Joseph Martin was born in Ireland in about 1845. His birth county is W icklow. The Baptism records in Bray have a gap of several months whic h began 5 days before Joseph's baptism. Joseph's death record was ver y clear regarding his parents so his wife had obviously discussed it w ith Joseph.
According to census records, he immigrated to America in 1867 and beca me a naturalized citizen in 1893. He has not yet been found in the 187 0 census but sometime by the early 1870s he is in Chicago where he me t Kate McNamara. Kate was born in 1846 in Fanningstown, Limerick, Irel and and immigrated with her family by 1850 to America. Kate and her fa mily lived in Wisconsin initially moving to Chicago in the early 1850s .
Joseph and Kate were married 23 July 1874. Two children quickly follow ed but Kate sickened with TB which was always a scourge in big cities . She died in 1878 leaving behind a husband and two small children. Jo seph must have had a tough time because the two kids when to live wit h Kate's mom, Anne McNamara. Eventually the daughter went to Denver t o live with her aunt and the boy James went to live with his father wh o had remarried. Joseph remarried in 1890 but never had any more child ren. He became a naturalized citizen in 1893 and was listed on the vot ing rolls in Chicago. He held a series of jobs over the years and die d in April of 1921. His son James had died earlier but his daughter i s mentioned in his obituary.