Abina Elizabeth Sullivan
- Born
- 1886-12-07 12:00:00
- Died
- 1928-01-16 12:00:00
- Gender
- Female
Abbie Sullivan was born to John Sullivan and Hannah Callaghan near Courtbrack in Waterloo, Blarney, Co. Cork.
In 1901, Abbie lived in the home of Denis Murray of the Courtbrack Company, who was known for resisting the imperialist British forces. She emigrated to the US in 1907, joining her brother, John, a sailor. Abbie worked as a "factory girl" in the mills of Lawrence, MA. It is believed her entire family of siblings and mother came to live near her in Cambridge, MA. Her friends found her dear and appreciated her sense of humour. She collected postcards from around the world, many from her brother's ports of call.
Three of the Sullivan siblings' weddings in Cambridge were officiated by John A. Butler. Abbie married John Alphonse Kelliher November 1916. Daniel married Hannah Mullane April 1916. Nellie/Helen/Ellen married Wm James O'Brien January 1918.
Her first child, Patrick Joseph, was born in Lawrence in 1918. His brothers Bill and Jim were born in Wyoming in 1922 and 1926.
Abbie was not a fan of the dusty living out West where her husband worked the oil fields and homesteaded 600 acres in 1923 and 1924. She returned to the civilization of Cambridge leaving John to his ranch in Wyoming.
Abbie died at the age of 41 on 16 January 1928 at Mass General Hospital in Boston of carcinoma of the breast. Her youngest son was 18 months old at the time. That son, Jim, went to live with his aunt Kate (Kelleher) Donegan in Wakefield, MA after his mother's death. Jim's older brothers were sent to an orphanage in Nebraska until John remarried in 1930, when the boys reunited with their father and step-mother, Ethel.
