was born May 8, 1890, and died at the age of 85 years on July 14, 1975. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

MILDRED MARIE SHAY

Mildred graduated from the Ottumwa Heights Colleged, received a B.A. degree in elementary education at the University of Iowa, and a masters degree from Columbia University in New York City.

She began her teaching career in Pleasant Plain, Iowa, then went to Pocahontas.

In 1939 she accepted a position in Des Moines elementary schools, teaching in various schools until 1951 when she was appointed principal. She served in that capacity in Jefferson, Lucas, Scott and Adams schools until her retirement in 1976.

The crowning achievement of her years in retirement was the writing and publishing of the The SHAY Family - From Ireland to Iowa. This work, the story of the family for a century and a half, required four trips to Ireland where she contacted distant relatives and explored sources for genealogical information. Her painstaking research and persistant effort are evident in the work.

She has also find time for various activities in St. Augustine's Church, bridge clubs and extensive travel. In between these activities, she keeps open house for the rest of the family.

NOTE: Mildred Marie SHAY, the daughter of Joseph Leo "Lee" and Teresa Cecelia (EASON) SHAY, was born in 1912, and died in 1996. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

ROBERT EMMETT & MARGARET (MAG) SHAY

Robert Emmett SHAY was born July 8, 1884, the son of Thomas Stephen SHAY and Rosa LAMBERT SHAY of rural Maloy. He died December 27, 1983 at the age of 99. He married Margaret Ellen HART on June 16, 1909. Mag was born August 2, 1883 to John G. HART and Mary MULLIN HART of rural Clearfield-Maloy area. She died April 17, 1962. Both are buried in St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Robert Emmett (called Papa by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) attended St. Ambroe Academy breifly, but preferred farming to advanced education. He was a conservative farmer, farming with draft horses until the mid-1940's when his son, Robert T., departed for the service, necessitating the purchase of his first tractor, plow and disk at a cost of $975.

R. E. loved gardening and raised a productive garden into his early nineties. He enjoyed a good card game of straight pitch. He also was an avide athletic fam and sometimes rode the train to Arispe to watch a basketball game, returning by train after the contest. He also was a regular spectator at the Maloy Sunday baseball games.

Continuing the SHAY tradition of farming and raising cattle, he attended many area cattle sales with his brother Lee and his father Thomas, and always raised Aberdeen Angus. Like most of the SHAYS, he was a staunch Democrat and a faithful Cathloic.

Mag dedicated much of her youth to caring for her large family of brothers and sisters. She was an excellent seamstress and cook and the grandchildren always found her cookie jar brimming. She was known fo rher generousity to others and was a domestic, quiet, gentle, beautiful woman.

Robert Emmett and Margaret had four children: Mary Callista (born 1910), Margaret Rose (born 1912), Rita Catherine (born 1915) and Robert Thomas (born 1917). Mary married John D. WARIN in 1923, Margaret Rose joined [the] Sisters of Humility in 1932, and Rita remained in Maloy and taught school for 43 years. Their only son, Robert Thomas, married Norma Lucille JONES of Michigan in 1945.

~ ~ ~ ~
PHOTO: Robert E. SHAY, shown at left with some of his prized tomatoes, observed his 90th birthday anniversary Monday in Maloy. He is a life-long resident of Benton Township.

A Ringgold county native who spent most of his active life farming still finds interest in gardening after some 90 summers.

He is Robert E. SHAY of Maloy, who observed his 90th birthday anniversary Monday with a quiet family gathering of his four children, Mrs. John WARIN of Maloy; Rosemary SHAY, a teacher at Dowling of West Des Moines; Rita SHAY and Robert SHAY of Maloy.

SHAY, who was born on a farm two miles west of Maloy, has lived his entire life in Benton township, moving to Maloy about 25 years ago. He keeps active with a good-sized garden, including about 30 tomato plants plus sweet corn, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. And he maintains interest in sports and current events.

Things have changed a good bit in Maloy during his lieftime: SHAY recalls the time when there were two trains a day to the town, one each way. And cattle feeders in the area made up trains of feeder cattle shipped to the Chicago market.

