Contributed by Connie Michaels-Lipp

Source: From "Mitchell Looks Back"; 1976

Margaret was a native of the Emerald Isle and a daughter of Patrick and Margaret Ward Farley. She was educated in Ireland and later on married Lawrence Reilly, son of John and Mary O'Reilly. The date of their wedding celebration was May 1, 1844. They left Ireland with his father and his brothers, Thomas, Michael and John, Jr. After six weeks voyage across the Atlantic, they arrived at New York. Lawrence first worked at the brickyards and then at the iron works. In 1847 Lawence and his family came west and settled in Sections 34 and 35, on the present Philip O'Reilly farm (Mitchell, Sheboygan Co., WI). The land was covered with heavy forest, but our pioneers were not daunted. With a will to succeed and energy to execute, they made a beautiful farm out of the wilderness. Several years later, John, Jr. and Thomas also settled near Lawrence and his family.

(Added, in "Mitchell, Now and Then" 1998:)Several years later John Jr. and Thomas settled near Lawrence and his family in the northeast quarter of section 34. In 1976 Lawrence's property was the Philip O'Reilly farm at present it has been divided into a number of smaller pieces; the John and Thomas properties are today owned by Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm and by Douglas and Jean Ruggles.

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