Welcome to Gavigan.org

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.

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!

There are most likely many errors on this site. If you have corrections or additions use the contact form to let us know

Hospitality

Gavigan Hotel (Blanchardville WI), John Starry (Higbee Hotel 102 S Iowa St Dodgeville), Edward McGilligan (512 Oak St Arena WI), Doran (512 Oak St), Crowley (512 Oak St), Rupp (Vilas House, Park Hotel), Murphy (Vilas House), John R McGilligan (Lake City Hotel, Lake View Hotel), Trotter, and Williams owned or worked at lodging and/or Dining establishments (Hotels, Resorts, Pool Halls, and Taverns)

Lake City House / Lake View Hotel / John R McGilligan

John R McGilligan 510 E Wilson Street – Lake City Hotel – Lake View Hotel (Germania House Hotel)

Hotel Gavigan Blanchardville WI

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 also on the board of Directors for the Blanchardville Driving Association (racing, training horses)

Alcohol Issues

We are Irish, what else can we say? Over the years many have fallen into the Alcohol pit. Some crawled their way out, some did not.

5 Mabbott’s Fight in the Civil War

Kicked on the Head by a Horse

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.

St. Michael’s Orphanage, La Crosse WI

John (Jack), Beverly, Roy, and Bob all spent time at St Micheals. Bob spent 13 yrs total. He went in at two yrs. Roy told Tim Gavigan in 2024 that John “Jack” Gavigan ran away from the Orphanage. Roy remembers riding in a car with officials to La Crosse.

Suicide By Taking Rat Poison

Monday afternoon about 4 o’clock Mrs. Annie Schwartz, wife of John Schwartz, a farmer residing 4 miles west of this city (darlington), while in an insaine condition. took “Rough on Rats”, from the effects of which she died at 2 o’clock Tuesday Morning.

California 1982

Spring of 1982 a plan was hatched at Rusty’s Bar in Middleton WI over 20 cent taps by Tim Gavigan and Rick Smith. They decided to drive to California in a van to Visit a hockey mate, Chris Eddy.

Murder in the Hay-field

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.

Tragedy On Lake Monona

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 the water. Ellen Jane “Jennie” Rupp drowned. “Lex,” the oarsman, saved both of the Dunn sisters.

Higbee Hotel Dodgeville WI – John Starry – 1905

This three-story hotel, which has conducted business as such since 1849, features a rectangular-shaped plan configuration, a cut stone foundation, a combination brick and concrete block exterior and a flat roof. In the early twentieth century the hotel was owned by John Starry, charus phillips (1909-1916)

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.

Where did the original Statue of Liberty on Lake Mendota end up?

The Railroad

Dodgeville, Wisconsin had multiple railroad lines, including the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, the Illinois Central Railroad, and the Freeport, Dodgeville & Northern Railroad.

2 Are Dead, One Missing In Canyon

GRAND CANYON, ARIZ, July 27 AP: The body of a Roman Catholic priest missing in the Grand Canyon since Saturday was found Monday at the base of a 200-foot cliff.

Timeline

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Census Records

Today in History

JANE SANDUSKY FLANDERS - First Flanders Woman in America

WAS JANE FLANDERS SANDUSKY AN INDIAN PRINCESS?

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

LCprl Jean Pierre Dowling, KIA in Vietnam - USMC

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

Merrill McGilligan

Merle [Merrill] McGilligan, 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.H. [Thomas & Zula Hall] McGilligan, of Algona, former residents of this city, died yesterday at 6:30 p.m. at the Mercy hospital in Mason City. The young man had been operating a gravel truck near Lake lake, and Saturday evening with a group of friends had gone to Bayside park to swim. He dove into a shallow part of the lake and broke his neck. He was taken to the hospital in Mason City for medical attention.

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.

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.

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

Dan Gavigan grandson of Thomas Leo Gavigan was a member of this Team

The only State Hockey Championship in School History!

Grandchildren of Maggie McCue and John Lunda

Kay and Karen Lunda

(Kay) 1972 Winter Olympics – 500 metres in Sapporo, Japan
(Karen) Alternate for the 1976 U.S. team in Innsbruck, Austria

Royal Lineage

Q: Where did the original Statue of Liberty on Lake Mendota end up?

Answer: The Bill Weege farm near Barneveld Wisconsin

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.

Those That served

Upcoming Birthdays

Vincent CONWAY	01 AUG
Antoinette COLUMBE DE MEULENAERE	02 AUG
Luke Francis MCDERMOTT	02 AUG
Libbie EDGE	02 AUG
James Leo DUNN	02 AUG
Janneke ONGENAE	03 AUG
Amanda C POFF	03 AUG
Mary CONWAY	03 AUG
Jane BRAZEL	03 AUG
Willie Lee ROGERS	03 AUG
Alden Bradford THOMPSON	04 AUG
Bridget CROWLEY	04 AUG

Upcoming Anniversaries

Michael James GALWAY and Sharon KARL	1 AUG
Silas WHEELER and Persis BREWER	12 AUG
John Hall MCGILLIGAN and Helena Marie FREKEY	12 AUG
Walter E JACKSON and Blanche FORSETH	14 AUG
Lionel DE WELLES and Lady Joan WATERTON	15 AUG
Lawrence Lynn ROSLANIC and Carol Eliza FELDT	18 AUG
Leonard O. ANDERSON and Mary A. MCCUE	19 AUG

In Memoriam

Mary Ellen HINNING	1 AUG 1909
Emil Oscar JANECK	10 AUG 1930
John BREW	11 AUG 1890
Florance Mary CROWLEY	11 AUG 1974
Sylvia Ann HUGHES	11 AUG 2025
James E WILLIAMS	12 AUG 1909
Josephus PINKHAM	12 AUG 1927
Roseanna CONWAY	13 AUG 1892
William Earl TROTTER	13 AUG 1941
Betty Mae BUYATT	13 AUG 1993
Constance GAVIGAN	13 AUG 2024
Mary J SHEA	14 AUG 1911
Mary S GRAHAM	14 AUG 1940
Ada Mae SOWL	14 AUG 1952
John Edward MCGILLIGAN	14 AUG 1978

Mary Ellen HINNING

Birth: 06 JAN 1836
Death: 1 AUG 1909

Emil Oscar JANECK

Birth: 21 NOV 1883
Death: 10 AUG 1930

John BREW

Birth: 18 MAY 1857
Death: 11 AUG 1890

Florance Mary CROWLEY

Birth: 11 AUG 1893
Death: 11 AUG 1974

Sylvia Ann HUGHES

Birth: 07 JUL 1934
Death: 11 AUG 2025

James E WILLIAMS

Birth: 01 SEP 1870
Death: 12 AUG 1909

Josephus PINKHAM

Birth: 01 DEC 1828
Death: 12 AUG 1927

Roseanna CONWAY

Birth: 22 FEB 1875
Death: 13 AUG 1892

William Earl TROTTER

Birth: 23 FEB 1879
Death: 13 AUG 1941

Betty Mae BUYATT

Birth: 27 SEP 1927
Death: 13 AUG 1993

Information about the name Gavigan (Mostly Wisconsin)