A Genealogy Friend found the 1832 French Passport record for the Evans Family -
1832 French Passport with Translation
Tracking the Evans Family
John and Mary Evans had four children - Emma 1820 born in England, Benjamin 1826 and John born 1831 born in France, and Eben born 1840 Scotland.
When I started researching this family, I was tracking down John P Evans born 6 June 1831 in France - he immigrated to Pennsylvania and worked in the Iron and steel industry in Pittsburgh. I didn’t know the names of his parents, but I did know they were born in England. I also didn’t know why the family was living in France, but I thought it likely that the father was working in the Iron or Coal Industry.
I searched for another Evans in Pennsylvania born in France in the same time frame and found a brother to John P Evans - Benjamin Evans was born in 1826 in France and is buried right beside John P Evans in Pittsburgh. I had another clue - there was a Mary Thomas living with John P Evans in 1870 - she was born in England about 1800 - I thought she could be John P Evans mother - perhaps she had married again and acquired the surname Thomas. (I knew John P Evans mother had emigrated and was in the US as she is mentioned in the Civil War pension record of her son John)
I also had very good sourcing that son John (born 6 June 1831) moved from France to Glasgow as an infant. - This information was provided by the son of John P Evans to a historical society.
I found an 1841 Scotland Census record and it had a family living in company housing for the Govan Iron Works. The mother was a widow and the Evans children were listed as Emma (20), Benjamin (15), John (10), and Eben (1). Mary was listed as Widow Evans - no given name. The Scotland Census was conducted on 6 June 1841. This date was noteworthy for two reasons. It was John P Evans 10th birthday and the eldest Evans child, Emma Evans, was married the very next day - 7 June 1841 to John Hanson. I may never have been able to connect Emma to this family if she had married one day sooner.
I was eventually able to track down the mother’s name. Mary - she is living with her daughter, Emma Hanson in Scotland in 1851, shown adjacent on the census to Emma Hanson in Pittsburgh in 1860 - listed as Mary Thomas, and living with John P Evans in 1870 as Mary Thomas.
However the only clue I had about the father was that he must have died in 1839 or 1840 as there was a 1 year old son in the 1841 Census. I found a death record for a 43 year old John Evans in the same location as the family in 1840. His was the only death record for an Evans who was the right age, so I had a tentative given name - John. It wouldn’t be a surprise - the name John Evans carried down as follows John P Evans 1831 to his son John Evans Sr, John Evans Jr, John Evans III, and John Evans IV.
Today I received an email from my genealogy friend with several French records and one of these records is a perfect fit! The record is a passport entry issued on 13 November 1832 in Bordeaux, France for a John Evans born in England in 1796. John Evans was working as a refiner of iron in Bordeaux and he was traveling to London with his wife who was 32 years old and 4 children ages 17 months to 12 years old. Every detail fits right down to 17 month old John Evans. I’m sure this is my John Evans - It's great to know where this family was living in France and to know that John Evans was working in the Iron industry as predicted.
Genealogy friends!! Thank you
1832 French passport with translation
Peter Hegarty 1883
Found a surprising record in the Irish Civil Records - not sure what to think
Background - Regarding Rathavisteen Hegartys in the Irish Civil Records
Peter Hegarty & Mabel Browne - Irish Civil Records for this family found a few to date.
Records located
- 1899 Marriage of the youngest son, Peter Hegarty
- 1943 Death record for Peter Hegarty
- 1935 Death record for Catherine Hegarty Kearney
Records that should be in the database
- 1867-1870 Birth Patrick Hegarty
- 1870 Birth Peter Hegarty
- 1875 Marriage Catherine Hegarty & Anthony Kearney
- Death Peter Hegarty Sr
The 1875 Marriage of Catherine Hegarty is recorded in the Parish Registers, but I cannot find a civil record
Peter Hegarty was still in the petty sessions after 1864, so he should be in the death records, but I cannot find a record
I was looking around in the Irish Civil Records for my Rathavisteen Hegartys again and I ran across a puzzling record.
