Scots-Irish Man in Early Indiana — Robert Hunter

B. about 1780, Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland¹
M. before 1803, location unknown²
Wife: Naomi _______
D. after 1850, (probably) Knox County, Indiana³

Robert Hunter represents the non-French Europeans who began populating the Midwest at the turn of the 19th century. Many of these people were of the Mid-Atlantic English colonies who had just won their independence, but Robert came from Ireland with a heritage that traced back to Scotland.

Robert was born in about 1780 in the town of Downpatrick,¹ which is in present-day Northern Ireland. Nothing is known of his family or childhood. This leaves the curious question, when and why did he come to America? If he came as a boy with his parents, that would have been during the American Revolution, which seems doubtful. More likely was that he traveled on his own as a young adult. He probably landed at a place like Philadelphia in about 1800, and soon after, headed west. 

Map showing Downpatrick, Ireland.

Robert wound up in Vincennes, a former French trading post in what is now Indiana.⁴ Through later records, we know that he married a woman named Naomi.³ She was of an English heritage, and had been born in Delaware,^3,5 but without a maiden name, her family has been impossible to track. Between about 1803 and about 1832, they had up to a dozen children.⁶

The village of Vincennes during Robert’s day was a lively place, with all of the characteristics of the American frontier. His neighbors were a mix of families from places like Kentucky and Virginia, and those descended from the French fur traders who came a generation earlier. Robert’s home was likely a log cabin, but also may have been a simple wooden structure; records show that he lived at the corner of 4th and Dubois.⁷

Robert’s name turned up on several court records during this time, starting in June 1806 when he served on a jury.⁴ The record described the 12 jurors as “good and lawful men, who [were] elected tried and sworn.” The trial doesn’t seem to have gone forward, though.

In July 1813, he and his wife were somehow involved with unlawful actions concerning a woman named Fanny Dixon.⁸ The woman was assaulted by a man named Wrexham Ellis, and Naomi seems to have been an important witness. Then in a court case tried in February and March of 1815, Robert brought charges against the same woman for stealing a coffee pot and a tin pan in July 1813.⁹ The suggestion is that both incidents are related and may have happened at the same time. The coffee pot and tin pan were valued at 50¢ each. The court record said that Fanny Dixon took the items “with force and arms,” but this may have been boilerplate language. 

Court document about 1815 case.

In another colorful case that October, Robert was summoned to court along with three other men as witnesses to a “riot.”¹⁰ The details of this case are sketchy, so it’s hard to really make sense of it. In yet another case in 1816, Robert was named as owing some money along with three other men.¹¹ One significant detail was that a transcript of part of the record indicated that his signature is on the document, meaning he was literate.

Since Robert was an immigrant, at some point it seemed important to him to become an American citizen. So on March 1, 1830, he foreswore allegiance to Ireland and became naturalized.¹ Sometime during the 1820s, Robert moved out of Vincennes to a new area of farms in Knox County called Harrison Township. The 1830 census listed him there,¹² and he was listed again in 1840 and 1850.^13,3 The Hunters were members of the Indiana Church, a Presbyterian church in Knox County. Robert was admitted to the church for the first time in a meeting on July 4, 1824, and Naomi was admitted a couple weeks later.¹⁴

Robert’s personality is revealed by an incident involving the church when he was brought in to “converse with” elders about charges against him.¹⁴ The record told that that in August 1830 he had shown up drunk at a church election, and in June 1831, he had struck another parishioner, and also had encouraged “fighting and swearing.” The elders ended up ruling that Robert be suspended from church membership until “he brings forth fruitment for repentance.” It wasn’t until June 29, 1834 that he was restored to his full standing in the church. 

Standing before the elders. (AI-generated image)

After his suspension from the church was lifted, Robert seems to have behaved himself because there were no further records of misconduct. The last known record of Robert and his wife Naomi was their appearance in 1850 U.S. Census.³ They were both missing in the 1860 census, so presumably they passed away before that date.

Children (the ones who are named in records):
1. Isabelle Hunter — B. about 1803, Indiana;¹⁵ D. 8 Jan 1872, Vincennes, Indiana;¹⁶ M. John Baptiste Edeline (1802-1849), 11 Jun 1826, Vincennes, Indiana¹⁷

2. James Hunter — B. about 1805, Indiana;¹³ D. 12 Sep 1848, Knox County, Indiana;¹⁸ M. Parmelia Westfall (1808-1870), 10 Jul 1831, Knox County, Indiana¹⁹

3. (possibly) Elizabeth Hunter — B. between 1805 and 1810, Indiana;²⁰ M. Ephraim Jordon (~1809-?), 6 Mar 1834, Knox County, Indiana²¹

4. (possibly) Jane Hunter — B. about 1810, (probably) Knox County, Indiana;²⁰ M. William Jordon, 5 Nov 1828, Knox County, Indiana²²

5. Robert Hunter — B. about 1822, Indiana;³ M. (1) Martha Thacker, 1 Oct 1846, Knox County, Indiana;²³ (2) Zerena Lafter (~1827-?), 21 Jun 1849, Knox County, Indiana²⁴

6. Naomi Hunter — B. about 1832, (probably) Knox County, Indiana;³ D. after 1880;²⁵ M. John Kensler (1825-1899), 7 Oct 1851, Knox County, Indiana²⁶

Sources:

1    Naturalization record of Robert Hunter, 1 Mar 1830, FamilySearch.org
2    Marriage date is based on age of oldest known child, Isabelle
3    1850 U.S. Census, Knox County, Indiana
4    Knox County Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas, 1801-1806, FamilySearch.org
5    “My Ancestry & their descendants plus misc research,” Denis Paul Edeline, RootsWeb.Ancestry.com
6    The names of Robert and Naomi Hunter’s children are gathered from various sources. Their relation to Robert and Naomi is implied in some cases because they were the only family named Hunter living in Knox County, Indiana at the time. Based on early census records, the number of children may have been as high as 12.
7    Miscellaneous papers found in the vault of the clerk, City Hall, Vincennes, 1784-1815, FamilySearch.org
8    Assault and battery case of Wrexham Ellis, Indiana Memory (website)
9    United States vs. Fanny Dixon, Indiana Memory (website)
10  United States vs. James Lansdown, Indiana Memory (website)
11  Recapitulation of debt and damages case, Indiana Memory (website)
12  1830 U.S. Census, Knox County, Indiana
13  1840 U.S. Census, Knox County, Indiana
14  Minutes of the Session of the Upper Indiana Church, compiled by Mary Aline Polk, Helen Polk and Mary R. Hribal, 1965
15  1870 U.S. Census, Vincennes, Indiana
16  Marriage record of Isabella Hunter, Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1806-1861, Ancestry.com
17  Find-a-Grave listing for Isabella (Hunter) Edeline
18  James Hunter’s death date was mentioned on several Ancestry family trees. His wife was living without a husband in the 1850 U.S. Census.
19  Marriage record of James Hunter and Parmelia Westfall, Indiana, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1802-1892, Ancestry.com
20  1820 U.S. Census, Vincennes, Indiana
21  Marriage record of Ephraim Jordon and Elizabeth Hunter, I., U.S., M. I.
22  Marriage record of William Jordan and Jane Hunter, I., U.S., C. M.
23  Marriage record of Robert Hunter and Martha Thacker, I., U.S., M. I.
24  Marriage record of Robert Hunter and Zerena Lafter, I., U.S., M. I.
25  1880 U.S. Census, Vincennes, Indiana
26  Marriage record of John Kensler and Naoma Hunter, Indiana, U.S., Marriage Certificates, 1960-2012, Ancestry.com

Escaping Ireland to Civil War America — Simon C. Carey

B. about 1844 in (probably) Doonbeg, County Clare, Ireland
M. 24 Dec 1863 in Ray County, Missouri
Wife: Elizabeth C. Sutherlin
D. about 1865 in (probably) Kansas

Simon C. Carey’s entire life seems to have been a struggle for survival. He was born in County Clare, Ireland in about 1844, a couple of years before the tragic potato famine. There are no records of who his parents were, and only a family story that he may have had a twin brother, but it’s likely there were many more siblings in his family.

