Sarah Coulston Byrne was born in 1818 in Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Elizabeth Byrne. She married Peter O'Rourke, an Irish immigrant tailor, some time in the late 1830s in Pennsylvania, and their first child was born in Harrisburg. They traveled west to Nashville, Tennessee, where more of the family was born, then came north and east via steamboat on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, finally settling in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Peter's business prospered in St. Joseph for a number of years, but he suffered a series of business reversals in the late 1860s. As his fortunes declined, so did his health, and he died in 1874. Sarah married James Conroy in 1876, and she died in 1892.
She had four sons and four daughters with Peter O'Rourke, though their son Peter took his step-father's surname. Descendants of Sarah (Byrne) O'Rourke-Conroy still live in and near the St. Joseph area.
Peter's business prospered in St. Joseph for a number of years, but he suffered a series of business reversals in the late 1860s. As his fortunes declined, so did his health, and he died in 1874. Sarah married James Conroy in 1876, and she died in 1892.
She had four sons and four daughters with Peter O'Rourke, though their son Peter took his step-father's surname. Descendants of Sarah (Byrne) O'Rourke-Conroy still live in and near the St. Joseph area.
Sarah Coulston Byrne was born in 1818 in Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Elizabeth Byrne. She married Peter O'Rourke, an Irish immigrant tailor, some time in the late 1830s in Pennsylvania, and their first child was born in Harrisburg. They traveled west to Nashville, Tennessee, where more of the family was born, then came north and east via steamboat on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, finally settling in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Peter's business prospered in St. Joseph for a number of years, but he suffered a series of business reversals in the late 1860s. As his fortunes declined, so did his health, and he died in 1874. Sarah married James Conroy in 1876, and she died in 1892.
She had four sons and four daughters with Peter O'Rourke, though their son Peter took his step-father's surname. Descendants of Sarah (Byrne) O'Rourke-Conroy still live in and near the St. Joseph area.
Peter's business prospered in St. Joseph for a number of years, but he suffered a series of business reversals in the late 1860s. As his fortunes declined, so did his health, and he died in 1874. Sarah married James Conroy in 1876, and she died in 1892.
She had four sons and four daughters with Peter O'Rourke, though their son Peter took his step-father's surname. Descendants of Sarah (Byrne) O'Rourke-Conroy still live in and near the St. Joseph area.
Inscription
"Hopes are crushed and hearts are broken
Drear the fireside now and lone
She the best loved and the dearest
Far away to Heaven hath flown."
Family Members
See more O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne memorials in:
- Saint Marys Cemetery O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
- Hurlingen O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
- Buchanan County O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
- Missouri O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
- USA O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
- Find a Grave O'Rourke Conroy or Byrne
