Ellen Hennessy

James Hennessey was born in Ireland in 1797. He came to the United States in 1850 along with his wife, and four children. They came by way of Pennsylvania and Louisville, Kentucky, settling there temporarily, then coming to Cascade, Iowa.

James Hennessey's wife's name is unknown. Rumor has it that she died of homesickness for Ireland some time before the family came to Iowa.

In Louisville, James Hennessey was an overseer of slaves, which he did not want to do. It's easy to conjecture that this employment is part of the reason his wife longed for her homeland. At any rate, James and the children moved to the Cascade area before 1856, after the death of his wife, and the children's mother.