McGowan, Michael

Abt 1862 - 1921  (~ 59 years)

• Name	McGowan, Michael
  Birth	Abt 1862	Finch, Stormont, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Immigration	Abt 1882
  1900 Census	1900	Laurium, Houghton, Michigan, USA
  Peter Mcgowan Bridget Mcgowan Lilian Mcgowan Michael Mcgowan Mary Mcgowan
  Biography	In 1899, Peter and Michael McGowan moved their families from Wisconsin to the village of Laurium at the northwestern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Copper mining was booming, and Laurium was growing rapidly from a population of just 1200 in 1890 to over 10,000 by 1916. There they built The Imperial Hotel at the corner of Lake Linden Avenue and Hecla Street in the center of the business district. In the Polk City Directory of 1900, Peter is listed as the proprietor of the hotel and Michael as the bartender. It was a substantial hotel with three floors and many guest rooms. From the 1910 US census, it appears that Peter may have sold the hotel by that time because Michael was then working as a motorman on a streetcar and Peter is listed as having "his own money." In any case, the hotel burned to the ground in 1913 during a many months long mining strike that brought substantial violence and unrest to Laurium. Today the area is a vacant lot with a billboard. You can view a small photo of The Imperial on the last page of the town's brochure covering the historic district: http://www.laurium.info/Laurium/Laurium-Historic-District-Tour-2008.pdf. About a block away, the McGowan's also built a huge two-story gabled house at 460 Kearsarge Street (the house still exists today and you can see a photo of it from the street on Google Maps). Peter died of spinal cancer in 1917 and Michael a few years later in 1921. Their wives, Bridget and Mary Wall, and Michael's two daughters, Lillian and Stella, continued to live in the house until after Lillian married Rudolph Chatel in 1927. On the cusp of the Great Depression, the entire family moved to an apartment on Maple Square Avenue in Chicago. In 1930, Rudolph was working as an accountant for a utility company and Stella McGowan as a typist for an insurance company.
  Death	11 Nov 1921	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA
  Burial	14 Nov 1921	St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery, Askeaton, Wisconsin, USA
  		McGowan, Michael St. Patrick Cemetery, Askeaton, Wisconsin
  Obituary	17 Nov 1921
  Kaukauna Times
  See Image
  	McGowan, Michael Obituary
  Person ID	I156274	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	26 Apr 2018

  
  

  Father	McGowan, Martin,   b. 20 Mar 1824, Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland d. 12 Dec 1908, Finch, Stormont, Ontario, Canada (Age 84 years)
  Mother	Coyne, Mary,   b. 15 Jan 1829, Crossmolina, Mayo, Connacht, Ireland d. 12 Dec 1906, Finch, Stormont, Ontario, Canada (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F52990	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Wall, Mary,   b. 15 May 1868, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 13 Jan 1938, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	27 Nov 1896	Askeaton, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  		McGowan, Michael and Mary Wall These formal portraits were probably about the time each of the couples were married, perhaps on their honeymoon. Shown are Michael McGowan and Mary Wall; and Peter McGowan and Bridget Wall. We're not sure which couple is which. (Photo courtesy Sean Cadden)
  Children	1. McGowan, Lillian Margaret,   b. 16 Dec 1898, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA d. 9 Nov 1980, Glenview, Cook, Illinois, USA (Age 81 years)   2. McGowan, Estele Marie,   b. 20 May 1903, Calumet, Houghton, Michigan, USA d. 3 Dec 2001, Glenview, Cook, Illinois, USA (Age 98 years)
  Family ID	F52991	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Jun 2013