Ellen Cussen Welch

[posted 11 Sep '14; added to web site 22 Jan '15] Ellen was the youngest of Dennis Cussen and Katherine Casey's Irish-born children, born near Galbally, Limerick co., Ireland in 1841. She was living with her family in Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin in 1850 and 1860. In 1869 she married Michael Welch, a butcher from nearby Juneau co. They settled in Necedah where twins Katie and William were born in 1870.  Ellen's sister, Mary Cushing Lupient, also lived in Necedah in 1870. I believe that Necedah was part of land recently (ca. 1840s) purchased from Native Americans and was experiencing rapid settlement and growth. It is located on the Yellow River, which flows into the Wisconsin River near Portage, so perhaps there was a fair amount of river traffic to and from Portage, and that is how Michael and Ellen met.

In 1883, Katie died.  In 1886, the "M.W. Welch building" was destroyed in a major fire in Necedah. It looks like they sold their home and moved away shortly thereafter. I can't find any record of them until Ellen Walsh, a widow, dies in Chicago in 1913.  She is mentioned in her brother's death notice in Chicago in 1908, so was probably in Chicago at that time.