Some Surnames of Interest

William Galvin was born May 8, l854 at Castle island in the county
Kerry, Ireland. about l877, he came to the U S to be with his brother ,
Dennis, who had come 2 years earlier, and was a railroad contractor for
the Chicago and Northwestern railroad. During the winter Dennis and
William and their teams hired out to Michael O"Connor who lived near
Preston, Minnesota. to haul logs all winter. In the spring the 2 men
went back to building the railroad fom Cresco, Iowa to Huron, Dakota
Territory. In the fall, they went back to Minnesota to haul logs again
for Michael O'Connor. They again worked on the railroad and got as far
west as Huron, where the railroad stopped for the winter.
The 2 men rode their horses about 50 miles north w here they staked
their claim on free land. While William stayed on the claim, Dennis rode
a horse all night to get to the land office in Watertown (Dakota
Territory) now South Dakota
to file on Dennis and William's claim to their new land. He got here
first and when he came out, he met a man just going in to file on the
same land.
The 2 men then returned to Preston, Minn, and again worked for Michael
O'Connor. In the spring, Dennis married Cicily O'Connor, the oldest
daughter of Michael and Bridgett O'Connor. Dennis and William made
arrangements with the Northwestern Railroad for what was known as an
immigrant car to move them to Huron. They loaded the horses, one cow, one
pig in one end of the car. The wagon and plow and other light machinery
was put in the middle. The mattresses were put in the other end to sleep
on. They had a table, a few chairs, and one bed. It took them 5 days to
come from Charfield, Minn to Huron South Dakota.

There, they loaded the household goods, the plow and the pig on the
wagon. The cow and horses were led behind the wagon.They built a sod
shanty in the back of Snake Creek. They dug back into the creek bank and
made a room. They put tree branches on top and cut sod to put over that.
They used straw and dried glasses to make the house as warm as possible.
The floor was a dirt floor They had one glass window pane to let in the
light. (This claim was about 2 miles north of the town of Athol, South
Dakota) The hole they made is still visable .
The barn was built in the same way and was used for years and called the
underground barn.
Along towards spring, they ran out of flour. The men took a hand sled
and pulled it to Huron (about 50 or 55 miles) There they bought flour
and some side pork. They pulled the sled home on top of the snow. They
had a lot of trouble as the sled kept breaking thru the crusted snow.
Later they built a house with lumber and Cicily invited her younger
sister, Hannah, to come and live with them.
Hannah and William were married May 18, l885, in Frank Twiss's house in
Athol. Dennis and William farmed together and worked to build the
Northwestern Railroad north from Huron . This raiload is still in use
and runs thru the Galvin farm. Note: ( recently this line of railroad
was abandoned)
When Dennis Galvin decided to move back to Minnesota, William bought the
land that was Dennis's claim. William and Hannah continued to live on
this farm. They built a large - 2 story house in the summer of 1904.
Cornelius (Neal) was born March 15, l886.
Elizabeth was born March 31, l888.
These 2 children were born while it was still Dakota Territory. Dennis
and William nearly lost their lives in the big blizzard of l888. (There
are books in the library describing this horrible storm.
William (Bill) was born Oct 7, l891. He was the first Galvin grandchild
to be born after the Territory became a state.
Michael Edward (Ed) was born July 15, l893. Dennis Raymond (Ray) was
born April 23, l895.

Ray served in WWI from June , l9l8 until Nov. l9l9
when he landed back in the US at New Port News, Virginia.
He was in the front lines near Metz on Nov 11, l9l9. Their company was
scheduled to "go over the top" and attack the Germans on this day when
suddenly at exactly 11:00 a m everything got quiet. The guns ceased
firing and all sounds of battle ceased. They could hear the birds
singing. The peace treaty had been signed and the war was over. How
thankul they all were that they could come home at last.

Ray returned from the service and continued to work the home farm with
his brother, Bill. Their dad - William - had died of a stroke Aprl 23,
l913. Ray's 18th birthday
On June 10, l930, Ray married Dorothy Waters. They contnued to live on
and work the family farm. Three children were born to them.
Rosemary was born and died Oct. 27, l931.
Dorothy Frances was born April 8, l933. She passed away January 13, 1997
from cancer.
Joann Rae was born November 9, l943.
Ray's mother, Hannah, who had lived all her life on this farm, died Jan.
27, l961.
Bill died 9-29-69.
Ray and Dorothy continued to live on this farm until Oct. l970. when they
moved o Redfield,SD. Ray died Aug 12, 1987.

William and Hannah Galvin also had children
Mary was born Nov. 23, l898
Clair was born Nov 1, l900
Leo was born Aug 13, l907