Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about the Tewksbury Almshouse in Massachusetts, and provides links to access records from the institution. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue my series exploring the records and files of state and town almshouses and asylums that can be a treasure trove for genealogists.
To recap: My last story covered some of the early years of “The Tewksbury Almshouse Investigation” of 1883 (see Part 1). Reports indicated the place was going to get a total overhaul, which will be covered in a future post.

For today’s article, I present one of the early admission forms from the Tewksbury Almshouse, an intake form for James Marks. I did a little research utilizing the genealogical and personal information provided and was able to locate some of the family who immigrated to Massachusetts from Ireland in 1854.
I have also added links at the end of this post for researching these records.

Marks-Hogan Family
This story begins with the file for James Marks, age 65, admitted to Tewksbury Almshouse on 9 June 1878. He was born in 1813 in Ireland and died in the almshouse on 27 November 1878. Below is a photo of his intake record.
James Marks and family are found on the list of passengers of the Frank Pierce for June 1854. He and his wife Bridget are both 40 years old and their children are listed as follows: John, age 16; Mary, age 14; James Jr. age 8; Michael, age 6; and Bridget, age 4.
I found the marriage record for James Marks and Bridget Hogan (daughter of Matthew and Mary Hogan) in the parish records for May 1835, Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.
Next, I found a baptism record for James and Bridget’s son John dated 28 January 1838 in Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.. The file states: “son John Marks lives in Fitchburg.”
John Marks married Mary Roddy on 12 February 1861 in Lowell, Massachusetts, and left descendants – including a daughter named Agnes Agatha Marks, who on 26 October 1909 married Edwin Lewis Drowne, son of Luther Washburn and Abigail Frances (Rollins) Drowne.
Below is a photo of Agness Agatha (Marks) Drowne (1871-1945) with her niece Constance Morrison (1910-1992), daughter of Homer Cummings and Elizabeth Russell (Drowne) Morrison.

In investigating the death of an aunt, Mary Hogan, who died on 2 December 1877 age 60, I found more family clues.
First, I found Mary Hogan’s death notice shown below, published in the Lowell Daily Citizen on 10 December 1877.

Then I found a packet of information about her contested will (Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts). The executor was John Marks. He and his siblings are all listed including Mary (Marks) Parker, who married John Parker and left descendants – including John Robert Parker, who married Mary Ann Elizabeth Madigan. Some of the siblings are listed with addresses unknown.
The image below shows a page listing next-of-kin to Mary Hogan. James and Bridget (Hogan) Marks’s children are listed as well as the children of Michael Hogan, of which two (John and James Hogan) were minors and Michael Duffy of Lowell was appointed their guardian. More research is needed.

Other items in the packet are correspondence between James Marks Jr. and his brother John Marks.
In one letter, James gives an address: C/O Charles McNeill, 181 South Street and 159th Seventh Street, New York City.

In the letter James writes that he cannot come to collect money from their Aunt’s estate, but plans to visit in the summer. He is working at the new hotel in Rockaway (also known as the Hotel Imperial) in Rockaway, Queens, New York City.

I found another brother, Michael Marks, listed as a beneficiary, current whereabouts unknown. Records show he was living in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1860 with Sara (Dodge) Richards, age 57. More research is needed, but maybe he was fostered by Mrs. Richards.
More on Tewksbury Inmate James Marks
I found some more family details in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, including a second marriage for the Tewksbury inmate James Marks, to Bridget (nee McElroy) McDonald, daughter of Peter and Kathy McElroy of Ireland and widow of Edward McDonald (born in Monmouth, Maine).

I was not able to locate a death for his first wife, also named Bridget. My guess is the younger children were fostered out after she died.
In the Tewksbury intake file of James Marks, it states he “drinks occasionally and was arrested in Lowell.” I found his arrest in the newspaper archives. He was sentenced to the House of Correction for six months.

James’ second wife Bridget was arrested on 21 December 1869 for drunkenness, and again in January of 1871, and was sentenced to three months in the House of Correction.

Coming soon: Tewksbury gets a makeover.
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Note on the header image: Tewksbury State Hospital, 1908. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Where to Find Records:
- Tewksbury Almshouse Intake Records [1854-1884] Digitized Digital Commonwealth
- Tewksbury Asylum for Chronic Insane (Tewksbury, Massachusetts) Family Search
- Massachusetts Archives Records, Tewksbury Almshouse and State Infirmary
- Public House Museum in Tewksbury, Massachusetts
- Many annual reports on Tewksbury online at Internet Archive.com
- Files to Massachusetts State Hospitals with Records to Almshouses, Asylums, and Overseers of the Poor, Including Abandoned Children, Foster, and Adoption List: Records and Guides
- Vital records of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849
- A Hospital with History: Tewksbury Hospital, Public Health Museum, and Tewksbury State Cemetery
- For Adoption/Foster records contact: Search Coordinator, Department of Children and Families, 600 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111; Phone: 617-748-2240