NOTE: Robert Emmett SHAY was born near Maloy on July 8, 1884, and died December 27, 1983, Mount Ayr. He married Margaret Ellen "Mag" HART on June 16, 1909. Margaret, the daughter of John Gerard and Mary (MULLIN) HART, was born August 2, 1883, and died at the age of 78 years on April 17, 1962, Maloy. They were interred at St. Mary's Cememtery near Maloy.

Mary Callista (SHAY) WARIN was born December 18, 1910 near Maloy, and died at the age of 90 years January 29, 2001, Mount Ayr. She married John Donald WARIN at Maloy on August 18, 1932. John Donald WARIN, the son of George Francis and M. Caroline "Carrie" (SULLIVAN) WARIN, was born in Taylor County November 25, 1907, and died March 8, 1986. They were the parents of three daughters, Rita Ann (WARIN) REASONER, Rosemary (WARIN) LEONARD, and Joan (WARIN) ROETS, and son John Thomas WARIN who was born September 8, 1948, and died April 24, 1949, Maloy. They were interred a St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Sister Margaret Rose SHAY was born in 1912.

Rita Catherine SHAY was born April 19, 1915, and died June 15, 2001. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Robert Thomas SHAY was born December 8, 1917, and died July 6, 2011 with interment at St. Mary's Cemtery near Maloy. He married Norma Lucille Jones December 31, 1944. Norma was born in Michigan November 29, 1921.

NORMA & ROBERT SHAY

Robert Thomas SHAY was born December 8, 1917 in the same farm house in which he now resides northeast of Maloy. he was the fourth child and only son of Robert Emmett SHAY and Margaret HART SHAY.

On December 31, 1945, he married Norma Lucille JONES of Michign where he was stationed in the service. Norma was the daughter of Treaver Lee JONES of Indiana and Mildred Rachel KING of Michigan. She was born November 29, 1921.

They resided just east of the SHAY farmstead and for several years before Robert Emmett and Margaret moved to Mlaoy allowing the young couple to have their farm home.

Robert carried on the family tradition of expert cattle blying developing a keen eye for feeder cattle and a sharp business sense for profit. Before the market slump of the 80's, he was a regular buyer at most area salebarns each week. He continues to actively farm with his son, Bobby.

Norma's expertise lies in hand work where she has produced many lovely afghans, quilts, cross-stitched and embroidered linens, doll clothing and crocheted and knit appearel. She is also an excellent cook having had much practice during haying seasons and family dinners.

This handsome, graceful couple can still turn heads on the dance floor.

Their children include Robert Edward (Bobby), born July 4, 1946 in Creston, and Carol Ann, born July 10, 1947 in Creston. Norma's daughter, Janice DAVIS, was also reared in the SHAY household.

Son Bobby remained on the family farm, married and produced four sons. At the time his son, Robert (Roby) Christian, was born, four generations of Robert SHAY (Robert Emmett, Robert Thomas, Robert Edward and Robert Christian) all lived within two miles of each other in the Maloy area.

Carol Ann married James SHELDON of Des Moines on June 7, 1950. Jim works for an abstracting firm in Des Mones and Carol works for Richmond-Gordman. They have two daughters, Hollie Ann, born June 15, 1973, and Melanie Anne, born April 26, 1977.

Janice is married to Dave LINDEMOEN and lives in Des Moines where she is employed by Younkers and he works for Des Moines schools. Janice has two daughters, Vicki, now married and attending college in Omaha, and Patti KEMPT, who is also in college.

KATHI & BOB SHAY

Robert (Bobby) Edward SHAY, son of Robert Thomas SHAY and Norma Lucille JONES SHAY, was born July 4, 1946 in the Creston hospital. His parents resided in the little brown shingled house east of the paternal SHAY farm home at the time.

