b. 7th Apr 1868 d. 1st Feb 1880
On the ground next to James's stone:
Walter J. CONNESS
b. 15 Dec 1880 d. 16 Dec 1880
James and Walter J. were the sons of
Walter H. and Margaret (Conroy) CONNESS
The elder Walter was born in 1840 in new York of Irish parents.
Margaret was born Galway, Ireland, in 1844. They married in Conway, LaSalle Co, Illinois on 6th Oct 1864.
On 21 July 1870, they were still in LaSalle County, and had four children: Jennie, 5; Robert, 4; James (above), 2; and Annie, 3 mos. Walter was a farmer.
By 1872, they had moved to Topeka KS, where in 1875 Walter was a teamster (same as today's truck driver). Two more children had arrived, Luke in 1872 and William in Nov 1874. Son Hugh would arrive in 1878.
On 1st February 1880, 11-year-old James died. When the 1880 census was taken on June 11th, Walter was a saloon keeper. The family which at that point included only 6 children, were living at 85 Kansas Ave. Baby Walter was born (and died) the following December.
It's believed Walter Sr died in Jackson Co, Missouri around 1894. Apparently another child was born and died between censuses, as the 1900 census of Jackson Co, Missouri states that Margaret had had a total of 9 children, but only 6 were still alive.