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http://www.celticcousins.net/paloalto/1904nov.htm
EMMETSBURG DEMOCRAT
Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa
November 1904
Wednesday, November 2, 1904.
John O'Rourke Is Dead.
John O'Rourke, [born 1850] an inmate of the poor house, died Friday [Oct 28, 1904] evening of cancer of the face and brain. It had disfigured his countenance, horribly. He had been a sufferer for it on time. His remains were taken to West Bend [Palo Alto Co, Iowa], where they were laid to rest Saturday [buried Oct 29, 1904]. He was 54 years of age. He leaves a wife and nine children. They live at West Bend.
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http://www.celticcousins.net/paloalto/westbendcem.htm
Palo Alto Co, Iowa USGenWeb Project
West Bend Protestant & Catholic Cemetery
Located on the west edge of West Bend, Iowa. Palo Alto County. This cemetery was walked and recorded the summers of 2002 & 2003 by Letty Hurlburt.
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Surname Given Name Birth Date Notes & Inscriptions
West Bend Cemetery
O'Rourke Cari no date 1890
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http://iagenweb.org/harrison/bio/genealo4.htm
Harrison County Iowa Biographies
O'ROURKE, James P. O'ROURKE, one of the enterprising farmers living on section 29, of LaGrange Township, is a native of the Hawkeye State, and was born in Dubuque County on October 15, 1860 and came to Harrison County in 1873 with his parents, John O'ROURKE and Bridget SLOAN. His father purchased a half of section 29, when it was wild land. They built a frame house 18x24 feet, with an ell 14x16 feet; also a barn 32x50 feet, the latter being built in 1890. One hundred and forty acres of this farm is under the plow, while the balance is in pasture and meadow land. The farm is always kept well supplied with stock (circa 1891).
Our subject was married in Dubuque County, July 17, 1888, to Miss Katie Agnes MULLEN, and by whom six children were born: Margaret Anastasia, 12/10/1889; Mary Genevieve, born 8/15/1892; Francis Xavier, born 1/2/1896; Marie Gertrude, born 3/7/1900; Joseph James, born 12/10/1902; and Celestine Patricia, born 11/29/1904.
Kate (MULLEN) O'ROURKE is also a native of Dubuque County, born August 29, 1867, the daughter of Peter MULLEN, born 1821 in County Louth, Ireland, and Margaret CUNNINGHAM.
John O'ROURKE, father of our subject, was born in County Down, Ireland on Apr 22, 1822 and came to America with his parents in 1847, and farmed in Dubuque County until 1873. John married Bridget SLOAN in Ireland on 4/24/1845 at Killowen Church in Rostrevor, Co. Down. They had 8 children: Michael, born 6/17/1847; an infant girl; Charles Edward, born 6/39/1848; Ellen Margaret, 1/8/1850; William P., born in 1852; John Francis, 7/23/1855; Mary Jane, 5/3/1857; and James Patrick, 10/15/1961. John died on December 21, 1894 and is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Missouri Valley. Bridget was born in County Down, Ireland on October 11, 1822, and died in Harrison County Iowa on March 22, 1888.
Kate, or Catherine Agnes, wife of our subject, told the following story in an interview with her grandson, Joe Gilmore. "I was born on a stormy night on August 27, 1867. I was told that I cried all that night, because of the thunder and lightning. My home was a nine-room rock house that sat on top of a huge hill, and overlooked the country-side for miles. When I reached school age, mys sister and I walked two miles to an old wooden frame building called a school house. The building was heated by a stove that sat in the middle of the room and "ate" wood. On the right side of the room there was a long bench on which the girls sat. On the other side against the wall was a bench on which the boys sat. In between the benches was a table. If an individual who sat in the middleof the bench wished to move, everyone on the right-hand side had to get up and move out of the way."
"The school was so dilapidated, I thought it was going to fall any minute (It did finally, about 4 years after I left). When I was in school two boards were gone from the floor, and once when I was going to recite I fell in the hole and skinned my leg. There were no certain grades, but I went to this school about 5 or 6 years. When I was 15 years old, I went to a boarding school. Here I studied arithmetic, geography, spelling, readin, writing and astronomy. Two years later I went to another boarding school, where I was introduced to the subject I most disliked, algebra."
"On the day of Monday, July 17, 1888, I was married and came to Missouri Valley by train. The trip lasted 24 hours. I went to live on a farm about 5 1/2 miles east of Mo. Valley, and have lived in this vicinity ever since".
By 1901, James P. O'ROURKE was the owner of the "home farm" of three hundred and twenty acres in LaGrange Township. He was to later drop the O in O'Rourke due to legal hassle when he bought land in Canada. James built a home at 820 East Superior Street in Missouri Valley, where he died on June 7, 1934. Kate lived to be 90 years of age, and died on December 17, 1957.
Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa, plus contributions.
O'Rourke Family Researcher: Dennis Walsh
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