OLD PHOTOS FOUND: McDERMOTT family

Mc,DERMOTT, Stephen, John and Alfred
circa 1885-1890, Evansville, Wisc.

Photo was found in August 2014 at the Madison-Baukville Antique Fair in New York State.

Here is a photo of three brothers; Stephen, John and Alfred McDermott, taken probably between 1885 and 1890 in Evansville, Rock County, Wisconsin.

In consulting a map of Evansville, WI, I see that there is a road named McDermott Road which lies roughly equidistant between the neighboring towns of Evansville and Albany.

First stop was checking into the Census records for that area.

1880 Federal Census, Albany, Green County, Wisconsin
McDERMOTT, Michael, 53, Farmer, born in Ireland to Irish parents
McDERMOTT, Rhoda, 56, wife, keeping house, born in New York to NY parents
McDERMOTT, Thomas, 27, son, dry goods merchant, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Rosa, 22, daughter, at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Stephen, 20, son, at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Lilla, 18, daughter, at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Polly, 16, daughter, at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, John, 14, son, at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Alfred, 12, son at home, born in Wisc.
McDERMOTT, Dahlia, 9, daughter, at home, born in Wisc.

These ages would point to approximate birth years of 1860 for Stephen, 1866 for John and 1868 for Albert (give or take a year.)

Ancestry.com find a number of family trees in which these brothers appear. Most of them include the fact that Stephen died in 1909 in Nebraska.

Findagrave.com has a record of a Stephen McDermott buried in Peckham Cemetery, Lincoln County, Nebraska. He was born Aug 14, 1859, died Nov 2, 1909. His headstone remarks that he is a son of M.McDermott.

Parents were: Michael McDermott (1827 - 1917) and Rhoda D. Peckham (1824 - 1890).

Middle brother, John Arthur McDermott (born 29 Aug 1865 - died 26 Feb 1955) married Mary Elizabeth Miller (1865-1955) and had at least 6 children. Above is the newspaper insert of his passing, taken from the Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville Wisc, 28 Feb, 1955.

Younger sister Dahlia lived her entire life at the family home in Albany, Wisconsin and died on the eve of her 75th birthday. The newspaper insert of her passing was reported in the Monrose Wisc Evening Times, 22 Aug 1945.

Stephen and Fairy McDermott

There was an older brother Martin who was already out on his own by the time of the 1880 Census. He was born in 1854 and had three sons; Stephen W. (born 1882), and twins Alfred and Elbert (born 1894). Stephen and Alfred whom appear to have named for their uncles. Stephen William McDermott married Fairy Frances Masters around 1909. This photograph may have been their wedding photo, based on their clothing.

The photo was taken at the "Miss Rankin Photo Studio" in North Platte, Nebraska, and was found in the same box at the antique fair as the photo above of Stephen's uncles.