Ulster Historical Foundation 2017 U.S. Tour

The Ulster Historical Foundation will embark on their annual American tour on 3 March.  As usual, they will traverse the length and breadth of the United States to present lectures. The series will focus on getting the most out of Irish resources and records, gaining strategies for breaking down brick walls, and grasping important historical context that may help fill in gaps in your research.[1] 

Throughout March, they will visit the following cities:

Friday, 3 March - Phoenix, AZ 

Saturday, 4 March - Phoenix, AZ 

Sunday, 5 March - Tacoma, WA 

Tuesday, 7 March - Nashville, TN 

Thursday, 9 March - Michigan City, IN 

Saturday, 11 March - Bentonville, AR 

Sunday, 12 March - York County, PA 

Monday, 13 March - Green Bay, WI 

Wednesday, 15 March - Fountaindale, IL 

Thursday, 16 March - Fountaindale, IL 

Friday, 17 March - Richmond, VA 

Saturday, 18 March - Philadelphia, PA 

Tuesday, 21 March - Little Rock, AR 

For complete information visit the Ulster Historical Foundation website.

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[1] Ulster Historical Foundation. North American Lecture Tour, 03-22 March 2017. Ulster Historical Foundation (http:// www.ancestryireland.com): accessed 11 February 2017.

U.S. Roman Catholic Cemetery Publications II

This post contains the second half of a list of books of transcribed grave marker inscriptions from Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States. Grave marker information can sometimes provide an Irish county or civil parish of origin. Scroll down to the most previous blogpost (20 September) or click here for the first post.

Please add a comment if you know of publications for states Minnesota through Wyoming that are not on this list.

Minnesota

Bakeman, Mary. Calvary Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota. 5 volumes. Roseville, MN: Park Genealogical Books. 1995-1999.

Missouri

St. Louis Genealogical Society, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints AND St. Louis Eighth Ward. Catholic Cemetery Inscriptions of Jefferson County, Missouri. St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Genealogical Society. 1985.

Stricklin, Dawn C. Catholic Cemeteries in Southern Missouri and Illinois: Volume 1 in the Mortality Series. R.J. Stymes & Sons. 2013.

Available online at: https://archive.org/details/Stricklin2013

Montana

Brink, Marilyn. Tombstone inscriptions: St. Joseph's Catholic Church cemetery, Miesville, Mn. St. Paul, MN: Dakota County Genealogical Society. 1989.

New Jersey

Conroy, Bill. St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery, Freehold, NJ, Division 1. Freehold, NJ: Self-published. Year Unknown.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE58187 (opens as pdf)

Conroy, Bill. St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery, Freehold, NJ, Division 2. Freehold, NJ: Self-published. Year Unknown.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE58182 (opens as pdf)

New York
Ardolina, Rosemary Muscarella. Old Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books. 1996.

Ardolina, Rosemary Muscarella. Second Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone. Floral Park, NY: Delia Publications. 2000. 

Barber, Gertrude A. Tombstone Inscriptions in the Catholic Cemetery at Richfield Springs, N.Y

and Also in the Exeter Cemetery at Exeter, N.Y., Both Located in Otsego County, N.Y. New York, NY: Self-published. 1931.

Kearns, Francis M. Assumption of Mary Parish, Redford, New York: Baptisms, 1853–1910, Marriages 1853–1923, Burials 1853–1925, Sepultures and Cemetery Records. Clinton, NY: Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society. 1990.

Nial, Loretta M. Tombstone Inscriptions in Cemeteries in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York Indicating a Foreign Place of Origin. Troy, NY: Self-published. 1976.

Available online at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/troy/tombstone.htm

Siarkiewicz, Emilie Jones. St. Ann's Catholic Cemetery, Hinckley, New York. Hinckley, NY: Self-published. 1993.

Silinonte, Joseph M. Tombstones of the Irish Born: Cemetery of the Holy Cross, Flatbush, Brooklyn. Concord, Ontario: Becker Associates. 1992.

