We need your help to restore the recently discovered 1865 gravesite of Mary Burke, the Matriarch of the Baltimore Burke clan. Please help us pay tribute to a remarkable story of friendship, family, and perseverance.
BACKGROUND:
This first ancestor of ours to arrive in America lost her husband and two children to the “Great Hunger.” In 1849 Mary BURKE bid a final farewell to County Galway and a temporary goodbye to her two remaining children before setting off alone to Baltimore. Unable to write or speak English, she found work as a laundress. Nineteen months later in 1850, Mary’s two remaining children Thomas (14) and Honora (8) joined Mary.
That same year another Irish family Catherine and Dominick FALLON began their new life in America with their four children.
REMARKABLE FRIENDSHIP:
Mary Burke’s two children married two of Catherine Fallon’s children.
Either before the marriages of their children or after, the two Irish-born matriarchs, Mary Burke and Catherine Fallon, became extremely close friends. The two mothers-in-law were so close that they communicated that they should be buried together. When serious illness beset the two, they made it known that if they passed, they were to have one wake, one funeral and one grave. Despite their age difference of eleven years they died two days apart as widows in 1885. Their wishes were honored and after a joint wake and funeral, they were interned together, currently resting in peace under an obelisk marker in Baltimore’s St. Mary’s Cemetery, Homeland.
REPAIR OF GRAVESITE AREA:
Six of our earliest ancestors are buried at this gravesite. The marble marker is now in disrepair, its base off-kilter, with the obelisk lying on the ground broken into two pieces.
In May, Sandy & Carol met Walter Tegeler III at the cemetery. Walter is the fifth-generation owner of the Baltimore-based Tegeler Monument Company. Here is the plan to restore and preserve this beautiful gravesite.
1. Re-level all the Markers on the lot, repair the Marble Obelisk and reset = $1,850
2. Cleaning all the Markers and Monument = $650
3. Install a Gray Granite Bevel Marker with names, dates of the six interned = $1,192
Total = $3,692.50
DONATIONS:
We need your help. Please give what pleases you, knowing your contribution honors the legacy of our ancestors who endured a great deal so that we could live in peace and prosperity.
Payment Options.
1. CHECKS: made to Carol Burke, 1733 Drevar Trail, Annapolis, MD 21401
2. VENMO: contributions to [email redacted].
3. GoFundMe: a. PayPal, b. Apple Pay, c. Credit, d. Debit Cards.
(GoFundMe automatically enters a tip to fund themselves; later you can select “enter custom tip” and leave it blank or enter zero if you wish not to pay GoFundMe).
SPREAD THE WORD:
We need you help to spread the word. As we don’t have everyone’s email. Please share with your siblings, cousins etc if they are not on this email list. We hope to get the long overdue restoration started this summer . We plan to have a celebration at the gravesite upon completion ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️. If fund-raising surpasses the goal, the extra will go towards the unveiling event of the new gravesite.
LINEAGE DETAILS:
Mary Burke’s daughter having changed her name from Honora to Arabella married a Fallon, Bernard. Mary Burke’s son, Thomas also married a Fallon, Ellen. The union of Thomas Burke and Ellen Fallon produced seven American-born children, of whom five lived to adulthood: William Thomas (1863), Mary Agnes (1866), Edward John “Teddy” (1876), Bernard James “BJ” (1871), and Thomas N.(1874).
BJ had nine children who made it to adulthood: Mary Ellen “Sis”, Thomas Wells, Paul Edward, Genevieve, Arabella, Catherine “Cots”, Bernadine, Bernard James “Big Jim”, and John Patrick “Chuck”.
Edward had three children: Leo John, Edward J. “Reds” Jr., and Claire Marie. We are reaching out to descendants in the BJ and Edward branches. We have yet to make contact with descendants of William Thomas, Mary Agnes and Thomas N.
With gratitude
Carol & Sandy & Damian
Damian Jones reading his poem honoring the remarkable friendship between Mary Burke and Ellen Fallon:
Ellen Burke raising a toast to the Burke Clan, St Patrick's Day 2021.
Carol Burke sharing a poem at the gravesite.
St Patrick's Day 2021.
