Pueblo County, Colorado
MAGGIE BURNS

Contributed by Karen Mitchell.

Born in Ireland, Maggie Burns came to Pueblo where her brother was working on the railroad. In Ireland, Maggie had worked in one of the manor houses. After spending a few days with her brother, family memory recalls that Maggie walked up the hill to the John Thatcher mansion and was hired to take care of baby Raymond. She remained in the Thatcher household and eventually became the housekeeper. Maggie was five-foot, one-inch tall with black hair and dark eyes. She always wore black with an occasional white blouse with long sleeves and a high collar. She wore a bib apron when at work but always put on a fresh white apron as needed to answer the door. At one point her family was horrified that she cut her hair because the length was hard to handle. She made a switch of the long tresses. Maggie lived in the John Thatcher home. Her room was at the top of the third floor stairway conveniently located with direct access to the kitchen. The room was plain with a bed, dresser, chair, and quilting frame. The Catholic church and quilting were her greatest pleasures. A member of the Sacred Heart Church, Maggie was proud that she could buy her own pew. Quilting was her favorite recreation. Some of the quilts that she made for the Thatcher family were a red and white quilt that was on Raymond's bed for many years, a blue and white quilt, and a fancy quilt made of silk and satin scraps from Thatcher party dresses. The back of the fancy quilt was pink and Maggie embroidered on the top. "They All Came to Pueblo, A Social History" by Joanne West Dodds, published by The Donning Company/Publishers, Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994.



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