Ohio

Author Unknown. ‘The Restoration of Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Dennison, Ohio and List of Irish Immigrants Buried There.’ Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild Subscribers' Interest List. Vol. 11. 1988.

Ross County Genealogical Society. Tombstone Inscriptions & Burial Records of Saint Margaret's Catholic Cemetery and Tombstone Inscriptions of Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Cemetery Ross County, Ohio. Chillicothe, OH: Ross County Genealogical Society. 1989.

Schlegel, Donald M. The Columbus Catholic Cemetery History and Records, 1846-1874. Columbus, OH: Columbus History Service. 1983.

Oregon

Wolfe, Rosemary. St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery, the Dalles, Wasco Co., Oregon. The Dalles, OR: Mid-Columbia Genealogical Society. 1983.

Pennsylvania

Author Unknown. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions From St. Peter's Catholic Church, Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1799–1900.’ Directory of Irish Family History Research: Subscribers' Interest List. Vol. 18. 1995.

Ensley, Brian J. St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Biographical Sketch and Cemetery Listing

Old Conemaugh Borough, Johnstown, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press. 2001.

Middleton, Thomas C. Pew Register and Interments in St. Mary's Burying Ground, Philadelphia, from 1787–1800. West Jordan, UT: Stemmons. 1988.

Zimmerman, Edgar H. St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery (Goshenhoppen), Bally, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and New Cemetery of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Bally, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Apolla, PA: Closson Press. 2000.

Utah

Smith, Veda and Henry H. Weese. Mount View Catholic Cemetery, Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Ogden, UT: Self-published. 1940.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE92007 (opens as pdf)

Virginia

Chitwood, W. R. Tombstone Inscriptions, East End Cemetery and St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery, Wytheville, VA. Wytheville, VA: Self-published. 1984.

Miller, Michael T. Burials in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Alexandria, VA, 1783–1983. Baltimore, MD: Heritage Books. 1986.

Pippenger, Wesley E. Tombstone Inscriptions of Alexandria, Virginia (Volume 5): St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery (1795). Alexandria, VA: self-published. 2005.

Wisconsin

Bird, Miriam Y. Town of Granville (Milw. Co.) Irish and St. Michael's Cemetery. Whitefish Bay, WI: Mimi Bird. 1994.

Milwaukee County Genealogical Society. Town of Granville, Irish & St. Michael's Cemetery. Milwaukee WI: Milwaukee County Genealogical Society. 1995.

United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938

The National Home (called Asylum up to 1873) for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was founded in 1865 to look after volunteer soldiers who had been injured or disabled during the American Civil War. Twelve homes were opened across the United States, beginning with the first home in Togus, Maine in 1866.[1]

Home	Location	Date Established
Eastern Branch	Togus, Maine	1866
Central Branch	Dayton, Ohio	1867
Northwestern Branch	Wood, Wisconsin	1867
Southern Branch	Hampton, Virginia	1870
Western Branch	Leavenworth, Kansas	1885
Pacific Branch	Sawtelle, California	1888
Marion Branch	Marion, Indiana	1888
Roseburg Branch	Roseburg, Oregon	1894
Danville Branch	Danville, Illinois	1898
Mountain Branch	Johnson City, Tennessee	1903
Battle Mountain Sanitarium	Hot Springs, South Dakota	1907
Tuskegee Home	Tuskegee, Alabama	1923
Bath Branch	Bath, New York	1929
St. Petersburg Home	St. Petersburg, Florida	1930

Table 1: Chronological year of opening of National Homes for Disables Volunteer Soldiers

Both Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org have the database United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938. It contains almost 400,000 records and the page for each veteran in the registers is divided into four parts: military history, domestic history, home history, and general remarks.  Just over 28,100 of the entries are for men who were born in Ireland. Of those, the Irish county or place of birth is recorded for almost 500 men.

