Jane (Meehan) Tiernan |
| Posted 2019-01-20 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory Wednesday, January 18, 1911, page 7, column 1 Pioneer Woman Called To Her Reward Mrs. Jane Tiernan Dies At Home Here After Brief Illness Succumbs to Pneumonia At Advanced Age Of Over 77 Years (From Saturday's Daily) Mrs. Jane Tiernan, one of the beloved women of Arizona, and favorably known throughout the West, passed away in this city, yesterday morning, at 6:40 o'clock, after a brief illness, pneumonia being the fatal malady. The death of this pioneer woman is a sad one, and the announcement of the end of her earthly career has caused a gloom and sorrow that was feelingly expressed yesterday when the tidings were known. She was widely known and very much endeared. In the long ago, she won the affection of the people, and as time wore away, that regard was cemented in the strongest ties of good will and friendship. Her charitable disposition, her companionable manners and her considerate regard of others, made her long life in this community one esteemed by all. In many respects, Mrs. Tiernan was a remarkable woman, and the army officers of early days, with the civilians of border life, will attest to the noble character she displayed and the graceful manner in which she submitted to the harsh conditions of the time. A brief review of the ordeal she faced with the army, in its trying days in the West, will prove interesting, and as well will the zeal and ardor she at all times displayed. In 1861, she joined her husband, the late Farrell Tiernan, in San Francisco, shortly after his enlistment in the army, arriving from Ireland, and reaching that city by the Isthmian route. After less than a year, the two, with command, were ordered to Fort Mohave, on the Colorado river. She was among three of the only women in the garrison, and it was at that post that she won the favor and admiration of everyone, including the officers. After one year at that bleak and uninviting garrison, she, with her husband, was transferred to Fort McDowell, near Phoenix, and again she was face to face with the privations of a frontier existence. Later she was located at Fort Lowell, near Tucson, and it was in that city that her son, the late Joseph Tiernan, was born. A few years later she experienced another change in the rapid program, and went to Nevada, into the heart of the Piute country, and it was at that station that her husband, with others, was wounded in an Indian fight. It was here that her faithful and considerate disposition won her the commendation of all soldiers as well as civilians. She nursed all alike, and through her kindly and dutiful hands she alleviated suffering wherever possible, and hastened many on the road to recovery. From Nevada she followed her husband to the Rio Grande, and then the devoted pair were sent to Fort Yuma. Let the reader pause and reflect on what these garrisons conveyed in personal comfort or attractive conditions, and it will cause a shudder when life is reflected from that bygone day. At all times on the rugged edge of active military life, facing on privation after another, devoid of the ordinary pleasures of life, such was her fate. Through it all she passed with a grace that was beautiful, and no matter where her soldier husband was called, she was at his side. In one particular instance in the early part of 1869, while negotiations were pending with the Russian government for the purchase of Alaska, Farrell Tiernan and his wife were stationed at Valdez, in that Territory. She went along in the same spirit and with the same pride that had before been observed in military duty. At that post her lot was a lonely one, and for two years she was the only one of her sex in that large garrison. She won the affection of men of all rank, there, as she had before in the wilderness of the Southwest, and when, with her husband, she came to Fort Whipple in the early 70's, the many tributes of her past life to the cause of the army gave her a distinction and charm that follows her to the grave. Mrs. Tiernan abandoned further military life in this city, when her husband retired, about twenty-two years ago, after a long and commendable record. While a resident of this city she became well and favorably known, and especially among the pioneers was she revered for her past life and esteemed for her charitable disposition. She was born in Cootal, Rosecommon county, Ireland, over seventy-seven years ago. It was in that city that she married Farrell Tiernan, in 1859. Shortly after the union her husband came to the United States, and arrived in San Francisco a short time before the breaking out of the Civil War. The death of this worthy woman removes the last member of the two families, with the exception of her granddaughter, Miss Kate Tiernan, twelve years old. The funeral will be held Saturday morning, at 9:30 o'clock, from the Church of the Sacred Heart, and her remains will be laid at rest alongside her husband, in the Citizens cemetery. ------------------- Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory Wednesday, January 18, 1911, page 7, column 2 Laid At Rest (From Sunday's Daily) The funeral of Mrs. Jane Tiernan was held yesterday morning at 9:30 o'clock from the Church of the Sacred heart following a requiem high mass attended by a large number of her former friends and acquaintances who gathered to pay their last sad respects. The body was laid to rest in the Citizens cemetery by the side of her husband, Farrell Tiernan, who proceeded her to the grave a few years ago. The pallbearers were R. E., Morrison, R. H. Burmister, H. William Stevens, E. J. F. Horne and P. J. Farley, with H. M. Maus, funeral director. See Also: Arizona Gravestone Photo Project |
Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.
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