Immigration and Emigration

White Folk in the Colonial Food Chain

27 Jun By Dwight

The English Colonial records of North America and the Caribbean have unfamiliar terms referencing the European population. Confusion arises because we have no context for the lives of the population in the 1600s and 1700s.

This was a world where people were graded economically. Racism was based on social status, not skin color. The economy of colony and wealth building was graded from the few at the top to those in bondage at the bottom. Under this system, slaves (servants, apprentices) could be African, European, Native American or from the Indian Sub-Continent (called East India Indians).

Four Categories of Whites in Colonial North America

There were four main categories for the incoming Europeans, and will be found in court, land, and church registers. However, it is not always clear what is inferred. Just be aware that terminology changes by locality and time period.

White Freeman Who Owned Property: Is defined as a white male over 21 who owned real or personal property of a particular value. He was endorsed by a majority of other Freemen in the community. He had the right to vote and pay taxes.
White Freeman: A free male over 21, not bound, was considered a White Freeman. In the Southern colonies it was freed slaves or anyone who voted or paid taxes.
White Apprentices: A broad term applied to bondage, such as indentured servant, redemptioner, free-willer, and apprentices. Terms such as apprentice and servant, obscured what the terms of bondage may have really meant.
White Slave: This is a person who was bound to a master. Chattel slavery, which was for a lifetime, grew out of the indentured servant system. Slaves could be prisoners, religious or political dissidents, orphans or social outcasts. In the English colonies, African slavery would replace European slavery.

Whites could move up from one grade to the next one. For example, an indentured servant or slave can become a freeman and eventually a landed freeman owning slaves.

This was their world and their values. If you judge them by our standards, you may miss what a particular record is trying to convey.

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The Irish Documented in Spanish Archives

15 Sep By Dwight Leave a Comment

An interesting and important collection for the Irish who went Spain, and then perhaps elsewhere, is “The Irish in Spanish Archives” hosted by The Irish Genealogical Research Society. This collection was compiled by society member Samuel Fannin who lives in Spain, and researches in the Spanish Archives.

Why the Irish Went to Spain

The Irish went to Spain for several reasons. After the Treaty of Limerick (1691), Irish swordsmen joined the Spanish Army. Others came for Catholic religious schools in Alcala de Henares, Salamanca, Seville and Lisbon. Still others came as merchants or seeking wealth, as Spain was a world power opening up trade with the New World. There was a presence of Irish gentry among the immigrants. The strongest presence of Irish came from Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

Genealogical Possibilities

There are few records from which to document the Irish in Ireland itself for the 1600s and 1700s. However, there is much available to document their presence in Spain itself. This means an Irish birth place for an ancestor who settled in Spain or in its colonies may be preserved in a Spanish record. That literally may be the only place you will find it.

Irish in the Spanish Archives Primary Sources

Sanuel Fannin’s compilation, arrangements, and indexing of the Spanish Archives material is nothing short of priceless. The source material is divided into three separate pdf files on the website free of charge:

Spanish Archives of Primary Source Material

Malaga

Cadiz

Cordoba

Granada

Seville

Spanish Archives of Primary Source Material

Bilbao and LaCoruna

Index: Individuals by Irish County

The two main pdf extractions provide the historical background needed to understand the context for the Irish in a particular location. For example, in the 1700s, the Irish merchants were organized and working in the trade of sugar, iron and copper in Malaga. If you are researching an early Irish family with Spanish connections, then Samuel Fannin’s contribution to the world of Irish genealogy is the first place to stop! It is highly recommended.

If you would like help with your Irish in Spain or in the Spanish colonies call 385-214-0925.

The Irish Mission at Watson House

16 May By Dwight Leave a Comment

There is a new database called The Irish Mission at Watson House. It has the potential to be a major resource. However, it has to be utilized in a “thinking outside the box” approach.

Introduction to the Watson House

In an effort to help young immigrant women arrive safe, the Irish Mission for Immigrant Girls in New York City was established. The Catholic clergy and others would work tirelessly to help over 100,000 woman. The records generated are part of the Our Lady of the Rosary, Saint Elizabeth Seton Shrine, at Watson House.

The need for such a safe house for female immigrants arose during an agricultural depression in Ireland which began in 1879. This saw more women emigrating alone. The church established the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary for the Protection of Irish Immigrant Girls, purchasing the house in 1885, located in Manhattan at 7 State Street facing the harbor. It was intended as temporary housing until the girls could be met by family, friends or transfer to a final destination.

