This site was created to facilitate the exchange of information and to help people with the last name Gavigan, and other names learn more about their history, their roots, who they are related to, about each other, and/or connect

Anyone listed in the Genealogy pages NOT named Gavigan or McGilligan are related to a Gavigan or a McGilligan by a marriage or an adoption
It’s a very Small World!

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Distressing Suicide
A Woman Drowns Herself in a Well

Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Johanna Janeck, a German woman some 85 years old, wife of Mr. Gustav Janeck, for more than a dozen years employed in Mr. Darwin Clark’s Cabinet and Furniture establishment, and for some time foreman of the shop, went to visit Mrs. Lang, who lives in the first ward, about a block south of Nolden’s Hall, near the edge of the flat north of the depot.

There were occasional tragedies. The first year one of the girls in Slightham’s dining hall was scalded by boiling water.

On July 26, 1900, Ellen Jane  Rupp “Jennie”, Fannie Dunn, and Nellie Dunn were being rowed back to Madison by Alexius Baas at 11 p.m. when their rowboat was struck by one of the lake steamers, the Tonyawatha, and the four were thrown into t he water. Ellen Jane “Jennie” Rupp drowned. “Lex,” the oarsman, saved both of the Dunn sisters.

He claimed he did not see any lights on the Tonyawatha; crew members insisted the lights had been on.

Thomas Gavigan son of John and Mary (Collentine) Gavigan operated the Gavigan Hotel from 1892- to 1896 at the Corner of Main and Elm in Downtown Blanchardville. Thomas was on the board of Directors for the Blanchardville Driving Association (racing, training horses)
Hotel Gavigan / Hotel Ryan

Today in History

1494 - Gian Galeazzo, Italian duke of Milan (1476-94), dies 1674 - Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter, dies at 53 1707 - Cloudesley Shovell, British Commander-in-Chief of the British [...]



 There are many mysteries to be solved in the Flanders family history line, and JANE FLANDERS is one of them!

Steven Flanders is the first Flanders listed in America. It is said that the ship that he sailed on towards America sunk before reaching land, and that his wealth and possessions were lost. However, due to him having “spektacles” (eyeglasses), he was known to be of European higher-class and educated. He married a woman named Jane, listed as ‘Sandusky Indian’, and family stories state that she was an Indian princess.

As early as the late 1500’s, the Sandusky tribe lived on the banks of the Sandusky River in Ohio. For some reason the tribe  ….  Read More here

NOT William Gavigan

William Gavigan of the township of Adams perished with Monday night’s storm. He was found yesterday afternoon frozen stiff in a field with nothing but his boots protruding from the snow. Monday he attended a grubbing bee at the home of Rube Garrison. Returning home …. read more here

Mt. Horeb, Wis. –(AP) — Victor R McKay, 38, of Madison, shot and killed Mrs. Ruby Lund Heydon, 25, of Mt. Horeb, and then fatally wounded himself while they sat in a car in a hay-field near here August 17, 1942, a coroner’s jury decided after an inquest yesterday. Testimony indicated the motive was either jealousy or McKay’s concern over the possibility he might be drafted and forced to leave Mrs. Heydon a divorcee.

Ruby Christine Lund Heydon
Ruby Christine Lund Heydon



Edward Roarig, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gus Roarig of Fayette, died April 10th, at Trinity hospital, Milwaukee, where he had been taken for an operation. As was stated in last week’s paper the young man had been working for his uncle, Robert Williams, where he was kicked on the head by a horse. How long he laid in the stall under the animal is not known but he was found by Mrs. Williams in a semi conscious state and taken to the house.

The team moved to 598379 and was going to await the helicopters or until darkness and then move out.

After waiting an hour. the VC opened up on the team again from about 10 feet away. This broke up the team. The initial burst killed LCpl DOWLING. LCpl SOLOVSKOY returned fire and killed two VC
  ….  Read More here

LCprl Jean Pierre Dowling Vietnam - KIA - USMC
LCprl Jean Pierre Dowling Vietnam - KIA - USMC

8645.47

Farm Tragedy

A tragic moment in Time regarding the Stevens family happened in 1936 on the farm of Harry and Jennie Stevens in the Skelton Township of Carlton County MN when Harry Eugene (Gene) Stevens accidentally drove over his brother James Eugene Stevens (age 2) with a tractor.

