The Harringtons
A Golden Document
Harrington 50th Anniversary Announcement, 1912. After living most of their married life in the Keweenaw, the couple and most of their offspring migrated downstate along with the O'Briens about 1911 which is where, the following year, they had this celebration.
Our journey north has already paid dividends, thanks to our Harrington connection in nearby Chassell, where second-cousins Kathy, Patti, and Jean all reside, having all three gravitated to the area due, perhaps, to some mysterious and inexplicable genealogically-magnetic pull. On our recent visit, they plied us with Budweiser and margaritas and pulled out the family memorabilia, including this gem. Sylvester and Mary Harrington were our great-grandparents, the parents of Nellie and Lyla, our grandmother and step-grandmother respectively, aka, M.E. O'Brien's first and second wives.
The Harringtons, an industrious couple to be sure, produced 13 children in all, including Victor Harrington, the grandfather of the above-mentioned Harrington girls of Chassell. Victor was Martha's uncle, and his son, also Victor, (the Harringtons really like that name), is the father of Kathy, Patty, and Jean. Victor the Deuce lives in Temperance, MI. He was Martha's first cousin, making him our first cousin, once-removed.
What it all comes down to, then, is that Kathy, Patti, and Jean are directly related to us by virtue of our sharing Sylvester and Mary as great-grandparents.
And on that note, and to give you an opportunity to take a deep breath and soak this all in, I will sign off for now. WOM
(Now under construction)
Note: Having made some phenomenal connections with our long-lost Harrington cousins, we will be building this page up in the coming months. Stay tuned.
The fashion of mega-fabric and flowers.
No, Grandma Nell Harrington's attire has nothing to do with Halloween. And that's not a lobster bib she's sporting in anticipation of an all-you-can-eat shellfish orgy. In fact, her apparel is all about style -- and despite living way off the beaten path in Lake Linden, Michigan, the ladies of the Keweenaw managed to always stay on top of things, as so many of our photos from that era clearly show. There is no year indicated on this shot; my guess is that it was taken circa 1900, making Nell about 24 -- and dressed to get down on the town. wom
Commuter Train
The above passengers and crew are unidentified.
From the Michigan Tech University Archives - Back circa 1909, before the automotive boom made it superfluous, this Houghton County Traction Company streetcar began service between Laurium and Lake Linden, a four-mile stretch. It was a substantial improvement over the horse and buggy and far faster and more comfortable. One can imagine Nell Harrington regularly availing herself of this quick link after marriage and her move to Laurium, hopping on from time to time to visit the folks over in Lake Linden. By this time, of course, Michael O'Brien was District Manager of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and President of the First National Bank of Laurium. He employed some of his Harrington in-laws who may have used the train to commute back and forth between the two towns.
Note the overhead ads, the exotic hats with floral motif on the women, and the modest, formal clothing of all. This era of fashion is the polar opposite of today's trend, in which bottomless cleavage, stray thong straps, and ultra-tight attire are the tacky norm.
Harrington homestead, Lake Linden, MI
This modest abode at 5627 Poplar Street (formerly known as 5627 C&H loc.) in Lake Linden, MI, was long-time residence of the Sylvester and Mary Harrington family. (For the young and forgetful, Syl and Mary, who immigrated from Ireland in the 1850s, were our great-grandparents, the parents of our maternal grandmother, Nell Harrington.) It was here -- without forced-air central heating, electricity, or indoor plumbing -- that most of the 12 Harrington children were raised. (Now imagine yourself living in such compressed quarters minus even one of the aforemention trinity of utilities -- and no cell phone, ipod, laptop, or latte macciato with an extra shot of expresso.)
The recently renovated structure is now up for sale.
photo contributed by Vic Harrington, Jr.
This is Victor Harrington, Sr. -- one of Nell Harrington OBrien's little brothers and the youngest of the children of Sylvester and Mary Harrington. Vic Harrington was not only M.E. O'Brien's brother-in-law (times two), he worked for M.E. for years at The Detroit Life Insurance Company. His son Victor Jr. -- Mom's first cousin -- is the last of his generation of O'Briens and Harringtons. He lives in Temperance, MI, about an hour south of Ann Arbor.
Vic Sr. died in 1971 in his early 80s.
