In tracing the ancestry of mom's dad, I was able to go back two generations to my great great grandparents, Patt and Mary Fehely, who came from Ireland. Their son, Owen Fields,
married Katie Powers who were also from Ireland. While living in Indiana, they had a son
named John Fields. He was mom's father.
A great famine known as the Irish Potato Famine devastated Ireland during the period
spanning 1845 to 1852. Approximately 1 million people died during that time and a million
more emigrated from Ireland. Great great grandpa Patt Fehely (1800-1857), pronounced Fhay'-
Lee, his wife Mary (1805-1880), and their six children: Owen (1829-1879), Franklin (1830-
1876), young Patrick (1835-), Ahab "Michael" (1836-1910+), Mary Elizabeth (1838-1926) and
Julia (1846-) were among those families that left their homeland to come to the United States.
The family emigrated from Cork Ireland and traveled in a low class steerage compartment on the
ship Wakejield and arrived in New York on May 24, 1848. They acquired the United States
surname "Fields." Patt Fields born around 1800, originated from County Cork, Ireland, and his
wife, Mary, born around 1805, originated from County Killarney Kerry, Ireland. By 1850 they
had settled in a newly formed town called Rosendale, located in Ulster County, New York, i.e.,
in the lower part of New York State, near the Hudson River. They most likely attended St.
Peter's Roman Catholic Church which was organized in 1851. They remained in Rosendale the
remainder of their life. Patrick died around 1857 and Mary died in 1880.
Great grandpa Owen was the oldest ofthe six children. My Uncle Irwin referred to a
person named Jim or Jimmy who owned a fleet of tugboats on the Hudson River and became
very rich, but I was unable to connect him to any relationship to the Fields' family. Franklin
lived in Boston, Massachusetts and died there at the age of 46, and young Patrick worked in a
quarry in Rosendale where they made cement; a major industry in the area. Michael owned a
large farm in High Falls, New York, located near Rosendale, and owned race horses. He also did
financially well. Uncle Irwin wrote that he went with his Aunt Julia to one of many family
reunions held on the big farm in High Falls. Mary Elizabeth married Abraham Elmendorf
Schoonmaker in 1855 and had thirteen children. Not much is known about Owen's sister Julia
(1846-). At the age of74, Michael was living with the Schoonmaker's in Rosendale. All the
children but great grandpa Owen remained in New York and prospered well. Owen went west to Indiana.