James Earl Stevens Died age 2
James Earl Stevens Died age 2

Wagon Accident

Another tragedy for the Stevens happened on a steep grade in Colorado where Ida May Slawson Stevens died at age 49 when a wagon she was riding in overturned and she was killed.

Image NOT Ida May Slawson Stevens

1983: Madison West Goes 18-2 to Win the State Hockey Championship

1983 Madison West Regent State Champion Hockey Team
1983 Madison West Regent State Champion Hockey Team



Q: Where did the original Statue of Liberty on Lake Mendota end up?
Answer: The Bill Weege farm near Barneveld Wisconsin
Joe Gavigan & Peter Weege Barneveld WI
Joe Gavigan & Peter Weege Barneveld WI - 1980's Before Tornado
Rev. Edward L. Buckner Dies After Being Shot Near His Home

Rev. Edward L. Buckner, of Zalma, died last Friday morning at the Cape hospital where he had been taken for an operation after being shot by an unknown person near his home Thanksgiving morning.
He was but a short distance from his home when the shots were fired at him with a shot gun.





Upcoming Birthdays
Winnefred M FLANDERS24 OCT
John Rolfe THOMPSON25 OCT
Betsy Ann LUND25 OCT
Katherine (Kitty) Lissette MEYER25 OCT
Adriaen VOLKRIJCK26 OCT
John S STEVENS26 OCT
Ralph Michael GAVIGAN26 OCT
Kathrine DOCHNAHL26 OCT
Timothy Micheal GAVIGAN26 OCT
Edward W GAVIGAN27 OCT
Kathryn GAVIGAN27 OCT
Dorann SCHAUB27 OCT
Upcoming Anniversaries
Thomas FLANAGAN and
Bridget C DALY
23 OCT
Patrick Francis GALWAY and
Mary GAVIGAN
26 OCT
Charles DORAN and
Alza Althea MEYER
26 OCT
John Francis GAVIGAN and
Mary Irene ROSE
26 OCT
Malcolm “Dutch” MUENICH and
Rosella Mary FLANAGAN
29 OCT
Mathew Michael DORAN and
Delia Agnes CROWLEY
14 NOV
Patrick H. CROWLEY and
Ida M CHALFANT
14 NOV
In Memoriam
Alvin Lloyd LUND23 OCT 1951
Agusta A KUEHL24 OCT 1911
Carol Mae FIGI24 OCT 1987
Mary Elizabeth CAMPBELL25 OCT 1895
Anna Pauline SEVERSON25 OCT 1941
Camillus J MURPHY25 OCT 1967
Karl V. WILLIAMS25 OCT 2020
Marjorie Ann BENKERT25 OCT 2020
William BASSET27 OCT 1384
Elizabeth Ann GAVIGAN27 OCT 1886
Bertha NEVELS27 OCT 1974
Donald Anthony DOWLING27 OCT 2009
David F BELL29 OCT 1912
Katherine Irene DORAN29 OCT 1927
Kathryn COLLENTINE29 OCT 1936
X

Alvin Lloyd LUND

Birth: 23 JUN 1895
Death: 23 OCT 1951
X

Agusta A KUEHL

Birth: 06 JAN 1866
Death: 24 OCT 1911
X

Carol Mae FIGI

Birth: 30 MAY 1921
Death: 24 OCT 1987
X

Mary Elizabeth CAMPBELL

Birth: 1817
Death: 25 OCT 1895
X

Anna Pauline SEVERSON

Birth: 05 APR 1856
Death: 25 OCT 1941
X

Camillus J MURPHY

Birth: 06 OCT 1901
Death: 25 OCT 1967
X

Karl V. WILLIAMS

Birth: 26 MAY 1929
Death: 25 OCT 2020
X

Marjorie Ann BENKERT

Birth: 20 MAR 1930
Death: 25 OCT 2020
X

William BASSET

Birth: 1337
Death: 27 OCT 1384
X

Elizabeth Ann GAVIGAN

Birth: 07 SEP 1882
Death: 27 OCT 1886
Maps