'Jack Fogarty [John Henry Fogarty] was my grandmother’s brother. He was the oldest of ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood. He was born in Salem on October 3rd, 1865. My grandmother said Jack was very quiet, the least talkative of her brothers. He attended the local Catholic grammar school, but by the time he was fourteen Jack was working in the jute mill with his father. Jack never married and after his two brothers left home to marry and start their families, Jack was the main support for his widowed mother and three sisters. Maria Fogarty, Jack’s mother, died in June of 1907. In September of the same year, he was initiated into the Foresters Essex Court #16. He named his three sisters as beneficiaries. In June of 1911, Jack suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. According to the Foresters Certificate of Death, the doctor indicated that he lingered for six days, finally dying on June 18, 1911 – four years to the day after his mother died and four months shy of his 47th birthday. The three sisters – Mary Jane, Louise, and Annie – were issued their checks from the Foresters in July, my grandmother, Mary Jane, receiving the extra penny since she was the oldest of the sisters. On November, 18, 1911, my grandfather, John McDonald, was initiated into the Foresters Emerald Court #53 in Peabody. I like to think her brother Jack was still looking out for my grandmother. The Foresters records provide a window to the past. On a personal level, I have had several break-throughs in different branches of the family. Just as important, the policies have provided a look into the history of ordinary people. I hope that the publicity for and availability of the Foresters policies will lead to the preservation of more such records.'
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