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owned a large schooner boat that carried people and goods along the coast between Mobile and New Orleans. It was on one of these trips to Mobile that Joe met his first wife.
Joe “Pepe’s” first wife was an Irish immigrant by the name of Mary Ann “Annie” Crowley. The story is that Annie first landed in New York after her trip from Ireland. She was traveling via schooner boats along the U.S. coast on her way to New Orleans. In Mobile, she caught a schooner that Joe “Pepe” was working on. After settling in New Orleans she and Joseph “Pepe” had a civil marriage on January 9, 1852. This marriage record says “Joseph Carrillo” married “Ann Crawley” in that city. His bondsman was Bartholomew Gusman and witnesses were John F. Harney and Francis Carrillo (Justice of the Peace Marriage Records, call number VEC 658-678, pages 48 and 393). Sometime after their marriage in New Orleans, they moved to Hancock Co. MS. It is not known if she had any relatives or friends that traveled to this country with her. It is hard to imagine a young woman such as Mary Ann traveling such a distance alone. With this civil marriage in New Orleans, we can assume Ann had family or close friends living in that city.
Joseph “Pepe” Carrio and Mary Ann Crowley had their marriage “Blessed” in Hancock County, Mississippi on May 12, 1852. This marriage is recorded in Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis. Their names are recorded as “Jose Cari and Ann Crowley”. The witnesses were Andre Favre and Rose Tastel.
Mary Ann Crowley’s death is recorded at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis. This record says she died on August 6, 1894 at age 62 (or born in the year 1832), was a native of Ireland, and that she died from cancer. Her obituary is found in The Sea Coast Echo. It says she died on August 6, 1894 at age 72 years in Waveland. She was the wife of Joseph Carrio, Sr. and a native of Ireland. This would indicate she was bom in 1822, exactly 10 years earlier than her death record at OLG Church. In the 1870 census, she is listed as age 41 or bom in 1829. In the 1880 census, she is listed as age 49 or bom in 1831. While census records are often a year or two off, it is clear the newspaper obituary misprinted her age at death as 72, when it should have been 62 as found on her death record at OLG Church. Until we can find a better source, we will use 1832 as her year of birth. Aunt Annie Bontemps said she was told the cancer started as a sore on her arm and then spread in her body. She is buried next to Joe “Pepe” in the Cedar Rest Cemetery in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
We were told that Mary Ann was supposedly a mild natured person with blue eyes, reddish-blonde hair, 5 ft., 4 inches tall, and approximately 125 lbs. Some say her daughter, Virginia, favored her in appearance.
Although there is some question as to the exact spelling of her maiden name, we are fairly sure it was spelled Crowley. This is the most common used spelling we have found on her many records but other spellings include Crawley, Krowley, Krownry, etc.
After Mary Ann’s death, Joe “Pepe” married Mahela Harral on October 15, 1895. She was from another part of Mississippi, was a widow of Bird Shephard, and was a daughter of John Harral and Rebecca Brillian. She was baptized a Catholic on March 1, 1896, and this record states she was bom on August 2, 1863. Both the baptismal and the marriage records are in Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church. Joe “Pepe” had no children by this second marriage, and it is unknown whether Mahela had any children by her first marriage to Shephard. Mahela died “somewhere up in Mississippi” while visiting relatives and is buried there. Her death was sometime before Joe “Pepe” passed away.
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Carrio Joseph Pepe Carrio Family of Hancock Co - Descendants and Related Lines (06)
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