The Fall family came from County Clare, Ireland circa 1860. They moved to New Ireland, in Cattaraugus County, which is in the southwestern corner of New York State. When Robert first moved there, with his wife Catherine, they had three children ages seven, four and two. He first appears on the 1860 census as a laborer and I have then found through a deed for the property in New Ireland that he acquires one hundred acres of land in 1864. This is reaffirmed on the map of 1869. In the 1874 Cattaraugus Gazetteer he is listed as a farmer of one hundred acres.
A chapter in the Fall family story that I found most interesting and also most tragic was that of Robert Fall's grandson, John. The year is 1917, the United States enters World War I and puts out a call for men. John Fall entered the Army to be sent "over there". On 11 November 1918, the last day of WWI, he is killed in action(see Fall Obituary)in France. John Fall was a close friend of John Walker, who at the age of one hundred and two, still speaks of John today.
The search to determine what actually happened to John on that fateful morning has been an elusive struggle to say the least. Personnel records for World War I were lost in a fire in Washington so we came to a dead end there. On a trip to the State Archives Department in Albany, we looked through the World War I records of all New York State men who enlisted or were dafted into military service. Unfortunately again there was no record of John Fall. We searched the local newspapers for any article on how John was killed but again we found no account published. However through the persistence of Teresa Townsell(a guardian angel of this project) we have finally obtained historic records that provide insight into John Fall's death while serving in the U.S. Army. It seems that John was mortally wounded at Laserville Farm outside the town of Beaumont, which is in the Ardennes region of France. This was a location of very heavy fighting for the United States troops sent into France. You may read the ongoing communication between Mary Fall(John's mother) and the U. S. War Department regarding John's fate and subsequently the return of his body for burial in Limestone.
You can see by my family tree I need sources to fill in the missing dates of the Fall family members. I am looking for information on any marriages or children missing from the family tree. Any information on the origin of the town in County Clare that the Falls emigrated from would be very helpful. Thank you.
We would like to thank Eileen Smith of Olean for updating some of our information as to Mary Fall's marriage date and the obituary of Bridget Fall..
| The above picture is of Mary Fall Keough and her husband James Keough along with their son James Keough Jr. It was taken sometime around 1907. We know from an announcement in the Olean Evening Hearald that James and Mary wed on June 11, 1902 at St. John's Catholic Church in Olean N.Y. This would have meant Mary was approximately 39 years old when she marry James Keough. From checking the Olean city directory we know that Mary lived on Buffalo St. in Olean with Bridget and Tom Fall (who was listed as an oil driller)from 1893 to the time of her marriage. In further examination of the city directories we found that by 1899 Tom Fall was no longer living with them. |
This is a photo of Kit Shaw(lft) and Mary Fall Keough(rgt). You can see that this is a much later photo of Mary, as she has aged considerably from the picture above.
(L to R) Jim Keough, Mary Fall Keough,Bridget Fall.
From the women's attire we suspect this was taken on the way to or from church or possibly just out for a"Sunday drive". The ages of the people and the buggy suggest that it was in the late 1910's.
Fall Family Tree
This is a picture of the Keough house in New Ireland. In the original photo you can clearly see a field that has been planted behind the home. In the picture from left to right are: Patrick Keough, Pat Townsell (holding an American flag), Jim Keough, Mary Fall Keough, and Bridget Fall.
This is Mary Fall, the wife of Michael Fall(right) and Minnie Fall her daughter on the left.
These articles appeared in the Olean Hearald newspaper on March 29 and 30, 1921. An interesting historic fact about this event is that John's body was being returned to the United States approximately two and a half years after he had fallen in battle. The U.S. government gave the families of deceased soldiers the option of leaving their loved one in a military cemetery overseas (in John's case it would have been France) or have the body reinterred to a local burial site in the United States.
This is an obituary that appeared in the February 14, 1919 edition of
the
Olean Evening Herald announcing the passing of Bridget Fall. This means
that the Fall family suffered two family losses in the early part of
1919.Bridget at the time of her death was 63 years of age.