There is one record which may reveal how the time of starvation affected Simon’s childhood. A book recording the minutes of a Kilrush Union meeting dated March 5, 1853 stated that Simon Carey, age 8, was among the boys who lived there. The listing said that he was from the town of Doonbeg, and that among the other 24 boys was one named Thomas Carey, also age 8 from Doonbeg. It’s possible that this was the twin mentioned by Simon’s descendants.

My Ancestry DNA “Ancestral Journey” shows a region called Doonbeg Bay.

The Kilrush Union was a workhouse which sprung out of the Poor Law of Ireland during the 1830s. This system of charity started in England with the order that a recipient of government handouts had to live in a workhouse. The idea was well-meaning, but unfortunately in practice, the treatment was more like being a prison. Inmates would be provided food and shelter in return for doing work assigned to them, usually farm labor or simple manufacturing. The workhouses separated families, so that men, women and children lived in different buildings, and parents had little contact with their own children.

The Kilrush Union was designed to house hundreds, but during the famine, was forced to take in thousands. For many, it was a death sentence, and probably Simon had siblings who didn’t make it out alive. A family story suggested that Simon and other relatives somehow got out, and they may have been back on a tenant farm within a few years. It was told that that Simon’s father died, and the local church demanded the family cow as payment for his burial. Simon and his brother went to retrieve the animal because they couldn’t survive without it, and in the process, may have been physically violent with a priest. This is what caused Simon (and possibly his brother) to flee to America. 

Conditions in Clare County during the famine.

Simon arrived in probably New York in about 1859 or 1860, and within a couple of years, he turned up in Missouri. This was a tense time in U.S. history just before the start of the Civil War. When fighting began, young men like Simon were lured into service with an opportunity to make quick money. On April 25, 1862, he joined the 71st Regiment Enlisted Missouri Militia in Marshall, Missouri, serving as a replacement for a man named Thomas Owens. A man named Lilburn Carey signed up at the same time and place as Simon, and this may have been a relative, but there are no other records of him. It’s worth noting that no DNA matches have turned up among Simon’s descendants that would suggest anyone else in his family made it to America. 

Simon re-enlisted again on January 17, 1863 in the same regiment under a different captain. This record has his age being born in 1839 or 1840. The company disbanded on May 6th and he returned to civilian life. A few months later, Simon married a non-Irish woman, Elizabeth Sutherlin, in Ray County, Missouri; the wedding took place on Christmas Eve. She became pregnant, then he joined the army again, signing on with the 7th Missouri Cavalry in Hannibal on August 15, 1864. His military record said that he was 5' 7-1/2" tall with blue eyes and dark hair. His signature showed that he had enough education to at least write his name. Simon’s age on the enlistment gave him a birth year of about 1844, which matches the 1853 record from Kilrush Union. 

Simon's enlistment dated August 15, 1864.

The 7th Missouri Cavalry was said to have so many Irish immigrants that it was known as the “Irish Seventh.” During Simon’s time in the regiment, his company marched into Arkansas, and the only action they seem to have been involved with was with “a party of bushwhackers” on January 9, 1865. It was near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and the skirmish resulted in one man wounded on the Union side and four killed among the Confederates. Since the action didn’t involve the entire company, there’s no way of saying if Simon participated in this.

Simon served through the end of the Civil War and beyond. He was assigned to companies L, K, and C before being put in company M in January 1865. In February, he was an orderly at the regimental headquarters in Arkansas, and in April and May, he worked as a cook. This was after the war ended, but because he had committed to a 3-year enlistment the summer before, he wasn’t discharged yet. On June 28th, Simon was given the job of “escort duty,” taking him away from camp. He was finally mustered out on September 1, 1865 in Little Rock.

While Simon was in the army, his only child was born on October 7, 1864, a son named Thomas. He didn’t live to see the boy grow up, because only a short time after his discharge, Simon was said to have died of “an abscess in his side.” The date of his death is unknown. Elizabeth remarried in 1868 to another man who served in the Civil War, but she died within a couple years.

Child:
1. Thomas Michael Carey — B. 7 Oct 1864, Gardner, Kansas; D. 5 Feb 1937, Coffeyville, Kansas; M. Bertha Gertrude Kightlinger (1875-1946), 21 Oct 1895, Burlington, Kansas

Sources:
Civil War military records of Simon C. Carey
“Tom Carey is Dead After Brief Illness”, Coffeyville Daily Journal, February 6, 1937
Rootsweb message boards

English Girl Immigrant to Canada — Rebecca Pepperell

B. 1798 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England¹
M. before 1820 in (probably) Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island²
Husband: Job Bevan
D. 17 Dec 1868 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island²

One day in 1809, a ship sailed into Canada, carrying passengers from England seeking a new life. Among them was a 10-year-old girl, Rebecca Pepperell, and as the ship docked, she saw for the first time the place she make her home — Charlottetown, Prince Edward island. 

Arriving in Canada. (AI-generated image)

Rebecca was born in 1798 in St. Albans, England to William Pepperell and Mary Browne,¹ one of eight children, seven of whom were girls. Her parents were originally from Durnford, in Wiltshire County,⁴ and didn’t have roots in St. Albans. By the time Rebecca was 6-years-old, her family had moved to the city of Bristol.⁵ It isn’t certain if there were any other places in England where they lived during her early childhood.

There’s no record of what prompted the Pepperell family to resettle in Canada by the end of 1809,⁶ but conditions in England may have had something to do with it. The beginning of the industrial revolution meant a shift in what skills were needed to make a living, plus a population boom was making cities like Bristol crowded. As with others from Europe before and after, finding a more secure future was likely a motivation for the Pepperells to become immigrants.

Prince Edward Island was going through a transition when young Rebecca arrived. Once called Île d’St-Jean, the first colonists to settle there were French. After England took over Canada in 1763, families from Scotland and loyalists from the American colonies were encouraged to come. But around 1810, a new group of people started moving in, and they were from England. With the English becoming well-established there, it must have given the Pepperell family a sense of familiarity.

Charlottetown in the early 19th century.

