MAURICE WOLFE (1837–AFTER 1915)

Maurice Wolfe was born in May 1837, in Listowel, County Kerry, the son of John Wolfe and Bridget Foley Wolfe. He had six full siblings: Katherine Marie (b. 1832), Daniel, Johanna (b. ca. 1841), Ann (b. 1845), Bridget (b. ca. 1846), and Julia (b. ca. 1848). From his father’s earlier marriage, he also had four half siblings: Margaret (b. ca. 1821), Eleanor (b. ca. 1821), Mary (b. 1826), and Ellen (b. 1827).

In 1849, Wolfe, his parents, and his siblings, immigrated to the United States, sailing aboard the Mary Ann Henry, arriving in New York on July 9. Numerous members of the Wolfe family immigrated around the same time, nearly all of them settling in LaSalle County, Illinois. A few moved from there to Clinton County, Iowa.

Maurice Wolfe and his parents were living in Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, by 1850. Within a decade, however, Wolfe had moved to Ohio Township, Franklin County, Kansas. By 1870, he had moved to Greenwood Township and was living in the household of Michael and Catherine Fitzgerald, both Irish-immigrant farmers. Around 1878 he married Mary Fitzgerald, a native of Illinois and likely the Fitzgeralds’ daughter. The couple had three children: Edward (b. 1880), William (b. 1884), and Anna (b. 1898).

Wolfe farmed in Franklin County the rest of his life. His wife, Mary, died sometime between 1898 and 1900. In the federal census of 1910, Wolfe was living in the home of Amos Cook in Osage, Kansas. Five years later, a state census identified him as residing in Garden City Township, Finney County, Kansas, with his son Edward.

His death date remains unclear.