Margaret Haughery

Margaret Haughery (1813–1882) was a philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans". Margaret Gaffney Haughery (pronounced as HAWK -r- ee) was a beloved historical figure in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1880s. Widely known as "Our Margaret," “The Bread Woman of New Orleans" and "Mother of Orphans," Margaret devoted her life's work to the care and feeding of the poor and hungry, and to fund and build orphanages throughout the city.

An Irish immigrant widow woman of many titles, Margaret was also commonly referred to as the "Angel of the Delta," “Mother Margaret," “Margaret of New Orleans," the "Celebrated Margaret", "Head Mame", and "Margaret of Tully." A Catholic, she worked closely with New Orleans Sisters of Charity, associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.

She opened up four orphanages in the New Orleans area in the 19th century. Many years later in the 20th and 21st centuries, several of the asylums Margaret founded as places of shelter for orphans and widows evolved into homes for the elderly.

A woman of great charity, Margaret became famed for her lifelong championing of the destitute. Some people considered her a living saint worthy of canonisation. Born into poverty and orphaned at a young age, she began her adult life as a washwoman and a peddler – yet she died a businesswoman and philanthropist and received a state funeral.

Early life

Margaret was born in a stone cottage in Ireland in 1813, the fifth child of William and Margaret O'Rourke Gaffney. Margaret's parents were from Tully South, in the parish of Carrigallen, County Leitrim. Her father had a small farm and was possibly a tailor.

in Ireland, 1816 was called "the year without a summer" and 1817 "the year of the malty flour". The year 1818 was one of high emigration due to a succession of wet summers followed by extreme winters. William, his wife Margaret, and three of their six children – including Margaret (then five), older brother Kevin and baby sister Kathleen – left Ireland for the United States. The three eldest children were to remain temporarily with their uncle Matthew O'Rourke in Ireland, until such time as they could be sent for. The final parting was so distressing that friends drew the children staying in Ireland aside, and before the divided family left Ireland they knelt to receive the curate's blessing.

Emigration to America The high seas journey by steamer took six months to reach America, as severe storms affected the ship's progress. Ship records reflect that the passengers despaired of ever reaching dry land again. At-sea provisions became so scarce that one passenger recalled that each person was allowed just one cracker a day. Almost all luggage was destroyed including the Gaffneys' trunk, whose lid Margaret's father then used to rock his young children. Eventually the ship reached Chesapeake Bay, then finally Baltimore. During the long voyage, a Welsh woman with the surname Richards became acquainted with the Gaffney family.

Shortly after the Gaffney family disembarked in Baltimore, Maryland, baby Kathleen died. Like all small tenant farmers of his era, Margaret's father William was ill-equipped for city life. His job opportunities were limited. Nevertheless, he secured employment as a carter at the Baltimore docks and soon sent money to his brother-in-law O'Rourke for the upkeep of his three children remaining in Ireland. He had almost saved enough to send for them when in 1822 a yellow fever epidemic ravaged Baltimore, claiming Margaret's parents, William and Margaret, who died within days of each other. When food supplies were insufficient, she purchased provisions using her own earnings. The Female Orphan Asylum operated by the Sisters of Charity, constructed in 1840, was financed through funds generated by Margaret's work.

Businesswoman During the yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans in the 1850s, Margaret visited households across the city to provide care to those affected, without distinction of race or religion. She also offered reassurance to dying mothers by undertaking responsibility for the care of their children. In this period, she assisted in the establishment of St. Theresa's Orphan Asylum on Camp Street.

Operating as Margaret's Bakery, the enterprise expanded rapidly and became the primary source of her wealth. She continued to distribute bread personally using a handcart, which replaced her earlier milk cart. The bakery supplied both the local market and export customers. All orphan asylums in New Orleans received bread from her bakery at a nominal cost. Continuous improvements were made to the operation, and it became the first steam-powered bakery in the southern United States, employing a substantial workforce. Located on New Levée Street, the bakery remained profitable throughout the Civil War, despite widespread destruction elsewhere in the region.

As her bakery prospered, Margaret's business became well known. Operating under the name Margaret Haughery & Company, it marketed "Margaret's Bread", and she became popularly known as the "Bread Woman of New Orleans".

New Orleans, Louisiana Archbishop Perché in his 1882 eulogy to Margaret said, "I have already been asked whether Margaret Haughery, who lived and labored so long and well amongst us, was a saint. It is not for me to make a pronouncement. But, if you put this same question to yourselves, dear brethren, you may find an answer similar to that which a little boy once made when a sister in our Sunday school enquired that somebody define a saint. 'I think' said the child, remembering the human figures in stained glass windows, 'that a saint is one who lets the light shine through.'”