The 6 August 1883 birth of a Peter Hegharty to a Peter Hegharty from Rathavisteen and Bridget Cafferty. The birth occurred in Kilbride (to the east of Beldrig) and the informant, Mary Murphy, present at the birth, had recently given birth herself (29 July 1883) in Kilbride and she reported both births on the day after Peter was born - 7 August 1883.
The record does not name Bridget Cafferky as Bridget Hegarty formerly Cafferky - the "formerly" is lined out. Also the entire record appears to have been crossed out. The same record shows up when I search for Peter Cafferky
The Peter Hegarty who I have documented is as follows
- Irish Census Records in Rathavisteen in 1901 & 1911 (born circa 1871)
- Peter Hegarty (full age) from Rathavisteen is married to a Bridget Kelly in 1899 and the marriage record for Peter Hegarty & Bridget Kelly names the father of Peter as Peter Hegarty.
- A Peter Hegarty from Ireland is also listed in the Scranton probate records as a brother of John Hegarty.
- 1843 Death Peter Hegarty of Rathavisteen (age 85)
So the Peter I have been documenting is clearly older than this Peter born in 1883.
The only Peter Hegartys I am aware of in Rathavisteen in 1883 are Peter Hegarty born circa 1825 and his son Peter Hegarty born circa1871.
Background
My great grandfather, Thomas Francis O'Connor's, parents were Anthony O'Connor and Julia Henry. They were both born in Ireland in the late 1840s.
Where they were from in Ireland was unknown. Their parents names were unknown
Here is what was known
1 - Julia Henry reported in the 1900 & 1910 US Census that she had given birth to four children with only one still living - (my great grandfather, Thomas Francis O’Connor).
2 - Julia died in 1925 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There wasn’t an obituary for Julia O’Connor, but there was a notice in the paper - Julia Henry O’Connor’s funeral was on Christmas Eve 1925.
The Pennsylvania Death Certificate requires the names and birth locations of the deceased and their parents, so when I first found Julia’s Pennsylvania death record, I thought, jackpot - but no. My great grandmother Ellen Scott, her daughter-in-law, was the informant named on the death record and she reported “don't know” for the parents of Julia Henry. I couldn't believe it - Julia Henry had lived with Ellen Scott O’Connor for 20 years.
Not knowing where in Ireland Anthony O’Connor and Julia Henry were born or the names of their parents left me at a dead end … a rock solid brick wall.
Aunt Alice
Thomas Francis O'Connor's youngest daughter - my Great Aunt Alice, was a genealogist. Aunt Alice's research on the Scott/Fadden side was very accurate - probably because she got the information from her mother Ellen Scott who was born in Ireland.
However, Aunt Alice didn't get very far on the O'Connor side. (perhaps because her father, Thomas O'Connor, died when she was about 8 years old.)
The information Aunt Alice had on her grandparents Anthony O'Connor and Julia Henry was as follows:
1- Anthony O'Connor was naturalized as an American citizen in the 1850s
2- Julia Henry was first married to a Dan Regan in Ireland
3- Julia Henry and Anthony O'Connor were married in the USA
4- Anthony O’Connor was killed by a train in 1894
Turns out Aunt Alice was wrong - almost all of that is wrong.
Then I got lucky
Julia Henry shows up in the 1900 US Census as Julia Regan, wife of Dan Regan, living in the same Scranton neighborhood as the O'Connor's and Haggertys. I don’t know what happened to Dan Regan, but I have not been able to find him in the records after the 1900 US Census.
Julia stopped using the surname Regan sometime after 1900. Julia is using the name Julia O’Connor in the 1910 US Census and she uses the O’Connor surname until her death, so I was really lucky to spot that Regan marriage. (It's very unusual for a woman in this time period to revert back to an earlier name)
The exciting part about finding this second marriage was that this marriage record for Julia O’Connor and Dan Regan included the names of Julia Henry’s parents - James and Anne Henry.
So I was closer, but you really need to have some idea of a location in order to start searching Irish records, and I didn’t have a clue where Julia Henry was born.
