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71
Daniel Joseph Doyle
1883-1957
Daniel's certificate of baptism indicates the ceremony took place on 7 Jan 1884 with Father M. Cawley of St. Thomas Church officiating. (2) Of interest is his Godparents, Thomas and Margaret Scully. They were undoubtedly relatives of his grandmother, Margaret Scully.
Few details are known of Dan's youth except for a story or two he related to his son. One tale recounted how he and several of the area boys were not enamored with daily attendance at school. As a result his grandfather, Daniel Doyle, was assigned the chore of following the children to school. Grandpa was in his declining years and suffering a partial loss of eyesight. Often one, or more of the kids would hide in a ditch until Grandpa passed by, and then played "hookey" for the day
Some of the editor's memories of his Dad include:
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Model "T" Ford Coupe. The usual trip included a stop at
Jordan, Minnesota for a mid-morning snack of crackers and bologna. |
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On arrival at st. Thomas we usually stopped at Callahan's
store, for Dad to catch up on the l ocal news. From there we would
drive the mile or so West to the farm home of Aunt Mary and Uncle "Din" Regan. Dad would visit with them and I recall Uncle "Din" as being loquacious, while Aunt Mary was quite reserved. |
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Aunt Mary, a gentle, soft spoken woman, would always fix
lunch and the memory of her cutting a loaf of bread is still clear.
She would hold the loaf up to her breast and then cut, with a sawing
action towards herself using a long, sharp knife. |
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We would then leave for home in the early afternoon. On
those trips, especially when driving past the "old homestead", Dad would often talk of the "old days". Unfortunately, I don't
rec.all much of what he told me. |
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In his later retirement years, he again took this trip
several times but now accompanied by his granddaughter, Mary Lee. |
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| * | By that time both Uncle"Din" and Aunt Mary were gone but their son, Jim, and wife, Monica, were living on the family farm. |
Dad often would sing the first few lines of "The wearing of the Green". (1) The youthful sadness which was felt though not understood can still be recalled on hearing this song yet today. I wonder if he had heard it sung, in his youth, by people who had actually lived in the aftermath of the penal days
Another song he sang often was "When You and I Were Young Maggie", a popular song of the day.
An often heard response when I queried him as to what he was going to give me for Christmas, a birthday, etc. was "Nothing if you behave yourself". The inference• of course, was that if I didn't behave I wouldn't have to wait to get a "present".
Another often heard comment when making a plea for an unnecessary highly desired luxury was ''When I was your age, I hadn't been given my first pair of shoes".
Or, he would relate his early years of having to sleep in the upstairs of the house,where in winter, it wasn't unusual to find driven snow around you after a winterrs night storm. I wonder!
Dan shows on the 1885 census and again in the 1895 census conducted by the State of Minnesota.
On his 21st birthday (1904) his mother gave him an Elgin pocket watch with a snap open case. It is still in the family and it still runs.
It would be safe to assume that Dan had started to work in Minneapolis before the family moved there. Actually, family trad ition indicates that he worked in the flour mills. Some items in the Le Sueur Sentinal also support this assumption. These include:
23 Jan 1909 * "Daniel Doyle came home from Mpls. Monday." 23 May 1908 * "Daniel Doyle spent the first of the week with friends at Mpls." 30 May 1908 * "Daniel Doyle has been home for a few days visit, but will soon return to Mpls." 5 Sep 1908 * "Dan Hoyle (sic) left Monday for Mpls." 10 Oct 1908 * "Daniel Doyle of Mpls. came up on business Sat. and remained til Monday."
Then on 8 Oct 1909 it was Dan who signed the freight bill covering the move from St. Thomas to Minneapolis.
(See pg 179 of the appendix)
Dan first shows in the Mpls. City Directory of 1910 as a Car Operator for the Twin City Rapid Transit Co. and residing at 3200 Clinton Ave.
In the years 1911 through 1914, he is shown as a Clerk and Packer at the Mpls. Wholesale Drug Co. with residence at 3226 Nicollet.
In 1915 and 1916 he is shown as still employed at the Drug Co., but now living at 106 E. 25th St.
One of the men working at the Drug Co., Gus Schultz, had purchased two lots on South Xerxes in Minneapolis from another employee who needed money. Gus talked Dan into buying one of these lots. On 10 Aug 1915 for the sum of $475.00 Dan bought the vacant property at 4708 Xerxes Ave.