Using the Database

The first thing you will find when searching the Watson House records is that it is not clear cut. For example, although the records provide date, age, name and county of origin in Ireland, there’s little way know if you have the correct girl. Which Mary Kelly is yours? The solution I found was to use the destination field in the search feature. This allows you to seek all Mary Kelly girls who went, for example, to Cleveland, Ohio. If this is where your ancestor went, then this helps to narrow the field considerably.

In another approach, you can search all girls who went to Cleveland. Then use that pool of names and see if any were associated with your ancestor who settled in Cleveland. Where I see that you would have a problem is if the girl stayed in Manhattan.

These are just two of many approaches to a database such as this. So be careful not to discount databases such as this simply because they are not straightforward. You simply have to look at the information from the sidelines and then determine how to best approach the collection.

Click Here if you need help with locating your Irish immigrant ancestor.

Ireland to Australia to California

9 May By Dwight Leave a Comment

An Irish ancestor in California may have spent time in Australia first. This migration began in January 1849 after gold was discovered in California. They came from New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria colonies. Aside from the miners, the gold rush opened up commerce by sea from Sydney to San Francisco, which was quicker than getting supplies from the eastern United States to San Francisco.

The Type of Australians Bound for California

From Tasmania, came many ex-convict Irish who had already served their terms or who had escaped. For escaped convicts, they would take small boats and when a larger ship was cleared to leave, they would then row out and board the leaving vessel. The Tasmanian penal colony in particular was brutal, which made any form of escape preferable.

Australians leaving for California upset the balance of power as people who could have stayed and helped build the colonies left. The lure of gold and commerce brought competition among the shipping firms to quickly gather passengers and cargo. Both common people and well established families headed off to California. It is estimated that between 1849 and 1851 alone some 6,000 left for San Francisco. From that number 900 were from the Hunter River area between Newcastle and Maitland, New South Wales, north of Sydney.

What the Australians Found in California

What these immigrants found upon arriving was much different than what they left behind. They learned about frontier justice and lynching; encountered Mormons for the first time; discovered Spanish speaking Mexicans and Chileans. They witnessed the plight of African Americans. They also met Americans arriving from the East. Some Australians had encountered American whalers before, but that was their exposure. On this frontier, they saw women auctioned off because they couldn’t pay their passage into San Francisco and indentured Chinese sold on the auction block as servants. They also drew parallels between the American Indians and the Aborigines back home.

When the Australian Gold Rush opened up in 1851, some Australians returned from California. However, many also chose to remain in California.

Evaluating the Australia to California Migration

When evaluating a migration such as this, it’s important to remember that Australia was a huge piece of real estate with a rather small population. The government kept records of both the convict population and free settlers. The chances of finding an Irish birth place, including the townland, preserved in an Australian records is far better than in a California record.

If you would like help tracing the migration patterns of your ancestors Contact Us.

The Asiatic Journal

25 Feb By Dwight Leave a Comment

An often overlooked resource in tracing ancestors in British India and elsewhere is The Asiatic Journal. It went by different titles. For my present discussion I want to discuss the first three titles of this series taking the discussion from 1816-1845.

Contents and Images of The Asiatic Journal

The affairs of British India were published twice a year in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its Dependencies. Each month is then divided within the journal with news of the area. This is a major source for locating news “on the ground” about British Subjects, including the Irish, in British India. This can include births, marriages and deaths, government business, military appointments, furloughs, promotions, ecclesiastical appointments, passengers on ships and interaction with the locals.

Many of these are online at GoogleBooks and Archive.org and elsewhere. You have to think of this source as a newspaper covering an extended period of time. In the beginning of the source will be a list of what is in the journal. It is divided by area presidencies. In British India there were three: Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Each office handled its own affairs and reported accordingly. The amount of Europeans coming and going from British India is amazing.

Serial Titles for The Asiatic Journal

The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its Dependencies (1816-1829) was sponsored by The East India Company. Within it are detailed articles on the political, economic and cultural developments in the area. It became the Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia (1830-43) and was issued three times a year. It became the Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany (1843-45).

Applications for Genealogy

I used The Asiatic Journal recently to trace the origins of a ship from British India on its route to the port of Valparaiso, Chile, then up to California when it was part of Mexico (1821-1848) on its way back to India. Since my subject was an Irish man who settled in Spanish California (pre-1821) I traced the route of the ship and realized it was possible his family had immigrated to Chile first, where he learned Spanish, and then as an adult moved up the coast. This source opened up new possibilities in my research!

