I have endured tons of dead ends, and no leads, in finding descendents or other relatives of my great grandfather, Michael Clifford, or his father, Patrick Clifford. Patrick is said to have come over between 1847 and approximately 1852, first to Boston, then to Oconto County, Wisconsin. Here is Michael's obituary from a newspaper dated 1930 from Blue Earth County, Minnesota:

PIONEER FARMER CALLED BY DEATH AFTER BUSY LIFE

MIKE CLIFFORD OF STERLING SUMMONED LAST WEEK WEDNESDAY, FUNERAL SATURDAY

IN THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CLIFFORD, WHO PASSED AWAY LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT, THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY LOSES ONE OF ITS PIONEER CITIZENS, ONE OF THOSE WHO CAME TO MINNESOTA WHILE IT STILL WAS A NEW COUNTRY, AND HELPED TO MAKE IT ONE OF THE GARDEN SPOTS OF THIS GREAT NATION. TO THESE PIONEERS, WE OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION PAY A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT AND LOVE FOR ONLY THROUGH THEIR EFFORTS ARE WE ENJOYING TODAY THE WONDERFUL HERITAGE THY HAVE LEFT TO US.

MR. CLIFFORD WAS A NATIVE OF IRELAND WHERE HE WAS BORN ON MARCH 20TH, 1847, SO THAT HE WAS BUT A FEW DAYS OVER EIGHTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. WHEN BUT NINE YEARS OLD HE CAME TO THIS COUNTRY MAKING THE LONG SIX WEEK TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC ALONE. HIS FATHER HAD COME TO AMERICA A FEW YEARS PREVIOUS AND SETTLED IN WISCONSIN AND THE YOUNG LAD CAME TO HIM. AT THE AGE OF TWELVE HE BEGAN TO MAKE HIS OWN WAY IN THE WORLD AND THE STORIES MR. CLIFFORD COULD TELL OF HIS EFFORTS TO GET AHEAD, THE HARDSHIPS HE ENDURED AND THE FINAL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS AIMS AND AMBITIONS ARE THE TALES OF ADVENTURE ALMOST BEYONE OUR PRESENT DAY COMPREHENSION.

IN 1875 HE CAME TO MINNESOTA AND PURCHASED THE FARM IN STERLING WHERE HE PASSED AWAY. HE RETURNED TO WISCONSIN HOWEVER, FOR A FEW MONTHS, TO WED THE GIRL OF HIS CHOICE, MARY MCGOVERN, THE WEDDING BEING SOLEMNIZED ON MAY 18, 1876. IN AUGUST, THE YOUNG COUPLE LEFT FOR THEIR NEW HOME, FILLED WITH HIGH HOPES AND DESIRES AND THE WILLINGNESS TO WORK HARD TO MAKE THEIR HOME ALL THAT THEY COULD WISH. FOR NEARLY FIFTY YEARS THIS GOOD COUPLE LIVED ON THEIR FARM HOME, A SHORT TIME BEING SPENT IN THE VILLAGE FOR WITH ADVANCING YEARS THEY COULD NOT CONTINUE THE ACTIVE FARM LIFE. A FEW YEARS AGO MRS. CLIFFORD PASSED AWAY AND THE SORROWING HUSBAND SOUGHT COMFORT IN HIS GRIEF, BACK ON THE OLD HOMESTEAD WITH HIS SON, GEORGE AND HIS WIFE, WHO HAVE GIVEN HIM EVERY COMFORT AND CARE IN HIS LAST DAYS. HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. HENRY VERGOTTE OF MARSHALL, ALSO SPENT THE LAST TWO WEEKS AT THE CLIFFORD HOME AND WAS WITH HER FATHER WHEN THE END CAME.

TEN CHILDREN WERE BORN IN THE CLIFFORD HOME, TWO SONS, FREDERICK AND PETER, PASSING AWAY IN INFANCY. THOSE SURVIVING TO MOURN THE LOSS OF A KIND AND INDULGENT FATHER ARE: TIM, OF GARY, INDIANA; MIKE OF OSAKIS; FRANK OF DEGRAFF; WILLIAM OF DIXON, ILLINOIS; GEORGE OF STERLING; MRS MARGARET WATKINS OF MOFFETT, NORTH DAKOTA; MRS. MABEL RASMUSSEN OF FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA; AND MRS. MAUDE VERGOTTE OF MARSHALL. ALL WERE ABLE TO ATTEND THE FUNERAL EXCEPT MRS WATKINS.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD LAST SATURDAY MORNING AT TEN O’CLOCK FROM ST. TERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH OF WHICH MR. CLIFFORD HAD BEEN A FAITHFUL MEMBER ALL HIS LIFE. A LARGE NUMBER OF FRIENDS GATHERED TO PAY THEIR LAST TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO THIS KINDLY MAN WHO HAD BEEN SO MUCH A PART OF HIS HOME COMMUNITY. INTERMENT WAS MADE IN CALVARY CEMETERY.

It's a longshot, but I'd love to hear from someone who has a lead on either of these folks. Patrick may have come over on a ship called the "General Greene", sailing from Cork.

Jim Clifford
***


***If you wish to email JClifford, Subscribe and use the Private Message (PM) links