General Chat

Elizabeth was now back in Ireland, separated from her beloved William by religious differences and circumstances. A dejected William, having returned from Australia, was still finding it difficult to settle back in the family home. News of the Klondike and gold rush would have been filling newspapers at that time and this then was his destination. Using his engineering skills he worked in the gold mines demonstrating a new model drill for boring and blasting. We know he was not happy there, perhaps he was unhappy with the separation from Elizabeth. Disillusioned with conditions he decided to travel on to the Black Hills of Dakota. He must have been fairly successful as he bought land and built a house there. We have worked out they were separated for about five years but kept in touch with letters. As Elizabeth would not have earned enough to pay her fare to America, William must have arranged her passage. Our next sightings of the lovers are gleamed from a small newspaper cutting found in a small wooden box belonging to their daughter Mary after her death in Galway 1953. “Griffith—Miskell: Married. Nov. 25th 1890 At the residence of J.P. Thomas on Wall Street Lead City, South Dakota William Griffiths and Elizabeth Miskell. The ceremony took place at 8 o’clock last evening and the happy young couple started out on a life of happiness and pleasure. The groom is well and favourably known as a good honest, upright man, and will make a good husband. The bride who is a late arrival in the City is a refined young lady, highly cultured and will surely make a kind, loving, and obedient wife.” This announcement was followed by a list of the presents received by the newlyweds. (My how times have changed!) Elisabeth and William settled into their new life and the arrival of a son Aubery, (my father in law) and a daughter Mary completed their happiness. Life was good, a new life, a new country and a young family. It would appear they had overcome all the odds and were together at last. The children were aged four and two when disaster struck! William worked very hard for his young family but the story goes, while working underground, he drank some water and contracted typhoid fever. He never recovered; Elizabeth and the children were by his bedside when he died, as was George Smith, his boyhood friend from the village back home in Wales who had emigrated with him. William was aged 32 years. One can only imagine Elizabeth’s devastation. Not only had she lost the love of her life but also here she was in a comparatively new country with two small children and no family to turn to for support. What should she do? I would hazard a guess; even in America in 1896 it would have been unheard of for a young widow to go out to work. She decided to sell the house and return to Ireland with her young family. Even that task caused problems and gave her more heartache. Problems arose with the sale of the house and it did not realize the sum expected. Undaunted, she booked passage for herself and the children and made the arduous journey back to Ireland and her family. One can only imagine the time this took for those days, travelling with two small children and their luggage; what a brave lady. While I will always hold a special place for Mary May, (William’s sister) who, in the end had a privileged life, for me, Elizabeth shines through as a woman of courage and tenacity. Arriving back in Galway, while receiving the love and support of her family, financially, she was in dire straights. She knew she would have to leave her two children in the care of her family and return to work to support them. The family she had worked for all those years ago, welcomed her back with open arms. Elizabeth worked for them to well into old age, she never remarried. Of course many years had passed and her son Aubery was now a young man married with his own family. When she was too old to work, she went to live with her son and enjoyed her grandchildren until her death in July 1931 On learning the story of Elizabeth and William I was saddened. To me, theirs was a wonderful true love story. In life, they had battled against all the odds, discrimination and separation and now, even in death they were separated. She is buried in a place called “The Moore” a tiny cemetery in the shadow of the ruins of an old monastery. When in Ireland, we visit her grave and that of her daughter Mary but I always come away feeling sad, knowing William was buried so far away in America while his beloved wife lay here in this peaceful place. Their story started in the late 1800s and for many, many years was forgotten, but how strange is the hand of fate? It had not yet finished with William and Elizabeth. Love, Bridget x Final part of story is on this board.

hi bridget i have thoroughly enjoyed your writing, thankyou for sharing with us sandra

Bridget Please help - I ran off part one and part two but they are both the same. Have I missed something? Is there more? Have enjoyed all your stories so much, I wouldn't like to miss the end. Chrissie