Letter from James McGroary confirming receipt of insurance payment for his son, Frederick McGroary
Description:
'Frederick McGroary was most likely a close cousin of my great-grandmother. They came from Meenawilderg, a very rural spot in South Donegal, in the foothills of the Bluestack Mountains. This is in the 1880s and the young man, about 20 years old, came over - a great many people from that area were in this town, [Franklin, Massachusetts], a junction for the railroads in the old days. So he got a job working for a railroad and the poor guy was working there not long and was killed in an accident. He had taken out a Foresters policy and had left his father as the benefactor. The Foresters came together to pay for the funeral so it wouldn't come out of this money, and his father would get it all. Fredrick’s father was illiterate, so he went down to Donegal Town and had a notary write a letter for him. It was sent to the Foresters confirming his receipt of the insurance money and detailing this touching story about receiving it. I want to go back and pursue what happened. What was the impact of that $1,000 on that branch of the McGroary family? I have no idea, but I think that's the next chapter for me over in Donegal. It’s unbelievable, the depth the Foresters records bring to personal stories in genealogy. I don't have a picture of this young guy, Frederick, or his father, but it gives this humanness to the whole thing. It gives that part of the genealogy some meat, and that's what you're always looking for: something beyond the dates and names.'
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