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97 Orchard Street
Contents
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Family >> 97 Orchard Street
Moore Family
Bridget Meehan was just seventeen when she
came alone to New York from Ireland in 1863. Joseph Moore came
two years later at the age of 20. Most likely they met and married
sometime in 1865 in New York, but we have yet to locate a marriage
certificate. We don't know where in Ireland Bridget was from,
but Joseph emigrated from Dublin. He and his family may well have
been Dubliners for generations; or, like many other residents
of Dublin, they may have migrated to the city from a rural county
decimated by poverty.
Before she met Joseph, it is likely that Bridget worked as a domestic,
like almost half of all Irish women in New York. But once Bridget
married, she probably quit her work outside the home, as most
Irish immigrant women did. Although she is listed in census records
as keeping house, she may well have continued to earn wages, perhaps
by taking in laundry.
Joseph and Bridget's migrations didn't end once they arrived in
America. Almost every year, they moved to a different apartment
on the Lower East Side, as their fortunes fell, rose, and fell
again. Within two years of arriving in New York, they were living
at 65 Mott Street in the notorious Five Points, among Irish, African-American,
Chinese, and myriad other cultures. At 65 Mott Street, Bridget
gave birth to the first of many children, daughter Mary Catherine
Moore. A year later, the family moved to 150 Forsyth Street, where
daughter Jane Moore was born in 1866 and daughter Agnes Mary Moore
was born in 1869. Within a few months, somewhere toward the end
of 1869, they moved just a few blocks east to 97 Orchard Street.
The move from Five Points to the three rooms in Kleindeutschland,
a neighborhood of skilled workers and newer tenements, would have
represented a significant step up for the Moores.
At various points of his life in New York, Joseph Moore worked
as a bartender and a waiter. In census records, he is sometimes
referred to as working as a waiter in a hotel. While we are uncertain
as to where exactly Joseph worked in New York, it is unlikely
that he was employed as a bartender in a German saloon like that
of John Schneider who owned such an establishment at 97 Orchard
Street when the Moore's where living in the building. He is much
more likely to have worked in a saloon run by one of his own countrymen.
Within months, infant Agnes died of marasmus, the first of many
such losses the Moores would endure during their lives in New
York. Like many immigrant families whose lives were transient,
Bridget and Joseph lived at 97 Orchard Street for only a year,
before moving again half-a-dozen blocks to 224 Elizabeth Street.
Within a year, Bridget became pregnant with another daughter,
Cecilia. She bore 4 more children after Cecilia: Theresa, Veronica,
Josephine, and Elizabeth. Only Josephine and Elizabeth survived
to adulthood. Bridget would bury both Theresa and Veronica before
passing away herself at the age of 36. Her babies died of a variety
of causes, all related to unsanitary conditions and limited access
to health care. Only four of Bridget and Joseph's eight children,
Mary, Jane, Josephine, and Elizabeth survived.
Although he is listed as being a naturalized citizen in the 1870
U.S. Census, we don't find official naturalization papers for
Joseph until 1874. It could be that he naturalized twice; first
fraudulently and later legally. If his first naturalization had
been fraudulent and subsequently challenged by Republican officials,
Joseph might have needed to naturalize legally in order to vote.
During the late 1860s, Tammany Hall perpetrated thousands of fraudulent
naturalizations with the intention of mobilizing an army of new
voters. According to official records, however, Joseph didn't
vote until 1884 when he was living at 519 First Avenue with daughters
Mary, Jane, Josephine, and Elizabeth.
By 1880, the two eldest daughters, Mary and Jane, were teenagers
and able to contribute to the family economy. At 15, Mary worked
as a "hair weaver," and her 13 year-old sister, Jane,
worked manufacturing artificial flowers.
From Elizabeth Street the family moved to 3rd Avenue and 28th
Street in Murray Hill, where Bridget passed away from what the
attending physician called fatty degeneration of the heart. Mary
stayed on with her father until she died in 1907 at the age of
40. Joseph's final move was to 31st Street and Second Ave, where
he lived to the ripe old age of 71.
Jane alone carried on the Moore family line, marrying Roger Hanrahan,
also a child of Irish immigrants. They moved to Queens and had
two sons and three daughters, all of whom became nuns. Their descendants
live throughout the country, but some stayed here in New York
City. One of their grandsons is a New York City policeman and
another is a firefighter.
See also: Irish; Ninety Seven Orchard Street/The
Irish at Ninety Seven Orchard
Street.