On September 2, 1967 he married Kathryn (Kathi) Ann KUHL at St. Malachy's Catholic Church in Creston. Kathi is the daughter of Dr. Robert and Ellen (HOSLER) KUHL of Creston and previously of Pennsylvania. She was born November 27, 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Bobby is the only grandson of Robert Emmett SHAY and the only remaining heir pursuing the long SHAY family heritage of farming and cattle raising in the Maloy area. As nature and time often equalizes genetics, he and Kathi were destine to produce four sons! The first, Robert (Roby) Christian, arrived January 14, 1968. Ten days later his proud father was drafted into the army, sent to Vietnam, and the young family's life was interupted by two years of war.

Son Cody Patrick was born September 23, 1970, and brothers, Tory Sean Luke, born May 20, 1973, and Cassidy Brendan, born October 12, 1977, soon joined the family. All were born at Greater Community Hospital in Creston.

Kathi graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 1970 and has taught high school English and journalism at Mount Ayr Community High School since that date. The family lived in the Luke SHAY home on the southwest edge of Main Street in Maloy from 1969 until 1980. They purchased the Lee SHAY farmhouse and five acres northeast of Maloy in 1980 and presently [1987] live there. The home is now listed in the National Historic Register and renovation is an on-going project and [an] obsession of Kathi's.

Kathi also likes antiques, cross-country skiing, bicycling, woodworking, writing, genealogy, rural living and keeping up with the adventures of the rest of her family.

Bob farms in partnership with his father, Robert Thomas, and also operates Marycrest Farms west of Maloy. Like his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, Bob is a cattleman. An outdoorsman and nature enthusiast with many hobbies, he is happiest when bow hunting, fishing or trapping. He can fix most anything, play cards with the worthiest opponent, tell stories requiring a phenomenal memory and answer most sports trivia questions. His more prestigious credentials credit him with being a member of the Mount Ayr Fair Board and Omaha-based Producers Livestock board. His obsessions are show cattle and wrestling, activities which his four boys pursue actively.

Roby is a freshman at Iowa State University majoring in business with a pre-law emphasis. He was a four-year letterman in wrestling at Mount Ayr Community Schools, qualifying for state his sophomore year and an A-honor roll student throughout high school.

Cody is a sophomore at MACHS [Mount Ayr Community High School] where he excels in wrestling and social skills! He has inherited his father's love of farming and the outdoors as well.

Tory is in the seventh grade at Mount Ayr junior high. He also wrestles and shows cattle and helps on the farm. He is the mechanical-minded sibling.

Little brother Cassidy is in second grade at Mount Ayr elementary. He is into Tae Kwon Do presently, raises rabbits and dabbles in art.

RICHARD G. SHAY FAMILY

Richard G. SHAY, eldest child of William Luke SHAY and Carolyn HART SHAY, was born near Maloy on October 4, 1916.

He was graduated from Maloy High School in 1934 and from Northwest Missouri State in Maryville.

In 1941 he married Lois HARVEY of Bedford. They farmed in Ringgold and Taylor Counties until Richard's death of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1965.

They are the parents of four sons: Joseph Richard, twins Ronald Thomas and Donald Allen, and a stillborn son John Gerard.

Joe, a graduate in engineering at ISU [Iowa State University], has been employed for several years by the D.O.T. [Department of Transportation].

Ronald and Donald are engaged in the trucking and transport business.

Richard's brother William died in 1982. Both are buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. A sister Muriel survives them.

NOTES: Richard Gerard SHAY was born October 4, 1916, and died October 27, 1965. Lois (HARVEY) SHAY, daughter of Joseph E. and Lula A. (BESCO) HARVEY, was born in 1915, and died in 1988. John Gerard SHAY, Richard and Lois' son was born and died January 13, 1946. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

WILLIAM EDWARD SHAY

William (Bill) Edward SHAY was the second son of William Luke and Caroline (sic, should be Carolyn) HART SHAY. He was born November 10, 1918 and lived at the farm home until he went to the University of Missouri. He served 4 1/2 years in WW II.

