Thomas Francis Desmond 1834-1917

Portrait of Thomas Francis Desmond taken at the Taber photographic studio at 8 Montgomery St., San Francisco. Taber operated from this address between mid-1878 and mid-1893.6

Thomas Francis Desmond 5 and Mary Ann Griffin Desmond 3 had eight children. In 1930, Mary was living with her son and his wife, Patrick and Theresa.
1. Mary Alice Desmond b. October 1872 in Mariposa, Calif. She died in Sunland (Los Angeles) at the age of 90 on 25 January 1963, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Madera. She never married. Mary Alice spent her early years in Merced and later in Madera County. She attended Benicia School for girls, which became Mills College (Oakland, CA), and graduated from Healds Business College. She served for 30 years as private secretary to the president of Canegie Steel Company in San Francisco, before retiring to southern California.
2. Thomas F. Desmond b. May 1881. He died in 1917, and was buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery, Madera, California.
3. Henry Thomas Desmond b. April 1883. He died in 1958, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery. At the age of 22, he married Margaret Agnes O'Meara (21 years old) on 9 July 1905 in Madera County. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Madera, CA. Their daughter, Doris Agnes Desmond, born 02/03/1906, died in Madera on 10/06/1991. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery. Doris was a teacher at Pershing, Lincoln and Madison schools. She was a member of University Women, the Madera Community Hospital League and St. Joachim's Catholic Church. She was also a member of the Madera County Board of Education. She had two sisters Genevieve [Mrs. Coffee of Tulare] and Regina [Mrs. Bareilles of Sacramento.
4. John William [H.] Desmond b. 22 Septemer 1885. His World War I draft registrations shows him to be a self-employed farmer in Madera. Before 1910, he married Cora Bell Cook. They had three daughters: Winifred Desmond; Leah Annette Desmond; and Catherine Desmond. John William Desmond is buried with his family at Calvary Cemetery. Cora B. Desmond is also buried at Calvary.
5. Francis [Frank] Griffin Desmond b. 22 April 1888.
6. Regina J. Desmond b. Sep. 26, 1892. Died Mar. 6, 1911. 1 She is buried in the family plot at Calvary Cemetery.
7. Joseph "Joe" Patrick Desmond b. 1896. After a long illness, he died on 19 October 1964 at the age of 69 at his home in Santa Cruz, CA. 4 Joseph attended St. Mary's College of California (Moraga, CA). He was involved in farming in Madera County, and operated service stations in Madera and Oakland. In later years he was a realtor and maintained an office in Santa Cruz, where he retired. Joseph and his wife, Theresa, are buried at Calvary Cemetery. He married Theresa Gertrude Ripperdan (b. 9 Aug 1898) in November 1917. Theresa died at age 96 on 18 December 1994. Her last residence was in Clovis, CA.
8. Ernest Edmond Desmond b. 11 July 1900 2 - died 26 June 1964, and buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, Cal. He was a veteran of the First World War. His World War I draft registrations shows that at the age of 18, "Ed" was working for his brother, Joseph, as a farm laborer. Voter registration (1900-1928) shows both Ernest Edmond, and Joseph P. Desmond farming in the "Borden Precinct". Later in life, he was employed by the John Hancock Insurance company, and worked in Seattle, Wash., San Francisco Bay Area, and Los Angeles. He had a son Keaton Desmond, and a daughter Mrs. Paul Wallace.

Henry, Ed, Frank & Will Desmond taken about 1955

Thomas Francis was born in Cork, Ireland in 1834. When he was 16 years of age, he ran away to sea, and is said to have sailed around the world three times, visiting South America and Asia, before settling in Australia. In 1871. He left Australia at the age of 36, and emigrated to California. After living in Mariposa, where he engaged in sheep farming, he opened a hotel in Berenda, which burned to the ground. He moved to Madera and purchased a place on Madera Avenue. He died on 12 November 1917, when a bull gored him to death. He was buried on 16 November 1917. His obituary was published on the front page of the Madera Mercury. Thomas Francis Desmond was buried in the Calvary Cemetery, Madera, California.

The 1880 Great Register of Fresno County (Madera Precincts) as of October 4th, shows Thomas Francis Desmond living in Borden, as a stock raiser. It states that he became a naturalized citizen on 29 September 1876 in Merced County. The Great Register of Madera County, California
1898 shows Thomas Francis living in Madera as a farmer.

1 Madera Mecury
Death of Genie Desmond

Regina Desmond, beloved daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Desmond passed away in San Francisco yesterday following an operation for goiter. The remains were brought here this morning for interment. The news of the highly esteemed young lady came as a great shock to a host of friends here who had hoped for the best. The operation was performed in the morning and was successful, but the shock attendant upon it was too much for the constitution of the young lady to withstand, and she succumbed.
2 The California Death Index shows his birthday as 7/11/1901, his name as Edward E., and his mother's maiden named spelled Griffen. He died in Los Angeles.
3 born in Ireland. Died 1931, and buried in Calvary Cemetery, Madera, CA.
4 3209 Laura Ln, Santa Cruz, California 95065-1201 (1987)
5 The 1880 Great Register of Fresno County (Madera Precincts) shows: Desmond, Thomas Francis. [Age] 39. [Place of Birth] Ireland. [Occupation] Stock raiser [Residence] Borden. [Date Registered] 1878, Sept 1. [Naturalization] Nat. 1876, Sept 29, Merced Co., CA. The 1894 Great Register of Madera County records: Desmond, Thomas Francis. [Age] 49. [Birthplace] Ireland. [Height] 5-9, [complexion] dark, [eyes] gray, [hair] dark. [Precinct] Berenda. [Post Office] Berenda. [Date of Registration] 1893, Nov 13. [Notes] Nat. 1876, Sept 29, Merced, CA. India ink marks on both wrists.
6 Pioneer photographers of the far west: a biographical dictionary, 1840-1865 by Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn. Stanford University Press, 2001: 538-541.