In search of a long-lost American cousin
A general view of San Francisco in the 1910s when Leon Gagne was beginning to work in his father's horticulture business. Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
When people left the Ox Mountain region in the late 1800s, they left for reasons of poverty and lack of opportunity. Some left out of fear; fear of failing, fear of the authorities and in some cases, fear of death itself. Those who departed our little fields and farms were often poorly equipped in terms of education and knowing the ways of the world.
It was by the grace of God that so many of them prospered and, of course, some did not. Of those who did, sometimes word of success came back to family at home but more where never heard of again, family left not knowing whether they prospered or not.
On an ordinary afternoon in the summer of 1974, a strange man arrived at my childhood home. He was like someone from a storybook; he arrived in a taxi, wore a bowler hat, held a briefcase in one hand and carried an umbrella in the other. The man was a representative of a law firm in Dublin and he was looking for one James McCarrick. The James McCarrick he was looking for was my grandfather… who had passed away in 1941.
Needless to say, the visitor was treated with a fair degree of circumspection by my father. It eventually transpired however that the man was following a lead; trying to trace the relatives of a man named, Leon Gagne, who had died the previous year in San Francisco. A letter found among Gagne’s possessions was one exchanged between his mother and my grandfather – they were brother and sister. This letter proved to be the only piece of evidence linking Gagne to any surviving relatives, all of whom were completely unaware of his existence.
All Gagne’s first cousins were duly traced and a fairly worthwhile legacy was divided among all eleven of them. My father, despite his initial doubts, was happy to receive his share. Even after his gift was divided, there remained little curiosity within the family about Gagne. His name was mentioned now and again but all details of his life and times remained a mystery. The question of who Leon Gagne actually was and how his wealth was created, was never questioned. In recent years, lockdown presented me with the chance to reflect on the whole saga and do some research.
My father lived and died without ever knowing much about his aunt, Mary Anne. She was the second child born to Conor McCarrick and Catherine Henry and was born in the townland of Cloonbaniff, near the Ox Mountains in south Sligo, in 1866.
Mary Anne went to America as a young woman in the late 1880s and while no definite records of her travel could be found, it seems that she may in fact have gone, not to America but to Canada. A further hunch is that it could have been there that she met Gustave Gagne. Gustave, like Mary Anne, had just made the trip to the New World, arriving there from France.
Whether their early journeys were in Canada or America, the first official record detailing Mary Anne’s new life appears in the 1900 US census. She has changed her name to Marian, is living in San Francisco and is now married to Gustave. They also have their son Leon by this time and Gustave is making his living as a florist.
In 1904, the family acquired a property on Lombard Street, which is to remain their permanent address for many years. Gustave is described in census reports thereafter as a “nursery man” (1910), and a “nursery man working with his son” (1920).
Gustave seems to have passed away before 1930, as only Marian and her son are listed in the census of that year. By this time, Leon is described as a “gardener working in landscaping”, confirming the wisdom of the old horticultural adage that the apple does not fall far from the tree.
On further investigation, however, it appears Leon had become quite a bit more than a mere gardener. His description in a newspaper report in March 1945 is quite impressive: “Leon Gagne of San Francisco, one of the leading landscape gardeners of California.”
Marian, who would now be in her early seventies, is not listed in the 1940 census and, in all likelihood, has passed away by this time. Leon is listed, however, and he is still residing at their Lombard Street address where he is now the owner.
Leon Gagne was born on November 11th, 1894. He worked in his father’s florist business from a young age and eventually progressed into landscaping where he became quite well known throughout California as a specialist. His life activities featured in many newspaper articles and event promotions at that time.
He was greatly in demand in the wider Californian region as a specialist landscape gardener, an horticultural advisor and a guest speaker. He became best known for his expertise in Bonsai, the art of cultivating and managing miniature trees. He was sought out by gardening societies and horticultural clubs because of his knowledge in this area, giving lectures and showing films of the gardens he had created.
The following information about Leon Gagne appeared shortly after his death in the local in December 1973.
Despite his fame, or maybe because of it, Leon seems to have ended his days as a recluse. Articles about him, published at the time of his death, make for sad reading. He died alone at the end of December of 1973, his death going undetected for several days. His wealth, principally generated after his death, came from a collection of over 400 of his beloved bonsai trees that surrounded his home at Strawberry in the Bay Area of San Francisco. These trees were subsequently sold at a grand auction to establish the value of his estate; the estate which was eventually divided among his Irish cousins.
Leon Gagne was laid to rest in Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, Marin County in California in early January 1974. The following short newspaper report appeared after his death. The piece depicts a man who, despite having a very interesting life, experienced a very sad death.
As it turned out, there were “closely related family members” and subsequently my father, his siblings and his first cousins all benefited from the distribution of Leon Gagne’s estate. I would venture to say that none of them knew the first thing about bonsai trees and they certainly were unaware of the exotic life, the artistic endeavours and tragic death of their American cousin.
