William Redmond : Short Biography

William Redmond was born in the spring of 1862, and, from the combination of information contained in his immigration papers, death certificate and obituary, his birthplace has been documented as being either Belfast or Gransha, County Down, Northern Ireland.  He immigrated to the U. S. aboard the SS State of Nebraska, arriving in New York City, New York on 17 April 1883. On 4 March 1883, which was about a month before William’s transatlantic passage on that ship, the S.S. State of Nebraska reported passing several icebergs and some field ice off the coast of Newfoundland. In fact, many ship logs from this time period document the presence of ice bergs and ice fields in this area, some reporting ice “as far as the eye could see”. There were also some reports of damage to ships, as well as an occasional ship trapped by the ice. At this time, it is not known whether William traveled alone on his trip to America or with some or all of his family, although he must have journeyed westward to Iowa very soon thereafter, since about a year and a half later he married Martha McCandless (18 March 1863 - 9 September 1944) in Whiting, Monona County, Iowa on 24 November 1884.

The movements of William and Martha can be traced with a fair degree of accuracy based on family information and data derived from federal census records, such as the birth dates and birth places of their children. Based on this data, it can be seen that, shortly after their marriage, William and Martha moved to Valentine, Cherry County, Nebraska, where their first child, James, was born in September 1885. The exact location of their home is not known, but Joan Greenough, a granddaughter, noted that they lived north of Valentine. Their next child, Leo, was born there in May 1887, but a month later, the family pulled up stakes, and headed back east to Sloan, Woodbury County, Iowa, where they bought a house. In the next few years, four more children were born in Sloan, Iowa. Burt was born in May 1889; Celia in November 1891; Lloyd in October 1896 and Nettie in August 1899.

In 1901, the family headed out west again, this time to Geddes, Charles Mix County, South Dakota. Another child was born there, but died shortly thereafter. The death of this child certainly could have been at least part of the reason the Redmonds left South Dakota after such a short stay. In 1902, they returned to Sloan, Iowa, where another child was born. In the next census, which was recorded on 15 April 1910 in this area, the Redmond family was still living in Sloan, Iowa. Martha was recorded as having eight children at this time, which is two more than she had in 1900. These records note that one child had died, which matches quite well with documented family information. It was also recorded that William Redmond, who had been born in Ireland, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1882.

William and Martha remained in Sloan, Iowa until 1911 or 1912, when they moved out west again, this time to Fairfax, Gregory County, South Dakota, and it was here that William and Martha lived out the remainder of their lives. In two of the federal enumerations William Redmond described his occupation as a hide buyer, and he indicated that he traveled extensively, which must have meant that he was not at home much. This probably left Martha at home to raise their seven children much of the time. Her occupation on her death certificate was listed as housewife. By the time of the next census, which took place on 14 January 1920, their son Burton had struck out on his own.

William and Martha were still living in Fairfax at the time that the 1930 census was taken, which indicates that both of them were 20 years old when they got married, accurately placing their marriage date in 1884. No one in the household attended school that year, everyone can read and write, the family owns their home, as well as a radio, and neither of the males are listed as veterans. William’s occupation is listed as a hide & wool buyer at a fur dealer. Lloyd’s occupation is difficult to read, but as far as it can be made out, it says pretty much the same thing. In addition, William is also described as being a naturalized citizen, who immigrated to the US in 1883.

William Redmond died on 21 July 1940 in Fairfax, Gregory County, South Dakota at the age of 78 from carcinomia of the colon, according to his death certificate (Appendix C), an ailment that had afflicted him for about a year. Burial took place two days later in a cemetery near Fairfax. Joan Greenough, a granddaughter notes that in 1941 Martha came to live with her daughter, Gladys and her family, who, at that time, were living about a mile north of Wanblee in a log house. Joan describes Martha as “a quiet, gentle lady beloved by her grandchildren”.  She went on to note that Martha “had a large dark spot on her neck and no one realized that it was cancer.  She died of cancer in 1944 at the Kadoka Hospital.”

Martha passed away on 9 September 1944 at the Kadoka Hospital in Kadoka, Jackson County, South Dakota. The cause of death was listed as malignant melanoma with metastasis, which had been troubling her for about a year. Martha’s death certificate lists Vetal, Bennett County, South Dakota as her residence, which was where another daughter, Antoinette “Nettie” (Redmond) Pike lived. It was Nettie that supplied the family information for the death certificate. Burial took place on 12 September in Lot 3 1/2, Block 3 in Fairfax, South Dakota, next to her husband.