O'Meara

OMEARA CLEARY

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/23/2010 at 16:21:46

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

O’Meara
By Rita Brassfield

James O’Meara was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1848. Arriving in the US, May 29, 1869, he was naturalized before the district court in Buchanan County, Iowa, on October 24, 1872. He came to Dubuque, Iowa, and soon after moved to Emerson, Nebraska, where he remained until 1883. Then he came to Woodbury County and settled on a farm he purchased in Section 25 of Liberty Township. Mr O’Meara was married in Salix, Iowa, in 1877 to Miss Catherine Cleary, daughter of Mr and Mrs Edward Cleary. Their eight children were:

Edward, born October 15, 1879, in Nebraska. Married September 11 1823 to Mary Duffy. Died February 16, 1960. Buried in Fonda, Iowa.

John D, born May 18, 1883, in Nebraska. Died 1899 of pneumonia on the farm in Salix at age 16. Buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix, Iowa.

Mary C, born August 5, 1885, in Salix. Married Thomas J McDermott, August 30, 1910. Died May 19, 1975 in San Diego, California. Buried in the Catholic Mausoleum, San Diego.

James A, born July 10, 1887, in Salix. Married Elizabeth Duffy, November 10, 1915. Died October 23, 1957. Buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix.

Honora ‘Nora’ born May 26, 1899, in Salix. Never married, Died February 23, 1945. Buried in Catholic Mausoleum, San Diego.

Ellen ‘Nellie’ born February 14, 1892, in Salix. Married Palmer C Smith in San Diego, in 1921 or 1922. Died in 1973. Buried in the Catholic Mausoleum, San Diego.

Michael, born 1893, died in infancy. Stephen, born 1894, died in infancy. Both buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix.

When James died of pneumonia in 1896 at age 48, he left Kate a widow at age 40 to raise six children ranging in age from four to seventeen. He was buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix.

Mary O’Meara McDermott often spoke of her father, although she was not yet eleven when he died. She said, his farm was all paid for and he left it, ‘Free and Clear’.

Catherine-Kate-Cleary O’Meara was born 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. She moved to San Diego, about 1920 for the health of her daughter, Ellen ‘Nellie’

She died June 12, 1938, in San Diego, and was buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix.

James A O’Meara, born July 10, 1867, in Salix, met Elizabeth Duffy who was formally form Fonda, Iowa, while she was teaching in Salix Public School. They were married in Fonda, Iowa, on November 10, 1915. After their marriage they lived on the family farm where Jim was born. In 1922 they purchased a farm in Section 23 of Liberty Township, from George M LeVasseur. They had three children: Everett, Arthur and Rita. Everett married Helen Beacom in Salix, on February 14, 1939. They had five children: Jim, Dennis, Tom, Don and John. Helen died form polio in 1954 and is buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix. Everett married Min Snyder in 1973 and they live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Arthur married Charlene Delaney in Sioux City in 1947. They had three children, Edward, Michael, and Ardis Ann. Arthur now lives in Sioux City. Rita married Ernest ‘Bud’ Brassfield in Salix, on August 7, 1946. They have four daughters: Jeanne married Dennis Pothast on July 19, 1972, in Salix and lives in Marshalltown, Iowa. Jeanne teaches school in Marshalltown.

Mary who married Larry Johnson in Salix, on September 9, 1972, lives at Sloan, Iowa. Mary is a deputy in the office of Woodbury County Distric Clerk. They have two sons, Mathew and Adam.

Debbie works at Brooks at Southern Hills Mall and lives in Sioux City.

Lori is a senior at Heelan High School, Sioux City, graduating in 1984.

Bud and Rita Brassfield now reside in Sergeant Bluff, moving here from Salix in 1977.

James A O’Meara farmed all his life, retiring in 1945. After his death in 1957, at the age of 70 years, Elizabeth remained on the farm until 1961 when she built a house in Salix. Elizabeth died July 15, 1983, at the age of 95. Both are buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Salix, Iowa.