Daly Family Genealogy (based in large part on the info in this album)
Dear Mr. Seltzer:
My wife is a great-great-grandaughter of
Thomas Daly (d. 1858), who was the father of both T. L. Daly and
John Michael Daly (1830-1904), who in turn was the father of
William Washington Daly, Sr. We found your material on the
Daly family on the internet, together with the material on the
Seltzer family. My wife's mother, Mary Violet Daly
MacFarland (1904-2002),
died last February. She was the grandaughter of T. L.
Daly, who lived near Charleroi, PA (across the river from the
location of the Gibsonton distillery where Thomas Daly was
killed in 1858). In going through Mrs. MacFarland's
belongings, we have found a good deal of historical material on
the Daly family.
Please let us know if you are interested.
Bruce Wilson
from followup message, September. 6, 2002
We do not have any information of Dalys still
in Ireland. We do have
the naturalization certificate of Thomas Daly from 1844.
from second followup message, October 20, 2002 4:15 PM
Some time ago while we were in western
Pennsylvania you asked whether we had any records that go back
beyond the marriage of Thomas and Mary Mahar (Marr) Daly in
1822. Here it is. This is a transcription of a 1906
record created by Thomas Lafayette Daly’s (and John Michael
Daly’s) sister, Mary Ellen. We have the old parchment with
the early records to
which she refers. I am assuming she copied it correctly
because it is dim and faded almost beyond deciphering without
help. She then picks up on the record that you already
have included in the Daly geneaology.
I do not know whether I mentioned that we also have Carrie W. Daly’s travel diary from 1904, in which she describes the trip to Norfolk and Washington for John’s funeral.
We are back home in St. Davids, PA. Will be going back to Charleroi on Thursday and returning here next Sunday.
Bruce Wilson
Attachment included with the above message:
Full and complete account of the Daly family
From the year 1713 to 1906
as near as I can procure from the meager data
Written by Mary Ellen Daly McMahan Belvoir Hall, Monessen,
Pa.
Athlone, the town mentioned in many of the
papers that have fallen into my possession, seems to have been a
place of some importance. Oliver Goldsmith lived and wrote
in 1827-1774. The Sheridans, mother, husband, and son,
authors and actors, lived, loved, and wrote and acted in [sic]
from 1724-1788 in the times some of the Dalys lived, loved and
died – a good description of Athlone is given in Chambers
Encyclopedia: A. In Ireland, southern part of Galway,
there are marked two towns, one Daly the other Dalytown. I
have a small brass cross, of coarse [sic] make no notes in
regards to it: a legendary prayer written by some one for the
benefit of a Mrs. Daly of Athlone. I have a piece of
parchment upon which is written two family records evidently not
consecutive, as dates prove, one very dim and poorly written,
beginning with the following name and no death
record -----
Thomas Daly born December 1713
James Daly born December 1st 1717
Gregory Daly born March 11th 1722
Patrick Daly born May 13th 1724
Then on the other side a well written record of a John Daly married to Alice Wheeler June 25, 1789. This shows a space of time over 65 years passed from the date of Patrick Daly’s birth 1724, evidently we may conclude that Patrick Daly was John Daly’s father, and allowing for passage of time John Daly would be 40 years old at the time of his marriage.
correct copy off of parchment
John Daly was married to Alice Wheeler June
25, 1789. he died May 22nd 1806. (now follows
record) His first child was orn March 7th, 1791 between
the hours of 4 and five oclock in the morning, and was
christened Catharine Daly (died young)
Thomas Daly was born February 20th 1792 between 9 and 10 oclock
at night
Jane Daly was born July 24th 1793 about ten oclock at night
James Daly was born December 3rd 1794 between ten and eleven
oclock at night (died young)
Alice Daly was born December 16th 1797 between 3 and 4 oclock in
the day. Died 13th September 1811
Copy Family Record of Thomas Daly, presumably
second son [child?] of John Daly and Alice Wheeler
Thos. Daly married to Mary Maher 18th June
1822
In St. Paul’s Catholic Church Arran Quay Dublin by Rev.