Click Here if you need professional help with your family history.

Strategies for Using the Boston Pilot Database

18 Feb By Dwight Leave a Comment

People looking for missing relatives and friends from Ireland would place ads in the Boston Pilot (1831-1921) newspaper because of its wide circulation. Although published in Boston, ads flooded in from everywhere. It is within these want ads you often immigrant origins preserved and where various family members settled. Databases can be found on the websites of Ancestry, Boston College and the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

What if Your Ancestor is Not Listed in the Database

When you find your ancestor, then your research really opens up. However, what if you don’t find your ancestors listed? I have found these databases are much deeper and can be used in many more ways than a simple straightforward search. Some of my favorite strategies are below.

Secondary Strategies for Using the Boston Pilot Database

Place Names: I may not know where a person was from in Ireland; however, I know where they settled. Use the search feature to identify all Irish who settled in that locality. Who was looking for people who settled in a particular state, city or with that surname? Once you study these ads, does a pattern emerge? For example, are most the ads looking for people from County Roscommon? If so, then you might have stumbled upon where your ancestor was from.

This strategy can also be used in reverse when you know the county in Ireland but you cannot identify a parish. Who from that county were placing ads for people living where your ancestor settled? Does a pattern emerge?

Associate Names: In research, we always assume the godparents at children’s christenings were friends and family of the parents. Then we wonder if they may have known them in Ireland prior to immigrating. Using this logic, take the names of the godparents as found in the immigrant parish and run them through the Boston Pilot databases. Does a pattern emerge? Who is looking for them or who are they looking for?

Religion: Do not assume everybody placing ads were Catholic or even practicing Catholic. Upon immigrating many Irish Catholics either dropped out of church or switched denominational affiliations. I see this all the time. So just because your ancestor became a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian or Adventist, do not assume they would not place an ad in the Jesuit published Boston Pilot. Also, do not assume nobody is looking for them!

With these few extra strategies, the Boston Pilot databases may actually yield where your family came from. These are not straightforward searches, but they have worked for many in many cases.

One Step Removed but Still Addressing the Problem

7 Jan By Dwight Leave a Comment

I found a baptismal entry on RootsIreland for County Wicklow which I thought was for my client’s ancestor. The clincher was the ancestor’s sister was not listed in the family. Was this really the ancestor? The name was uncommon enough that the Wicklow entry was certainly reasonable. However, I also knew church registers can be incomplete.

Creating Your Own Research Strategy on the Spot

I had to formulate an immigrant strategy right on the spot to address this situation. What I came up with was to trace out the two Irish men who acted as godparents at the baptisms of the immigrant’s children in Quebec. I couldn’t find one, but I did find the other and traced out his family.

At this point, I took all the Irish godparents to the original godparent’s children and assumed they may have been connected to my client’s ancestor in Ireland. Could I have been wrong? Of course. Yet, this is how you create your own research strategies, tailored to a particular problem If you find your wrong, you simply move on!

One Step Further Removed but Still Within the Targeted Strategy

Once I translated the Catholic parish in County Wicklow into the corresponding civil parish, I could then utilize the Griffith’s Primary Valuation (1847-64) database online at AskAboutIreland (there are others). I found my client’s surname was indeed rare and was from across the border in County Wexford. However, for the Wicklow research, I found the surnames of both godparents which I had identified in the Quebec Catholic registers. Did this prove my case? No, but it added more evidence, especially since some of the surnames acting as godparents for the godparent’s children were also found in that Wicklow parish.

Now with this knowledge, I have a good possibility and I can go back into the Quebec records and see if I can continue to match up findings there with that specific parish in County Wicklow. I now have a target family which could be the one I’m looking for and I can see what happened to them.

For in-depth professional research on your difficult family history Contact Us.

St. Lawrence Steamboat Company Passenger Lists, 1819-1838

25 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

For Irish immigration within Canada in the early nineteenth century, a major resource has recently been indexed online. The St. Lawrence Steamboat Company regularly transported goods and passengers on the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec. The lists for the passengers from 1819-1838 survive. This means that with a little care and a lot of wisdom, a new source has just been opened up for research.