Bridget Moore's Daily Life
at 97 Orchard Street
Even though the family owned relatively few substantial household
possessions, domestic labor in the 325 square feet of the Moore
apartment at 97 Orchard Street likely occupied Bridget Moore from
early morning to night. Cleaning was only a small part of a complicated
and demanding series of necessary tasks. A major effort went into
obtaining necessities-food, fuel, and water-a task that took up
hours of the day and involved dozens of errands outside of the
home. This work was by nature public, weaving together the household
with the streets and generating its own intricate network of exchange
and shared experience among female neighbors. 1
During the mid 19th century, working-class and poor women spent
a much of their time and energy on work that would later be done
by utilities. Irish immigrants like Bridget Moore who came from
rural Ireland may have lived in stone cottages or mud huts, but
these were at ground level and had water sources nearby. Many
immigrant women were not prepared for the difficult labor of retrieving
water from the rear yard, hauling it up several flights of stairs,
and carrying slops back down. 2
In unventilated tenement apartments, soot and cooking grease from
the coal stove stained the walls. Mud from refuse-choked streets
was tracked into the home. And slop pails were spilled by active
children. Clean laundry hung from outdoor lines was dirtied by
sweeping and slops from the floors above. 3
But descriptions of tenement apartments from this period, as well
as evidence from archaeological digs, suggest that many immigrant
families worked to keep their homes and persons as clean as they
could in these circumstances. Once Bridget married, she most likely
quit her work outside the home, as most Irish immigrant women
did. She is listed in the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census as "keeping
house." Even in difficult circumstances, most working-class
women, no matter how poor, worked diligently to ensure neat and
clean homes. According to the historian Christine Stansell, "Even
the Irish, remarked an English workingman with all the prejudices
of his countrymen, were proud of their domestic amenities, such
as their 'bits of carpits on their flures.' A well-swept hearth
and scoured floor were symbols of self esteem within the reach
of even the destitute poor." 4
Women like Bridget Moore used the same tool to battle dirt and
dust that had been used for centuries throughout the world - the
broom. Until the twentieth century, brooms were made from twigs
or tufts from a corn plant. Since brooms did little to remove
dust from rugs and upholstery, these items had to be periodically
taken outside and beaten. Cleaning products were simple, usually
solutions made with ammonia or borax, and water. Ammonia was quite
inexpensive and was considered the universal cleaner. Nonetheless,
even the most diligent housekeepers must have been discouraged
by the endless chores. 5
Since most tenements didn't have indoor plumbing until the turn
of the century, women like Bridget Moore would bring in water
for baths, washing clothes and dishes, and cleaning the apartment
itself. When she needed hot water, Bridget would need to heat
it on the stove. During the 19th century, laundry was usually
washed outside by the water pumps - weather permitting - in order
to save the labor of hauling it up or down dark tenement stairways.
Under the best of conditions, the wet laundry was hung to dry
on the roof or on clothes lines strung between buildings. But
poor weather, water dripping from clothes on higher lines, pollution,
falling refuse, and thieves frequently made it necessary to dry
laundry in the kitchen. Ironing was done by heating several irons
on the stove and then using them alternately as they cooled, which
was hot and exhausting work.6
Bridget Moore spent a considerable portion of her day acquiring
the necessities of food and fuel. With three young daughters in
tow, Bridget likely stepped out on Orchard Street during the morning
hours to procure vegetables, meat, bread, and milk from pushcarts
lining the street and others nearby. Fulfilling a familiar role
in a gendered division of labor, women like Bridget Moore often
had to "stretch" their family's budgets, hard bargaining
with pushcart merchants and using inventive strategies. 7
Even though food in American was plentiful and relatively inexpensive,
Irish immigrants did not celebrate eating. Their diet consisted
of plain foods, cooked in plain ways. The principal foods and
beverages consumed by the Moores were most likely ham, bacon,
fish, potatoes, onions, pickles, oatmeal, bread, onions, cabbage,
berries and other fruits, cakes, tea, milk, buttermilk, beer,
ale, and whiskey. 8
Whether Bridget Moore sewed clothing for herself and her daughters
is unknown. If she did not make clothes from scratch, she might
have purchased or been given second-hand clothing and remade it
for their use. She may have spent part of her day knitting sweaters,
scarves, hats, and mittens as well. 9
Coping with life in a new city must have been difficult enough
for immigrants in 19th century New York, but immigrant parents
faced the even greater challenge of molding a philosophy of childrearing
appropriate for their new world. Most Irish had spent their childhoods
in quiet rural areas, with minimal opportunity for advancement
or trouble-making. Both Bridget and Joseph were probably ill prepared
for the challenges of parenting in New York City, with its endless
attractions, temptations, and dangers. 10
In her prescribed role as wife and mother, the overwhelming majority
of childcare responsibilities would have fallen upon Bridget.
In 1869, Bridget spent her days looking after and caring for her
three young daughters Mary (4 years old), Jane (3 years old),
and Agnes (less than 5 months old). In addition, her youngest
infant, Agnes, seems to have been ill practically since birth,
requiring even greater care and attention.
The daily life of small children was not complicated. Agnes likely
slept in a cradle that was kept near the stove for warmth by day
and near her parents' bed at night. When fussy, she may have received
a bag of sugar to suck on from Bridget or Joseph. It seems that
Bridget did not breast feed Agnes, as the child's death was likely
the result of contaminated milk. It is unknown why Bridget chose
not to breast feed, but the most probable reason would be linked
to her own poor health-Bridget died a decade later of fatty degeneration
of the heart at 36 years old. 11
Although she did not continue working outside the home after marriage,
Bridget may well have continued to earn wages, perhaps by taking
in laundry, while Joseph was at the restaurant or saloon.12
1 Hasia Diner, Erin's
Daughter's in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983); Christine
Stansell, City of Women: Sex and Class in New York, 1789-1860
(Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986).
2 Diner, Erin's Daughters; Pamela Keech,
"The Meehan-Moore Family Apartment: Historic Furnishings Report"
(Unpublished: 2004); Stansell, City of Women.
3 Keech, "The Meehan-Moore Family Apartment:
Historic Furnishings Report."
4 Keech, "The Meehan-Moore Family Apartment:
Historic Furnishings Report," Stansell, City of Women.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Diner, Erin's Daughters; Pamela Keech,
"The Meehan-Moore Family Apartment: Historic Furnishings Report"
(Unpublished: 2004); Stansell, City of Women.
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