Mr. Gormley . . . . . Ireland
Their first child born March 1823 died young John
2nd James born 21st Sept. 1826 in Dublin
3 Alice “
28th Oct. 1828 in Kilbeggan
4 John
“ 23rd May 1830 in Dublin
5 Jane
“ 5th Oct. 1833 Kilbeggan
6 Agnes “ 7th
June 1835 Dublin
7 William “ 3 April [?] died young
8 Thomas “ 18 Sept. 1839 in
Philadelphia
9 Mary Jane “ Died young
10 Margaret “ died young
11 Wm. Hudson “ 11 July 1842 Indiana Co.
12
Patrick
Died young
13 Mary Ellen born 29th June 1848 in Wilmington Del
James Daly married Mary Kenzie Jan. 1848
John Daly married Amanda Lohnabock [elsewhere Service] after
Amanda’s death he married Mary Quinen
Agnes Daly married John Johnstone May 5th 1859
Jane Daly married Thomas Dunaway Sept 2nd 1858
Thomas Daly married Caroline M. Wilson Sept 19 1860
William Hudson Daly married Athalia Ann Cooper June 22nd 1869 at
Trinity Church Pgh Pa
Mary Ellen Daly married Alexander McMahan February 5th 1867 at
the Residence of Thos. Dunaway
There only remains now March 12th 1906
Thomas L. Daly and Mary Ellen Daly McMahan
James Daly died
John Daly died February 4th 1904 Norfolk Va.
Jane Daly Dunaway died Virginia Cass Co. Feb. 13th 1902
Agnes Daly Johnstone died Nov 19
1902 Pgh Pa
William Hudson Daly died June 5th 1901. Howe St. Pgh
Pa
John Milton, Mabel May, Edwin Earl, Harry Wesley, William Washington, Jr., Lillian Leona, Adolph A., Margaret Matilda (Thour) the mother, Margaret Adele, William Washington, Sr. the father.
William Washington Daly, Sr. built a cottage at Colonial Beach, Virginia, where the family vacationed for several generations.
He was born in Pocahontas, West Virginia, near the North Carolina border. Dalys still live in that town. Pocahontas was a coal mining town. The US Navy contracted their coal for ships.
Margaret Virginia Wood, age 8, and Doris Adele Wood, age 6, daughters of Mabel (Daly) Wood
Sawing wood at Colonial Beach, c. 1953 With the saw, Richard Seltzer, Jr., and Phil Seltzer (his uncle)
Others left to right, Nancy and Margaret (daughters of Phil), Mary (Phil's wife), Helen (Richard's mother), and John (Phil's son, by his legs)
Lillian Leona (Daly) Seltzer with her oldest son Phil, 1921
Lillian Leona (Daly) Seltzer and her husband Warren Ray Seltzer at Warren's brother Charles' house in Philadelphia, on their honeymoon, June 23, 1918 (they were married on June 19).