Then came DNA
I connected a group of interrelated DNA matches who all tracked back to the same common ancestor - a Thomas Henry born in 1842 near Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland. I was thinking that this could be my Henry connection. Thomas Henry and Julia could be siblings (Julia was born circa 1849 per the 1880 US Census)
The ancestor of the shared DNA matches, Thomas Henry, never left Ireland and so his children are recorded in the Irish Civil records into the 20th century. Some of the children and grandchildren of Thomas Henry did come to America and they show up in American records and they have some of the same DNA as my family.
Henry DNA chart with active links
So with the names of Julia’s parents (James and Anne Henry) and if the DNA matches were connected to Julia Henry - I had a location - (near Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland). I was able to start looking in the Irish records for Julia Henry.
And I found her
Fortunately, the Swinford Catholic Parish registers are intact, and I was able to find a baptism record for a Thomas Henry, baptized 5 December 1841 in Lagcurragh, Mayo (very near Swinford) - Thomas Henry’s parents were {drum roll} - James Henry and Anne Byrne.
Then I found her - Julia was recorded as Judith Henry, baptized on 11 November 1844. (Judith is a very common Irish variant of the name Julia - why is a mystery). Julia was also born in Lagcurragh to the same parents - James Henry and Anne Byrne. The small townland, Lagcurragh is listed in both baptism records (listing the townland in a baptism record in this time period is unusual and in this case really helped confirm my research as I found more records).
I also found the 1840 marriage record for James Henry and Anne Byrne in the parish registers.
So Thomas Henry (the ancestor of all of the DNA matches) and Julia Henry were brother and sister and their parents were James Henry and Anne Byrne.
Marriage - Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor
I’ve looked many times for the marriage record of Anthony O’Connor and Julia Henry in the Irish civil records and the Irish Catholic Parish registers and have never had any luck … until I did.
Focusing on the Swinford area records, trying every variation of their names, and looking for a marriage from 1864 - 1875, I finally found the Irish civil marriage record for Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor. The reason the record was so elusive, is because it was indexed as Anthony Commee and Judy Henry. Connor was never going to show up in a search when the name is indexed as Commee. When you view the original record, the names are clearly Anthony Connor and Judy Henry and they were married in January 1870.
There is no doubt that this is the correct record as Judy Henry is recorded as the daughter of James Henry and she is from Lagcurragh, Swinford, Mayo. Anthony Connor's residence at the time of his marriage was the townland of Cloonfinnaun. Lagcurragh and Cloonfinnaun are adjacent townlands in County Mayo, Ireland very near the market town of Swinford. Anthony O'Connor's father was recorded as Thomas O’Connor, farmer.
BTW - My grandfather was Anthony Aloysius O'Connor and my father was Thomas O’Connor - my brothers are Thomas Francis O’Connor & Anthony Aloysius O'Connor.
It seems inconceivable now, but the civil marriage records in Ireland did not record the name of the mother of the bride or groom, only the father is named. So we now know the name of Anthony O’Connor’s father - Thomas O’Connor, but not the name of his mother. I’m still looking in the Catholic Parish records for Anthony O’Connor’s baptism which is probably my only chance of finding the name of Anthony O’Connor’s mother. (He was born too early to show up in the Irish civil birth records)
The best part is that I now have locations (Lagcurragh & Cloonfinnaun) to research and visit in Ireland - Already found a Thomas O'Connor in the 1856 Griffith's Valuation in Cloonfinnaun, County Mayo, Ireland
The Brother - Martin O’Connor
There was an 1870 Irish civil birth record for a Martin Connor, son of Anthony Connor and Julia Henry. I had considered might be the the son of our Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor - (remember, Julia Henry reported in the US Census that she had given birth to four children). But I always thought it was unlikely that the Martin O’Connor in the Irish civil birth record was the child of Anthony O’Connor & Julia Henry because Aunt Alice said her grandparents, were married in the United States and this Martin Connor was born in Ireland.
