Michael John Gately, was born into a farming family, one of fourteen children, at Garrynagran, Dysart, County Roscommon, Ireland, on the 10th November 1887, the son of William and Bridget Gately (née Mulligan). The family later moved to the nearby townland of Carrownadurly.
It would appear that he was known by his first forename – Michael, for the early part of his life, but by the time he emigrated to the United States of America, having sailed from Queenstown, in southern Ireland, to Boston, Massachusetts, on board the
Saxonia, in May 1906, he was using his second forename – John, as his preferred name.
On arriving in Boston, he stayed with his brother, Patrick, but soon afterwards he moved to New York City and found work as a porter. He resided with his married sister, Delia Lambert, and her family.
In the spring of 1915, John and his sister decided to return to their home in Ireland for a holiday, and for his sister to introduce her son, William, to their family in Ireland. Consequently, they booked third class passage on the
Lusitania, for her sailing to Liverpool. They joined the liner on the morning of 1st May 1915 for what proved to be her last ever sailing into the North River, in the early afternoon of the same day.
Six days later, after the liner had been torpedoed, within sight of his native land, John Gately was lucky enough to be counted amongst the survivors; however, his sister and nephew were lost. Having been landed at Queenstown, he no doubt searched the temporary mortuaries that had been set up in the town to see if he could locate his sister and nephew, but to no avail. After a few days, when all hope of them being found alive had passed, he made his way, by rail, to his home in Dysart to inform his family of their loss.
Later that year, he applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund, for financial assistance. The fund had been set up after the liner had gone down, by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local businessmen, to help survivors or relatives of those killed, who had encountered difficulties as a result of the sinking. The awards committee only made him a once and final grant of £5-0s-0d.
John Gately returned to New York City on board the St. Paul in September 1915, and found work as a labourer. He joined the U.S. Army in 1917, but didn’t serve overseas, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen on the 22nd June 1918. He was discharged from the army in January 1919.
On the 11th February 1923, he married Mary Cunningham in Manhattan, New York City, and the couple had o children. It is unknown whether Mary died, or the couple divorced, but in November 1933, he married Elizabeth Tuite in Brooklyn, New York City, and again the couple had no children.
By 1942, he was living at 173. East 101st Street, in New York City, and working for Thompson-Starrett Co. Inc., a major construction company.
He died in New York City on the 12th May 1972, aged 84 years. His second wife had pre-deceased him, and it was stated at the time of his death that he was survived by two brothers and two sisters.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, New York Marriage License Indexes 1907 – 2018, U.S. Social Security Death Index 1935 – 2014, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, 1925 New York State Census, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, Cunard Records, New York Abstracts of World War I Military Service 1917 – 1919, U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Freeman’s Journal, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Stuart Williamson, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.