Warren Ray Seltzer and his sons, Colonial Beach, July 4, 1973
Paul, James, Warren, Richard Sr., and Phil
60th anniversary of Keller Memorial Lutheran Church, Washington, DC, Oct. 5, 1952
"sons in the ministry"
back row, Elwood Moreland
front row left, Phil Seltzer
front row right, William Miller, son of Paul Miller and Margaret (Wood) Miller, daughter of Mabel (Daly) Wood
front middle, Warren Ray Seltzer, Paul Miller
back middle and right, Dr. Samuel T. Nicholas, pastor emeritus, Dr. Carl R. Simon, pastor
The Seltzer brothers, Woodside Park, Silver Spring, Maryland, 1932
Paul, James, Richard, Phil
Warren Ray Seltzer and Lillian Leona (Daly) Seltzer on their 50th anniversary, June 19, 1968
Phil, James, Paul, Lillian, Warren
Seltzers at Colonial Beach, 1960
Helen, Richard, Richard, Jr., and Lillian
Richard Seltzer, Sr., age 2, Colonial Beach, July 19-30, 1925
Richard, Helen, Paul, Mary, Phil, Richard, Jr., Nancy, John
Margaret Matilda (Thour) Daly on her 66th birthday, with daughters
Lillian Leona (Daly) Seltzer and Warren Ray Seltzer,
married June 19, 1918. This photo was taken Nov. 29, 1918, Washington, DC
James Seltzer, son of Warren and Lillian, age 1, 1929, at family home 640 E. St., Washington, DC
Brothers James, Richard, and Paul Seltzer, with horns, June 1961, Silver Spring, Maryland
Bothers Phil, Richard, James, and Paul Seltzer, with their mother Lillian, Silver Spring, Maryland, 1961
Warren Ray Seltzer and Lillian Leona (Daly) Seltzer, Nov. 1949, Silver Spring, Maryland
Lillian Leona Daly, age 16, with her mother Margaret Matilda (Thour) Daly, brother Harry W. Daly, Aunt Annie Thour, and Edna Thour Harris, Niagara Falls, 1907
Daly family house, 800 block, Maryland Ave., half a block from Keller Memorial Church, Nov. 1882
Edwin Earl Daly 12, Lillian Leona Daly 9, Mabel May Daly 14, William Washington Daly (the father), Harry Wesley Daly 17, Margaret Matilda Daly (the mother), Margaret A. Daly 3, Adolph A. Daly 5, John Milton Daly 8, William Washington Daly, Jr. 16
William Washington Daly and Sons store in Central Market, Washington, DC, 1920
Margaret Matilda (Thour) Daly and her sisters (on the right = Mrs. Nalley)
Captain Adolph Daly (shortly after WWI)
Grandma and Grandpa Daly established their summer home on the beautiful Potomac River ninety miles south of Washington, DC (about 1911, 1912, 1913) Colonial Beach, Virginia. At that time folks rode the old St. Johns and later the old McAllister steam boats; ;rode tot he cottages in horse-drawn surreys with the fringe on top. Our driver always was "Henry" -- Mrs. Edwards our good neighbor and her family (Claudia and Ethel) always engaged "Arthur."
Our Aunts and Uncles entertained groups of their friends; the second generation also entertained their friends. How many of you remember the sun sparkling mornings brushing your teeth and enjoying the bacon and coffee aromas from our big country kitchen! Then eating a hearty breakfast in our big screen in dining room. Then "KP" duty -- washing dishes, sweeping floor, etc.
A "Northeasterner" (always lasted at least a week) struck Colonial Beach. Cousin John Bruce had five school friends flooded out at the camp site down at the "point". Grandma Daly invited them to join us in our dry cottage even though she already had a house full of noisey cousins! Grandma and Aunt Mabel never once said "keep quiet" or "stop that"!
The Dalys were born optimists -- as far as I was able to detect, they sort of had a reasonable philosophy "if you can't beat them -- join them".
I remember Grandma Margaret Matilda Thour Daly (1) came from had working German ancestors; (2) was a home maker for husband and ten children but also sewed for the orphans at the German Orphan Asylum in Anacostia; (3) also did church work with the Ladies Aid of Keller Memorial Lutheran Church; (4) always hummed familiar tunes while doing house work; (5) was soft spoken, never raised her voice no matter what the situation; (6) tolerated all the noisey cousins under one roof at Colonial Beach; (7) quoted sayings like "If you don't use your head, you will have to use your feet"; "Many hands make light work". You name it, Grandma quoted something appropriate!