Sometime before 1820, Rebecca married a soldier from Bath, England named Job Bevan. After Job’s military service ended, he made a living as a carpenter.⁷ They would have eight children born between 1820 and 1845. Rebecca was a member of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown, where her father was a sexton, and her husband was a beadle.⁸

Job died on January 6, 1862,⁹ and Rebecca was listed as his widow in the 1864 directory, living in a house on Prince Street near Kent.¹⁰ She passed away on December 17, 1868.³ Her obituary said she died after “a long and painful illness.”¹¹ She was buried in the Old Protestant Burying Ground in Charlottetown.

Rebecca’s descendants would scatter widely across Canada and the U.S. One daughter moved to Boston, a son went to New Jersey, another daughter to Seattle, and another son to Victoria, British Columbia.

Children:
1. Maria Bevan — B. 5 Oct 1820, Halifax, Nova Scotia;² D. 14 Dec 1888, Boston, Massachusetts;¹² M. (1) John Baird, 15 Jan 1838, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;¹³ (2) Charles W. Hughes (1819-?), 15 Jun 1842, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;¹⁴ (3) John Costigan (1829-?), 20 May 1867, Boston, Massachusetts¹⁵

2. William Bevan — B. 26 Mar 1823, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;¹⁶ D. 26 Feb 1880, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;¹⁷ M. Hannah Vessey (1825-1904), 16 Jan 1846, Prince Edward Island¹⁸

3. James Job Bevan — B. 1827, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;¹⁹ D. 17 Oct 1859, Trenton, New Jersey;¹⁹ M. Sophia Elizabeth Wiseman, 11 Nov 1858, Trenton, New Jersey²⁰

4. Sarah Ann Bevan — B. 3 Oct 1830, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²¹ D. 26 Nov 1924, Seattle, Washington;²¹ M. Daniel McKinnon (1833-1895), 20 Oct 1854, Prince Edward Island²²

5. Job Bevan — B. 18 Mar 1834, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²³ M. Abigail Treneman (~1837-?), 5 Aug 1858, Prince Edward Island²⁴

6. Rebecca Bevan — B. 9 May 1837, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²⁵ D. 12 Apr 1868, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²⁵ M. Charles Rodd (1839-1905), 26 May 1864, Prince Edward Island²⁶

7. John Bevan — B. 18 Apr 1841, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²⁷ D. 17 Sep 1842, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island²⁷

8. Charles Frederick Bevan — B. 17 Jan 1845, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;²⁸ D. 3 Jun 1926, Victoria, British Columbia;²⁹ M. (1) Mary Gillis (1847-bef 1877), 12 Nov 1868;³⁰ (2) Mary Helen Moody (1843-1900), 1877;³¹ (3) Hattie Ann Gray (1857-1929), 23 Nov 1908, Victoria, British Columbia³²

Sources:
1   Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Pepperell) Bevan 
2   Find-a-Grave listing of Maria (Bevan) Hewes (firstborn child of Rebecca) 
3   Death record of Rebecca Bevan, Canada, Prince Edward Island Death Card Index, 1721-1905, FamilySearch.org  
4   Marriage record of William Pepperell and Mary Brown, England, Wiltshire, Church Records, 1518-1990, FamilySearch.org  
5   Birth record of Marie Pepperall, “The Descendants of Patrick Callaghan and Maria Pepperall,” Ron Nelson, islandregister.com  
6   William’s daughter Louisa was listed in St. Paul’s Anglican Church records as being born in Charlottetown on December 31, 1809.
7   “The Descendants of Joshua Bevan,” Steven Meeken, islandregister.com 
8   Records of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
9   Death notice of Job Bevan, The Examiner, Prince Edward Island, 13 Jan 1862
10  Hutchinson’s Prince Edward Island City Directory, 1864
11  Death Notice of Rebecca Bevan, The Examiner, Prince Edward Island, 4 Jan 1869
12  Death record of Maria Hughes, Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, FamilySearch.org
13  Marriage record of John Baird and Maria Bevan, Records of Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation
14  Military records of Charles Hughes, 5 March 1846, Halifax, Nova Scotia
15  Marriage record of John Costigan and Maria Hughes, Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915, FamilySearch.org
16  Baptismal record of William Bevan, Prince Edward Island, Baptism Index, 1788-1943, Ancestry.com
17  Find-a-Grave listing of William Bevan 
18  Marriage record of William Bevan and Hannah Vessey, Canada, Prince Edward Island Marriage Registers, 1832-1888, FamilySearch.org  
19  Find-a-Grave listing of James Job Bevan 
20  Marriage record of James J. Bevan and Sophia E. Wiseman, New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Records, 1670-1965, Ancestry.com
21  Death record of Sarah Ann MacKinnon, Washington, U.S., Death Records, 1907-1017, Ancestry.com
22  Marriage record of Daniel McKinnon and Sarah Ann Bevan, C., P. E. I. M. R.
23  Baptismal record of Job Bevan, P. E. I., B. I.  
24  Marriage record of Job Bevan and Abigail Treneman, C., P. E. I. M. R.  
25  Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Bevan) Rodd 
26  Marriage record of Charles Rodd and Rebecca Pepperell, C., P. E. I. M. R. 
27  Find-a-Grave listing of John Bevan  
28  Baptismal record of Charles Bevan, P. E. I., B. I. 
29  Find-a-Grave listing of Charles Frederick Beavan 
30  Marriage record of Charles Bevan and Mary Gillis, C., P. E. I. M. R. 
31  Find-a-Grave listing of Mary Helen (Moody) Beavan 
32  Marriage record of Charles Frederick Bevan and Hattie Ann Gray, British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935, Ancestry.com

The Journey From Ireland to Minnesota — Mary Butler

B. 1807 in (probably) County Wexford, Ireland¹
M. 27 Aug 1828, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland²
Husband: Martin Furlong
D. 29 Sep 1898, Kilkenny, Minnesota³

When the Catholics in Ireland were hit by the potato blight of the 1840s, each family had to decide how best to survive. Do they remain in the country of their birth? Or do they pick up and move to a new land far from home? For Mary Butler’s family, they made the decision to start over in the United States, in a place called Minnesota.

Mary was born in 1807, probably in County Wexford, Ireland, to M____ Butler and Annie Murphy.¹ Nothing is known of her childhood, although she seems to have attended school enough to learn to read and write.⁴ On August 27, 1828, she married Martin Furlong, a widower from Rathanagan.² Along with becoming mother to at least two of the children from his first marriage, she bore him nine daughters and one son between about 1827 and 1848. It’s believed that two of the daughters died young.

Rathanagan parish register showing marriage of Martin and Mary Furlong.

When the potato crop failed four years in a row starting in 1845, the Catholics in Ireland were hit hard. With no money and little charity, there wasn’t enough to eat in most households. For Mary and her husband Martin, there were a lot of mouths to feed during that time, so the famine likely had a terrible impact on them. People started leaving Ireland in large numbers starting in about 1846, but the Furlongs held out for a few more years, perhaps because they needed to scrape up enough passage for their large family. In late 1851, they were ready to embark, taking a boat over to England so they could ship out from Liverpool.⁵

The vessel that took Mary and her family to America was the Essex,⁵ one of the many ships configured for poor emigrant families. The Furlongs boarded on about October 9th;⁵ there were 350 steerage passengers on the ship, and an overwhelming amount of them were Irish.⁶ One Englishman who was onboard with his family later wrote about his experience during the voyage. He described that his wife gave birth to a child who didn’t survive, and that “the only means of burial [was] for the body to be stitched up in a sheet and slid down a board into the water.”⁶ Poor Mary also lost a child on the trip — her only son John, age 12⁵ — so we can imagine she faced a similar burial at sea for the boy.