County	No. of records
Dublin	124
Cork (inc. 2 Queenstown)	60
Galway	43
Limerick	32
Tipperary (incl. 1 Templemore)	28
Donegal (incl. Donnegal)	18
Derry/Londonderry	18
Mayo (incl. May & 1 Charlestown)	18
Tyrone	14
Sligo	14
Kilkenny	13
Roscommon (incl. Rosecommon)	12
Waterford	11
Kerry (incl. 1 Killarney)	11
Kildare	8
Cavan (incl. Caven)	6
Antrim	6
Clare	6
Armagh	5
Down	4
Offaly (incl. Kings)	4
Westmeath	4
Monaghan (incl. Monoghan)	3
Leitrim	3
Longford	3
Wexford	3
Wicklow	3
Fermanagh	2
Carlow	2
Laois (incl. Queens)	2
Meath (incl. 1 Navan)	2
Louth	1
Castle Borough, Ireland	1
Clashmore, Ireland	1
Rockville, Ireland	1
Drummond, Ireland	1
Barr, Ireland	1
Kilduff, Ireland	1
Kenmore, Ireland	1
Bangor, Ireland	1
County Carney, Ireland	1
Grey Abbey, Ireland	1
Ardmore, Ireland	1
Clifton, Ireland	1
TOTAL	495

Table 2: No. of records that give Irish county/place of birth

The questions asked on the pro-forma registers changed slightly over the years but a core of questions were asked throughout:[2] (i) military history - time and place of each enlistment, rank, company and regiment, time and place of discharge, cause of discharge, kind and degree of disability, when and where contracted; (ii) domestic history - where born (state or country and town or county), age, height, complexion, color of eyes, color of hair, read and write, religion, occupation, residence subsequent to discharge, marital status/social condition, name and address of nearest relative; (iii) home history - rate of pension, date of admission re-admission and transfer, condition of re-admission, date and discharge of transfer, cause of discharge, date of death, cause of death (iv) general remarks - papers, effects, location of grave and remarks.

Not every question is answered for each resident, especially in the records of those who were admitted to the first few national homes.  However, most questions were usually answered and this is a tremendous amount of detail about one individual, especially in the 19th century. It is also unusual to see a government document ask about the religion of a person.

Entry for Austin Connelly, born about 1810 Dublin, Ireland

To share one example, Austin Connelly entered the Central Branch home in Dayton, Ohio on 13 July 1875. He was born in Dublin, Ireland about 1810. In the United States, he worked as a shoemaker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first enlisted in the 109th Pennsylvania volunteers on 22 February 1862 at Philadelphia. He was discharged in 1863 before re-enlisting in the 116th Pennsylvania volunteers in February 1864. A relative was named as John Finnell of Camden, New Jersey. Austin Connelly died on 4 May 1891.[3]

Access this database at Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org.

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[1] National Parks Service. History of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Date Unknown.  http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/veterans_affairs/History.html: accessed 28 November 2015.

[2] Questions with strikethrough were asked in later years

[3] "United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZ39-D1Y : accessed 28 November 2015), Austin Connelly, 1875; citing p. 5403, Dayton, Ohio, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1749 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 32; FHL microfilm 1,547,614.

Catholic Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia

The land for St Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia was purchased in 1854. Since that date, it has served as the resting place for Catholics from the Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach areas of the state. This is an area of the United States that did not see a lot of immigration of Catholic from Ireland. As a result, the few Catholic parishes and cemeteries that they helped to create are important resources for genealogical research.

The About section of the cemeteries' website has a link to a database of interments that is hosted on the US Gen Web Archive. The database is considerable, with burials from the 1850s to the 21st century included. What makes this such a useful resource is that the information provided for each person was drawn from a number of different sources including original cemetery records, parish records, local death records, headstone inscriptions, obituaries and other records.

Names, dates of burial, dates of death, estimated years of birth, actual dates of birth and a link to an image of the headstone are provided for those in the database. Significantly, place of origin in Ireland is also included for some of the deceased.

