Childhood and Marriage
Amy E. Duggan was born in October 1868 to James Duggan and Mary Kennedy in Milton, Connecticut, the eighth of ten children. She was taught at the Milton School and went to the New Britain Normal School in 1890.
Amy married James Archer in 1897. A daughter, Mary J. Archer, was born in December 1897. The Archers got their first job as caretakers in 1901. They were hired to take care of elderly widower John Seymour, and they settled in his home at Newington, Connecticut. Seymour died in 1904. His heirs turned the residence into a boarding house for the elderly. The Archers were allowed to stay. They provided care for the elderly for a fee and in turn paid rent to Seymour's family. They ran the house under the name of "Sister Amy's Nursing Home for the Elderly".
In 1907, Seymour's heirs decided to sell the house. The Archers moved to Windsor, Connecticut and used their savings to purchase their own residence. They soon converted it into a business, the Archer Home for the Elderly and Infirm. James Archer died in 1910 of apparently natural causes. The official cause of death was Bright's disease, a generic term for kidney diseases. Amy had taken out an insurance policy on him a few weeks before his death, so she was able to continue running the Archer Home.
In 1913, Amy married her second husband, Michael W. Gilligan, a widower with four adult sons. He was reportedly wealthy and interested in both Amy and in investing in the Archer Home. Michael died 20 Feb 1914. The official cause of death was "acute bilious attack", in other words "severe indigestion". Archer-Gilligan was once again financially secure: In their short marriage her new husband had drawn up a will, leaving her his entire estate.
Read more about this topic: Amy Archer-Gilligan
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