Sometime during this period Dan started to make regular trips to Polk County, Wisconsin to visit his aunt, Margaret Carney, who was now Mrs. William Murphy, Jr. On one of his early trips he met Rose Ann Murphy, the niece of Wm. Murphy,Jr. Before long his jaunts to Wisconsin became more frequent and Aunt Margaret didn't see much of him. Needless to say, it was not long before Dan proposed to Roseand she accepted.
An office wedding party at the Drug Co. was held for Dan and one of the mementos is a sheet of paper headed "In memory of Dan Doyle whose fate is to be sealed, we solicit your help. Pall Bearers listed below". Then followed 44 names plus a list of their cash contributions. Most were for $.25 or $.50, plus two of $2.00, two of $1.00 and a $10.00 contribution from the Mpls. Drug Co. It is dated June 1916.
On 28 Jun 1916, Dan and Rose were married at St. Patrick's, her home parish, in Long Lake, Polk County, Wisconsin. (see picture - including several Doyles and Murphys at the front of this section.
Rose was born on 4 Mar 1891 at Long Lake, Polk County, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of the marriage of Patrick Murphy and Margaret Rogers. (The separate Murphy manuscript includes a biography of Rose Murphy Doyle)
They first rented an apartment in a four-plex at 3109- 4th Avenue South in Minneapolis. Dan was still at the Drug Co. and had the substantial monthly income of $60.00 to count on.
On 2 Apr 1917 Dan was successful in getting employment on the Mpls. Fire Dept. and was assigned to Hook and Ladder Co. #5.
This celebration was hardly over when they had cause to celebrate again. On 19 Apr 1917 a son, Byron, was born. He was baptized at the Church of the Incarnation on 6 May 1917. Godparents were John Doyle and Margaret Murphy Sullivan.
In 1918 they moved to 3224 Bryant (1) and then in 1920 moved to the Bay State Apartments, 1912 Clinton Ave. So. While at the latter address they decided to go ahead and build on the lot Dan had acquired in 1915.
They built a 2 bedroom bungalow and moved there in 1921. Dan's brother, Bill, became part of the family in 1923. Various other brothers used this address as an "official" one at one period or another in their lives, especially when needing a city address to retain employment on a city payroll.
They built a 2 bedroom bungalow and moved there in 1921. Dan's brother, Bill, became part of the family in 1923. Various other brothers used this address as an "official" one at one period or another in their lives, especially when needing a city address to retain employment on a city payroll.
Let's pause here and talk about Dan the man. He was big in sta ture, 6 feet tall and 200 lbs. As a youth he was handsome with a crown of coal black hair. His hair grayed early and he put on a little weight, giving him the appearance of a distinguished "gentleman".
In personality Dan was on the quiet side though he had an excellant sense of humor. He was an outstanding listener, especially when people wished to pour out their troubles. As a result, he was often described as a great "conversationalist".
As a husband and father he was a kind but strict disciplinarian who didn't have to resort to physical threats to maintain order in the household. Rose was inclined to be volatile and emotional, but she thoroughly understood how far Dan could be "pushed".
Dan's gruff quietness, at times, kept people in awe of him. It was an exterior facade only, as he had a grand way with children who, after they got to know him, enjoyed his company, and his patience with their childlike demands.
Financially Dan could be charcterized as generous with others but excessively thrifty with himself. He didn't believe in wasting money on frills.
In the crash of the "Great Depression", Dan and Rose lost a substantial sum of money when the bank they kept their savings in went bankrupt. From then on Dan had a negative attitude about banks and credit. He refused to ha e a checking account or charge accounts at Department Stores. It was on y in later years that he allowed Rose to charge her purchases and then he would go down within a day or two and pay the bill. Dan always maintained a cache for sizeable amounts of cash in the basement of his home. Not even Rose knew the secret of where the cache was. Whenever he needed cash he would take a solitary trip to the basement.
He usually paid cash when he bought a car and demanded and got a cash discount. It was a real shock to him the day in the late 30's when a dealer declared he'd prefer Dan took a loan rather than pay cash.
