Treasure Chest Thursday: The C&O Canal Workers

 

 

Was thinking about my Irish ancestors who came to America, all before the Great Famine. It's interesting because all of the families -- the Kellys, the O'Farrells, and the Corcorans -- came around the 1830s and landed first in Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland, of all places. Why?

 

There were three things of note going on in Western Maryland about that time that might draw these hard-workers in search of a new life: coal mining, the railroad, and the C&O Canal. I know something about the coal mines and miners as well as the railroad, because my Kelly people worked on both of those. But I was lacking in information about the C&O Canal. I went to one of my fav web sites for Western Maryland history, Western Maryland's Historical Library, or WHILBR, and you can see their page about the canal here and find a collection of maps and old photos too.

 

That was good for the facts of it but I sought more insight into the daily lives of those, especially the Irish, who worked on the canal. So I posted a question about where to turn on the Allegany County, Maryland, RootsWeb list. In a flash someone suggested these two books by James Rada Jr.: Canawlers, and Between Rail and River. And I'm glad they did.

 

Here's what the listing on Amazon.com has to say about the first book in the series, Canawlers:

 

Hugh Fitzgerald proudly calls himself a "canawler." He works on the C&O Canal transporting coal nearly 185 miles between Cumberland, Maryland and Georgetown. For nine months a year, he and his family live on their canal boat, working hard to get them through the lean winter months.

The year 1862 was a hard year to live on the canal, though. The Civil War was in full swing and the canal, which runs long the Potomac River, marked the border between the Union and Confederacy. To this point, the Confederacy has stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the offensive and take the war into the north. Not only are the Fitzgeralds' lives endangered by the increased activity of warring army and raiders on the canal, but the Fitzgeralds' secret activity as a stop along the Underground Railroad only endanger their lives all the more.

Now you know this has got to be good! Both books are historical fiction so the history lesson goes down easy as the pages all but turn by themselves. I got what I was looking for on just about every page as a new detail of the hard life of those running canal boats were made all the more impossible by the Civil War. And this is a nice family whose story unwinds and I came to like them fast.

So what were my take away points from these two books that might guide further searching for my own wandering and mysterious Irish ancestors? And now that I have a deeper understanding of the canallers' life, what are the research questions based on these books?

1.) The dates are right for my Irish people coming in search for work on the C&O Canal. Now the question that pops to mind is, were they working on the Erie Canal before they came to Western Maryland? And if so, did they come in through Canada?

2.) Where are the records? Canal records are sparse. Good luck with that but sometimes records are hidden in plain sight so I'll keep looking. I did find some Kelly/Kelley people working in 1850s, and here's a link to the canal worker's document also on WHLBR. Look to the right of this image, below, to find the PDF files.


3.) Double-check the 1850 census for work records. That's late for canal builders but not those who made a living on the canal once it opened just about 1850 all the way to Cumberland. My John Kelly who came from Shannonbridge, Offlay (was Kings), Ireland, was listed simply as "laborer" in that census. Not much to go on. In the 1860 census John Kelly is listed as a carpenter while others on the page are listed specifically as miners or laborers. What can I make of that? Could he have been a carpenter in Cumberland building canal boats?

4.) Noticed a newspaper article on WHLBR dated 1846 that mentions that the work building the canal was halted due to lack of funds. My Irish ancestors, if they did come for work on building the canal, would have moved on to other work about this time. I'll be alert to that 1846 date in my tracking them down. Thanks, WHLBR.



Well, it's a start and now I know more about the lives of those who worked on the C&O Canal.

And then there's this: our Irish family has always been anti-slavery and for equal right in the extreme, as if it were personal or something. Now I think I have a clue as to why. The Irish who came here before the Civil War were escaping the type of "soft slavery" enforced by the British landholders who inflicted pain and punishment on the very people who once owned that same land. The family in both of Rada's books expresses this opinion and are a link on the Underground Railroad! There's my own ah-ha moment:)

Were my Irish ancestors canal workers after the canal opened?