I remember Grandpa William Washington Daly, St. (1) was an easy going hard working Irishman with a twinkle in his eye; (2) always had a garden full of flowers jonquils (daffodil), hyacinths, tulips, roses, etc. which he would give to visiting ladies. (3) loved music -- I can see him sitting in the big bay window at 914 singing and tapping his foot to "Listen to the Mocking Bird"; (4) he loved pumpkin pie, raw oysters in season; Grandpa would shuck an oyster and give it to me, then he would eat the next one -- no cocktail sauce -- just raw oysters out of the burlap bag in the back yard -- great; (5) he was a "club" man belonging to fishing and hunting clubs in southern Maryland; (6) he also was a good provider for his family, working 12 hour days six days a week! (7) Grandpa and Grandma built a three story house on Capitol Hill at 914 Maryland Ave., NE. Each floor had a bathroom. I didn't know anyone else with three bath rooms so I thought my Grandpa was real smart. I used to enjoy taking my bath on the third floor because it was the nearest to the blue sky! Kids are funny, aren't they?
I remember:
Harry Wesley Daly (Lutheran Home impressed with his excellent disposition) 9/29/1883 -- 6/27/1959 (76 years)
William Washington Daly, Jr. (my father) good family man played cornet in Rebew orchestra (Sunday School) and special occasions 9/7/1884-- 7/10/1938 (54 years)
Mabel May Daly Wood everybody's friend; played organ and was a favorite accompanist on the piano for vocalists. 1/18/1888 -- 1/23/1973 (83 years, 10 months)
Lillian Leona Daly Seltzer. Sunday School Class honored her by donating a window at Keller Church in her name. Taught her children not to waste food "because it took a long time to grow". How true! She made the best crab cakes! 10/6/1890 -- 4/13/1973 (82 years, 6 months)
John Milton Daly camped in Colonial Beach grove; ate his meals down front so he wouldn't have to "do the dishes at the cottage"; had a great sense of humor. Died at 94 years old
Adolph A. Daly, World War I captain. Harvard Business School. Shared his time with family. "Gung-ho" to get things done! 1/29/1895 -- 3/1/1973 (78 years)
Margaret Adele Daly Miller. Beautiful singing voice. Sunday on radio (special occasions). Gardening favorite pass time. 90 years young in 1987, born 1/20/1897. [died May 27, 1995, 98 years]
Mrs. Edwin E. Daly: Aunt Lula McDermott Daly McAllister outgoing personality -- 90 years young (in 1987) born 11/4/1896.
Amy A. Daly 10/6/1885 -- 4/14/1888 (3 years)
Edna E. Daly 11/17/1886 -- 7/8/1888 (2 years)
He loved to socialize, sing and had many friends and enjoyed outdoor life. I do remember he planted all the fruit trees at Colonial Beach and when returning from a stay there would have all kinds of fresh produce to give to all the families.
The cottage was built in about 1904. I wish we had kept a guest book. There were many church groups who came, plus all the family and their friends. In the early years, transportation to the cottage was by boat only. The "St. John" was a paddle wheeler which traveled form Washington to Norfolk, Virginia, stopping at Colonial Beach along the way. From the wharf to the cottage, transportation was by carriage -- a surrey with a fringe on top, and "Uncle Henry", a black man, was a favorite driver in his black silk top hat, black suit, and black string tie.
Grandpa's grandfather, Thomas Daly was married to Mary Marr June 18, 1822 in St. Paul's Catholic Church, Dublin by Rev. McMcGormly. They had thirteen children as follows:
First child born in Dublin died young
James, September 21, 1826, Dublin
Alice, October 28, 1828, Kelbeggan
John Michael, May 23, 1830, Dublin
Jane, October 5, 1833, Kelbeggan
Agnes, June 7, 1835, Dublin
William, April 3, died young
Thomas, September 18, Philadelphia
Mary Jane, died young
Margaret, died young
William Hudson, July 11, 1842, Indiana County
Patrick, died young
Mary Ellen, June 21, 1848, Wilmington, Delaware
James Daly married Mary Jane Kemper, January 1846.
Thomas L. Daly married Carrie W. Wilson, September 19, 1860, in Trinity Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a Democrat and a Mason, receiving three symbolized degrees at Washington, Pennsylvania. They had three children: Harry, Athalia, and Kerfoot (From History of Westmoreland Count).
