Mad in Pursuit Notebook
Ellen “Helen” Dunne Price
The independent first child
At 16, Ellen Dunne leaves rural Ireland for St. Louis, trading her name for "Helen" to forge an American identity. She defies cultural norms by marrying an English-American carpenter, then becomes the anchor for four siblings immigrating to the U.S. Sadly, she loses her husband and grown son to cancer. A family pioneer in making her own way, our independent "Auntie" was surrounded by her loving extended family to the end of her days.
1890. Ellen Dunne is born on 12 July in Ballaghduff [1], the first child of Catherine Martin (age 23) and Michael Dunne (26), married 16 June 1889. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Ellen (aka Eleanor) Stephens Dunne.
1901. We first see the 11-year old Ellen with her kid sister Bridget, staying at their widowed grandfather's house over in Rushestown at the time of the 1901 Census. The form says Ellen speaks both Irish and English.
Did she attend school? Her name doesn’t appear in the registry of the Curraghmore school, where her younger siblings went [3]. On the 1930 U.S. Census, she answers “no” to the Attended School question.
1907. In April, at the age of 16, she leaves her home and family for America. Was she the independent first-born child eager to see the world? Or was she urged out of the nest by parents who saw an opportunity for her as the family home grew crowded with children?
The illustration below shows the family as she left it—the last time they were all together.
The decision to say goodbye forever to a child is heart-wrenching. But that is Ireland in those days—exporting their children for the betterment of all. With so many Irish already expatriated to America since the Great Hunger, sometimes the only decision is where. Which aunt or uncle, cousin or sibling would welcome them?
Michael Dunne has two married sisters raising families in Philadelphia—Margaret Clavin (age 38) and Mary Agnes Curran (age 44). Ellen's mother has three married siblings in the U.S. Peter (48), in Ohio, has four children. Patrick (44), in Boston, has a growing family of six children, with two sons already dead.
But I wonder if there isn't a more active invitation from Catherine's youngest sister Delia (34) who migrated to St. Louis and recently married the family's neighbor and possible cousin Thomas Dunne. Their neighbor Sarah Marie Stephens (27) has settle there too, now married with three children. Only last year, she sponsored her siblings Julia (21) and Martin (18) to join her. The city is attractive, still gleaming and prosperous after all its 1904 World's Fair infrastructure improvements.
At the same time, Catherine's brother Michael (32) decides to join the group of young people emigrating from Kilkerrin in April, so St. Louis is the choice. (And maybe someone thought Martin Stephens would make Ellen a good husband.)
With $25 in her pocket, Ellen sails for a week on the RMS Carmania to the Port of New York. She is accompanied by her Uncle Mike Martin and nine other residents of Kilkerrin [2]. She is the youngest of the group and won't actually be 17 till July. 
They are processed through Ellis Island, then find their way to the train station, saying their goodbyes to their Kilkerrin neighbors, who are scattering to relatives on the east coast. It takes them days to get to get to Chicago, where they transfer to a St. Louis-bound train. They are welcomed by her Delia (Martin) and Thomas Dunne. Ellen hasn't seen her Aunt Delia since she was five, so they are strangers.
There are no stories about what Ellen does next. She likely gets work as a live-in domestic. That is the standard path for Irish girls, most of whom arrive as singles in this era. As shown in her postcard notes to her uncle [4], she also chooses an assimilation path by changing her first name to Helen. She's young enough to see no value in clinging to old ways.
1909. In February, according to a postcard sent by her and kept in her uncle Mike’s collection, she is living at 322 N. Newstead [4]. From browsing newspaper ads of the day, I can see it was an 11-room rental, so my best guess is that she is working as a domestic with the family renting the property—perhaps a physician with small children. But by the time of the 1910 U.S. Census, she is not there—in fact, nowhere to be found in that data.
1911. In Ireland, tension between the Irish and their English overlords is mounting. Home Rule for the Irish appears inevitable, but full of bitterness and impending violence. In general, the immigrant community keeps close watch on politics at home. But Ellen-turned-Helen doesn't let politics interfere with love. She falls for Ernest Price (1889-1944).
Ernest is the third son of English immigrants William J. and Sarah Price—Episcopalians. The Prices and five of their six tall, handsome sons run a family carpentry business. They are talented, hard-working, and prosperous.