He married Mabel REED of Blockton November 24, 1945. Their son Maurice Nichael SHAY was born December 21, 1951. Bill was a successful construction engineer who designed shopping centers and plants in Iowa, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Land was important to Bill and he bought a farm near Osceola in 1965. He developed a herd of Santa Gertrudis cattle and built a new home nestled in the timber. Bill died November 15, 1982.

Michael, his wife and two children, Lance and Tracy, live in Des Moines. The family show Santa Gertrudis cattle under the brand name "2 SHAY."

NOTES: William Edward SHAY ws born near Maloy November 10, 1918, and died November 16, 1982. He was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

RITA CATHERINE SHAY

Rita Catherine SHAY was born April 19, 1915 in the farm house now [1987] owned by Robert Thomas SHAY. She was the daughter of Robert Emmett and Margaret Ellen HART SHAY. Rita moved with her parents to Maloy in 1950 and lived in the same house there (now the Roger and Jeanettie TODD residence) until September of 1986 when she moved to Atlantic. She graduated from Ottumwa Heights in Ottumwa and later received a B.S. in elementary education from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri.

She began her 43 years of dedication to the teaching profession in Taylor County, then taught for one year in a country school in Ringgold County. She spent the next 34 years teaching at the Maloy school and moved to the Mount Ayr Community elementary when the system was reorganized. She retired in 1978.

Among her interests are horticulture, gardening, cooking, sports and the activities of her nieces and nephews and their families. She was devoted to the care and welfare of her elderly father until his death in 1983 at the age of 99. She embodies the same thoughtful, generous nature her mother Mag possessed.

NOTE: Rita Catherine SHAY was born April 19, 1915, and died June 15, 2001. She was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

MARGARET ROSE SHAY

Margaret Rose SHAY was born December 22, 1912 and joined Sister of Humility in 1932, taking the name of Sister Rosemary. She earned a B.A. degree from Marycrest in Davenport and a masters in administration from Creighton University in Omaha. She also took graduate work at Notre Dame, Detroit University, San Diego State, Xavier in Cincinnati, the University of Minnesota and Regis in Colorado.

She first taught at the public elementary school in Melrose, Iowa, then served as principal of St. Teresa's 1-8 system in Des Moines for six years, as principal of St. Mary's in Marshalltown for three years and as a seventh grade instructor at a Mnneapolis Catholic school for five years. She culminated her teaching career with thirteen years instruction of English at Dowling High School in Des Moines.

Sister Rosemary is presently [1987] retired and resides at the Center of Humility of Mary in Davenport, Iowa, where she is active doing volunteer work at Lourdes school in that city.

She enjoys traveling and has toured Europe, Mexico and Canada, but often returned to Maloy to spend portions of her teaching breaks with her sisters, Mary WARIN and Rita SHAY, and with her beloved father, Robert Emmett (Papa).

W. H. SHAY FAMILY

William Henry SHAY was born in 1857 to Luke and Julia [(WHELAN)] SHAY. Throughout his life he was known as "Doug." He received the nickname from his father who was a staunch supporter of Stephen A. DOUGLAS, states rights advocate during the 1850's.

In [February 3] 1879 Doug married Anna HART, daughter of Richard and Mary O'CONNEL HART. They established their home on the John DALE farm which had been purchased by Luke SHAY in 1863. They moved to Maloy about 1932. Anna died in 1934 and Doug in 1937.

They were the parents of six children: Mary R. (Mamie), Luke E., Michael N., William Henry (Harry), Julia Marie and Anna Berenice. Mamie died at the age of eight after being thrown from a horse, and Luke died in infancy.

Harry married Hazel HUBBARD and lived in Brush, Colorado. He was a farmer and rancher on the high plains in eastern Colorado. His daughters are Berenice (Mrs. Charles SAYRE) who lives in Boulder, Colorado, and Maureen (Mrs. Robert STAPP) who lives in Denver.

Julia married Ed O'CONNOR in 1908. Their home was north of Maloy. The farm was sold to Wilber LYNCH in 1930. The O'CONNORS were the parents of six children. ( See O'CONNOR Family) Julia passed away in 1922.

