Sammon Family History

The background of our Irish ancestor, Thomas Sammon, is discussed in the “History of Guthrie County, Iowa” (printed in the late nineteenth century) and additional information is found on his tombstone in Willow Cemetery, Bayard, Iowa. Much of this information must have been related orally by Thomas in his Irish brogue, probably explaining why some of the information recorded may have been slightly in error, such as the town in County Galway from where he reportedly originated, Corbally. There is, in fact, no Corbally in Galway, but there are two Corbally’s located elsewhere in Ireland.

As I discovered on a trip with my wife Judy to Ireland about 1979, there is a small town called Garbally in eastern Galway, on the western edge of the sizable city of Ballinisloe. The area of Garbally was being developed with homes when I saw it, but I was told by locals that it had long been an agricultural area, controlled for hundreds of years by British Lords. Following a local priest’s road instructions, I found myself somewhat lost and stopped at a thatched roof farmhouse to ask directions to a fallen down church and cemetery where the priest said that many Sammons were buried. An elderly woman came out of the farmhouse to meet me and I explained my mission. To my shock, she told me that her maiden name was Sammon and that her son-in-law would take me to the church, just up the hill several hundred yards. She introduced me to her daughter who, to my amazement, bore a striking resemblance to my sister Maureen. At the church’s cemetery, I found Sammons galore, some spelled Sammon, some Salmon, and some with an “s” at the end. I am convinced that I was close to the birthplace of Tom Sammon even though I was unable to trace “Thomas” any further.

Back in Galway City, I spoke to Louis Sammon who operated Sammon’s Bar across from the Great Southern Hotel (unfortunately Sammon’s Bar was not there on later trips I made to Galway). I told Louis that I had visited Galway in 1957 (I was 18) with my parents and that my father (Howard) had visited Sammon’s Bar (operated at the time by Louis’s father who was also named Louis). After a short visit with Louis, Howard determined that he was not related because Louis said his family came from Tipperary, not Galway. Howard could not find a Corbally, either, and left a little disappointed. Well, as Louis Jr pointed out to me, the area of Galway where the Sammon’s are found is part of a 15-20 mile area that also includes County Tipperary and County Roscommon where many Sammon’s are located. As a footnote, I discovered that Louis’s brother Liam was an All Ireland famous football player.

Thomas set out for a new life in America in 1836 (he must have been only 17 or 18 years old), arriving in Philadelphia where he was able to obtain work as an apprentice to a tailor. After five years, he moved on to Cincinnati where he operated his own tailor establishment (1 year) and then to St. Louis (1 year) before moving to an area west of Rockford, IL, near Galena, IL, and became a farmer. Several years later he met and married Julia McKenna (of Rockford). He continued to farm for a few more years until the United States announced that it would give homesteaders in the Iowa Territory 160 acres of good land. Tom, Julia and their growing family then headed west with all of their belongings to Guthrie County, Iowa, about 40 miles NNW of present day DesMoines. Their farm was located about one mile outside the town of Bayard. There they prospered and raised seven children, including my grandfather, Edwin. Interestingly, he never seemed to be called Edwin. My dad (Howard) said he was called Ed and people referred to him as Edward. My middle name, Edward, was named after my grandfather Edwin, as was my Dad’s brother, Ted Sammon.

Ed Sammon married Emma Duffy from the very successful, bright and talented John Duffy family (my next project will be to research the Duffy family history). They had four children, Marie, Howard (nicknamed Bud in his youth; born August 31, 1897), Madeleine, and Edward (Ted). Howard worked and lived on the farm in his youth, obtaining a one year teaching degree at Iowa State (Ames) after graduating high school. His mother, Emma, required that each of the children get the teaching degree and return and teach at least one year at the local grade school in Bayard. My Uncle Ted joked that the reason he didn’t know more was due to being taught by his brother in grade school. Howard was then sent to the University of Wisconsin (Madison) where he apparently had a good time but left after only one semester. His father then sent him to Chicago to law school at DePaul. However, Howard decided to go to night school and got a day job at the Columbia State Savings Bank in the northwest part of the city. In short order Howard did well, but didn’t bother finishing his last year of law school because he had been made president of the bank. He met Marion (Garrity) Haggerty at a Valentine Day dance on Feb 14, 1924. Supposedly, when he first saw her across the room he told a friend that she was the girl he would marry. In fact, they were married September 1, 1924, just 6 ½ months later. Howard was a very likable guy, great at building a consensus among people, a fabulous storyteller (like the rest of his siblings), honest and ethical. After withstanding the Great Depression (his bank was closed in 1931), he survived and reactivated the charter for the Forest Park State Bank (later re-chartered as the Forest Park National Bank) in 1943. The bank and Howard prospered and he was elected President of the Illinois Bankers Association about 1959. He was very active in his bank (Chairman, President and CEO) and banking causes in general until his passing on February 25, 1965. Howard and Marion Sammon had five children: Patricia (Walter LaBerge), Thomas, Maureen (James Quinn), Michael (Judy Croke) and John (Pat Dunne).

The rest is history, as they say------- to be continued.