Instead of sailing to New York, the Essex went to New Orleans, arriving after nine weeks at sea on December 13th.⁵ Mary, Martin, and the surviving children (all girls) were in a weakened condition, but their trip was far from over. Now they had to get to their final destination far up the Mississippi River, and this was done via steamboat. They may have transferred to a steamboat right after landing in New Orleans, but it’s also possible they faced a layover of up to a month. The lines that ran up and down the Mississippi were doing a booming business with all of the people escaping Europe, and only recently had they been going all the way to Minnesota.⁷

New Orleans as it looked when Mary arrived there.

Mary and her family settled in West St. Paul,⁸ a new community on a bend in the Mississippi River. They were among the first people of European heritage to be living there; largely the settlers were German, Irish and French-Canadian immigrants. Like many people desperately leaving a bad circumstance, Mary found herself having to adapt in a land that was unfamiliar The soil was said to be so rocky, that it was impossible to dig a well, and they had to bring water from a long distance away.⁹ One of Mary’s daughters was noted to have been the first death in West St. Paul during 1854,¹⁰ although the source doesn’t state which one it was. Likely it was 20-year-old Mary since she was on the passenger list of the Essex and disappeared from records after that.

The Furlong family would spend the next 25 years in West St. Paul; their farm was shown to be worth $2,000 in 1870.¹¹ As St. Paul to the north encroached upon their community, the area where the Furlongs lived was annexed into the city in 1874. So in 1878, Mary and Martin moved to the town of Rosemount where they continued to have a farm.¹² The couple lived long enough to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary, but Martin passed away on July 28, 1889.¹³ After his death, Mary moved in with her daughter Catherine Furlong in Le Sueur County, where she died on September 29, 1898.³ She is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Kilkenny, Minnesota.

Children:
1. Margaret Furlong – B. before 26 May 1829, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;¹⁴ D. 24 Nov 1889, Dakota County, Minnesota¹²

2. Eliza Furlong – B. 18 Sep 1830, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;¹⁵ D. 3 Feb 1912, Maple Lake, Minnesota;¹⁶ M. Francis Labree (1828-1909), 23 Jan 1854, St. Paul, Minnesota¹⁷

3. Frances Furlong – B. before 30 Aug 1832, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;¹⁸ D. (probably) young¹⁹

4. Mary Furlong – B. before 21 Sep 1834, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland²⁰

5. Ellen Furlong – B. before 14 Jul 1836, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;²¹ D. 24 Apr 1921, St. Paul, Minnesota;²² M. Michael Kennedy (~1830-1895)²²

6. John Furlong – B. about 1839, (probably) County Wexford, Ireland;⁵ D. before 13 Dec 1851, at sea²³

7. Catherine Furlong – B. 26 Jul 1841, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;²⁴ D. 21 Jun 1923, Le Sueur County, Minnesota;²⁵ M. Thomas Furlong (1828-1908), 21 Jan 1869, St. Paul, Minnesota²⁶

8. Alice Furlong – B. before 19 Dec 1843, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland;²⁷ D. (probably) young²⁸

9. Bridget Furlong – B. about 1848, Ireland;⁵ M. William Maher, 2 Jan 1873, Ramsey County, Minnesota²⁹

10. Jennie Furlong – B. 10 Jan 1849, County Wexford, Ireland;³⁰ D. 30 May 1935, Kilkenny, Minnesota³⁰

Sources:
1    Find-a-Grave listing of Mary Furlong  
2    Marriage record of Martin Furlong and Mary Butler, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
3    Death record of Mary (Butler) Furlong, Minnesota County Deaths, 1850-2001, FamilySearch.org
4    1880 U.S. Census, Rosemount, Minnesota
5    Passenger list of ship Essex, Liverpool to New Orleans, December 1851
6    “Review of an Active Life,” Juvenile Instructor, 17:4, George Goddard, 15 Feb 1882
7    The History of the City of Saint Paul, and the County of Ramsey, Minnesota, J. Fletcher Williams, 1876
8    1857 Minnesota Territorial Census, West St. Paul, FamilySearch.org
9    Letter from Hazel Swenson to Laura Mitchell, 28 Sep 1977
10  History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Rev. Edward D. Neill and Fletcher Williams, 1881
11  1870 U.S. Census, West St. Paul, Minnesota
12  Margaret Furlong obituary, Hastings Gazette, 30 Nov 1889
13  Find-a-Grave listing of Martin Furlong  
14  Baptismal record of Margaret Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
15  Baptismal record of Eliza Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
16  Death record of Eliza (Furlong) Labree, Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001, FamilySearch.org
17  Marriage record of Francis Labree and Eliza Furlong, Minnesota County Marriages, 1849-1950, FamilySearch.org
18  Baptismal record of Frances Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
19  There are no further records of Frances Furlong
20  Baptismal record of Mary Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
21  Baptismal record of Ellen Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
22  Death record of Ellen (Furlong) Kennedy, M.D.
23  John Furlong was listed on the passenger list of the Essex, and there is no further mention of him
24  Baptismal record of Catherine Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
25  Death record of Catherine (Furlong) Furlong, M.D.
26  Marriage record of Thomas Furlong and Catherine Furlong, M.C.M.
27  Baptismal record of Alice Furlong, Rathangan Parish, County Wexford, Ireland
28  There are no further records of Alice Furlong
29  Marriage record of William Maher and Bridget Furlong, M.C.M.
30  Death certificate of Jennie Furlong, 31 May 1935, Kilkenny, Minnesota

Gunner in the English Royal Artillery — Job Bevan

B. about 1793 in (probably) North Bradley, England
M. before 1820 in Canada
Wife: Rebecca Pepperell
D. 6 Jan 1862 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Job Bevan was sent to Canada as a member of the military, and after his service, he decided to remain there. Job's entire heritage came from southwest England. He was born to Job Bevan and Jane Keats in about 1793. The family was from the village of North Bradley in Wiltshire County, and Job was baptized there on June 12, 1796. There were at least two other children in the family, and Job's father worked as a weaver.

Job joined the 9th Battalion of the Royal Artillery on February 20, 1814 as a gunner, and was shipped to Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1817. This was during a time just after the War of 1812 when peace came to North America. Military units like the one in which Job served were stationed in Canada to defend against any potential aggression from the United States.

In Canada, Job married a woman who had come from England as a girl, Rebecca Pepperell. After a short time of living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, they settled in Charlottetown, where her family lived. They had eight children born between 1820 and 1845, one of whom died as an infant. Job became a carpenter, and in St. Paul's Anglican Church, he performed the duties of beadle (one who keeps order) and collector. Over many years of service, he achieved some prominence in the community. 