Berenice married John HIGGINS in 1915. They lived in Colorado where John passed away in 1927. In 1933 Berenice and their three children returned to Maloy where they made their home with her father. They HIGGINS children are Mary Margaret (Mrs. Harold JACOBSON) who lives in Florida, William Henry (Bill) who lives in Waterloo, and John D. who passed away in Fort Morgan, Colorado in 1981.

NOTES: William Henry "Doug" SHAY was born December 19, 1858. Anna Margaret (HART) SHAY was born in 1858, and died in 1934. Mamie R. SHAY died on September 1, 1888, aged 8 years. Luke E. SHAY was born June 13, 1884, and died at the age of 3 months on October 10, 1884. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Hazel (HUBBARD) SHAY was born in 1887, and died January 20, 1967 with interment at Brush Memorial Cemetery, Brush, Colorado. Charles L. SAYRE died on December 4, 1984 with interment at Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado.

Interred at Brush Memorial Cemetery, Brush, Morgan County, Colorado:
John Joseph HIGGINS, Sr.

born November 2, 1891, died December 6, 1927.

Berenice SHAY HIGGINS

born October 30, 1892, died August 25, 1961.

John Joseph HIGGINS, Jr.

born December 24, 1918, died October 10, 1981

spouse of Jeanne HIGGINS.

Infant Daughter of John and Jean HIGGINS

died December 5, 1951.

Infant Daughter of John and Jean HIGGINS

died May 3, 1956.

MICHAEL N. SHAY SR. FAMILY

Michael N. SHAY Sr. was the son of William Henry (Doug) SHAY and Anna Margaret SHAY. He received his law degree from the University of Colorado and practiced in Fort Morgan, Colorado for one year. He left his practice to come back to Maloy (1911) to take over the bank at a time of crisis for the Maloy community. He was cashier at the Bank of Maloy for over 15 years.

He married Lulu MARTIN of Wichita, Kansas. They had four children: Douglas E. SHAY, Margaret Anne SHAY, Mary Elizabeth SHAY and Michael N. SHAY Jr.

Douglas E. SHAY also became an attorney and founded the firm Smith, Shay, Farmer and Wetta, Attorneys at Law in Wichita, Kansas where he is still [1987] practicing. He married Virginia NEWMAN. They have seven sons and one daughter.

Margaret Anne SHAY entered the religious community of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is known as Sister Mary Ann Michele, BVM. She received from Marquette University masters degrees in education and in theology and a Ph.D in theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa. She taught at Clarke College in Dubuque for 24 years and is now associate professor emerita.

Mary Elizabeth SHAY died when she was 12-years-old and is buried in San Antonio, Texas.

Michael N. SHAY served in the United States army during World War II. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery at the Battle of the Bulge.
He is buried in Margret, Belgium.

NOTES: Michael N. SHAY, Sr. was born July 27, 1884, and died February 2, 1948. Lulu (MARTIN) SHAY was born April 11, 1889, and died April 19, 1971. Douglas E. SHAY was born March 5, 1912, and died November 9, 2003. Virginia (NEWMAN) SHAY was born June 11, 1914, and died February 27, 2002. They were interred at Calvary Cemetery, Wichita, Kansas.

Mary Elizabeth SHAY was born December 17, 1916, and died January 20, 1929.

ST. SGT. Michael N. SHAY Jr. was born November 29, 1918, and died December 19, 1944.

There is a memorial stone at Calvary Cemetery, Wichita, Kansas for Mary Margaret and Michael N. SHAY Jr.

M. C. (CHAN) SHAY FAMILY

DENNIS SHAY SR.
Dennis R. SHAY was a grandson of one of Ringgold County's early settlers. His grandparents, Luke and Julia [(WHELAN)] SHAY, emigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1948, and came to this county in 1854. Their son, Michael Chan SHAY, was born in 1862 at Maloy and in [October 20] 1885 married Nelle MULLIN. They purchased land and started farming west of Maloy in 1890.

