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My Families |
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This site has been created to share my family histories with those having similar passions in genealogy. It focuses primarily on my immigrant ancestors, all but one from Ireland, and their first generation American descendants. Almost all of my families emigrated from Cobh (pronounced "Cove"), County Cork, Ireland, boarding two or three-masted steamships and sailing for roughly two weeks to either New York City or Boston. Cobh was known as Queenstown, named in 1849 to honor Queen Victoria's visit to Ireland; however, Queenstown reverted to Cobh following Irish Independence in 1922. Not only was Queenstown the last Irish soil beneath my ancestors' feet, but it was the last port of call for the RMS Titanic on April 11, 1912. Between 1840 and 1910, there was a significant evolution in the size, power, and speed of passenger ships. The earlier ships were referred to as "coffin ships" because many passengers died during the arduous voyage, especially during the time of the Great Famine of Ireland (1845 to 1852) when landowners found it cheaper to pay the fares of their starving tenants than it was to feed them. Names of ships transporting my ancestors included Catalonia, City of Richmond, Commonwealth, Saxonia, Scythia. Below are images of Queenstown circa 1900.
Most of the events in the lives of my families occurred in or near Lynn, Massachusetts, a harbor town north of Boston in Essex County. Lynn was first settled in 1629 by colonists from the New England Company in Salem. The settlers relied mostly on shell fishing and family farms for their existence. An iron works was built in 1643 near Saugus, and later, tanning became a major industry. Lynn continued to grow and became internationally known for its shoe industry which had advanced from tradesmen toiling in one-room workshops known as “ten footers” to large multi-storied shoe factories. The General Electric Company was founded in Lynn in 1892 through the merger of Thomson-Houston Electric Company and the Edison General Electric Company. The first jet airplane engine built in the U. S. came from Lynn’s General Electric plant in 1942.
Lynn, Massachusetts circa 1870 From History of Lynn, Massachusetts by James Newhall, 1883 Almost all of my family histories are were written by Irish men, women, and children who immigrated to America during the period 1865 to 1900 from the faraway Irish counties of Cork, Galway, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, and Waterford. Although most arrived in Boston, some of the earlier immigrants arrived in New York and passed through Castle Garden, Ellis Island's predecessor. One family immigrated from Sweden. The life patterns of my immigrant families were similar. The men tended to be low-skilled laborers, and the women tended to marry low-skilled laborers. If not already married before coming to America, they typically married only a few years after arrival in Lynn, Salem, or other neighboring town. Most had very large families, often experiencing an unimaginable toll in infant mortality. They lived in Lynn communities referred to as the "Brickyard" and the "Highlands" and became well-known and respected citizens. The immigrant families tended to be deeply religious and highly involved in church activities, especially at St. Mary's Church, St. Joseph's Church, and Sacred Heart Church. For the most part, they enjoyed long and married lives in Lynn and, no doubt, took some measure of satisfaction in the gamble they had made in immigrating to America. The first American-born ancestors grew up in large but poor families and understood loss at an early age. It was common to lose two or more siblings to a wide variety of diseases and accidents. They attended Lynn public and parochial schools and participated in scholastic, athletic, and church activities. Being more educated than their immigrant parents, they found higher-skilled employment in Lynn, typically with the Lynn city government, shoe factories, and General Electric Company. They enjoyed greater economic success and some achieved notable distinction, such as Mayor of Lynn, Swampscott Chief of Police, lot superintendent of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus, Red Sox team doctor, and foundress of St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. They mostly married, had smaller families, and moved to newer developed areas of Lynn or neighboring towns, like Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, Melrose, Chelsea, and Boston. The second generation of American-born ancestors attended the same Lynn schools as their parents, and some went on to college. They continued the pattern of diversity in trade skill or profession and achieved further economic success. Many would begin the migration from Lynn to parts of America due to military service, other employment opportunities, or retirement. This trend would continue through succeeding generations, so much so that today only remnants of the original Irish immigrant families can be found in Lynn and neighboring towns. A large number of the men and some women in all of these generations served in the U. S. military, participating in the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam - and no doubt this trend has continued to the present. Many became members of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars. One family had four brothers simultaneously serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I. Others served with distinction with some of America's most famous World War II units, such as the 82nd Airborne Division, 17th Airborne Division, 379th Bomb Group, 361st Fighter Group, and USS Franklin and were engaged in fiercely fought campaigns. Many received military commendations and decorations, including the Purple Heart. This website is dedicated to the memory of my ancestors - from the poor immigrants who ventured into the unknown to create new but hard lives for themselves and their children to the many generations of American-born ancestors that followed. These are their stories. Names Found in Family Tree
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