Denis Egan

GEDCOM Note

[Ward.FTW]

Family listed as Agan in 1860 Indiana Census

EGAN Family

In Irish, Egan is Mac Aodhagain and the surname is really Mac Egan. The prefix "Mac" is rarely used in Ireland today. In medieval times, the MacEgan clan was to be found in the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Offlay. They were hereditary lawyers and acted as "brehon" --- judges and lawmakers to the clan chiefs. There is a Mac Egan coat of arms. In more recent times, the Mac Egan clan included an archbishop and several bishops. The Most Reverend Michael Egan was a bishop of Philadelphia. Two were popular novelists in their day; and one was a noted artist. One was a patriot member of the English Parliament and was "notorious for his propensity for duelling."

Dennis Egan was born May 20, 1827, near Roscera in County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the son of Gilbert and Catherine Gavin Egan. Denis had five brothers: Rev. Peter Egan, Patrick Egan, Michael Egan, Rev. John Egan and James Egan; and four sisters: Eliza Egan Gavin, Catherine (known as Kate) Egan Sinnott, Mary Anne Egan Kennedy, and Sarah (known as as Sallie) Egan Kennedy. All, except John, Mary Anne and Sallie, Emigrated to the United States. Denis emigrated from Ireland in 1848. He traveled west (the "why" and the "how" are not known), arriving in Union County, Indiana in the late summer of 1852 at the farm owned by Maza Moore Ward, the widow of Squire Ward and the mother of Maza Angeline Ward. If he became a citizen of the United States, he did so someplace other than in Union County, Indiana. [NOTE: this is incorrect. On file at the Union County Courthouse, Liberty, Indiana, are the naturalization papers of both Denis and his brother Patrick]. Maza Angeline Ward Egan (known as Mazie) was born February 24, 1834, in Union County, Indiana, in the "Old Brick." She was the daughter of Squire and Maza Moore Ward, and was the fifth of their six children. Her paternal grandparents were Uzual and Mary Squire Ward; and a great grandfather, Joseph Ward, was a Revolutionary War soldier. Denis and Maza Angeline were married on February 7, 1853 in the rectory of St. Peter's church (now the Cathedral), Cincinnati, Ohio by the Rev. Edward Purcell. They traveled to Cincinnati by horse and buggy. Denis was 26 years of age and Maza was 19. Maza became a member of the Catholic Church about 12 years later. They were the parents of fifteen children (two of whom died in infancy and one at birth): Catherine Belzona (known as Belle), born 1853 and died 1917; Mary, born 1854, died 1943; Gilbert Squire, born 1856, died ?; John, born 1858, died 1909; Annette Malinda, born 1860, died 1936; Clara, born 1862, died ?; Ella, died in infancy; Eva, died in infancy; Emma (Aunt Em), born 1867, died 1946; Edward, born 1869, died 1949; Francis (known as Frank), born 1871, died ?; infant, died at birth; Mannes, born 1875, died 1953; Gertrude (known as Gert), born 1876, died 1928; Agnes (Sister Mary Raymond of the Order of the Humility of Mary), born 1878, died 1955. For approximately the first four years of their married life, Denis and Maza lived with her mother in the "Old Brick". Shortly after the birth of Gilbert Squire in 1856, Maza Moore Ward gave her daughter 166 acres of land, her portion of the estate. This acreage in Centre Township was comprised of 136 acres in the NE quarter of Section 19, T 11 N, R 1 W, and 30 acres in the NW part of Section 20, T 11 N, R 1 W. The NE quarter (160 acres) of Section 19 was first purchased in 1811 for $320 by John Heavenridge and granted by Patent to William Heavenridge, "assigne" of John Heavenridge, in 1816. A copy of the Patent exists today. The quarter section was sold by William Heavenridge to Uzual Ward, the paternal grandfather of Maza Angeline Ward Egan, in 1818 for $1800. Uzual sold the quarter section to his son, Squire Ward, the father of Maza, in 1821 for the same price. On the 136 acres in Section 19, there was a one-room schoolhouse built in 1843 where Maza attended school. Two rooms were added to the front and a kitchen to the back, and here Maza Angeline Ward Egan started to keep house for herself. Later, a second story was added to the house. Twelve of the fifteen children of Denis and Maza were born in this house. It was destroyed by fire in 1888. The 1884 Atlas of Union County showed that Denis Egan owned approximately 166 acres in Centre Township. This included the 136 acres in Section 19, and the 30 acres in the NW part of Section 20, previously discussed. This latter tract of land was deeded to him for $1.00 on December 15, 1885 by his wife, Maza A. Ward. I found no record as to when the 136 acres were deeded to him. In 1883, the 166 acres were described as all under fence: 135 acres were under cultivation, all suitable for corn or wheat; and 25 acres of woodland. The assessed value of