For example, John M. O' Connor died on 16 October 1908. He was born about 1866 in Galway. Even though he is buried in Norfolk, Virginia, he died in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] Patrick McCarrick was born in Ballina, County Mayo on 16 June 1821 and died 3 February 1888. He was a captain in the Confederate Navy.[2]

Note: It is important to remember that the information in this database is a secondary source and was derived from primary source documentation. It is possible that mistakes occurred in the creation of this database so the primary source should be obtained wherever possible in your research.

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[1] Alesia Raper, Tim Bonney, Robert B. Hitchings, Bill Inge, Colin Boklage, Marian Rudd, Emilie Hauser, Connie Kean & Candice Cheshire. St Mary's Cemetery Interment Database - O. Date Unknown. http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/stmarys/sm-o.html : 10 October 2015

[2] Alesia Raper, Tim Bonney, Robert B. Hitchings, Bill Inge, Colin Boklage, Marian Rudd, Emilie Hauser, Connie Kean & Candice Cheshire. St Mary's Cemetery Interment Database - McC - McK. Date Unknown. http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/stmarys/sm-mcc-mck.html : 10 October 2015

Clann Mór - The Blue Ridge Railway Project

Beginning in the 1840s, thousands of Irish immigrants found jobs all over the eastern half of the United States building railroads. Researching these men and their families can be difficult due to the transient nature of their lives, lack of employment records, and the inherent dangers of the job resulting in high mortality rates. An excellent website, Clann Mór - The Blur Ridge Railway Project, is dedicated to researching the African-American slaves and Irish immigrants who toiled on the construction of one small part of the vast American railroad system - the Blue Ridge Railroad in central Virginia in the 1850s.

 The most useful part of the website for genealogist is the Research section. Amongst other interesting articles and pieces of research, first hand accounts from newspapers and diaries are provided from the time of construction, including an interesting yet typically nativist account from a young lady passing through the area:[1]

               "One of the poor men who work on the railroad had made a clearing among the trees in order to plant his potatoes. There are a great many Irish cabins on each side of the mountains, which reminded me of descriptions I have read of the manner of living of the lowest class in Ireland. They are mere hovels, & most of them have one or two barrels on the top of the chimney, but in some of them, we saw muslin curtains, a strange mixture of dirt & finery. The people are real Irish - wretched, miserable & dirty in appearance, but they hold on to Irish fun & Irish potatoes, as well as Irish tempers. Father called to a man who was at the door of one of the cabins & told him he had often seen double barreled guns but had never before heard of double barreled chimnies [sic], and he seemed very much pleased."

The crowning achievement of the website creators is the fantastic Master List of Irish Workers and Slaves that those behind the website have created. Information for over 2,000 workers and their families is provided and was drawn from census, vital, newspaper and employment records. Some of the entries are vividly real: Morris Griffin died on 21 January 1851 with the notation remarking - "Irish blown up in large tunnell."[2] Irish counties of origin are also provided for some of the workers as the creators of the master list utilized the Information Wanted Ads in the Boston Pilot newspaper as well as local records.

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[1] Clannmhor.org.  Clann Mhór - First Hand Accounts. Date Unknown.

http://www.clannmhor.org/clannmhor/First_Hand_Accounts.html : accessed 1 October 2015. Original at: Diary of Mary Jane Boggs Holladay [manuscript] 1851-61. Call numbers MSS 6436-h. The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. University of Virginia.