Information Found in the Records

These manuscript records will provide lists of passengers on a particular steamboat on a particular day. They are simple in their presentation so you have to do a lot of “reading between the lines.” Remember, this source affects not only Canadian migration but also many of these people would have eventually migrated to the United States.

Information includes the date of the trip, where the steamboat embarked and landed, fare paid and sometimes general remarks. The names themselves are sometimes abbreviated as in Mr. Kelly, Mrs. Kelly, or Miss. Kelly. If you find an entry of interest you have to take into consideration everyone on the steamboat. This may help you determine the identity of Mr. Kelly. Also, since interrelated families may have travelled together, you may find a group from the same place in Ireland your ancestor was from

When families were travelling together, you will see only the number of children being listed. As children under 12 travelled for half fare, the number of children should reflect this. There are no ages attached to the names. The collection is indexed with scanned images in “Canada, St. Lawrence Steamboat Company Passenger Lists, 1819-1838” on Ancestry.com.

This is Not Necessarily a Straightforward Source

Remember, this is not a straightforward resource. You have to think past what the index and the record itself is conveying to determine if the Mr. Kelly on that steamboat was actually yours.

If you would like to know more about your Canadian immigrants Click Here.

Just Plug in the Parent’s Names

18 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

One of my specialties is Irish Immigration research. My philosophy has been if you can’t find out where in Ireland your ancestor was from through United States or Canadian records, then look for the sibling who went elsewhere. That looks good on paper, but what if you don’t know who went where, or even the who part!

Records From Around the World Are Being Indexed

This is where research gets fun and you get the chance to learn about the Irish immigration worldwide. With the advent of indexed records from most countries, it’s easy to simply “plug in the parent’s names.” This is based on the assumption you know the parent’s names from a death certificate or marriage record in the immigrant country. This strategy works extremely well if you know the mother’s maiden name.

Databases for marriages and deaths especially are helpful in identifying siblings who may have gone to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Latin America. Databases on Ancestry or FamilySearch are particularly helpful as they have a “Parent Search” feature. In this case, for a child’s name, I just put in the last name of the family, leaving the first name blank and then use the “Parent Search.” Sometimes I’m amazed at the hidden treasures I discover. Keep in mind these aren’t the only databases available. Databases associated with FindMyPast and any number of Australian and New Zealand websites are simply outstanding.

Use Name Variations in Database Searches

Now a last word about databases; don’t always assume the search feature will pick up all variations. Always drop an “O” or “Mc/Mac” and add it on. Always think fluid with your spellings.

Once you have found other potential siblings then you are ready to dive into the records for that country. Look for records which will tell you where in Ireland that potential sibling was born.

Colonial Laws and the Indentured Servant (Part2)

16 Dec By Dwight Leave a Comment

Laws governing human bondage in the English colonies did not happen overnight. As needed, laws were enacted by the colonial assemblies. The Virginia and Maryland colonies were the two most powerful mainland colonies. They lead the way in defining exactly what human bondage really meant. Lawmakers didn’t think in terms of color, but in people as a commodity. For this reason, colonial laws would apply to all races.

Using Virginia colony as an example; in a December 1662 law, women servants who became pregnant by their masters were to finish out their term and then be bound over to the local church to be sold for an extra two years of servitude. An October 1670 law pronounced that all non-Christians brought by shipping (by sea) shall be a slave for life, but if brought by land (from another colony) as children they were to serve until they are 30 years old. If they were adults and brought by land, they were to serve for only 12 years. In April 1691, all whites, bond or free were forbidden from intermarrying with blacks, mulattos or Indians. This law also stated that free white women who had an illegitimate child by a black, mulatto or Indian would be bound out by the local parish church for five years and the child bound until the age of 30.

It was a series of Virginia laws passed in October 1705 which began to define in detail what a slave was. The main points were:

*Slaves brought into the colony by land or sea (except Turks and Moors) remained slaves regardless of converting to Christianity.

*Free people who were Christians in their own country were not to be sold as slaves.

*No black, mulatto, Indian, Jew, Muslim or other infidel could purchase Christian white servants.

*White men or women intermarrying with blacks and mulattoes were to go to prison for 6 months with no bail.

*If any slave resists their master during correction, it was legal to kill them as part of the correction. Escaped slaves could be killed.

*A Christian baptism does not exempt a person from bondage, and the status of all children was according to the condition of the mother.

This was the world of our colonial ancestors regardless of color!

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