the land was $4150 and the buildings, $500. The actual value of the land was indicated as $12,450 (or $75 per acre), and the buildings as $3000. On February 21, 1883 Denis and Maza made application for a loan of $3900 for 5 years at 6 percent interest. The loan was to be secured by a first mortgage on the farm. Although there is no documentation on the final disposition of the application, there is documentation to show that the application and the ownership of the farm ended in the hands of John F. Carlos of Connersville, Indiana. Clara Carlos, his wife, was a daughter of Denis and Maza. In an indenture, dated December 30, 1902, John F. and Clara Carlos sold the farm back to Maza for $5000. (As I recall, Grandad Breen didn't hold John Carlos in very high esteem; now I believe I know why). Following the death of Maza in 1917, her will was contested in court. The Union County Circuit Court decreed the farm be sold in a private sale through a law office in Liberty, Indiana. Emma Egan, a daughter of Denis and Maza, with considerable help from Dan Breen, bought the farm for $3000. Emma and her sister, Gertrude, lived on the farm for the remainder of their lives; Emma was the farm operator. After her death in 1946, the farm was sold out of the family. Denis Egan was a Civil War veteran. On November 17, 1863, he was enrolled (enlisted) for three years at Liberty, Indiana in Co. D., 121st Regiment, 9th Indiana Volunteer Cavalry. The Company Descriptive Book indicated he was 36 years old, height of 5 feet 7 inches, with light complexion, blue eyes and dark hair, born in Ireland, and a farmer. At the time of his enrollment, he was paid a bounty of sixty dollars and, later on, an additional forty dollars. His service records show that he was on the muster roll, Indianapolis, Indiana on January 16, 1864; appointed Corporal on August 8, 1864; on detached service in Louisville, Kentucky during September and October 1864; reduced to Private at his own request on November 17, 1864; and in the U.S.A. Post Hospital, Gallatin, Tennessee during November and December 1864; was in the U.S.A. Hospital of Cavalry Corps, Gallatin, Tennessee, January through April, 1865; mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee on May 30, 1865, per telegram instructions from the War Department; transportation and subsistence were furnished to place of enrollment. The records do not indicate why he spent six months in the hospital. However, I recall my mother saying that her Grandfather Egan had been thrown from his horse during the Civil War. He received a pension of four dollars per month from May 31, 1865 to May 7, 1890 because of varicose veins in the left leg. For the last month of his life, the pension was increased to six dollars per month. An application, in 1883, for an increase in his pension due to deafness and disease of the heart was not approved. A medical examination, given prior to the application, stated that he was 59 years old, five feet, six and one-half inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, had a pulse rate of 96 and respiration of 20. Denis Egan was prominent in the Democratic Party of Union County. He was described as a "good leader and a man true to his party and party leaders." From 1859 to 1889, during the first term of President Grover Cleveland, he was the Liberty Postmaster. During this period of time and perhaps before and after, Denis and Maza lived on Vine Street in Liberty. During this same period, the management of the Review, a Union County newspaper, was in his hands. He was a member of Post 188, department of Indiana, of the Grand Army of the Republic. According to an article in the Liberty Herald, on January 29, 1881, he and thirty-four other residents of Union County were sworn-in, in the Union County Courthouse, "in the just subscribed union County Horse Detective Association." According to the article, the association was formed for the "protection of the members against common depredations and horse thieves and for the detection and apprehension of horse thieves, which purpose was assisting and bringing to justice all such offenses and aiding each other in recovery of stolen property and indemnifying each other against losses." Although this sounds like vigilante activities, the formation of these association was legal; it was based on an act passed by the Indiana Legislature in 1865. The following is quoted from his obituary: "Mr. Egan's temperance principles need no mention from us. for twelve years he was Secretary of the C.T.A.U. for Indiana." Denis Egan died of apoplexy on May 28, 1890, at the age of 63 years. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Liberty, Indiana. Maza survived her husband by almost twenty-seven years. She died on March 24, 1917, in Union County, Indiana at the age of 83, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Liberty, Indiana.