Charlottetown during the mid-19th century, with St. Paul's Church at left.

Job wasn't the only member of his family to migrate across the Atlantic. His sister Elizabeth and her family joined the Mormon church and moved to the U.S., eventually settling in Utah. One of Elizabeth's sons knew Joseph Smith and guarded his body after he was murdered. Job's nephew also knew Brigham Young, and he lived in Idaho as a polygamist.

Job lived out his years in Charlottetown. He died January 6, 1862, and in his will, he named the church, his wife, and six of his children as beneficiaries. His obituary said that he left behind many friends. It also said, "For some time his bodily health seemed to fail, but his end was peace." Job was buried in the Elm Avenue Cemetery (also called the Old Protestant Burying Ground) in Charlottetown. It was said that his gravestone was destroyed by vandals. His wife Rebecca passed away in 1868.

Children:
1. Maria Bevan – B. 5 Oct 1820, Halifax, Nova Scotia; D. 14 Dec 1888, Boston, Massachusetts; M. (1) John Baird, 15 Jan 1838, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; (2) Charles W. Hughes (1819-?), 15 Jun 1842, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

2. William Bevan – B. 26 Mar 1823, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 26 Feb 1880, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; M. Hannah Vessey (1825-1904), 16 Jan 1846

3. James Job Bevan – B. 1827, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 17 Oct 1859, Trenton, New Jersey; M. Sophia Elizabeth Wiseman, 11 Nov 1858, Trenton, New Jersey

4. Sarah Ann Bevan – B. 3 Oct 1830, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 26 Nov 1924, Seattle, Washington; M. Daniel McKinnon (1833-1895), 20 Oct 1854

5. Job Bevan – B. 18 Mar 1834, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; M. Abigail Treneman (~1837-?), 5 Aug 1858

6. Rebecca Bevan – B. 9 May 1837, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 12 Apr 1868, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; M. Charles Rodd (1839-1905), 26 May 1864

7. John Bevan – B. 18 Apr 1841, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 17 Sep 1842, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

8. Charles Frederick Bevan – B. 17 Jan 1845, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 3 Jun 1926, Victoria, British Columbia; M. (1) Mary Gill (1847-bef 1877), 12 Nov 1868; (2) Mary Helen Moody (1843-1900); (3) Hattie Ann Smith (1857-1929), 23 Nov 1908, Victoria, British Columbia

Sources:
Records of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Records of Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation
Obituary of Job Bevan, January 1862
The Descendants of Job James Bevan and Rebecca Pepperell [web page]
Find-a-grave listing for Alfred Alder
Find-a-grave listing for Elizabeth Bevan

Joining the American Melting Pot — Francis LaBree

B. 15 Jan 1828 in St-Joseph de la Pointe-Lévy, Quebec
M. 23 Jan 1854 in St. Paul, Minnesota
Wife: Eliza Furlong
D. 27 Dec 1909 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Francis Labree had a pedigree that was entirely French-Canadian. For generations, his people farmed along the lower St. Lawrence River, going back to the founding of New France, and except for one indigenous ancestor, they all traced back to France. Then Francis broke the chain when he moved to the United States, a place where he came into contact with people of a variety of backgrounds. 

Francis was born as François LaBrie on January 15, 1828 in St-Joseph de la Pointe-Lévy, Quebec. His parents were Joseph Mignault dit LaBrie and Marie-Charlotte Dubois, and he was one of eleven children. Little is known of Francis' early years, but his education must have been minimal because he was illiterate. His father was a potato farmer, who died when Francis was age 18.

At the time Francis reached maturity, opportunities were opening up to the south in the United States. What motivated him to move there isn’t known, but it’s easy to imagine that he saw the struggle his father went through plowing fields in the harsh climate of Quebec. Francis made his way to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1848. Located on the Mississippi River, it was a place that was just being settled by people of European descent, and many of them were the remnants of the fur trade. Several of Francis’ siblings also made the move around this time, including older brother Jean-Baptiste, and sisters Genevieve and Adeline. 

St. Paul, Minnesota area as it looked when Francis arrived.

In about 1853, Francis came to a place called West St. Paul, a new farming community populated primarily with French-Canadian, German and Irish immigrants. Minnesota’s melting pot, even at that early date, brought people of different nationalities together, and Francis decided to marry an Irish woman. Her name was Eliza Furlong, and on January 23, 1854, the couple was wed before a Catholic priest in St. Paul. Francis’ brother Jean-Baptiste served as one of the witnesses. It’s interesting to note that Francis was the only one of his siblings to not take a French-Canadian spouse. 

Francis and Eliza rented a farm in the township of Inver Grove, which was just south of St. Paul. Over the next several years, the family moved around to various places in the area: Mendota, Cottage Grove and back to West St. Paul. Francis and Eliza had ten children, but only three survived their early childhood. One who lived to adulthood was Alex, born in 1856. When the boy was 5 years-old, he traveled with his father back to visit the family in Quebec. It isn’t known who they visited (perhaps Francis’ aging mother). It’s unlikely Francis ever returned to Canada after this trip. 

1857 Minnesota Territorial Census for Dakota County. Francis' neighbors were from many places.

In August of 1862, trouble arose in southern Minnesota when members of the Lakota tribe began raiding the farms of white settlers, often killing them, including women and children. There was evidence that Francis had some contact with the Lakotas maybe even before the violence — Alex, as an adult, told of learning their language as a child. When the possibility of raids spread to Mendota, Francis and his family took shelter with others in a local schoolhouse. The situation, which became known as the 1862 Sioux Uprising, brought many settlers together, united against the threat. It was said that Francis was present at the hanging of 38 of the rebels at Mankato, Minnesota in December.  

Not long after the uprising, Francis decided to enlist in the U.S. Army to fight in the Civil War; this was in spite of the fact he was in his late 30s and was supporting a family. For many immigrants trying to gain a foothold in the U.S., serving in the military was a chance to make quick money, so it’s likely this was the reason Francis joined. The records show that he signed up in St. Paul on February 10, 1864, and he was described as being five foot ten inches tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion.

Francis may have thought he would be a soldier on the battlefield, but as it turned out, his entire service in the army was spent in Minnesota. After leaving Fort Snelling in St. Paul, he was sent to a camp in the town of Kasota, and on April 1st, he suffered a rupture of his viscera trying to lift a barrel of water off of a wagon. Francis spent the next three or four months in an Army hospital at Fort Ridgley, and didn't participate in any further active service. After the war ended, he was discharged on May 16, 1865. For the rest of his life, he was partially disabled with a hernia, and had to wear a truss.

After Francis was discharged from the the army, a daughter Ellen was born, then the family moved to Barron County, Wisconsin. Their farm was adjacent to Francis' brother Jean-Baptiste, and a younger brother Edward, who had also moved down from Quebec. Francis and Eliza had one more child, a son Louis, in 1868. The family returned to Minnesota in 1872, and Francis purchased a farm in Wright County in the town of Marysville (later called Waverly). This would be Francis’ home for most of the remainder of his life. 

Some of Francis' granddaughters, and his son Alex with wife Leda in front of the Marysville farmhouse, circa 1935.

