Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan

Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan
Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan in backyard of 18 N. Latrobe, Chicago, Illinois c1937

About Alex Sullivan and Nell Madigan

About Alex Sullivan and Nell Madigan

Alexander Aloysius Sullivan was born on March 24, 1880 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the seventh of ten children born to Philip J. Sullivan (1840-1915) and Ellen Connor (1848-1919). Ellen "Nell" Theresa Madigan was also born in Chicago, the second of seven children born to Patrick Madigan (c1850-1890) and Bridget "Bessie" Thompson (1855-1935). They married at St. Agatha's Catholic Church on August 20, 1907. They raised two children, Thomas Aloysius born July 7, 1908 (See also Sullivan/Carmody Blog) and Helen Mae born March 11, 1914 (See also McIntyre/Sullivan Blog), on the west side of Chicago. Alex, or "Al" as Nell called him, was a steamfitter his whole life. Al worked for Mehring and Hanson located at Jefferson and Randolph in Chicago. Mehring and Hanson eventually became Hill Mechanical which is still in business in Chicago today. Nell raised the two children and was a homemaker her entire life. Al was almost six feet tall, which for his time was quite tall. Nell, on the other hand, was only about five-feet-two inches and in her older years much shorter than that! Al and Nell both died at their home located at 18 North Latrobe in Chicago, Al on January 26, 1956 and Nell, ten years later, on January 21, 1966.

Monday, May 9, 2016

A Four Year Old on Her Own

In her "Story of a Lifetime" book, Mom wrote about one of her experiences:

Question: Did anything unusual or strange happen to you during your childhood?

Helen McIntyre 6 years old, c1920

Answer: "This probably was unusual or strange! I was about 4 years old and living on Fillmore St. I was playing in the back yard, suddenly got bored and decided I wanted to go to the movies. My Mother and Father would take me to the Twentieth Century or Gold Theaters on Roosevelt Rd. which was 2 blocks south of us. So I went out the back gate, cut through the neighbors' yards and got to Roosevelt Rd. I saw the Gold about a block away. I went there and followed some people in the show and went in and sat down. My Mother looked all over for me and when my Father came home from work she sent him to look for me. After asking everyone if they saw a little girl with long blonde curls, he asked the Ticket Taker at the Gold. She said "Oh, about 3 hours ago I did, she went in the show." My Father got the usher to go down all the aisles with a flash light and there I was in the front row. I didn't want to leave but he got me out."

I can't imagine what someone would think today if their 4 year old daughter disappeared from the backyard. 

Helen did love the movies her whole life. I remember her taking me to the movies in downtown Chicago when I was 4 or 5. We would arrive in the morning and spend all day at the theater.

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