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John Joseph Nunan and Mary Elizabeth Donovan
John Joseph and his sister Ellen immigrated to the United States in 1870. From information in the 1910¹ census it would appear that John was 14 and his sister was 19 years old when they arrived. The Kinsale Parish Records baptism records say she was actually 22 and John 18. It is from Ellen Nunan Murray's death certificate that we learn their parent's names, Joseph Nunan and Mary Dempsey. There is no information whether their parents were both still living when they left nor do we know if any other relatives made the trip with them.
We assume John and Ellen arrived in either New York or Boston since very few immigrants sailed directly to the west coast of the United States. The ship voyage from Ireland at that time was usually a two step process; first sailing from an Irish port such as Cork to Liverpool, England and then a longer voyage of perhaps two months depending on the weather to the east coast of the U.S. We don't know why John Joseph and Ellen decided to go to California or the details of the hardships of the trip they took, but we can surmise it followed the pattern of the mass of Irish immigrating to this county. Those going from New York to California in 1870 had their choice of another four to eight week sea voyage around the Strait of Magellan or Cape Hope, taking a wagon train across the county or the newly opened railway.
John and Ellen arrived in the United States five years after the end of the Civil War. The east coast was experiencing a heavy influx of immigrants as well as rebuilding after the war. (Over 2,600,000 emigrated from Ireland in the period 1840-1880 with 1,140,000 arriving in the United States from 1855-1880.) The California Gold Rush was over but wages paid in California were higher than those in the East while the cost of living was lower. There also was not the prejudice against the Irish and Catholics so prevalent in Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Perhaps Ellen and John J. knew other Irish immigrants or had cousins in California. Whatever the reason, they took the long, arduous journey and settled in San Francisco.
The Supplemental Naturalization Data to and including June 1, 1923² on page 528 lists three John Nunans. One, John Joseph living at 136 Noe was born in Ireland and became a citizen June 18, 1878. The second was a John Jeremiah Nunan. The third, John J. living at 132 Filmore born in Ireland became a citizen December 24, 1875. The naturalization process requires filing of intention and then awards citizenship after a wait. However, we now know there was another John Joseph Nunan living in San Francisco at this time (see below). Since the original naturalization papers were lost in the 1906 fire we cannot confirm which is our John Joseph by checking parent's name and place of birth.
John Joseph was a marble worker for a time owning his own business. In the 1877-78 Langley Directory of Oakland there is a listing of Madden & Nunan (F. Madden and John J. Nunan) Marble Workers at 1214 Broadway. John J. Nunan resided at the corner of Twenty first and Broadway. The 1878-79 Langley's Oakland Directory listed John J. Nunan (Madden & Nunan) dwelling at 1528 Broadway. The Madden & Nunan Marble Works were still at 1214 Broadway. By the 1880-81 Bishop's Oakland Directory the marble works are now listed as only John J. Nunan at 1417 San Pablo Avenue. His residence was then 408 Thirteenth. The 1881-82 Bishop's Oakland Directory now named the marble works as Sullivan & Nunan at 1178 Broadway. By 1883-84 McKenney's Oakland City Directory no longer listed any marble works owned by John Joseph although he continued to reside in Oakland. His occupation as marble worker is listed in the 1903 San Francisco City Directory, page 1386 and all the subsequent directories. His grandson, Albert Stanley Nunan remembers walking through St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland with John Joseph and being shown headstones that his grandfather carved. John was injured when a slab of marble fell on his leg and his granddaughter Helen remembered he was no longer able to work. However, son John Francis states on his father's death certificate that he last worked in 1916. He would have been 60 years old at that time.
John married Mary Elizabeth Donovan whose family lived in Oakland. They were married in Old St. Mary's' Church in Oakland on 2 February 1881. The couple moved to San Francisco where their three sons were born. Joseph Daniel born in April 1888, John Francis born 1 March 1889 and Raymond born in April 1890. The youngest died after only 4 months. Mary died 29 August 1905 when John Francis was 16 years old.
After his wife's death John and his sons continued to live at 1502 Mission until after the earthquake and fire in April 1906. The 1907 City Directory lists his address as 75 Brady and the 1910 Census and the City Directory of that year put him at 204 Noe, living with his sister, Ellen and her family as well as his son John F. and wife and baby son.
Helen remembered going to visit her grandfather after school. He lived in one room of his sister's flat. He often gave her money and sometimes called her Ellen, mixing his granddaughter's name with his sister's. He sometimes called his grandson Donald by the name Daniel. We can only speculate which member of his family was the Daniel he confused with Donald.
John lived in San Francisco in a period of the city's most dynamic growth. He saw the first gas lights installed in 1872; the first demonstration of electric lights in 1876 and the first telephone installed with directories issued in 1878. He saw the ground breaking for the world's first cable street railroad on Clay Street in 1873; the dedication of Lotta's Fountain at Kearney and Market Streets, the gift of Miss Lotta Crabtree; and may have witnessed the anti-Chinese riots of 1877. He undoubtedly saw the historical character Emperor Norton who died in January 1880. The schooner Parallel, carrying a cargo of powder, blew up below the Cliff House in January 1887, badly damaging the building which was destroyed by fire in December 1894. It was an exciting time to live in San Francisco.
John lived with his sister until her death 25 April 1925. He continued to be listed at that address until 1932 when he moved in with his son John Francis. There was no social security for the elderly at that time with the Social Security Act being passed in 1935. Helen believed her grandfather lived on the insurance money left when his oldest son, Joe, died during World War I. At the time of his death 24 June 1938, he lived with his son John F. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland in the Nunan family plot.
The 1900 census gave John Joseph's age as 46 and birth year as 1854. The 1910 census said he was 54 at the time of the census which would make his birth year 1856 and make him 14 years old at the time of arrival.
The San Francisco Index of Naturalized Voters - 1898 shows John Joseph Nunan naturalized on December 24, 1875 at San Francisco, Precinct 1 District 31. The San Francisco Public Library in the History and Archives Department has the San Francisco County Recorder index of naturalization prior to 1906 which includes John Joseph Nunan living at 136 Noe naturalized June 18, 1878.