Irish John Smith

Home | Smith Photos | Family Stories | Ryan Data | Smith Data | News Center | SITE MAP | Contact Us
 

Prelude:

 The following information describes the best available information we have concerning the Irish John Smith family. It includes family lore and actual information we were able to uncover in our research.  There is a lesson here.  I remember listening to Frank Ryan talk about his side of the family.  I remember hearing stories told by dad concerning his side of the family.  Mom was not as interested.  As she said, if you look back far enough each family has its share of horse thieves. With the passage of time most of our family lore and history has been forgotten.  We write these words down so those who came before us will not be forgotten.

 John Smith was known as ‘Irish John Smith’ or ‘Honest Irish John Smith’.  How many of us asked our father these same questions?  Why was ‘John Smith’ called ‘Honest Irish John Smith’?  Was there another John Smith living in the area?  Was the other John Smith dishonest?  He was called ‘Irish’ John Smith because he was ‘Irish through and through’.  His grandson, John W. Smith, would say to his own children, “Thank God you were born Irish!”

 These scratchings should not be considered the final say for the Honest Irish John Smith family story. We expect this document to evolve as we uncover new information.  Please let us know if you have any new information we can add to this document.  Let us know if you would like us to explore other family lore stories.

 ************************

 The Honest Irish John Smith family

 Family Lore:

 1)  The Smiths were previously known as Smyth. Before this they were known as MacGowan.

 2)  This tale was told by Pete Smith to our father when he was a young lad.  We were once MacGowans and not Smiths.  A long time ago one of our ancestors shot a British Captain (Major or General depending on the number of drinks the story teller had) and killed him. He hid in the Irish bogs for almost two years evading British authorities as he had a price on his head. This ancestor had a good friend by the name of 'Johnnie John Smyth' and he used this name to sneak passage aboard ship heading to America.  For fear of being caught this ancestor never used his original surname of 'MacGowan', and 'Americanized' the spelling of 'Smyth' to 'Smith'. That is the story of how we became Smiths.

 3)   Irish John Smith enlisted in the Wisconsin 29^th Regiment at age 16 during the American Civil War.

 Reality?

 1)  It is true that the Smith name in Ireland once was known as MacGowan. In the 10th century Ireland was the first country in Western Europe to adopt a system of hereditary surnames.  Before this you were identified by your Christian name with description of location, feat or skill. Also customary was to name everyone in the tribe after the founder of the tribe.  In 1465 an Act of Parliament forced the Irish living within the Irish Pale, the area around Dublin, to take an English surname.  In this way the MacGowan became known as Smith.  The Smith and MacGowan family crests are very similar. The only difference is that the arm, hand and torch are larger in the Smith clan, which signifies that the Smith clan is the larger group.

2)  Did one of our ancestors really kill a British officer?  Who knows?  For the early Irish who came to the USA during the Irish Famine there was no love lost between them and the English.  This tale is probably a result of wishful thinking, but as with all old family tales there may be some hint of truth also.

3)  Irish John's age was a subject of interest throughout his life.  He never did know how old he was.  In 1862 when he volunteered for military service he stated his age as 19.  Throughout his life he indicated his birth year as being anywhere from 1841 to 1846. If 1846 was his birth year then he would have been 16 years old at the time when he volunteered with the Wisconsin Regiment.  At one point he asked his mother what year he was born.  She did not know the year; however, she thought he was born about the same year as one of his female cousins in Ireland.  So Irish John contacted this female cousin and she told him her birth year was 1841.  That is the year you see on his tombstone. He was never convinced that 1841 was correct and believed he was born much later.  In the early 1900's Irish John traveled to Ireland and went to the old church where he heard he was baptized.  He could not find his old records there, and it is possible they were destroyed at an earlier time. The British destroyed most of the 19^th century Irish records, probably to erase the stain of their inaction during the Great Famine.

*************************************

The Smith family travels to the New World

Family Lore:

Family lore states three young Irish kids traveled to the USA without their mother, father or any other family member.  Their father died in Ireland from the plague.  Their mother traveled to America to build a new home for her young family, but left her children with relatives.  Later the kids traveled to America and lived in Brooklyn with their mother. The kids landed in New York in what is known today as Battery Park. The kids were in order of birth from oldest to youngest:  Bridget, Owen and John.  Irish John Smith was reputed to be the youngest sibling.

What we know:

In the early 1800's Peter Smith married Catherine Greenan.  Three children were born to them - Bridget, John and Owen.  John is 'Irish John'.  The family lived in County Monaghan in a townland called 'Russnaglough'.  A townland is not a town, does not have a government, and it is the smallest administrative unit in Ireland. Today, Russnaglough is divided into Rossnaglogh East and Rossnaglogh West.  Townlands could be as small as an acre. 

John's father died in 1847; however, we cannot verify that he died from the plague. The Great Irish Famine began in 1845 and lasted into the 1850's.  During this time period countless numbers of Irish immigrated to other parts of the world to escape famine and death. It is very likely Peter died of disease linked to the Irish Famine.  One disease that was common at this time and considered a ‘plague’ was Typhus, which was a big killer in Ireland.

The map below shows County Monaghan and the counties that surround it.  The area shaded in green indicates the Civil Parish ‘Aghabog’.  The shaded area is labeled with a ’1’.   It is inside this Civil Parish that one finds the Townlands Rossnaglogh East and Rossnaglogh West. 

 This information comes from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland of 1837 regarding Aghabog Civil Parish.  Aghabog is in the province of Ulster 1 mile west from the town of Newbliss, on the road from Clones to Ballbay and contains 7442 inhabitants.  It comprises 11,543 statute acres of which 222 are covered with water, 10,484 acres are arable and pasture land applotted under the tithe act, 16 to 20 acres of woodland and about 243 acres of bog.  (Landowners were required to pay a tithe to the Church of Ireland.)  The Roman Catholic parish forms part of the union of Killeevan.  The Roman Catholic chapel is a neat modern building situated on the townland of Lathnamard.

 Catherine Smith traveled to the New World without her children. The exact date for her trip is unknown, although ship manifest records during this period show sixty-five 'Catherine Smiths' traveling from Ireland to the USA. Twenty-one would have been in child bearing age. Only thirteen ‘Catherine Smiths’ traveled to the New York prior to 1851. One record in 1848 showed a Catherine Smith (age 30) who was going to Brooklyn; however, we have no way of knowing which of these records is correct.  This is from information found in the National Archives. By 1850 the residents of New York were 26% Irish, as this was a big stopping point for the Irish.

 Click Here for Next Page