Eugene Magevney

Born: 1798

Died: 1873

The name of Magevney is remembered in Memphis today for only one reason, the Magevney House. This popular tourist attraction in Downtown Memphis' “Victorian Villiage“ was given to the city by Eugene Magevney's grand daughter in 1940 and totally restored by the city. That fact alone does not mean the man was unsubstantial.

Eugene Magevney was born in County Fermanagh with the surname of McGivney. Like many young Irish boys he wished to become a priest, but later decided he was more constitutionally dispositioned towards teaching.

He arrived in Memphis in 1833 when the city was but 14 years old. The city had no public education program, but Magevney was allowed to use a small log house in Court Square that had been used as a school house once before. There was little interest in teaching girls or poor children, but many of the city's more well-heeled residents were glad to have local education for their children. One problem from the start was that some parents wished to pay “in kind“. This is the practice of paying with something other than money. In this case it was land, lots and lots of cheap land.

Despite reports to the contrary Magevney purchased his first truly signficant parcel of land for the sum of $1,000 from one Robertson Topp, the developer of South Memphis. This relatively small parcel of pasture land was outside of the city limits, but not by far. Indeed it was located on Union Avenue. The land was first annexed by South Memphis, then South Memphis was annexed by Memphis. Meanwhile Magevney had improved on the property building a series of buildings soon to be put to use. Eugene Magevney became a very rich man. By the time of his death in 1873, Magevney's net worth was $3.5 million dollars. This was all in solid Union currency as Magevney survived the war and “Reconstruction“ with his wealth in tact.

In 1840 Magevney sent to Ireland for his intended, one Mary Smyth (a former pupil). The previous year he had purchased the small house in which he was boarding. This is the house known today as The Magevney House. The year of the purchase Memphis' first Catholic mass was celebrated in this house. One year later the first Catholic wedding was performed here and the following year, the first christening.

Kate Magevney

At the age of 42 Magevney quit teaching to devote all of his time to real estate. The couple had two children, the first was to become a nun, Sister Mary Agnes who is still fondly remembered in Texas for the work she did in Galveston. The younger of the two, Catherine (Kate) married twice, but produced no children. After the death of her first husband Kate married Hugh A. Hamilton. The two later adopted a young girl from New York named Blanche. Blanche Hamilton later married Dr. Joseph Karsch. It was Blanche Hamilton Karsch who donated the old family home to the city in 1940.

After surviving two bouts of Yellow Fever, Eugene Magevney succumbed to the Yellow Fever of 1873. He died at 75 years old. Sister Mary Agnes donated her entire inheritance to the church. When Kate died in 1930 a number of Irish relatives sprang up to contest the estate.

Kate had not left a will. In the end the courts award all of the cash and half of the property to Blanche. The other half of the property went to the Galveston Convent of Sister Mary Agnes who immediately sold it back to Blanche Hamilton.

Source: Internet