1. The First Child.

Dolores Marguerite Snow.

The caption under the photograph in the Chicago Herald and Examiner declared Dolores Marguerite Snow arrived "Exactly The Moment Baby 1919 Makes His Appearance". She was the first child born in Chicago in the new year.

Her proud parents, Harry Snow and Mae Walsh, lavished the beautiful child with affection during her brief life.

Mae Walsh's Family.

Mae's grandfather Michael Walsh was born in Ireland about 1834. He married Ann Stewart after coming to the United States. They lived in New York where sons James and Daniel were born. The latter died in infancy. Their son (Mae's father) - also named Daniel - was born on 10 March 1862 after they moved to Boston.

The family was in Chicago by the 1870 census where the 38 year old Michael worked as a boilermaker for Chicago & Northwest Railway. His wife Anna, 35, claimed she was born in New York. The couple had at least five more children.

In 1880 the older boys, James, Daniel and John, followed their father's footsteps working as boilermakers. Edward and William were in school and newborn Emma, who was baptized at St. Stephen Catholic Church, was at home. Mary Teresa, who would have been seven, was not named in the census. They lived at 333 May Street in Chicago.

Daniel Walsh Marries Annie Woodhouse.

Daniel Walsh, 23, married Annie Woodhouse, 19, on 17 February 1885 in "old" St. Stephen Catholic Church. Annie was born in England on 6 July 1866. Her family can be found in 1871 census of Cradley, Worcestershire, England.

Five years before the marriage Annie had crossed the Atlantic aboard the Wyoming in steerage class with her 34 year old mother Mathilda (nee Harris) Woodhouse and five younger siblings. They entered the United States through Castle Garden before heading to Chicago. Her father was born in Staffordshire, England and was a chainmaker, or blacksmith by trade. He had made the journey earlier. Four more children were born in Chicago. From the 1910 census it is learned the family lived in a home they owned at 1514 North Avers Avenue and that 10 of 13 children born to the couple were living.

Daniel soon became a foreman in the shop at Wm. Baragwanath & Son Boilermakers on West Division. He and Annie had had two children, though only one survived. Daughter Anna was born 15 August 1885. Mary Dolores "Mae" Walsh was born 18 April 1887 at home. She attended school according to the 1900 census. This record refers to her as "Mamie". Her parents had purchased a home on Kedzie around 1890 though they still carried a mortgage on it.

In 1910 Mae, 23, worked as a cashier for a watch company. She had grown to be a lovely young woman and confided in her granddaughter that she once had a suitor whom she abandoned "because he drank too much". Mae Walsh was to marry Harry Snow when she was 24 years old. It was perhaps she who gifted him the gold pocket watch he carried in later years.

Annie's father Benjamin Woodhouse was preceded in death by his wife Mathilda who passed away in December 1916 at the age of 67. Benjamin was about 78 years old when he died in his home at 1639 North Kedzie Avenue in 1927. His daughter Annie and her husband Daniel Walsh lived next door.