Page 4 - Biography of Lizzie Cronin

Another poem etched carefully in her autograph book was from her friend
Nellie G. Finnegan on March 1, 1879: “To Lizzie, Some friends may wish you free
from care, Others joy and wealth. Some may wish you blessings rare, Long life and
constant health. But my wish for you is better far, Than all other friends have
given. That when you from this earth depart, Your soul may rest in heaven”.
Lizzie’s book, spanning the years from 1877 to 1883, contains eighty pages of
similar notes and greetings from her friends and family and has become a wonder-
ful glimpse at a young Irish girl’s teenage life.

Two pages of the 80 contained in Lizzie’s Autograph book.
Many notable Waltham family names appear throughout.

Like many families of Irish im-
migrants, Lizzie’s early life was spent
living in a boarding house with her
family. All family members were ex-
pected to work and contribute to liv-
ing expenses. Her father, Jeremiah J.
Cronin, worked as a laborer while her
mother Julia kept house. Her oldest
brother Michael, worked in a foundry
and her other older brother Jeremiah
P. Cronin, worked as a laborer and
later as a retail merchant selling tea.
Her sisters; Mary, Johanna, and Cath- Cotton Mill Girls
circa 1890
erine, all worked in a cotton mill.
Unlike her sisters, Lizzie, after her schooling, chose to work in the Waltham
Watch Factory and worked there until her untimely death in 1906.

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