 

All canal photos in public domain and come from WHLBR.

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/treasure-chest-thursday-c-canal-workers.html

Surname Saturday: O'Farrell, then Farrell

Here's the next installment of Surname Saturday, the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers! We're into the 2nd great grandmothers now and looking at the O'Farrell clan from Ireland who tossed off the "O" and became the Farrells in America, mostly.

The Farrells came to America between 1839 and 1840 but we've not found solid evidence of the ship or exact date of their arrival. Mom observed that Thomas Farrell and his wife Judah (last name unknown) were married when they arrived here and traveling with two small children to a very wild area of what would later become West Virginia, near the small town of Magnolia, and that most likely Thomas had a brother or uncle already here because there was one other Farrell/O'Farrell male nearby. It's disconnected info such as this, requiring more substantiation, that wants and begs to be woven together. Some days Mom and I feel as though the work has just begun!

1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, (living and loving it)

6. Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960)
7. Emma Susan Whetstone (1897 - 1956)

14. Joseph Hampton Whetstone (1858 - 1938)
15. Catherine Elizabeth House ( 1865 - 1947)

30. Samuel Albert House (1832 - 1917)
31. Mary Elizabeth Farrell (1835 - 1919)
I wrote a longish blog post about Samuel Albert House this week and his strange life which you can find here. It tells the story of various jobs and moving and finally settling in Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland. But this Surname Saturday we're interested in the grandmothers four generations back, so it's Mary Elizabeth we're wanting. She was born in Ireland in 1835, most likely in County Claire, and came over with her parents, Thomas and Judah Farrell about 1839 to 1840, more or less. More about this below.
She married Samuel Albert House 20 Aug, 1855 and they had a big bunch of kids. There's also an amusing post about two of them, the Counterfeiting Twins here, who were Rev. Edward Francis and Joseph Martin.
They had these 16 children:
James I. House 1844 - ????. He married Sara C. Wilson
John T. House 1855 - 1954. He married Sarah Dennison.
William H. House 1858 - 1907. He married Ada Elizabeth Garlitz.
Mary Amelia "Molly" House 1861 - 1949. She married John R. Davis.
Samuel T. House about 1862 - ????. He married Emma Siebert.
Garnet Soloman House 1864 - ????. He married Rhoda ?.
15. Catherine Elizabeth House 1865 - 1947
Rev. Edward Francis House 1868 - 1926. He married Martha Edith Dennison.
Joseph Martin House 1868 - 1950. He married Rose Praut and upon her death married Madge Cook.
George House 1870 - 1871.
Sarah Ellen "Sadie" House 1870 - ????. She married William Harvey Reckley.
Margaret Anna "Nan" House 1872 - 1968. She married Philip Long.
Sadie F. House 1873 - ????.
Charles Harley House 1875 - 1945. He married Blanch Perdue.
Michael A. House 1878 - ????. He married Lillian Meade.
Nora House 1879 - 1964. She married Denton R. Kaseycamp.