Dennis Regnald SHAY, son of Chan and Nell, was born in [April 25] 1890 and grew to manhood on this farm. He attended school in Conception, Missouri and later attended St. Ambrose College. In [September 20] 1910 Dennis married Mary Monica [Mary] O'CONNOR, [born October 9, 1886] daughter of James M. and Mary GRIFFIN O'CONNOR. She has attended a Catholic girls school at Praire du Chien, Wisconsin. Soon after they were married they purchased land adjacent to the south edge of Maloy and built a fine home on this farm.

Dennis and Monica were active participants in the Maloy city, church and school activities for many years. Dennis service on the city council, the school board, and church boards during those hectic times. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was elected on the Democratic ticket and served on the Ringgold County Board of Supervisors from 1933-39. While serving on the board, the dirt roads into Maloy received a rock surface, which permitted easier access to the state highway.

In addition to providing a caring home for their own children, Dennis and Monica provided a home for a nephew, Harry O'CONNOR, after the death of his mother, and Gary PARKS lived with them on the farm for four years. They were extremely generous and their hospitality was well known.

Monica died in [December 29] 1944. Dennis moved to Creston in 1947 where he passed away in [May 8] 1949. They are buried in St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Four children were born to Dennis and Monica at the farm home south of Maloy: Helen, Irene, Kathryn and Dennis Jr.

NOTES: Michael Chauncey "Chan" SHAY was born near Maloy on February 20, 1862, and died January 5, 1945. Ellen Josephine "Nell" (MULLIN) SHAY, the daughter of Dennis and Margaret (HOULIHAN) MULLIN, was born in Decatur County, Iowa July 20, 1862, and died at Maloy at the age of 79 years on December 9, 1941. Edward Luke "Eddie" SHAY, Chan and Nell's son, ws born September 15, 1887, and died January 20, 1902. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

HELEN SHAY MONAHAN

Helen Marie SHAY was born in 1911. She attended grade school in Maloy and graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in Des Moines. She later studied at a commercial college in Des Moines and worked in the city for several years after graduation.

Helen married Richard E. (sic) MONAHAN in 1938 and they lived in Chicago until Ken's death in 1942. Helen then returned to Maloy where she and her three children lived with her grandfather, Chan SHAY, and later with her father after her mother's death. After her children were grown Helen worked in Creston for many years and then moved to South Bend, Indiana where she passed away in 1976.

Helen's children were Richard, Jim and Rita. Rita passed away.

The [Maloy Centennial] committee received this letter from Jim:

"I am 44, don't feel a day over 90, and married Rose TABYOYONG in Chicago in 1969. She's a registered nurse in the delivery room at Skokie Valley Hospital, Skokie, Illinois where we live. She came to the state from the Philippines in 1966, the first of her family to learn to love America as our Irish immigrants did a century before. I graduated from Benedictine College of Kansas with a B.A. in sociology in 1965 and earned a masters degree in journalism from the University of Iowa in 1966 and continue to be a rabid, crazed Hawkeye sports fan, though Irene PARKS undoubtedly wins family honors as the most loyal Hawk devotee.

"I own and operate two small public relations compnaies, Monahan and Associates and PR Impact. We have two daughters, Tanya, 14, who is a high school sophomore, and Marissa, 10, a fifth grader."

Som Maloy recollections Jim enumerates are "... never ever tasting again as delicious a cookie as we used to "lift" out of the glass containers at Frank's store, ... watching J.A. PARKS, Cleo LYNCH, Johnny WARIN and Dennis SHAY argue politics, crop prices and Lord knows what else at the store or stations, ... disgusting the telephone operator by playing with the crank telephone, ... wondering if Father CULHANE really was God himself when his Irish brogue echoed throughout the beautiful Catholic church, ... midnight mass at the church, ... to this day the spiritual togetherness that memory evokes is a treasure my brother, Rich and I hold dear, ... the peacefulness of the Catholic [St. Mary's] cemetery, ... how sharp my uncle Dennis looked in his navy uniform, ... the momentary emptiness I felt in 1980 when I drove over the hill near my grandparents' old farm west of town and saw it has disappeared forever, ... the excitement when Adlai STEVENSON paid a visit to the WARIN farm. These are random thoughts, fun to recall..."