But now that I know that Julia Henry was from Lagcurragh, Mayo, Ireland and that Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor were married in Ireland, there is no doubt that Martin Connor was our Julia Henry & Anthony O’Connor’s son. Martin O’Connor was born in 1870 in Lagcurragh, Swinford, Mayo the same small townland in Ireland where Julia Henry was born. Martin was born about ten months after Julia and Anthony O’Connor were married. Note that in this record, Julia is recorded as Julia Connor, formerly Henry.
I have not located any additional children born to Julia Henry and Anthony Connor in Ireland or America.
Coming to America
There is a ship manifest from the "City of Limerick" May 1871 for a Julia Connor age 25 traveling with a 6 month old infant from Ireland to New York. I believe this is Julia and her son Martin O’Connor who was born in November 1870. This manifest indicates Julia was born in 1846 which lines up quite well with the November 1844 baptism parish record.
Julia and Anthony O’Connor had to arrive in America after November 1870 when Martin was born in Ireland and before 1872 or 1873 when Thomas Francis O’Connor was born in Pennsylvania (born at the “Continental” - coal mine in Lackawanna Township).
DNA notes
1- The DNA connections are only shown for thirteen descendants of Anthony Aloysius O’Connor & Helen Haggerty (nine 1st cousins, myself and my siblings). They have kindly designated me as a viewer of their Ancestry DNA results, which allows a much more detailed DNA analysis. (I might not have discovered this Henry connection without access to my cousin’s DNA as I seem to have the least Henry DNA)
2 - As of December 2018, there are 22 descendants of Thomas O’Connor and Ellen Scott found in the Ancestry database. They also share DNA with this Henry Group. (Uncle Frank - Johns Street, Hornell, Uncle Tom Binghamton NY, Aunt Helen Nealon, and Uncle Jim’s - Scranton, PA descendants in the Ancestry database all share with the descendants of Thomas Henry)
3 - Ancestry.com DNA regions - According to our DNA, Ancestry.com has determined that the descendants of Anthony Aloysius O’Connor and Helen Haggerty came from seven different regions in County Mayo. Ancestry will display your DNA matches by region. My Haggerty matches are displayed within the North Mayo regions which is where my great grandfather Pat Haggerty was born. Our Fadden/Scott matches show up in the South Mayo, South & Central Mayo, and Achill Island regions. The Henry DNA matches are the top matches in the East Mayo & West Roscommon region list which is where Swinford is located - East Mayo
100 years ago today my grandfather, Anthony Aloysius O’Connor, shipped out to France to fight in WWI. He departed on the SS Canada from New York as a member of the 306th Army Corps of Engineers.
Anthony O’Connor was inducted into the United States Army in on 29 May 1918. Two months later, on 30 July 1918, he boarded the troop ship “Canada” headed for Europe.
His family was living south of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 1918 when Andy O’Connor shipped out - He listed his mother, Ellen S O’Connor, as the person to notify in case of emergency - address Mariana, Pennsylvania.
The 1918 Manifest for the SS Canada is found here
Anthony O’Connor was living with his family at 132 West 109th Street in New York City on 5 June 1917 when he along with 24 million other young men were required to register for the draft in response to our entry into WWI.
This is the best early photo I have of Anthony O'Connor - taken in 1925 on his wedding day
This is the best early photo I have of Anthony O'Connor - taken in 1925 on his wedding day
Anthony O’Connor was inducted into the United States Army on 29 May 1918. From his discharge and service records, I knew that Andy O’Connor served in the 306th US Army Corps of Engineers.
There was a book written about the 306th regiment which details the training and activity of the soldiers serving in the 306th throughout WWI. It is available in its entirely, as a digital book, from the Library of Congress “Roster and History 306 Engineers”
There was a book written about the 306th regiment which details the training and activity of the soldiers serving in the 306th throughout WWI. It is available in its entirely, as a digital book, from the Library of Congress “Roster and History 306 Engineers”
Andy O’Connor. Private First Class - Company “F” 306th Engineers - trained at Camp Sevier, South Carolina for six weeks. The regiment left Camp Sevier for shipment overseas on 15 July 1918 and was shipped out of New York City to Europe on 30 July 1918.