On 2 Nov 1934 (All Soul's Day) the home at 4708 Xerxes caught fire. Dan was on duty as driver of Engine Co. #28, only about 8 blocks away. Re knew instinctively, when the call came in that it was his house. He jumped on the truck and left the fire house without waiting for the entire crew. At least one of the men walked to the fire. Fortunately, though badly damaged, the house was saved and later re-built. (1)
One embarassing casualty -- a trunk broke open when thrown out of the attic by the firemen. It contained many love letters from Dan and Rose's courting days. The neighborhood kids got "educated'' in a hurry and their mothers on returning the letters with "knowing smiles" assured Rose they hadn't read them. The letters were then burned without delay. What a treasure they would be now.
On 30 May 1940 son, Byron, married Mary Dolan, born 12 Sep 1918 in Minneapolis to the marriage of Thomas Dolan and Mabel Palmer. Dan took a strong liking to his daughter-in-law and his stern "front" began to show ''cracks".
It was in 1941 after the birth of his first grandchild, Mary Lee, that Dan's "tough guy" image "came apart at the seams". She could "wrap him around her little finger" at will. His patience with her was memorable.
After she had grown into adolescence, Dan made her the only confidant of his secret cache in the basement. He told her that if anything happened to him it was to be hers.
In the Spring of 1947 Dan had a stroke and was left with some paralysis which cleared up almost entirely within a few months. Though he resisted, Dan was forced to retire from the Fire Dept. on 23 Feb 1948.
For the next several yea:rs, Dan and Rose wintered in California or Florida and summered in Minneapolis or at a Minn esota Lake cottage.
In late 1952 son, Byron and family, moved to Des Moines, Iowa. Dan and Rose sold their home on Xerxes and bought this newer home from Byron. It was located at 6714-lst Ave. So., Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
After making this purchase they tended to discontinue their traveling and stayed in Minneapolis. Dan began to do light pick-up and delivery work for his brother, John, and Rose worked at Dayton's Department Store on the Order Board. They seemed to be very contented with life.
Dan enjoyed his summer leisure time by sitting in his rocker under the apple tree in the front yard. The neighbors, adult and juvenile, were his constant visitors. We jokingly referred to his "hearing confessions". He knew all the neighborhood gossip and problems but never discussed them. Today a psychiatrist would likely diagnose this as a grand "ventilating" process for the neighbors, old and young alike.
In 1957, over the 4th of July, Byron and family came from Des Moines to visit. After a pleasant stay they returned home on 6 July leaving sons, Dan, age 10 and Tom, age 7, for a few days extra play in the "old neighborhood".
On Sunday 7 July 1957, Dan got up and went to early Mass, as was his custom. Later the two grandsons arose and were hesitant about going to Mass alone, so grandpa went with them. Shortly after noon the boys were taken swimming by one of the neighbors and Dan went out to enjoy his rocker under the tree. Within a few minute Dan had a massive heart attack, and although taken by ambulance to St. Mary.'s Hospital, it proved fatal within two hours. Though in pain Dan died with a slight smile an his lips as if he saw a vision on the ceiling and looked forward to his eternal reward in heaven. (1)
Granddaughter, Mary Lee, arrived on Monday and at Rose's request went to the basement and got the cash from the cache. It was hers to keep.
Dan's obituary read as follows: DOYLE - Daniel J., age 73 of 6714-lst Ave. So., Richfield. Survived by wife, Rose; son, Byron, Des Moines, Iowa; 4 brothers, Neal, John, Leo and Bill, all of Mpls.; 5 sisters, Mrs. Margaret Burgoyne, Monroe, La., Miss Catherine Doyle, Mrs. Martin (Nonie) Muckerheide and Mrs. James (Helen) Dyke and Miss Anastasia Doyle, all of Mpls; 4 grandchildren. Requiem High Mass Wed. 9 a.m. at St. Peter's Church. Rosary Tues. 8 p.m. at Gill Brothers (South Chapel) 5801 Lyndale Ave. S. Interment Resurrection.
He is buried in Resurection Cemetery next to his wife, Rose who died 31 Jan 1976 at Seattle, Washington. The plot is adjacent to his brother Neal and sister-in-law Mayme.
REQUIESCANT IN PACE!
See appendix pg. 183 for a copy of death certificate.
See appendix pg. 184 for a copy of the newspaper picture and story.
Dan's brother, Neal Doyle, and family also resided in the same building, a four-plex, at 3224 Bryant.
