Called Mike, he was the 10th child of Michael & Alice (née Britt) McGowan of Ringsend, Co., Dublin, Ireland. He was their 2nd son to be named Michael, the 1st Michael died at age 5 in 1892.
After the sudden death of his mother when he was 12, his father struggled to struggled to care for the younger McGowan children - Mike, Joe, Morgan, Jack & Nance, getting by as best as he could because of the help of Mike's 2 eldest sisters Elizabeth Mansfield, who was already married, and Mary Alice.
In 1911, his father Capt. Michael began the family's relocation to New York where his father's brother John McGowan & sister Elizabeth (née Gowan) McCaffrey, (Mike's uncle & aunt), had been living for a number of years. A few months after the Captain's arrival he sent for Mike's older brothers Tom & Jack. The following year he sent for young Mike & Joe..
At the age of 16, Mike & Joe, himself just 12, made the trip from Ireland to Ellis Island alone & settled with their father in Brooklyn. His siblings Elizabeth Mansfield, Willie, Mary Alice & Morgan remained in Dublin, Nance arrived a few years later & Tom returned to Ireland in 1914.
In 1917 Mike married Jersey City native Elizabeth Trainor. They bought a house in Maywood where they raised their 3 children, John, Anne & Alice. He lived in his Maywood home the remainder of his life.
Michael P. McGowan, Autobiography
Born January 8, 1896 in Dublin Ireland. Left Cobh, Ireland on 21 of September 1912 on the S.S. Oceanic. Arrived in New York on September 31 1912. [The actual travel dates are October 24 - October 30.]
I got a job as a plumbers helper. My next job was Conductor on a trolley car on 42 St in New York City. Six months later I quit and got a job on a tug, as a deckhand for the Keeler Towing and Transportation Company. One year later I was a deckhand for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1916 I got a job as a deckhand on the Erie Railroad. On September 30, 1917 I was married to the girl Elizabeth Trainor. In 1918 I received my citizen papers and at the same time I passed my examination for Pilots License for the Port of New York. And at this time President Wodrow Wilson gave railroad employees the 8 hour day. I, in turn, became a Captain of my first tug for the Erie Railroad, from 1918 to 1921. We all lost our jobs in the 'Outlaw Strike'. I got another job as a Captain for the New York Marine Co. They went out of business in 1927. I got another job as Captain with the Manhattan Lighterage Co. I worked as Captain with this company from 1927 to January 31, 1961, when I retired on Social Security and Union pension, also my veteran's pension. I joined the Navy in March 1942. Service in the Pacific, discharged 1946, San Pedro, California.
At the time of his passing, Mike had 5 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. He is a true American success story, a shining example of the Irish-American immigration experience that built a great Nation and defended her Freedoms in war.
✞ Captain Michael Patrick McGowan is buried at George Washington Memorial Park in New Jersey. A year after his passing, Elizabeth, his wife of 66 years, was buried with him.
Called Mike, he was the 10th child of Michael & Alice (née Britt) McGowan of Ringsend, Co., Dublin, Ireland. He was their 2nd son to be named Michael, the 1st Michael died at age 5 in 1892.
After the sudden death of his mother when he was 12, his father struggled to struggled to care for the younger McGowan children - Mike, Joe, Morgan, Jack & Nance, getting by as best as he could because of the help of Mike's 2 eldest sisters Elizabeth Mansfield, who was already married, and Mary Alice.
In 1911, his father Capt. Michael began the family's relocation to New York where his father's brother John McGowan & sister Elizabeth (née Gowan) McCaffrey, (Mike's uncle & aunt), had been living for a number of years. A few months after the Captain's arrival he sent for Mike's older brothers Tom & Jack. The following year he sent for young Mike & Joe..
At the age of 16, Mike & Joe, himself just 12, made the trip from Ireland to Ellis Island alone & settled with their father in Brooklyn. His siblings Elizabeth Mansfield, Willie, Mary Alice & Morgan remained in Dublin, Nance arrived a few years later & Tom returned to Ireland in 1914.
In 1917 Mike married Jersey City native Elizabeth Trainor. They bought a house in Maywood where they raised their 3 children, John, Anne & Alice. He lived in his Maywood home the remainder of his life.
Michael P. McGowan, Autobiography
Born January 8, 1896 in Dublin Ireland. Left Cobh, Ireland on 21 of September 1912 on the S.S. Oceanic. Arrived in New York on September 31 1912. [The actual travel dates are October 24 - October 30.]
I got a job as a plumbers helper. My next job was Conductor on a trolley car on 42 St in New York City. Six months later I quit and got a job on a tug, as a deckhand for the Keeler Towing and Transportation Company. One year later I was a deckhand for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1916 I got a job as a deckhand on the Erie Railroad. On September 30, 1917 I was married to the girl Elizabeth Trainor. In 1918 I received my citizen papers and at the same time I passed my examination for Pilots License for the Port of New York. And at this time President Wodrow Wilson gave railroad employees the 8 hour day. I, in turn, became a Captain of my first tug for the Erie Railroad, from 1918 to 1921. We all lost our jobs in the 'Outlaw Strike'. I got another job as a Captain for the New York Marine Co. They went out of business in 1927. I got another job as Captain with the Manhattan Lighterage Co. I worked as Captain with this company from 1927 to January 31, 1961, when I retired on Social Security and Union pension, also my veteran's pension. I joined the Navy in March 1942. Service in the Pacific, discharged 1946, San Pedro, California.
At the time of his passing, Mike had 5 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. He is a true American success story, a shining example of the Irish-American immigration experience that built a great Nation and defended her Freedoms in war.
✞ Captain Michael Patrick McGowan is buried at George Washington Memorial Park in New Jersey. A year after his passing, Elizabeth, his wife of 66 years, was buried with him.
Inscription
MICHAEL P McGOWAN
CWO US Navy
World War II
1896 + 1984
ELIZABETH M McGOWAN
1892 - 1985
Gravesite Details
Transferred in for management on Oct. 13, 2013 for links, biography, photographs & corrections.
Family Members
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John McGowan
1879–1885
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Mary Anne McGowan
1881–1882
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Mrs Elizabeth McGowan Mansfield
1882–1980
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Michael McGowan
1886–1892
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Mary Alice McGowan Brown
1888–1920
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Matthias McGowan
1889–1889
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Thomas McGowan
1890–1965
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Anna "Nance" McGowan McLarney
1892–1961
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Capt John Joseph "Jack" McGowan
1895–1972
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Morgan McGowan
1898–1977
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Martha McGowan
1898–1898
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Joseph Francis Patrick McGowan
1900–1975
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