The Foody family of Fultonville, Montgomery county, New York, are of the second generation in the United States. They descend from a long line of Irish ancestors that have been inhabitants of Dublin and vicinity for many generations. They have been land owners, farmers and gardeners usually, although some have engaged in mercantile life, others in the professions and trades. The American branch begins with:
(I) William Foody, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, was a market and landscape gardener by occupation. He married Mary Flanigan and both lived to a good old age. They reared a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters. Some of the sons followed the sea for a livelihood, and one was a sea captain engaged in the coasting trade. One of these, Lawrence Foody, came to the United States, settled in the South where he is supposed to have died.
(II) William (2), ninth child of William (1) and Mary (Flanigan) Foody, was born in Dublin, where he was educated and taught landscape gardening by his father, which occupation he followed in Dublin until the great famine years 1847-48, when he removed with his wife to England, remaining until 1850. In that year he decided to emigrate to the United States, embarking on the barque "Robert" with his wife and children. After a tedious voyage of six weeks they landed in New York City in July, 1850. They did not long remain there, but soon made a permanent settlement at Fultonville, Montgomery county, New York, where William found conditions more to his liking. Since the first settling in Fultonville it has been the home of the family as a whole. When the civil war broke out William embraced the cause of the North with all the ardor of his race; enlisted in Company C, Captain Charles Putman, One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, participated in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged and met his death while gallantly resisting a cavalry charge of the enemy. He was not killed instantly, but died soon after in the hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 18, 1864. He was a brave soldier and died for the flag of his adopted country, as his race have ever done. His widow survived him twenty years, saw her children established in business and homes of their own, dying at Fultonville, New York, July 2, 1884. She was an earnest Christian woman and her memory is lovingly cherished.
He married, in Dublin, Honora Morrison, born in 1820, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Holmes) Morrison of Orla, county Sligo, Ireland, parents of four sons, Bartholomew, Anthony, Dudley and Thomas Morrison, who all emigrated to the United States about 1850, settled in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, where they became prominent and wealthy farmers. In the United States they dropped the "son," calling themselves Morris, and by that name they and their descendants are known. Honora Morrison also had two sisters who died in Ireland. Thomas Morrison, the father, was a farmer of county Sligo, and both he and his wife, Mary, lived to advanced ages. Children of William (2) and Honora (Morrison) Foody:
- James, born in Ireland in 1840, died in Albany, New York, in 1894. He married Mary, daughter of George Howard of Fonda; she died in 1899, leaving daughters
- Ellen, who married Elias Waterstrett [Waterstreet?], a locomotive engineer in the employ of the New York Central Railroad Company;
- Emma.
- Thomas, born in County Sligo, Ireland, June 29, 1843; came to the United States with his parents in 1850; was educated in the Fultonville schools, and for nineteen years was a partner with his brother William (3), in the grocery business in Fonda, New York. For some years he was a keeper at the State Hospital for the Insane at Utica; was deputy sheriff of Montgomery county, several years; was engineer on the New York Central five years, and ran a boat on the Erie Canal for a time. He is now in the employ of his brother. He married, in 1877, Anna Leneger of German ancestry; children:
- William B., pharmacist and druggist of Amsterdam, married and has four children:
- James T., an attorney and justice of the peace at Hornell, New York, unmarried;
- Anna, married William J. Brewster, station agent at South Amsterdam, and has a son, Morris;
- Elizabeth, married Edward Hughes, of Rockton, New York, and has a daughter Mary;
- Florence, married Thomas Brookman of Fultonville.
- Lillian, married John Aldrich, of Amsterdam, and has a son Thomas M.;
- Thomas M., clerk for his Uncle William, unmarried;
- Luella;
- Pearl;
- Laura;
- M. Alden;
- Russell;
- Luella (2);
- Allen, died in infancy.
- William B., pharmacist and druggist of Amsterdam, married and has four children:
- Mary, born in 1846, in Ireland; married in Montgomery county, New York, Philip Hollenbeck, now deceased; she resides in Johnstown, New York, and has two daughters —
- Grace, a teacher in the schools, and
- Virginia, the wife of Carl Leopert of Johnstown.
- William (3), see forward.
- Margaret, born in England in 1849; married, in Montgomery county, New York, B. V. Lisdell, a veteran of the civil war, now living a retired life in Fultonville. They are the parents of
- Jennie (now deceased), married Philip Tipple and left Morris and Theresa Tipple;
- Frank Lisdell, of Fultonville, unmarried.
- Bartholomew (the first born in the United States), was born in Fultonville, New York, in 1850. He learned the machinist's trade, but later engaged in mercantile life in New York city, where he resides. He married Catherine Conrad, and has four children — Bartholomew, an attorney at law; Margaret: John, and Joseph.
- Anthony, born in Fultonville; learned the machinist's trade and died from the results of an accident, received in the shops. He married Etta Wiles (deceased) and left a son James, a regular soldier of the United States army.
(III) William (3), fourth child and third son of William (2) and Honora (Morrison) Foody, was born in England, July 20, 1848. He was part of the family emigration to the United States in 1850, grew up in Fultonville where he received his education. He also learned the machinist's trade and followed it for several years. In 1874 he had accumulated sufficient capital to engage in mercantile life. In company with his brother James, he established the grocery and provision business of Foody Brothers in Fultonville, which they conducted successfully under that firm name until 1889, when William became sole owner and proprietor. He is a prosperous, successful business man of integrity and enterprise, richly deserving the success he has attained. He is a member of the Methodist church, as are the other members of the family, and a supporter of Democratic principles. He married, in Fultonville, in 1879, Mary Stewart, who died there in 1883. He has one child, Lillian, born in 1882.