What follows are excerpts of the volume “Roster and History 306 Engineers”. There is much more detail in the book, including fascinating accounts of the regiment’s interaction with the French, the march to the front, and details about the six months in France after the Armistice on 11 November 1918 (at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918)
A high resolution panoramic photograph was taken of Company “F” 306th Engineers at Camp Jackson, SC after their return from France. The photograph is available at the North Carolina Digital Collection and can be examined in high detail there.
Company F, 306th Engineers Regiment, 81st Division, Camp Jackson, South Carolina
About a year ago several descendants of Anthony O’Connor examined the photograph, trying to find Andy O’Connor, and our best guess is shown below.
Link to the PDF of Anthony O’Connor’s Military Service Record and Honorable Discharge
Andy O’Connor was discharged from Fort Dix New Jersey on 23 June 1919
Update - 4 August 2018 - I posted this entry on our O'Connor Facebook page and Patrick Muldoon, grandson of Anthony O'Connor, had asked his grandfather about his time in WWI - Pat added the following comment on Facebook
"Patrick Muldoon - "I once asked him (as a little kid) if he ever shot any Germans. He laughed and said the only time he saw any Germans they were running a communication wire and they looked over and saw Germans doing the same thing going the other way. Since they were all engineers they just kept doing what they were doing and basically ignored each other."
Thomas Francis O’Connor’s mother was Julia Henry. Julia Henry O’Connor was widowed when her husband Anthony O’Connor was run over by a train in Pittsburgh, PA in 1894.
Aunt Alice had a notation in her records that Julia Henry had first been married to a Dan Regan in Ireland, then married to Anthony O’Connor. Turns out that Julia Henry was married to Daniel Regan in 1899 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This was a second marriage for Dan Regan and Julia Henry. Julia Henry was listed on the marriage record as Julia Henry O'Connor.
This 1899 marriage record is the first record I have found that names Julia Henry's parents. Julia Henry was the daughter of James & Anne Henry. Unfortunately no surname for Julia's mother was listed.
Daniel Regan and Julia Henry O’Connor Regan are found together in the 1900 US Census on 206 Grant Avenue in Scranton, PA about one block away from Julia’s son Thomas O’Connor and his family.
I do not know what happened to Dan Regan - I haven’t found a death record and I haven’t been able to locate him in the 1910 US Census, but Julia was located in the 1910 US Census. Julia was living with her son Thomas O’Connor and his family and she is enumerated as Julia O’Connor - widow. Julia is listed in the 1920 US Census and on her death record as Julia O’Connor - she apparently dropped the Regan surname.
Unfortunately I do not have a photograph of Julia Henry.
Patrick Scott & Catherine Fadden emigrated from Ireland to Scranton Pennsylvania with their family on the ship “Germanic” in 1886. The manifest was submitted on 19 April 1886 at the Port of New York.
The Scott family is recorded as from Mayo, Ireland and detailed as follows
Pat Scott - age 11 - child
Ellen Scott - age 9 - child
Pat Scott - age 40 - labourer
Cath Scott - age 45 - wife
Fully enlargeable version of the Gemanic manifest
The 1900 US Census asked foreign born respondents to provide the year of their immigration and state how many years they have been in the United States. John Reilly and Ellen Toohil Reilly were captured in the 1900 US Census in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with John Reilly's employment enumerated as a 'slate picker'. John Reilly's reported year of immigration was 1870 and Helen Toohil Reilly was recorded as coming to America in 1872.
It was common for young men to come to the new world to establish themselves with employment before their wives and children would make their way to America. Often new immigrants would stay with family members who had come before them. This appears to be the case for this young Reilly family.
There are many immigration records for a John Reilly, born in Ireland, sailing to New York in 1870. There is not enough detail in these records to determine which is the John Reilly, father of my great-grandmother Ellen Reilly, but since John Reilly's wife, Ellen Toohil Reilly, traveled with their five children in 1873 it was possible to determine the ship and port of arrival for the young family.
