The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

Matthews, friends of the family,
who lacked sufficient funds for
passage to America. Generous
Michael paid their way so they
could make the trip back with
him, and they settled in Waterloo.
When Michael finally got
back to Seneca Falls, his legacy
had dwindled to practically
nothing. Needless to say, his
wife, Mary, was quite angry. She
managed the family without her
husband all during the Civil War
and again during this long trip to
Ireland—and he came home
nearly empty handed! Other
members of the family, especially
the McKeona and
Carrahers, showed outright
hostility toward him. But in time
the rift healed.
When Michael grew old, he
spent part of his leisure time
sitting around the pot-bellied
stove in the Magill grocery,
which was owned by his son
Thomas. The store was located
on the corner of Bayard and
Bridge Streets. As the Italians
followed the Irish, this store later
was Caruso’s grocery store and
today it is called Hobb’e Place,
which deals in antiques and used
furniture. The pot-bellied stove
in the grocery store had a circle
of captain’s chairs, each with its
own spittoon. Michael and his
cronies gathered there to discuss
the problems and the people of
the times, especially William
Jennings Bryan.
Mary Hand Magill died in
1896, followed by Michael a few
months later in 1897. Their
children were Thomas (who died
as a three-year-old infant in
1853), Michael, Mary Anne (the
one from whom the Callans
would come), Harry, Catherine,
Ella, Thomas, Richard, William,
Alice, and Margaret.
Mary Anne, the third eldest
child of Michael and Mary Hand
Magill. was born in Seneca Falls
on October 1, 1853. Everyone
said that she was a lovely person
and very well liked. When she
was a teenager she helped out in
the rectory of St. Patrick’s
Church in Seneca Falls.
One summer, very unexpectedly,
a young man came to
live there for a few weeks. His
name was Bernard Callan.
Bernard was a seminarian, not
far from the priesthood, who was
studying at St. Mary’s Seminary
in Baltimore. He spent part of
the summer in Providence,
Rhode Island with his Callan
relatives. His summer job was
selling magazine subscriptions.
That summer he came to Seneca
Falls to visit a priest who was a
friend of the family from Ireland.
One day when Bernard was
having lunch with the priests, his
eyes kept shifting to the pretty
girl who was serving the meal.
He noticed that she was looking
at him the same way. Bernard
and Mary Anne spent long hours
together during the following
weeks. His zeal for the priesthood
began to evaporate as this
attractive teenager captured
more and more of his heart. Just
a few days past her 16th birthday,
Mary Anne was married to
Bernard on October 10,1869 at
St. Patrick’s Church by Father
Lambert.
Before continuing on with
the family that Bernard and
Mary Ann (Magill) Callan
produced, let’s quickly catch up
with Bernard’s siblings.
As you may recall, in the
early 1800s Philip Callan and
Rose Boylan Callan, our ancestors,
lived in Coolkill, Kilnaleck,
County Cavan, Ireland. They
lived in the parish of
Crosserlough, Kilnore diocese.
They had eight children who
were born there, one of whom
was Bernard, born in 1844.
James James James Callan Callan
Callan was a priest.
He was educated at All Hallows
College in Dublin. He left
Dublin in 1862 at the age of
twenty-six and sailed all the way
around Cape Horn in South
America and landed in San
Francisco, California, where he
was ordained shortly after arriving.
He was loved by all, both
Catholic and non-Catholic, and
was a very zealous and kind
priest, according to diocesan
officials. They added “he was a
smoker but a non-drinker.” He
served at the Cathedral in
Marysville (All of Northern
California was under the Vicarate
of Marysville at the time).
Then he was sent to Forest Hill
where he built the first Catholic
school. In 1669 Bishop
O’Connell had to leave for
Rome to attend the First Vatican
Council, so he transferred Father
Callan back to Marysville to take
the bishop’s place as rector.
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The Callans and McClarys
Because of this, James was
already in California when
Bernard came to America. In
1872 James was appointed
pastor in Mendocino City, then
back to Marysville again, where
he died and was buried in 1887.
Mary Mary Callan, Callan, an unmarried
daughter, traveled out with her
brother Fr. James to be his
housekeeper in California. After
he died, she returned to the east
with quite a lot of money that Fr.
James left her. The priest was
wealthy because he “grubstaked”
gold miners. A grubstaker was
someone who supplied the
miners with money, food
(“grub”), equipment, etc. and got
half the gold, if any was found.
Fr. James left Mary lots of
money with the understanding
that she would go back to Providence,
Rhode Island and share it
with the rest of the family.
However, according to family
stories told by Fr. James Brady
Callan’s grandfather, Mary lived
high on the hog, in great style all
her life, and no one in the family
got a penny. “And when she died
there was none to be found!”
One time when Mary
visited her niece Mary Callan
Clary {1879-1959) in Waterloo,
she gave her a special gold belt
buckle. It was engraved with
horses and fancy ladies with
puffy sleeves on their dresses. It
was quite a work of art. It said
“M. Callan” on the back. Mary
Callan Clary then gave this
golden buckle to her daughter
Mary. When this Mary got
married, she gave it to her