John Michael, grandpa's father, married Amanda Baker of Philadelphia, granddaughter of Mary Lauderbach, born Oct. 20, 1835 in Philadelphia. The two oil portraits in our family are of Amanda (Doris has her) and John Michael (in our dining room). The portraits were painted in Richmond, Virginia, and John Michael was known as "Captain Jack". Amanda died at the age of 50 in 1884 at their Bladensburg Road residence near the toll gate. John Michael later married his housekeeper and moved to a farm 10 or 15 miles from Virginia Beach. He often sent oysters to grandpa and once sent a live turkey which they put in the barn only to find it completely frozen the following morning. Once a year, he would come for a visit to grandpa's and hold the grandchildren on his knee until they complained of his whiskers hurting them. When John Michael died, his wife remarried and became Mrs. Hutch. That is the only name I know for her. She, the former housekeeper, was a kindly woman and always made the family feel at home when they visited. I remember visiting here as a young child, and almost suffocating in the feather beds. I also remember going outside down the walk to the summer kitchen. "The picture of my mother among the lilacs was taken there, I think, when she and Daddy were on their honeymoon.
Grandpa enjoyed luxury and always believed in having the best. He was a club man, belonging to the Masons and hunting and fishing clubs, one of which was on the Patuxent River in Maryland. He was a good family man as well and loved to garden. His home garden included hyacinths, jonquils, daffodils, pansies, and beautiful roses, which he presented to visiting ladies. At the beach cottage, he planted all those fruit trees: pear, damson, apple, and, of course, the grape arbor from the kitchen door to the outhouse.
Alma, my cousin, remembers him providing food in the winter for the birds and squirrels. She said he used to buy oysters by the bushel and shuck them outside the kitchen door, giving her one and then he would eat one. One of Grandmother's cousins had an oyster house, "Hatton's Oyster House." I do not know whether he bought them there or at the wharf.
An event she frequently mentioned was Lincoln's funeral. AS a child she lived somewhere in the area of Pennsylvania Ave. and witnessed his funeral cortege passing along the avenue on its way from the White House to the Capitol. The hearse creaked along the muddy road and as it came closer it stopped suddenly because of a mother pig and her piglets slowly crossing the avenue in its path.
As a youngster, she performed in several theater productions as an extra at the National Theater. One of the productions was "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."
She played the "matriarch" role to the hilt, was respected and adored by her eight living children. Several named their children for her. She had a "head for business" and handled much of the business affairs of her husband i.e., buying and selling property and, I believe, the accounts of his wholesale paper business.
I came by my frugality naturally. I remember her Friday bargain-day excursions when she would stop by our house with bolts of material, ribbons, laces etc. which had been on sale. Jennie, the nice, black seamstress who would come to our house periodically, would use all of this to make dresses for Doris and me. I can remember Jennie smelled so clean and I loved the feel of the cold scissors as she cut the material around my neck to make a neckline.
Grandfather and Grandmother lived at 819 Maryland Avenue in a kind of farm house with a barn where Ben the horse was housed. As business prospered, they built a three-story house with English basement at 914 Maryland Avenue and next door a four-apartment building for investment. Their house had a bath on each floor, which was something at that time.
There is not much I remember about the house except the warm, cozy kitchen on the basement level, with brick hearth and the upstairs sitting room where my sister Doris, cousins Philip and Bill were christened in front of the mantel by Dr. Nicholas. I do remember the Cambric tea (mostly milk) Grandma served to us from her white tea set with black leaves on it.
She was an industrious grande dame, and in her later years, when she could not be as active, she saw to it that all of her grandchildren did their chores and did them promptly and well. I remember her directing the whitewashing of the trees from the cottage porch. Also the picking of grapes from the arbor -- that was a lot more fun than those everlasting hard pears which we had stewed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
She was the daughter of Adam Thour from Coblentz, Germany and Amelia Ockert born in Dresden, Germany. Adam and Amelia met and fell in love aboard the ship bringing them to America. Amelia promised to wait for Adam until he could come to her in Washington where they would be married.Their children were:
August Thour
Margaret Matilda Thour Daly
Amelia Thour O'Meara
Bertha Thour Troll.
