Around 1819, she marred Lawrence Hawkins. The Hawkins family arrived in the United States in November 1849, settling in Meriden, Connecticut. They appear in the 1850 Census for Meriden, where Cecilia is "Leslie" and born in 1800.
In 1852, the family moved to Fitchburg, Wisconsin, in Dane County, settling on a farm near the Irish Lane Settlement. It was southeast of the intersection of Caine and Whalen roads and is still largely farmland. They remained there until the spring of 1855 when they, along with other Irish families, including the Shields, Caffreys, Kinneys, and McLaughlins, moved to St. Croix County, Wisconsin. (Members of these families were married to members of the Hawkins family.) By then, Cecilia had passed away.
Irish Settlers of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, 1840-1860 by Thomas P. Kinney is available online from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. It has helpful information about this period of time.
Much of what we know about Cecilia comes from her son Stephen's pamphlets about the family written in 1911 and 1914.
In A Pioneer Family, published in 1911, he says his mother's ancestry is "traced back to Thomas DeJorse, of Norman-Welsh extraction, who emigrated to Ireland about the 15th century, and whose name became Anglicized as Joys-Joys and Joyce." Historians suggest that Thomas DeJorse arrived in Ireland around 1282, sailing from Wales in the reign of King Edward I.
According to Stephen, his mother died on the family farm "about seven miles south of Madison." Stephen says his mother died in January 1855 and was buried at the "Old Cemetery" in Madison. (He was a young boy when she died, so it's uncertain how reliable his memories are.)
Around 1819, she marred Lawrence Hawkins. The Hawkins family arrived in the United States in November 1849, settling in Meriden, Connecticut. They appear in the 1850 Census for Meriden, where Cecilia is "Leslie" and born in 1800.
In 1852, the family moved to Fitchburg, Wisconsin, in Dane County, settling on a farm near the Irish Lane Settlement. It was southeast of the intersection of Caine and Whalen roads and is still largely farmland. They remained there until the spring of 1855 when they, along with other Irish families, including the Shields, Caffreys, Kinneys, and McLaughlins, moved to St. Croix County, Wisconsin. (Members of these families were married to members of the Hawkins family.) By then, Cecilia had passed away.
Irish Settlers of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, 1840-1860 by Thomas P. Kinney is available online from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. It has helpful information about this period of time.
Much of what we know about Cecilia comes from her son Stephen's pamphlets about the family written in 1911 and 1914.
In A Pioneer Family, published in 1911, he says his mother's ancestry is "traced back to Thomas DeJorse, of Norman-Welsh extraction, who emigrated to Ireland about the 15th century, and whose name became Anglicized as Joys-Joys and Joyce." Historians suggest that Thomas DeJorse arrived in Ireland around 1282, sailing from Wales in the reign of King Edward I.
According to Stephen, his mother died on the family farm "about seven miles south of Madison." Stephen says his mother died in January 1855 and was buried at the "Old Cemetery" in Madison. (He was a young boy when she died, so it's uncertain how reliable his memories are.)
Gravesite Details
In 1855, there was a Catholic cemetery located where St. Mary's hospital is today, in the Greenbush neighborhood of Madison. Early in the twentieth century the bodies were removed to Resurrection Cemetery in unmarked graves.
Family Members
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Mary Hawkins Shields
1820–1879
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Bridget Hawkins Caffrey
1822–1890
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John Hawkins
1823–1893
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Winnifred Hawkins McLaughlin
1832–1860
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Patrick Hawkins
1834–1898
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Michael Hawkins
1835–1864
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Martin Hawkins
1838–1882
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Lawrence Hawkins
1838–1901
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Hanora "Hanna" Hawkins Ring
1842–1909
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Peter Hawkins
1843–1906
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Stephen Nathaniel Hawkins
1846–1928
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