The [Maloy Centennial] committee did not receive information from Jim's brother Richard.

NOTES: Helen Marie. (SHAY) MONAHAN was born November 4, 1911, and died October 8, 1976. She married Richard K. MONAHAN on May 21, 1938. Richard K. MONAHAN, son of James F. and Eppie Katherine (KENDALL) MONAHAN, was born December 28, 1908, and died September 4, 1942. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

KATHRYN J. SHAY BLISS

Kathryn M. SHAY was born October 6, 1917 at the SHAY family farm. Kay graduated the next year from Capital City Commercial College. She then worked for the State of Iowa until 1941 when she secured a position with the U.S. government and worked in Seattle, Washington, St. Louis, Missouri and Des Moines, Iowa. She left that employ and moved to Creston in 1949. Here she was employed by Menzers Ready Wear.

In [October 6] 1951 Kay married Jim BLISS of Streater, Illinois. They went to Galesburg, Illinois to make their home where after 35 years they still live.

Jim has worked in the West Indes and South America for S.J. Groves Construction Company and later as superintendent for Industrial Movers. He served with the American Rangers and Canadian-American Special Forces in Europe. He was discharged a staff seargeant after 3 1/2 years in service, three of which were overseas.

Their daughter, Kimberly Ann, was born July 4, 1955 in Galesburg. She graduated from high school there in 1971 and took a business course at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg. Kimberly was married to Ron MELTON in June of 1973. Their son Christopher was born in Kankakee, Illinois February 1978 and the parents were divorced in September of that year.

Since 1972 Kim has worked for Contel Telephone Company and is a service representative. She was married to Stephen LEFORT of Cameron, Illinois in August of 1982 and now has two step-daughters, Danielle and Katie LEFORT. Her husband Steve graduated from Western Illinois University and has worked for the Contel Telphone Company for 10 years and is manager of operators services.

NOTE: Kathryn J. "Kay" (SHAY) BLISS died January 7, 2005. She was interred at St. Joseph Cemetery, Galesburg, Illinois.

DENNIS SHAY JR.

Dennis SHAY, Jr. was born on the family farm south of Maloy in 1923. He attended school in Maloy during the depression years of the 30's and graduated in 1940. He enrolled in the State University of Iowa in the fall of 1940 and was granted a B.A. degree in 1945 and a D.D.S. degree in 1947. He met Janet M. GLASSCOCK of Hawarden Iowa at S.U.I. and they married in 1947. Janet graduated from the S.U.I. College of Nursing in 1945 and worked at a Denver, Colorado hospital until the wedding.

They lived in Nevada, Iowa where Dennis practiced dentistry until 1957 and they moved to Des Moines. They still [1987] live in Windsor Heights, a suburb, where Dennis has his office and Janet is the office receptionist.

While living in Nevada, they had three children: Susan K. (1950), Sandra Lee (1952) and Kevin Thomas (1953).

Susan graduated from Creighton University in Omaha where she majored in German in 1972. At this time she lives in Columbia, Missouri where she is a sales representative for a greeting card company.

Sandra graduated from S.U.I. in 1975 with a degree in dental hygiene. She now lives in Sturgis, Michigan where she works part-time as a dental hygienist. She married Steven TODD in 1978 and their son Adam was born in 1982.

Kevin graduated from S.U.I. in 1979. While in college he married Kris CZAIKOWSKI of Iowa City. Kris receved her D.D.S. degree in 1980. Both Kevin and Kris practice dentistry with Dennis in Des Moines. Their daughter Emily was born in 1984.

Janet and Dennis now work part-time in the office and look forward to the rewards of retirement life. They enjoy traveling and hope to pursue their family roots in Ireland and Norway while in good health.

SOURCE: Maloy, Iowa Centennial History: 1887 - 1987 Pp. 167-82.

Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library

Transcription and Notes by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2011

The SHAY Family
 

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