In 1897, Francis filed to become an American citizen. His naturalization took place on his 69th birthday at the district court in Buffalo, Minnesota. At that point, Francis had been living in the U.S. nearly 50 years. Usually there is a practical reason to get naturalized, especially when it's so late in life. Perhaps with his health issues in old age, it helped Francis in some way to get treatment and support himself.

The war injury continued to plague Francis, and in 1888, he applied for a veteran’s pension; on the form he claimed to be “half-disabled.”  It was granted within a year, and within a few months, money started coming in from the government. Francis made a claim for full disability in 1899. He now described having a double rupture in the viscera, and was almost totally deaf in both ears. With this new claim, he was put into a nursing home — the National House in Milwaukee. His wife Eliza didn't go with him to Milwaukee, staying with married daughter Ellen in Minneapolis as son Alex took over the farm. 

Francis was transferred to several veterans' homes during his final years. From 1899 to 1901, he was in Milwaukee, and over the next few years, he was in Danville, Illinois and Leavenworth, Kansas. Then in 1906, he was transferred to Sawtelle in Los Angeles. A photo exists of Francis taken among a group standing in front of the veterans’ home at Sawtelle. He's slightly out-of-focus and the photo has a water stain over his body. The identity of the other people in the picture is unknown.

Photo of Francis taken at Sawtelle in about 1906

By 1907, Francis’ health declined severely and he was transferred one last time to the Minnesota Soldiers' Home in Minneapolis, where Eliza was able to live with him. On December 27, 1909, Francis died from peritonitis, probably related to his war injury. He was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Minneapolis. Eliza passed away in 1912.

In the generations that followed, Francis’ descendants would become even more a part of the American ethnic stew. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren married spouses of German, Swedish, Danish, Anglo, Irish, Scottish and Greek descent. An American culture among the family replaced one that was strictly French. And it all began when Francis made the decision to leave Quebec in 1848.

Children:
1.  Eliza LaBree – B. about 1855, Minnesota; D. before 1865

2. Alexander LaBree – B. 1 Nov 1856, Pine Bend, Minnesota; D. 4 Oct 1939, Wright County, Minnesota; M. Leador Labelle (1869-1947), 1 Jan 1885, Waverly, Minnesota

3. John J. LaBree – B. Jan 1860, Minnesota; D. before 1865

4. Ellen M. LaBree – B. 27 Dec 1865, Wisconsin; D. 10 Dec 1935, Minneapolis, Minnesota; M. Francis Chatelain (1857-1917), 27 Oct 1884, Waverly, Minnesota

5. Louis Martin LaBrie – B. 3 Feb 1868, Barron County, Wisconsin; D. 4 Mar 1911, St. Paul, Minnesota; M. Julia A. McGuire (1871-1922), 1 Jun 1891, Minneapolis

Sources:
Birth record of François LaBree, St-Joseph de la Pointe-Lévy, Quebec, 15 Jan 1828
1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. Cenuses, Minnesota and Wisconsin
1857 Minnesota Territorial Census
1865 and 1885 Minnesota State Census
Marriage record of Francis LaBree and Eliza Furlong, St. Paul, Minnesota, 23 Jan 1854
Military records of Francis LaBree, 1864-1865
Military pension file of Francis LaBree, 1888-1910
Francis Labree hospital records 1899-1907
Death certificate of Francis LaBree, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 27 Dec 1909
"LaBree History," Wright-Way Shopper, Monticello, Minnesota, 2 Oct 1980
Letters of Hazel Swenson to Laura Mitchell, 1977-1978
"LaBree Helped Bring Log Cabin Transition," Wright County Journal Press, 12 Oct 1939
Minnesota death index, 1908-2002
Wright County, Minnesota marriage index
World War I draft registration database
Minnesota deaths and burials, 1835-1990
Death certificate of Louis LaBrie, 6 Mar 1911, St. Paul, Minnesota
Marriage record of Louis LaBrie and Julia McGuire, 2 Jun 1891, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Death certificate of Julia LaBrie, 19 May 1922, St. Paul, Minnesota
Birth certificate of Julia McGuire, 23 Jun 1871, Washington Lake, Minnesota

Setting Out Alone from Ireland — Timothy Toole

B. before 1825 in Ireland
M. before 1846 in Ireland
Wife: Hanora Coleman
D. before 28 Jul 1870 in (probably) Sibley County, Minnesota

The story of Timothy Toole was like that of countless other Irishmen who had the misfortune to live during the 1840s: he was forced by famine to leave the land where his family had lived for centuries. Timothy was born in the early 1800s somewhere in Ireland, possibly in County Mayo, where his surname was common. After he came of age, he married Hanora Coleman, and they had a daughter named Mary born in May 1846. 

That year, the potato crop failed for the first time, and it didn’t take long for people like Timothy to feel it. With everyone else around him also suffering, there was almost nowhere to turn for relief. After the blight continued for several years, the only place to find work was in another country. So Timothy made the difficult decision to leave his family behind and go to America. He booked passage on the ship Queen of the West, which sailed out of Liverpool, and docked in New York on December 17, 1849. 

Timothy experienced a scene much like this when he left Liverpool.

Timothy settled in Ohio, possibly in Cincinnati, where two men by his name were named in the 1850 U.S. Census. One was listed as Timothy Toole, age 35, and the other was Tim Toole, age 30. Both men were laborers, born in Ireland, and living in boarding houses in the 4th Ward. Unfortunately no other identifying information gives a clue if either one was Timothy.

Over three years went by before Hanora and Mary were able to join him in Ohio. It’s likely that he was sending them whatever money he could from his wages. They arrived in July of 1853, and within a few years, two more children were born. Around 1860, Timothy and his family left Ohio and moved to Sibley County, Minnesota, where there was a community of Irish immigrants. The 1865 Minnesota State Census showed a man named Dominick Toole who lived near Timothy, and he was very likely his brother or cousin (Dominick had also spent a few years in Ohio). 

Timothy and his family in the 1865 Minnesota State Census.

For the generation of Irish who escaped famine to the United States, some found great success, but Timothy wasn’t one of them. After filing a declaration of intent to become a U.S. citizen on July 3, 1866, he disappeared from further records. Hanora was listed as a widow in the 1870 census, suggesting he must have died before then. 

Children:
1. Mary Toole – B. 3 May 1846, Ireland; D. 14 Dec 1904, Minneapolis, Minnesota; M. Patrick McGuire (1834-1882), 7 Jan 1867, Henderson, Minnesota

2. Thomas Toole – B. about 1857, Ohio; D. after 14 Jun 1880

3. Margaret Toole – B. about 1859, Ohio; D. after 1890

Sources:
Declaration of Intent of Timothy Toole, Sibley County, Minnesota, 3 Jul 1866
Passenger list of Queen of the West, 17 Dec 1849
1865 Minnesota State Census, Sibley County, Minnesota
Death certificate of Mary McGuire, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dec 1904
1870 U.S. Census, Sibley County, Minnesota
Marriage certificate of Patrick McGuire and Mary Toole, 7 Jan 1867, Henderson, Minnesota

Migrating Twice From Canada to U.S. — Maria Bevan

B. 15 Sep 1820 in Prince Edward Island
M. (1) 15 Jan 1838 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Husband: John Baird (or Beard)
M. (2) 15 Jun 1842 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Husband: Charles W. Hughes

M. (3) 20 May 1867 in Boston, Massachusetts

Husband: John Costigan
D. 14 Dec 1888 in Boston, Massachusetts

Maria Bevan left Canada for the United States not once, but twice — the first time with her husband, and the second time as a widow. And on the second trip, she made the move permanent.

