Eugene Lynch

There is no photo known to exist of Eugene Lynch, father of Patrick Eugene Lynch and others. Eugene was born about 1853 in Ireland and came to America some time before his marriage to Elizabeth O'Rourke on 25 June 1882 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Waterbury CT.

The 1876 Centennial Census for the City of Waterbury includes an entry on page 124 for inhabitants of the 4th Ward. Although no street address is given, a building noted as the 658th in order of visitation and the 1,039th family enumerated by Sturges M. Judd appears to be our family. Judd had been an assistant marshall for the 1870 U.S. Census and so was very familiar with the process for conducting a proper census.

While we cannot yet prove this is the correct family, it is our current belief that this Eugene (age 26) is our ancestor. Additional detail recorded in this census includes the following:

• Lynch, Mary (widow, age 56, head, "Keeping House", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1820)
• Lynch, Ellen (30 year old female, "Button Maker", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1846)
• Lynch, Eugene (26 year old male, "Day Laborer", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1850)
• Lynch, Mary (19 year old female, "Lamp Burner?", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1857)
• Lynch, Bridget (18 year old female, "Lamp Burner?", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1858)
• Lynch, Daniel (16 year old male, "Lamp Burner", born in Ireland) (A/YOB=1860)

Death of Eugene Lynch
Following is a transcription from an article which appeared on the front page of the Waterbury Evening Democrat, Monday, August 10, 1896 (Vol IX. No. 22, Waterbury, Conn.)

DASHED TO DEATH,
   --------------

Eugene Lynch Instantly Killed By a 
Fall early This Morning.

  Eugene Lynch, aged 48 years, fell
from the top verandah of the four story
block owned by Mrs. Maurice Walsh, 10
Fuller street, at 1:30 o'clock this
morning, and was instantly killed.  It
is not known how he happened to fall.
During the early part of the evening
he had been visiting with the family of
John Leary, who lives on the top floor
of the building, and at midnight the
family left him sitting in a chair on
the verandah.  It is quite probable that
later he rested himself upon the rail-
ing, and losing his balance fell to the 
ground.
  Richard Galway was sitting on the
step of his residence at the time and
hearing the unusual noise he called
over to see what had happened and
found the man dead on the concrete
walk.  Soon others arrived and Attor-
ney Carmody, who lives opposite the  
scene of the accident, notified Medical
Examiner Axtelle, who ordered the re-
mains removed to Mulville's morgue,
where he conducted an examination.
The victim had a deep gash cut in his 
head and some of the bones in his body
were broken by the fall.  The deceased 
was a widower and leaves four chil-
dren.
  The dead man was a cousin of Mrs.
Walsh.  The remains will be taken to 
her house this afternoon, and the fune-
ral will be held at 2:30 o'clock to-
morrow afternoon.

Depending upon how you count them, there were 17 or 18 households in 1870 with at least one individual listing the surname Lynch. All but 12 of the 57 individuals were living in the 4th ward of the city.