When did yours arrive?

[Joan McKenty]

Three quarters of my ancestors arrived to Philly from Ulster between 1820 and the early 1880's.

Anyone in the same boat? :-)

Joan

[Danny Cummins]

Here's the Obituary of my great-grandfather and namesake (see attachment). I am told the Obit was posted in the Inquirer at the time - which was a bit of a breakthrough for the people of our caste. I regret that I have not heard him sing via recordings. The Cummins did keep a recording machine - capable of cutting disks - in their parlor on Harrison Street (near the Margerat & Orthodox ell station) in St. Joachim's parish, but it was likely procured after the man's 1918 passing. There were a bunch of singers in the family (my father being one of the foremost) so I assume it was put to good use.

I am told that this Belfast man, Daniel James Cummins, was the Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day parade just a few years prior to his death. I keep the black satin top-hat that he wore on that parade day in store in my home - in fact, the hat is displayed on Liam's Fancy's (that's me and my wife) little homemade CD: "Irish Music and Song from our Hearth".

On a more general note, I have been told that the predominance of Ulster roots among the Irish-Americans of Philly can be partially attributed to the strong base of textile jobs here - that the woolen trades of Donegal and the linen loom trades of Derry and Belfast translated nicely into quick work in Philly. (I suppose the existence of the college, Philadelphia Textile, supports this statement.) I am told that in the turn of the last century there was a ship known as "The Belfast Packet" continually travelling back and forth between the two textile centers. (I wonder if the Belfast people called it "The Philadelphia Packet"?) that's all for now... Best, Danny

[Joan McKenty]

Among the many things that struck me about your post was the description in the obituary of the "thousands" of friends that passed through the family home to pay their respects. Apparently he was a remarkable man to inspire such an outpouring - and to cross the social boundary to be among the first of the Philadelphia Irish Catholic Americans to have his death recognized in our local newspaper.

I also appreciate the insight into the historical context of the Ulster/Philly connection.

I am currently fascinated by the history and experience of our ancestors in this city and I have a cousin to thank for this. I met her nearly a year ago and she shared much of the family history of our common ancestors as well as detailed historical research into the times that they lived. What was once a murky and distant past to me has begun to be defined and I continue to wish to learn more.

I learned I had ancestors who fought in the American Civil War in Philadelphia's Irish Brigade and great-great- grandmothers who made the uniforms the soldiers wore. I learned about the parishes they were in - starting at St. Joseph's in Old City, St Michael's in Northern Liberties and then extending into Center City to Saint Patrick's and St. John's and then West to Our Mother of Sorrows and Saint James. I learned about the riots in the 1840's - and the churches burning - and my ancestors were there. They helped to build the churches - and they helped to rebuild them after they were burned down.

My great-great-great grandfather, Patrick Maguire ran the Schuylkill Hotel, also called the Maguire Hotel, at 24th and Chestnut at a time coal was being transported up and down the river, even before the rail lines had been established.
I recently stood at his grave at Old Cathedral - Our Mother of Sorrows - born in Ireland in 1805, arrived to Philadelphia in the 1820's and died here in 1860.

Although I grew up in the western suburbs, I moved to the city as a young person for several years. I found, through my cousin's research, that I lived, worked and walked in many of the streets and neighborhoods that my ancestors lived and worked in. Many of the buildings are gone now - including the Maguire Hotel.

I believe they want us to remember them - to know who they were, how they struggled and what they struggled for. This is a rich and important history and heritage to explore.

I also wish I could hear the music that they made.

Joan

[Rob Allen]

I'm not in the same boat, but, for the record, my people arrived in Philadelphia in 1909. My research brought me to learn a new term: "step-migration." My great-grandmother was Hannah Pat(t)erson, from Derry (County or city, I'm still not sure) and my great-grandfather was John Fulton, from Edenderry, Co. Offaly. But they met and were married in Bonnybridge, Sterlingshire, Falkirk, Scotland where they and some of their family went to work in the booming brick foundry there.

Apparently, Hannah's father migrated to Philadelphia (4823 Parish St.) and paved the way for John and then Hannah and their daughter, Mary, to follow. Mary died soon after they arrived of Cholera Infantum (aka "the Summer Complaint"), which is likely due to drinking spoiled milk. None of my Fulton relatives followed; I have reason to believe John was trying to get the hell away from his family as completely as he could...he later denied many requests for sponsorship from his family still in Ireland and Scotland with great disdain.

This sort of step-migration is apparently not very common but happened more than many folks realize, and was more common among people living in urban or semi-urban economic circumstances; I have to assume that they survived the famine because they were not farmers, despite being poor. This would also indicate that the Pat(t)ersons were from Derry city. Step-migration also makes for some tricky genealogy research, so if you're building a family tree, keep it in mind and you might save some time.

Any Philadelphia Pat(t)ersons out there?

[Joan McKenty]

Interestingly, Rob, I recall reading somewhere recently, that the statistics compiled on Irish Immigration to the U.S. did not include those that came via "step-migration" - that those Irish who emigrated from England, for example - where they had settled for a brief duration for work, were not counted in the figures as Irish immigrants. I can not recall how many that would include, but it was at least in the tens of thousands.

A more accurate figure of Irish emigration would include those numbers.

Joan

[Rob Allen]

Quite a blunder on their part there, Joan. Can you cite the source for that? Maybe we ought to write a strongly-worded letter!

I just today confirmed that my entire great grand mother's (Hannah's) family (those Pat(t)ersons) came from Catholic (London)derry city, Co. (London)derry, Templemore Parish. My gr gr grand parents maybe even married in St. Columb's Cathedral (not yet confirmed)! For years, because of my gr grand parents marriage in Scotland where both families had step-migrated, the family thought we were half Scots--tons of dead ends were encountered in the research and the trail would've died if not for a distant relation getting hold of the US arrival document for Hannah where it stated birth place as Londonderry. I'm the victim of not one but two instances of step-migration. The families of Pattersons and Fultons who setup their lives in West Philadelphia were 100% Irish from Derry and Offaly, but likely don't figure into any data anywhere if what you say above is accurate; that's 14 people just in my family alone...tens of thousands across time and space seems right, and that's quite a margin of error.

Statistics don't lie, but they certainly sometimes don't tell the truth.

[Joan McKenty]

Hi,

Exciting moment when you find more ancestral info. Congratulations!

I found the site that was my source for the previous info: http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/i/irish.htm

Somewhere between the 15th and 20th paragaraph it states the following:

During the decade 1841-1850 Irish labourers went in large numbers every year to England in search of employment, and many of them remained, especially in Liverpool, the population of which became in time to a large extent Irish. In 1846 alone, 278,005 Irish of both sexes were reported to have left Ireland for Liverpool, whence most of them embarked for America (see British Commissioners' Report", cited in O'Rourke's "History of the Great Irish Famine", pp. 487-8).

Many such emigrants sailed directory to the United States and arrived in largest numbers at the port of New York. During the years 1847-70, the State of New York through its Emigration Commission maintained a system of registration of aliens arriving at that port, and the records thus kept show the total of Irish immigrants largely exceeding the number reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. These variations may be explained by remembering that under the New York system immigrants were classified according to the country of their nativity, while in the Federal reports for the most part classification is made according to the "country of last permanent residence" of the immigrant, so that those who had left Ireland and had sojourned for a while in England were not classified as Irish immigrants."