62. Thomas Farrell, formerly O'Farrell (1795 - 1851)
63. Judah LNU (last name unknown) (1815 - 1859)
Most likely born and married in County Clare, Ireland but the actually parish or town remains unknown to us at present. Pity, that.
Mom has searched for them for years because it was the Farrell line that originally got her started and interested in family history. All she really knew was she had been told as a child: that her great grandmother came from Ireland, from "where St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland." Hmmm. Not a lot to go on. Her foundational work and networking with other genealogists lead Mom to the County Clare clue, but it's still not proven absolutely. Quite a while back Mom corresponded with a researcher in Ireland and they ruled out County Longford... close but no cigar. So here we are at one of our fascinating brick walls! Do you know how many Farrells and O'Farrels there were in Ireland in the 1830s?! Too many!
Thomas and Judah, sometimes called Judy, immigrated between 1839 and 1840. Their son James was born in Maryland in 1841, so it seems that the couple landed there before coming on to Magnolia.
Why they immigrated is a curious thing because it was before the Irish Famine years. Perhaps it was that brother or uncle, the other Farrell/O'Farrell male in the area of Magnolia, who might have lured them here. In those years, work could be had on the railroad which ran right through where they settled. But it appears that Thomas was a farmer because of an indenture for the rental of land (a copy is in Mom's possession) and his occupation listed as farmer in the 1850 US census.
Interestingly, a couple of his sons fought in the Civil War on the Union side and remained O'Farrells throughout their lives. Remember, this is the part of Virginia that became West Virginia where neighbor's sons fought on opposite sides! Brothers, too. But the O'Farrell boys stuck together in war and by name.
Thomas and Judah had the following children, some of whom went to live with friends or relatives after the couple died, Thomas in 1851 and Judah in 1859.
31. Mary Elizabeth Farrell (1835 - 1919)
Catherine Farrell (about 1835 - before 1910), born in County Clare, Ireland and immigrated with her parents and sister, Mary Elizabeth and my 2nd GGM, she died in Magnolia, Morgan County, Virginia, (now West Virginia). She married James Edward Boxwell.
James O'Farrell (1842 - 1914). James was born in Maryland, and is age 9 in the 1850 census. He married Henrietta Michael in Morgan County, but they both died Mora, Pettis, MO. His son's kept the O'. James served in the Civil War on the Union side.
Thomas O'Fallell ( 1842 - ????) Thomas also kept the O'Farrell, and as did his brother James, enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War.
Ann Farrell (1845 - ????)
Ellen Farrell (1846 - ????)
Bridget Farrell (1849 - ????)
Sarah Farrell (1851 - ????)

Next Steps
I long to know more of this family. Their saga has enough elements that make for good story telling and that keeps me fascinated. Here's what I want to know:
1. Where did they come from in Ireland and what is the name of the town or parish?
2. Why did they come?
3. Did they land in Cumberland? Was Judy pregnant with James when they arrived in America? I'll look for them in St Patrick's Catholic Church records, Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland, and for James baptismal record. They have to be Catholic, right?
4. Why did they die? Guess I'll not find that out.
5. Where are they buried? There are only a couple of cemeteries in the area, that being Horn and Cherry Orchard. You'd think a person could find them, but the land is rough and the cemeteries overgrown. Some graves are no longer marked.

Three Women with the Same Face, Almost
Wanna see something cool? This photo right below was sent to me by Cousin Rich who visited Mom this week! We were marveling at the family resemblance of these related women!
Hey, Cousin Rich, do you have a photo of Katie Boxwell Kessler's mother, Catherine Farrell Boxwell? Now, wouldn't that be fun?

Catherine "Katie" Boxwell Kessler (1871 - 1953).

She was daughter of Catherine Farrell Boxwell (1838 - 1910),

who was sister to my 2nd GGM, Mary Elizabeth Farrell House.

 

Here's a photo of Catherine Elizabeth House Whetstone (1865 - 1947),

cousin to Katie Boxwell Kessler, above. Could be the same person!!

Here is a photo of Mary Elizabeth Farrell House (1835 - 1919), Catherine Elizabeth's mother. 

See a family resemblance? Mom and I do!

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/surname-saturday-ofarrell-then-farrell.html

"Officially Irish"... I love it!

Was checking out the genealogy blogs that I follow this morning and found a post to "Help: The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors" that mentions an official Irish Heritage Certificate to be issued starting later this month to those who can prove Irish ancestry... and that otta be, what, about 9 out of 10 people on planet Earth?! I immediately thought, oh so cool. I want one!

It seems to be a flat out money making scheme - at 40 Euros a pop, just think of the profit - but it's all good fun too because you don't really get anything but a piece of paper to trot out on Saint Patrick's Day and spill some green beer on. But hey, sign me up: I'm Irish!

Here's the link to Deborah Large Fox's blog and links to the official stuff.

http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/2011/09/buzz-this-week-irish-heritage.html