Maria was born on Prince Edward Island on September 15, 1820 to Job Bevan and Rebecca Pepperell, the first of their eight children. Job, who was born in Bath, had migrated only a couple of years earlier as a member of the Royal Artillery, and Rebecca had moved with her family from Bristol in 1809. The family lived in Charlottetown, which was the main settlement on Prince Edward Island, and they attended St. Paul’s Anglican Church, where Maria’s grandfather served as sexton.

On January 15, 1838, when Maria was only 17-years old, she married a man named John Beard (or Baird), but the marriage didn’t last and produced no children; it’s likely that he died. Maria found a second husband, Charles Hughes, who, like her father, came from England as member of the Royal Artillery. After getting married on June 15, 1842 at St. Paul’s Church, they made their home in Frederictown, New Brunswick, where oldest son Charles was born. Maria's husband ended his military service in 1846, and they moved back to Charlottetown. There she had four more children: Augusta, Bessie, George and James. Church records show that both Charles and Maria worked as servants for at least part of this time.

It was in 1857, that the family first packed up and moved to the United States. Why they left Canada isn’t known. This wasn’t a common migration for families at the time; the ship they sailed on listed only two other passengers, and both were young men. The Hughes family arrived in Boston, and there is no record that they stayed there for any length of time. Within a year, they settled in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where Maria gave birth to one more child, a daughter named Gertrude. 

 

Maria in about 1857

The 1860 census listed them in Whitewater with Charles employed as a shoemaker; this was the last document where he appeared, and there is no indication in any records of what happened to him. It’s likely that he died suddenly, and Maria, not knowing what else to do, returned to Charlottetown, where she was listed as a widow in an 1864 city directory.

The following year, Maria and her children began to migrate back to the United States. Passenger list records show that they didn’t all come on the same ship. 16-year-old daughter Bessie traveled alone in June, 14-year-old George went in August, and 18-year-old Augusta brought James, aged 9, and Gertrude, age 7, in September. Charles remained in Canada a couple more years, and it isn’t known exactly when Maria left.

The entire group settled in Boston, and on May 20, 1867, Maria married a widower named John Costigan. Although she was in the 1870 census as his wife, Maria was listed in the Boston city directory for the years 1876-1878 living in the households of her married children, and back to using the name Maria Hughes. She definitely wasn’t widowed because Costigan didn't die until 1902, but it isn't known if she had gotten a divorce.

Maria as an older woman

On December 14, 1888, Maria passed away in Boston from chronic bronchitis. Her family buried her in Mt. Hope Cemetery with a gravestone that simply said, "Mother." Maria’s legacy was perhaps in the decision she made to resettle in the United States the second time — none of her surviving children every returned to Canada.

Children:
1. Charles William Hewes – B. 20 May 1845, Fredericton, New Brunswick; D. 24 Nov 1872, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Charlotte Elisa Pippy (1846-1923), 12 Aug 1867, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

2. Caroline Augusta Hughes – B. 22 May 1847, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 26 Jan 1889, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Henry T. Matifes (1847-?), 21 Sep 1867, Boston, Massachusetts

3. Elizabeth Matilda Hughes – B. 25 Sep 1849, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 16 Nov 1937, Los Angeles, California; M. Edwin G. Bentham (~1845-1928), 6 Jan 1868, Boston, Massachusetts

4. George Henry Hewes – B. 17 Oct 1853, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 18 Sep 1923, Tujunga, California; M. Nancy Sophia French (1856-1916), 17 Jul 1879, Boston, Massachusetts

5. James Job Hewes – B. 27 Aug 1855, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 19 Oct 1935, Winchester, Massachusetts; M. Emma R. Tirrel (~1857-?), 5 Jun 1883, Boston, Massachusetts

6. Gertrude E. Hewes – B. 6 Aug 1859, Whitewater, Wisconsin; D. 10 Oct 1916, Los Angeles, California; M. (1) Charles A. Fernald (~1853-1910), 25 Dec 1876, Boston, Massachusetts; (2) Alfred R. Phillips (~1866-?), 19 Sep 1895, Boston, Massachusetts

Sources:
Baptismal record of Maria Bevan, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 5 Nov 1820
Records of Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation
Military records of Charles Hughes, 5 Mar 1846, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Baptismal record of Charles Hughes, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 8 Jun 1845
Records of St. Paul's Anglican Church, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Passenger list of ship Dr. Rogers, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 May 1857
1860 and 1880 U.S. Census, Wisconsin and Massachusetts
1864 City Directory for Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
City Directories for Boston, 1876-1878
Death certificate of Maria Hughes, Boston, Massachusetts, 14 Dec 1888
Tombstone inscription of Maria Hughes
Letter from Charles Hall, 28 Mar 1982, Riverside, Rhode Island
Death certificate of Charlotte Hewes, 25 Aug 1923, Medford, Massachusetts
Massachusetts marriages, 1841-1915
California death index, 1905-1939
Death certificate of Elizabeth Bentham, 17 Nov 1937, Los Angeles, California
Family bible of George H. Hewes
Death certificate of George Hewes, 20 Sep 1923, Tujunga, California
Marriage certificate of George Hewes and Nancy French, 21 Jul 1879, Boston, Massachusetts
Death certificate of Nancy Hewes, July 1916, Berkeley, California
Massachusetts deaths, 1841-1915
Death record of Gertrude E. Phillips, 12 Oct 1916, Los Angeles, California

Poverty That Came Over From Ireland — Patrick McGuire

B. 25 Dec 1834 in (probably) County Mayo, Ireland¹
M. (1) before 1857 in (probably) Sullivan County, New York²
Wife: Bridget Tuffy
M. (2) 7 Jan 1867 in Henderson, Minnesota³
Wife: Mary Toole
D. 1 Apr 1882 in Washington Lake, Minnesota^1,4

For many who escaped the potato famine in Ireland, opportunity in America meant breaking the cycle of financial trouble. Such was not the case for Patrick McGuire, who lived most of his life in need of money.

Patrick was born on Christmas Day, 1834 to Lawrence and Julia McGuire.⁵ His mother was known to have been born in County Mayo,¹ making it highly likely that he was as well. He had at least one younger brother and two younger sisters; none of the children learned to read and write.

County Mayo was heavily dependent on the potato crop, and Patrick’s father was almost certainly a farmer. When the crop failed for the first time in 1846, Patrick was about 11-years-old, and it didn’t take very long before nearly everyone in the county was affected. People did what they could to survive, but the details of what Patrick’s family went through weren’t handed down. They likely struggled to have enough to eat for several years in a row, while watching people around them also starving, and some of them dying.