Grandmother and grandfather had 10 children as follows:
Harry Wesley 1883-1959
Amy 1885-1888
Edna 1886-1888
William 1884-1938
Edwin 1889-1973
Mabel May 1888-1947
Lillian 1890-1973
John 1892-1973
Margaret 1898-[1995]
In addition to her own large family, Grandmother willingly gave a temporary home on several occasions to those who needed one. Grandpa's brother Harry and his daughter Inez and a distant relative from Germany, a lady whose name has been forgotten.
The original plan was to have the kitchen and dining room under the house, but a kitchen and dining room were built on the back of the house, the dining room being screened in from ceiling to floor. Everything tasted so good in the open air! We only had two meals a day. A large breakfast at 9 or 9:30 consisting of cantalope or sliced peaches or homemade apple sauce from the apple tree outside the dining room for the first course. Then there were eggs, ham or bacon, fried potatoes, pancakes or blueberry muffins. Dinner was at four or four thirty. We were usually on the beach swimming and were called to dinner by the big old dinner bell. We had freshly caught fish, or crab cakes, corn on the cob and most likely pears form the pear tree on the other side of the dining room, and lots of fresh tomatoes. The fish were usually trout, flue, or hard-heads. The well house provided the good drinking water and also kept things like butter and cantalope cool.
I do not know why Grandpa chose Colonial Beach, it was so far from Washington in those days. But at the time, it was a lovely spot. Many of the homes were old-fashioned Victorian. The one on the corner was owned by the Alexander Bell family and I remember attending a birthday party there. The old hotel "up front" as we used to call the town area, was at one time the home of Lighthorse Harry Lee. And of course, the old Walcott Hotel is where my mother and father met.
The area is very historic. Just 14 miles away is the birthplace of George Washington on Pope's Creek called "Wakefield". Now there is a lovely reproduction of his family's farm house, but when I visited there as a child, there was only a small monument enclosed by a wrought iron fence. It was so quiet there, I could feel the presence of that first family and never could understand why I could not find a button of George's or something belonging to him.
Another house close by was the home of General Robert E. Lee, Strafford Hall. When we first visited there, the Lee descendants were still living there. When we went to the door to ask if we could see the house, an old man with a long beard, it seemed to be down to his knees, welcomed us and showed us through the house. I was very bare, hardly any furniture at all and there was not much to see.
Our egg lady, Mrs. Sedgewick, later called Mrs. Townsend, who lived on the "creek" or Monroe Bay as it is properly called, would invite us once a year to her farm for a visit. Once when we went in a row boat, a bull kept charging us as we attempted to tie to the dock. We finally decided it was Uncle Paul's red hat, so he removed it. She showed us a tombstone she found while plowing her fields. The name on it was James Monroe. He may have been buried there at one time and his remains moved to the Fredricksburg area. We always had fun at her place because of the animals, cows, horses and chickens, and the huge haystacks which were great for sliding.
With all the cousins visiting during the summer, we never lacked ideas as to what we could do. I put on many shows and charged admission to the neighbors. I sand "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and did a little jig. Another time I did a ballet I had made up to "Woodman Spare that Tree". There was a good sized tent in the side yard which we used as our dressing room for these shows. During the day, we used it for playing Indians and cowboys or war. We also acted out ;movies we had seen using the summer house across the road in the grove.
The sad part about being at the beach all summer was always seeing others leave and being the one left. One year we stayed later than usual and attended the beach school one day for fun. Only it wasn't that much fun because we were hit by "spit balls."
Doris and I were caught in a storm one evening
while we were rowing on the river. All the fishing and pleasure
boats were quickly going around the point to the creek. I tried
to feather the oars as we were taught in camp, but the row boat
was like a watch box in those wave. Finally, a launch going by
realized our problem and came back to tow us back to the creek.
Of course, Mother and Uncle Ad did not know this and were
extremely upset and worried when they did not see us out on the
river. They did not know whether to hug us or spank us when we
reached the cottage at last, after walking home from the creek.
