Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2020

Catherine Neafsey (or Nefsey) was born in Ireland around 1834. She immigrated to the United States, and married John O’Connor in LaSalle, Illinois, near Chicago, in 1858.

The family came to Minnesota in 1859 or 1860. In 1861, the family lived in Glendale Township, Scott County, Minnesota, which is near present day Savage.

The O’Connor family in 1865 consisted of John and Catherine, along with their children: Edwin, age eight, Mary, age seven, Julie, age five, Catharina, age two, and John, Jr., age one.

While Catherine took care of the family, John O’Connor volunteered and joined the Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company I.

John returned to his family in Glendale and shortly after, bought a house in downtown Shakopee. This is the neighborhood where Catherine and their neighbor, Anna Hilgers, resided. Henry and Mary F. Hinds sold their house on Second and Market Street to the O’Connors for $200. It was near the train tracks.

Catherine didn’t have much money. She couldn’t read or write, and signed her name with an “X.”

Catherine and her family spent regular time at the Church of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Shakopee.

The church was often called the Irish Church. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, which was just a few blocks from St. Mark’s, was erected by 1866. It was not until 1876 that the church became St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

John worked at the Schroeder Brick and Lime Manufacturing Company. It was one of the leading and most prosperous business enterprises of the city and was well known in the northwest. The brickyard was located north of Bluff Avenue between Market and Minnesota Street. The bricks were from near the Minnesota River, near Huber Park. Many of the early buildings in Shakopee were made from these bricks. John only worked eight months of the year. The rest of the year, he was out of work.

To make it worse, John and Catherine’s son, Johnnie, died suddenly.

Catherine’s husband, John, had a long and lingering illness due to an eye injury he suffered in the war. The injury turned cancerous. He died in June 1878.

Catherine was upset. Really upset. And she had enough. She grabbed a frying pan and headed outside and went next door to Anna Hilgers.

They were neighbors living on Second and Market Street in downtown Shakopee around 1873, and the two ladies started an argument. The two ladies escalated to the point of Catherine hitting Anna over the head with a frying pan!

Catherine was found guilty of assaulting her neighbor, and was fined $38, which was a lot of money in those days. But somehow, Catherine paid it.

Catherine Neafsey O’Connor died April 13, 1897, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota.