John Joseph Fanning

John was born in Enniscorthy, Wexford IRE in Mar 1842 and christened at St Aiden's RC Church in Mar 1842 per the record found at the church in 1988 visit. He was the youngest of 6 children and was the second male. As far as we know, he was the only child who emigrated from Ireland and went to Canada at the age of 14. He settled in the Toronto area and is found in a census there. Next life event was his marriage to Bridget Murphy in Toronto in 1865. The couple then left Canada for the USA in 1865. Bridget had an older sister, Margaret Murphy who had been living in Chicago, IL Margaret worked as a domestic and had accrued some wealth in the form of owned real estate in the city.

However, the couple continued on to LaSalle, IL as it was a mining town and work was abundant at the time. Stone was being mined for a canal being constructed from Chicago to the Illinois River for shipping. Many Irish immigrants had settled in the area due to the abundance of work available as evidenced by the many Irish Catholic churches erected along the river towns for worship.It was in 1870 that John and Bridget welcomed a child, James Patrick, who was born in LaSalle, IL on June 25, 1870. He was christened a day later at St Patrick's Catholic Church in LaSalle, IL according to the records available there. It is unknown if he was their first, as discussed later in this narrative.

It was in October 1870 that the Great Chicago Fire consumed the City of Chicago. Almost the entire city was burned to the ground. The city had to be rebuilt and the call for workers was answered by many including John, as a carpenter. He took this opportunity to move his family back to Chicago for the steady paying job it would offer him and his growing family. He remained there until his death in 1910. However, in the 1900 US Federal Census his wife, Bridget, would answer the question of how many children she had bore, her answer was 10, yet she answered that only 2 were living - James, born in 1870 and John J. Jr, born in 1882 in Chicago, No civil or religious records/sources exist to this date indicating where or when the remaining 8 children were born and/or interred.

John J. Sr died in 1910 in Chicago of mitral insufficiency at the age of 68. His wife, Bridget, died in 1915 of a myocardial infarction at the age of 75. John's first son, James Patrick died in an industrial accident in 1909. We found only one oddity- an Ellen Fanning, the widow of John, died in Chicago in 1880 at the age of 95. She was born in Ireland. It is unknown if this was John J Sr's mother, as her age isn't conducive to having a child in her 60's.Conversely, there is no way to validate her age on the death certificate of 95 years old. No records exist of how she arrived here, with whom, and what- if any- relation she was to John. He paid for her burial plot in Mt Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Chicago where other family members were interred later.