They wed. (No marriage record has yet been found.)
Ernest is the first of the Price sons to marry and is welcomed into her English-American family. The matriarch Sarah Price is known to have a soft spot in her heart for Irish girls.
We don't know how Helen's family in Ireland reacts. Are they aghast at her act of rebellion? Or are they simply happy that she found a husband who seemed rich by rural Galway standards?
A funny aside: I found an instance of her signing Ellen, then overwriting Helen, even after she is married.
1912. Her only child William Ernest (aka Sonny, aka Bill) is born on July 8.
1914. She sponsors her sister Bridget’s immigration. Helen and Ern are living at 1431 North Kingshighway (now torn down).
1917. On June 5, like all men of his generation, Ernest registers for the draft in the run-up to America’s involvement in the Great War. While three of his brothers are called to service in Europe, Ern is exempt because he is married, with a child.
1920. Census data shows the family still on Kingshighway in their rental. Ern continues his career as a carpenter.
1923. Helen and Ernest are able to buy a house at 5143 Cote Brilliante (now torn down).
I can't find the ship's record, but I assume Helen and Ernest sponsored the passage of her youngest sister Catherine (Katie, 18), who went right to work for Mrs. Minnie Johnson on Portland Place. (Apparently, it was Margaret who was scheduled to leave, but illness prevented her, so Katie used her papers. [2])
1927. Again, I can't find the ship's record, but Helen and Ernest also likely sponsored the passage of her sister Margaret (25), who joined Katie working for Mrs. Johnson.
1928. Helen and Ernest sponsor the immigration her her youngest brother Patrick (age 28) and their first cousin John Coughlin.
1930. The family continues on Cote Brilliante, their home valued at $5000. They own a radio. Ern continues to support the family as a carpenter. The Great Depression has begun.
1940. The Great Depression has crushed the family carpentry business. At age 51, Ernest is not working; during 1939 he hadn’t worked at all. Auntie is working as a waitress in “private homes”; during 1939, she worked 30 weeks and earned $600.
Their son Bill (age 28) works as a clerk in a grocery store; in 1939 he worked 28 weeks and earned $455.
Helen’s brother Patrick Dunne lives with them. He is a laborer with Laclede Gas. During 1939, he was able to contribute over $1200 to the family income.
1941. Her son Bill enters the military at age 28. Up to this point, he’s been working for Kroger, a grocery store chain.
1942. The Great Depression destroyed the family carpentry business, but as the War is beginning to put people back to the work, Auntie’s husband still is still unemployed. On his updated Selective Service card (April 26), Ern reports that he is “extremely nervous”—his explanation for not working. We have to wonder if his health is beginning to fail and if Auntie is now responsible for their income.
1943. The worst happens: at the age of 54, Helen’s husband Ern dies of throat cancer.
After the War, Auntie’s son Bill marries Florence Mogen, a girl from the neighborhood, and he joins the St. Louis police force. In her fifties now, Helen is making a career for herself at Wagner Electric Company.
1947. Birth of Helen’s only grandchild, Mary Frances (1947-2003). Fun fact: later on, Mary Frances and Ireland-based cousin Carmel Dunne (Ghee) are penpals.
1959. Auntie returns to Ireland with her youngest brother Pat Dunne and his wife Mary, where they are reunited with their siblings Katie, Michael, John, and Mary.
1962 Another tragedy: Ellen’s son Bill, a 20-year-veteran police officer, dies of mouth and neck cancer.
1967. On Feb 19, at age 76, Auntie dies of long-standing heart disease, complicated by chronic bronchitis at St. Ann’s Home. Her last recorded address is 5069 Pernod—with her sister Bridget.
Notes
[1] To spare confusion, it’s helpful to know that Ballaghduff townland residents also belonged to these communities:
- Parish: Kilkerrin
- Census DED: Shankill
- Civil District: Glennamaddy (where births, marriages, deaths were registered
- Barony: Tiaquin or Tyaquin
- County: Galway
[2] Source: Maureen Collins
[3] As published in the comprehensive 2010 reunion book.
[4] Before phones were common in homes, Ellen regularly sent notes by postcard to her Uncle Mike Martin and his wife. Many of these were kept by the Martin family
24 Sept 2019, updated 19 Oct 2025
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