Michael Cooney
Michael Cooney was born in the southwestern part of Ireland, December 26, 1833, and is the son of
Patrick and Bridget
(Corey) Cooney, parents both natives of the same country. Patrick Cooney was born in 1782, and died in the year 1846. Mrs.
Cooney was born in 1795, and departed this life about the year
1839. Michael Cooney is the third of a family of six children,
three of whom are at this time living. He was educated at a private school in his native
country spent his youthful years on a
farm, and in 1863, came to the United States, and accepted a position with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, with
headquarters at Cincinnati. February, 1864, he came to Ripley County
Ind., where for three years he was in the employ of the " Big Four "
Railroad Co. At the end of that time he was transferred to Shelbyville, where, since 1876, he has been foreman of Section 17, on
the above named road, making in all twenty-three years spent in
railroading. Mr. Cooney is one of the trusted employees of the
" Big Four," and one of the leading and public spirited citizens of
Shelbyville. He was elected to the City Council in 1882, re-elected
in 1886, and at this time is Chairman of the Ditch and Sewer Fund
and the Water Works Committees of that body. He takes an active interest in all the deliberations of the Council, and is justly
esteemed one of the city's most faithful and efficient officers. He
was married in 1858, to Miss Catherine Hines, a native of Ireland,
born in the year 1843. Four children have been born to this marriage, viz.:
Patrick, John, Mary and Annie Cooney. Mr. Cooney
is a Republican in politics, and with his wife, belongs to the Catholic Church.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Brant & Fuller, 1887, "Shelbyville
Sketches," page 476.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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