Daniel McCloskey

Immigrating to America as a young boy of about 14 with his family from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Daniel lived in the Arcata home of his parents, Alexander Gillan McCloskey and Martha (maiden name Hill) McCloskey.

After the untimely death of her husband Robert Getty Kane, Sr., Daniel's sister, Mary Elizabeth (aka "Minnie" and maiden name McCloskey) Kane, returned with her two young sons to live again in the Arcata home of her parents. Mary's hsuband was just 29-years-old when he died tragically while working in the Vance Logging woods near Arcata. Living in the home of her parents for the rest of her life, Mary cared for her sons Alexander (Alexander G. Kane signed his middle name "Gillin," although that surname came from their family in Ireland and was originally spelled "Gillan") and Getty (Robert E. G. Kane was always called "Getty," which was his middle name) and for her brother Daniel. Mary and Robert's oldest son Alexander became a soldier, serving in the United States Armed Forces in the 21st Balloon Company and he died in France during World War I, being buried at an unknown location in France; he has a cenotaph in Greenwood Cemetery.

Daniel McCloskey never married and he lived all of his life in the Arcata, California home of his parents, sharing that home with his parents, his sister Mary Kane, and her sons Alexander and Getty Kane. In later years, Daniel was the head-of-household of their home.

Daniel was a kind and jovial man who loved to correspond via postcards with the ladies, and his silly and very interesting collection of correspondence with these many ladies is today in the hands of family members. Having never married and had children of his own, Daniel loved his two nephews very much, and, living together in the same household, he spent a lot of time with them after their father Robert died. While speaking of his postcard collection and his playfulness, his family members remembered Daniel with much laughter and big smiles, telling of what a grand and unforgettable personality he had!

In the June 23, 1900 Census enumerated in Union Township (now Arcata), Humboldt County, California, Daniel's occupation was listed as the same occupation of his father Alexander McCloskey and his uncle James McCloskey -- they were all "Shingle Bolt Makers," and all had become naturalized citizens of the United States. In that same census, it is recorded that Daniel's father owned their family residence, it was mortgaged, and it was a home and not a farm. Alexander had immigrated from Northern Ireland 14 years before in 1886, which was the year prior to his wife Martha (maiden name Hill) McCloskey arriving in the United States in 1887 with his son Daniel and daughter Mary Elizabeth McCloskey.

Daniel's much older brother James Hill McCloskey also immigrated from Northern Ireland in 1887, presumably on the same ship as his mother, brother and sister. However, although they married in Northern Ireland, James's wife Esther did not immigrate until 1891, which was about four years after James had immigrated; their three children were all born in California. In 1900, James and Esther and their children Hill, Ernest and Charlotte were living next door to Alexander, Martha, Daniel, Mary Kane, Alexander Kane and Robert E. Getty Kane. James and Esther owned their home, it was mortgaged, and it was a home and not a farm.

All family members in the two neighboring McCloskey households could read and write, and all spoke English.

According to the same June 23, 1900 Census image, Martha (Hill) McCloskey was the mother of five children and five were as of that date living. The whereabouts of Alexander and Martha's other two children at the time of the 1900 Census is a bit of a mystery; however, it is known that the oldest was named Henry McCloskey (birth record below), and believed that the next-born son was named Alexander McCloskey. It is probable that both of these brothers of Daniel, already in their twenties by 1900 and perhaps with families of their own, may have remained living in Northern Ireland where they were born.