The Reilly family is first recorded in the United States in the 1880 US Census. The census provides the names and ages of John and Ellen Reilly's children along with the location of birth and occupation for each family member. That nine year old John Reilly was born in Ireland indicates the family was still in Ireland c 1871.
Name
|
Age
|
Where born
|
Occupation
|
John Riley
Ellen Riley
Patk Riley
Michael Riley
Ellen Riley
John Riley
Julia Riley
William Riley
|
40
45
14
13
11
9
4
5/12
|
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
|
Laborer
Keeping house
Coal breaker*
Coal breaker*
|
1880 US Census - Reilly Family in Lackawanna Township
The immigration records list passenger names, ages, and country of origin. When looking for Ellen Reilly sailing c 1872. I found the family sailing on the Steamship Maude in May 1873. The names and ages of the children traveling with Ellen Reilly match exactly the names and ages found as the children of John and Ellen Reilly in the 1880 US Census. The only child not found in the 1880 US Census is Ellen's infant daughter Mary Reilly.
New York Passenger List of the Steamship Maude May 1873
Castle Garden is the location where immigrants came into New York before Ellis Island. The Castle Garden database also lists the Reilly family arriving in New York in May 1873, but the ship on the Castle Garden index is called the SS France.
The ship is recorded as the SS France in the Castle Garden database and the ship is called the "Maude" in the familysearch index. The original manifest seems to list both the SS Maude and the SS France. (see manifest header above).
Immigrants at Castle Garden, New York c 1880
Since the occupations of John Reilly and his sons Patrick and Michael were mentioned above when referencing the 1880 and 1900 US Census records, I thought I would add some detail to describe what these jobs entailed.
Breaker Boys
John Reilly is listed as a laborer in the 1880 Census and the two older boys, 13 year old Michael and 14 year old Patrick Reilly, are already working as coal breakers also known as breaker boys. The Mining History Association Museum In Scranton provides a brief history of working in the coal mines in Lackawanna County which includes this picture of breaker boys in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Breaker boys in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Breaker Boys
Slate Picker
Until about 1900, nearly all anthracite coal breakers were labor-intensive. The removal of impurities was done by hand, usually by boys between the ages of 8 and 12 years old known as breaker boys.
The use of breaker boys began in the U.S. around 1866. The breaker boys would sit on wooden seats, perched over chutes and conveyor belts, picking slate and other impurities out of the coal. Breaker boys worked 10 hours a day for six days a week.
The work was hazardous. Breaker boys were forced to work without gloves so that they could handle the slick coal better. The slate, however, was sharp, and boys would leave work with their fingers cut and bleeding. Many breaker boys lost fingers to the rapidly moving conveyor belts, while others, moving about the plant, had their feet, hands, arms, and legs amputated when they moved among the machinery and accidentally slipped under the belts or into the gears. Many died when they fell into the gears of the machinery, their bodies only retrieved at the end of the working day. Others were caught in the rush of coal, and crushed to death or smothered. The "dry" coal kicked up so much dust that the breaker boys sometimes wore lamps on their heads to see, and asthma and black lung disease were common.
Public outrage against the use of breaker boys was so widespread that in 1885 Pennsylvania enacted a law forbidding the employment of anyone under the age of 12 from working in a coal breaker. But the law was poorly enforced, and many employers and families forged birth certificates or other documents so children could work
Slate Picker
The next available census in 1900 records 55 year old John Reilly working as a slate picker. The following image, from the Scranton Times Tribune, depicts slate pickers in Pennsylvania.
 |
| Slate Pickers in Scranton Pennsylvania |
There doesn't seem to be much distinction between and breaker boy and a slate picker. As noted in the excerpt below referencing Slate Pickers in Scranton PA, when men become too old to work as coal miners, they often fill the roll of sorting coal as slate pickers which apparently led to the saying - "once a miner and twice a breaker boy"