[2] Clannmhor.org.  Clann Mhór Master List of Irish Workers and Slaves. January 2013. Available online at

http://www.clannmhor.org/clannmhor/MasterList_files/Master%20List%20Jan%20Sht%201.pdf: accessed 1 October 2015

Chronicling America Newspaper Database

Chronicling America is a website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress .[1]

In total, almost 9.5 million pages of digitized newspapers are currently available view. One of the most useful features on the website is the US Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present. This database contains information for over 153,000 newspapers that were published in the U.S. since the 17^th century. You can use many different filter options to search the database, one of which is ethnicity. Using the ‘Irish’ option gives a return of 127 titles. The majority of the titles are from the state of New York, however, in total, newspapers from 16 states are listed. They are:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia

The span of years and cities they cover range from the brief to the broad. Some interesting examples include:

The Irish Pennsylvanian (Pittsburg, PA), 1890-1921

The Northwestern Standard (Minneapolis, MN), 1885-1886

The A.O.H. Journal (Richmond, VA), 1878-1881

Just one of these 127 newspapers is digitized and available to view on the website. It is the Kentucky Irish American and you can search editions from 1898-1921.

Chronicling America website

US Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present

List of ethnic Irish newspapers in the directory

You can read other blog posts about newspapers relevant to Irish genealogy research by selecting the ‘newspaper’ label at the end of this post.

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[1] Chroniclingamerica.gov. About Chronicling America. Year Unknown. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/about: accessed 5 May 2015.

U.S. Naval Enlistment Records

United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891 is a record set that gives an Irish county or town of birth for almost 4,500 Irish immigrants. "A rendezvous was the recruiting station where the men enlisted in the Navy. Officers at the rendezvous kept a record of each man enlisted and reported the information weekly to the Navy Department. These documents are known as the 'weekly returns of rendezvous reports.'"[1] These recruiting stations were located all over the U.S., for example: Mare Island and San Francisco (California); Baltimore (Maryland); Boston (Massachusetts); Saint Louis (Missouri); Portsmouth (New Hampshire); New York (New York); Erie, League Island, and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania); Newport (Rhode Island); Hampton Roads and Norfolk (Virginia).

A lot of useful genealogical information can be found in these records, including: name of naval rendezvous, name of new recruit, date and term of enlistment, rating (rank), name of ship to which assigned, previous naval service, city and state where born, age, occupation, and personal description. For example, in Saint Louis, Missouri, on 29 October 1862, Lawrence Fitzpatrick enlisted as a seaman for general service for the remainder of the Civil War. He was a 33 year old laborer, who was born in Co. Galway. He had brown eyes and hair, a light complexion, and was 5 feet 8 inches tall.[2]

Lawrence Fitzpatrick Enlistment, 1862 (Click to enlarge)

Men from Dublin and Cork make up almost half of this records set, with Donegal, Derry/Londonderry, Galway, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford all having strong representations.

County	No. of records*
Dublin	1,125
Cork	773
Donegal	305
Derry/Londonderry	291
Galway	290
Limerick	273
Tipperary	213
Waterford	210
Kerry	90
Tyrone	86
Kilkenny	78
Sligo	73
Wexford	64
Antrim	62
Armagh	58
Roscommon	58
Mayo	54
Cavan	45
Longford	35
Monaghan	34
Down	30
Clare	28
Wicklow	24
Leitrim	23
Kildare	23
Westmeath	20
Louth	20
Fermanagh	15
Laois/Queens	14
Meath	14
Offaly/Kings	10
Carlow	9
County not specified, place is	50 (approx)
TOTAL	4,496

These records are available on a number of the main genealogy websites including Ancestry, Findmypast, and Familysearch. Familysearch has digitized and indexed the records. In total the collection contains over 262,000 records. About 46,000 are for men from Ireland, which means that just under 10% have a specific place of birth in Ireland named on their record.

*Note: numbers are very close approximates as it is difficult to count every single example.

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[1] Familysearch.org. United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous (FamilySearch Historical Records). 2015.
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Naval_Enlistment_Rendezvous_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records): accessed 21 April 2015.

[2] "United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XG3C-M3Y: accessed 21 April 2015), Lawrence Fitzpatrick, Nov 1862; citing p. 478, volume 22, place of enlistment Saint Louis Missouri, NARA microfilm publication M1953 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 19; FHL microfilm 2,381,636.