 

Starving times in 1840s Ireland. (AI-generated image)

 

It wasn’t until about 1852, that Patrick along with his parents and siblings boarded a ship to brought them to New York.⁶ The McGuires settled in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York where they were listed in the 1855 state census.⁶ Patrick’s parents didn’t find the success of some immigrants, and instead seemed to transfer their poverty to America; by 1875, his mother moved into a poor house where she seems to have died alone.⁵ His father was described as a heavy drinker, and disappeared from records after 1880.^5,7

Patrick wasn't around to witness his parents' failures because he left the household within the first few years in America. He married an Irish woman named Bridget Tuffy, and before about 1857,² they had three children. At some point, Patrick moved to Minnesota, possibly living for a short time in Illinois beforehand.⁸ Sadly, Bridget died, but it isn’t known when or where.

 

On January 7, 1867, Patrick married Mary Toole in Henderson, Minnesota, which was in Sibley County.³ She was a young widow with a baby girl, and the probate record of her first husband Michael Toole reveals the poverty of Patrick and Mary. The estate was awarded to the young daughter, and in June of 1867, Mary asked the probate court for $12 out of the estate to pay for food.⁹ Although only Mary and her baby girl were mentioned in the action, it’s easy to imagine that the money was used to feed Patrick’s children as well.

Mary’s little girl died in August 1868, and Patrick stepped in as administrator of the estate.⁹ Since Mary was the heir, she and Patrick ended up with her former husband’s property, primarily consisting of a 160-acre homestead in Washington Lake. One-quarter was sold off in 1867 to pay for probate expenses, but the rest of the land came into Patrick and Mary’s possession after the child died. Their family’s life continued to be a financial struggle, though, and in 1869, they sold off another quarter of the original homestead for $312.¹⁰

Patrick’s mark on a document in the probate file of Mary’s daughter.

By 1870, the family was living in the town of Belle Plain in Le Seuer County, where Patrick worked as a railroad laborer.¹¹ Soon after, they were back in Sibley County, presumably on the Washington Lake farm.¹² Patrick and Mary had five children born between 1871 and 1881. There still seemed to be financial problems as an 1878 deed shows that they sold a strip of land from the old homestead, getting $10 for it.¹⁰ 

Patrick was just 47 when he died of typhoid fever on April 1, 1882.⁴ He was buried in St. Brendan's Cemetery in Green Isle, Minnesota; the stone on his grave is quite large, and it’s likely that it was put there some years later.¹ His widow Mary sold off the farm over the next couple years, and she and the children moved to Minneapolis in about 1886.¹⁴

 

Children by Bridget Tuffy:

1. Mary McGuire — B. Nov 1857, (probably) Sullivan County, New York;¹⁵ D. 1939, (probably) Green Isle, Minnesota;¹⁶ M. (1) Michael Sweeney (1851-?), 1 Oct 1877, Gessen Land, Minnesota;¹⁷ (2) Daniel Myers (1855-1932), 1919¹⁶

2. Katherine McGuire — 1 May 1861, (probably) Sullivan County, New York;¹⁸ D. 21 Apr 1939, Peever, South Dakota;¹⁸ M. Joseph Renshaw Brown (1854-1930), 24 Feb 1881, Stevens County, Minnesota¹⁹

3. Michael McGuire — B. 5 May 1864, Monticello, New York;²⁰ D. 23 Oct 1936, Superior, Wisconsin;²⁰ M. Mary A. Green (1874-1956), 1 Jul 1908, Superior, Wisconsin²¹
 

Children by Mary Toole:
1. Julia A. McGuire — B. 30 Mar 1871, Washington Lake, Minnesota;¹² D. 18 May 1922, St. Paul, Minnesota;²² M. Louis Martin La Brie (1868-1911), 1 Jun 1891, Minneapolis, Minnesota²³

2. Margaret McGuire — B. 7 Aug 1873, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁴ D. 19 Oct 1923, Minneapolis, Minnesota;²⁴ M. Harry Albert Whittaker (1873-?), 1902, St. Paul, Minnesota²⁵

3. John McGuire — B. 19 Feb 1876, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁶ D. 18 May 1917, Minneapolis, Minnesota²⁷

4. Alice McGuire — B. 1 Apr 1879, Washington Lake, Minnesota;²⁸ D. 22 Sep 1893, Sibley County, Minnesota²⁹

5. Johanna McGuire — B. 3 Sep 1881, Washington Lake, Minnesota;³⁰ M. William Henning (1877-~1904), 25 Apr 1899, Hennepin County, Minnesota³¹

Sources:
1    Find-a-Grave listing of Patrick McGuire
2    Estimated marriage is based on birth of oldest child Mary
3    Marriage record of Patrick McGuire and Mary Toole, Minnesota, County Marriages, 1853-1983, FamilySearch.org
4    Death record of Patrick McGuire, Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, FamilySearch.org
5    Listing of Julia McGuire, New York, U.S., Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920, Ancestry.com
6    1855 New York State census, Sullivan County, New York
7    1880 U.S. Census, Sullivan County, New York
8    1910 U.S. Census, Roberts, South Dakota listing for Katherine (McGuire) Brown
9    Probate file of Michael Toole, Sibley, Minnesota, Probate Estate Case Files, 1870-1922, FamilySearch.org
10  Deed of sale between Patrick & Mary McGuire and Thomas Madden, 8 Feb 1869, Sibley, Minnesota, Deeds 1867-1873, FamilySearch.org
11  1870 U.S. Census, Belle Plain, Minnesota
12  Birth record of Julia McGuire, Minnesota County Birth Records, 1863-1983, FamilySearch.org
13  Deed of sale between Patrick & Mary McGuire and Patrick O’Keefe, 26 Jul 1878, Sibley, Minnesota, Deeds 1878-1886, FamilySearch.org
14  1887 Minneapolis City Directory
15  1900 U.S. Census, Green Isle, Minnesota
16  Find-a-Grave listing of Mary (McGuire) Sweeney Myers
17  Marriage record of Michael Sweeney and Mary McGuire, Minnesota, U.S., Marriages Index, 1849-1950, Ancestry.com
18  Death certificate of Katherine Brown, Department of Health, State of South Dakota
19  Marriage record of Joseph Renshaw Brown and Katherine McGuire, Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019, Ancestry.com
20  Death record of Michael James McGuire, Wisconsin, U.S., Death Records, 1872-2004, Ancestry.com
21  Marriage record of Michael McGuire and Mary Green, Wisconsin, U.s., Marriage Records, 1820-2004, Ancestry.com
22  Death record of Julia LaBrie, Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002, FamilySearch.org
23  Marriage record of Lewis Labree and Julia McGuire, M., C. M.
24  Death record of Margaret Whittaker, Minnesota Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990, FamilySearch.org
25  Marriage record of Harry Whittaker and Margaret McGuire, M., C. M.
26  Birth record of John McGuire, Minnesota Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916, FamilySearch.org
27  Death record of John McGuire, Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001, FamilySearch.org
28  Birth record of Alice McGuire, M., C. B. R.
29  Death record of Allie McGuire, M., B. & D.
30  Birth record of Johanna McGuire, M., B. & D.
31  Marriage of record William Henning and Johanna McGuire, M., C. M.