Genealogy can be quite confusing, particularly when a large, well-branched-out family is concerned. On MMM's maternal side, the family was certainly large, but because they stayed primarily in two places, the Keweenaw and Detroit, they're not impossible to track. Of course, it helps greatly to have good sources of information. Below, I mentioned Dan and Victor Harrington, the oldest and youngest of Nell Harrington's brothers, whose offspring are our newfound cousins, also mentioned below. They kindly passed along this document -- the Harrington Clan -- which offers a nice overview of the line and puts things in perspective. Take a look.
VS.
It's difficult to believe, but the so-called Game of the Century is now fully submerged in the memory -- even though just a week has passed. And we've all moved swiftly on to other things...not the least of which is turkey sandwiches of various and sundry styles and forms.
Having reviewed what I wrote yesterday (just below), it occurred to me that maybe it's time to also move on from giving full backing to a team that seems to lose 90% of its Big Games -- usually by 4 points or less -- and share that enthusiam a bit with some other squad. A top candidate is FU. Not only do I like their acronym and their apparel, but also, of course, we have actual relatives playing for the BBall team. Now, granted, the team is young and struggling already, even though the season is just a few games old, but Vic Harrington III is worth keeping an eye on (26 points, 12 rebounds in the opening contest) and Lee (Harrington) Naugle has nearly four full seasons to play and develop. And, besides, when the Finlandia University Lions hit the hardcourt, we can at least enjoy some distantly reflected glory, something not available with the Wolverines. WOM
FU
The O'Briens and Harringtons spent the better part of a half-century in the Keweenaw before migrating down to Detroit in 1911 or thereabouts. To the best of our knowledge, there are no O'Briens remaining in that area; however, we know for certain that there are still a few holdout Harringtons to be found there, and they live in Chassell, just south of Houghton (see map below). Sisters Kathy, Patti, and Jeanie (Harrington) moved there several years ago, not for any genealogical reasons, but because after visiting the area, they fell in love with it. All three have older children -- Kathy's live out West, but Patti's and Jeannie's sons -- Victor Harrington (III) and Lee Naugle respectively -- go to nearby Finlandia University (aka, FU), where they both play basketball for the Lions, the school's NCAA-affilitated varsity squad. Vic (6'7") is a 5th year senior and Lee (6'4") just joined the team as an incoming freshman. (As for their ancestral connection to us, their maternal grandfather, Victor Harrington Jr., was Martha O'Brien Marion's first cousin. His father (also Victor) was Nell Harrington's younger brother.)
Linda and I have had the pleasure of visiting Vic H. Jr. at his home in Temperance, MI, near the Ohio border; the Harrington clan in Chassell; and more recently two other Harrington cousins, Patti Hayden and Sue Nagy, whose grandfather was Dan Harrington, Nell's oldest brother. As a result, we have opened a whole new avenue of information about our family, both up north and down in the Detroit area after their move.
Enough for now...more to come.WOM
Vic Harrington and daughters (left to right) Patti, Jeannie, Kathy. Another daughter, Mary Jo, has kept her sanity and remains safe and warm in the southern port city of Toledo.
(1898)
The 1898 R. L. Polk City Directory for Lake Linden lists several Harringtons, including Patriarch Sylvester, who was a "lab" (laborer) for the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company and our Nell, a teacher, and still living at home at age 23 (note: "bds" means "boards"). Brothers Sylvester Jr., who also worked as a laborer for the C&H, and Jeremiah, a laborer as well, were still boarding at home, as was sister Margaret, whose occupation is not indicated. Matriarch Mary -- our great-grandmother -- is not listed here, nor are the younger children (i.e., Lyla, John, Victor, etc.).
Thanks to the hospitable attention of newly-minted cousin Jean Harrington Naugle -- magnetically attracted to an O'Brien (me), just as her Harrington forebearers were to M.E. O'Brien -- we visited the ancestral home of the Harringtons in Lake Linden (photos to come) and wondered how such a robust clan could possibly have all fit into the modest miner's cottage they called home. What's more, we pondered how these poor folks, lacking indoor plumbing, had to traipse off to the backyard privvy -- even in the dead of the Keweenaw's wicked winters -- to answer the call. Ahhh, those were the days....
