Irish John Smith Family Archives

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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 may have died in Ireland from the plague, or died from some other cause due to the famine.  Their mother traveled to America to build a new home for her young family, and she 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 1800’s Peter Smith married Catharine 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 when or how he died. 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.  Another big killer at the time was cholera. 

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

Many Irish moved to the USA for opportunity.  By 1835 an estimated 2 million Irish did not have regular employment.  In December of 1848 cholera spread through many of the overcrowded workhouses, pauper hospitals, and crammed jails in Ireland.  Irishmen were forbidden to sell their linen overseas and could only sell it to England.  The Potato Famine was the last straw and many Irish moved from the land they loved to foreign ports.

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.” 

The following information was taken from the 1848 Griffith’s Valuation for Ireland, which generally lists the head of household.  This list shows those living in Rossnaglogh East and Rossnaglogh West.  The Smiths would have known most, if not all, of these people. The last name listed is probably our distant relative and the only Smith name listed for this townland.   

 The picture to the left is Brooklyn around mid-eighteenth century.  Catharine 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 'Catharine Smiths' traveling from Ireland to America. Twenty-one would have been in child bearing age. Only thirteen ‘Catharine Smiths’ traveled to the New York area prior to 1851. One record in 1848 showed a Catharine 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 City were 26% Irish, as this was a big stopping point for them. 

We do not know how Peter died.  What do we know?  Family stories only tell us that Catharine came to America without her husband.  Years later Irish John stated that his father died in 1847 but did not say how.  Did Peter die in Ireland or did he die on a ship traveling to America? 

The following is only speculation and is from information I found in the US National Archives.  In 1847 the Waterloo sailed out of Liverpool towards America.  Three Smiths traveled together onboard this known ‘coffin ship’.  This is the only manifest record to show a Peter and Catharine Smith traveling together.  So far I cannot get a list of who survived and who died onboard this ship. 

 Were these people our distant relatives?  This is only speculation and Peter probably died in Ireland; however, we will be researching this further. 

Nothing is known about Catharine’s children who were in Ireland at this time. Were they staying with relatives or friends?  Many immigrants left their children in poor houses until they were able to send for them from overseas.

Irish John Smith stated that he immigrated to the USA in 1850 with his brother Owen and sister Bridget.  The National Archives contains thousands of ship manifest records for Irish immigrants who immigrated to America between 1846 and 1852.  Five manifest records contain all three Smith names (Bridget, Owen and John).  There is only one record which seems to fit and the one we are convinced shows when the Smith children immigrated to the US.  There are four reasons why we believe the following record is correct: 

1)  The record shows three Smith children (ages 11, 8 and 4) traveling together on the same ship. 

2)  This record is the only one which shows all three Smith names traveling together in 1850. 

3)  The ship manifest records appear to list names of travelers in the order they came aboard ship.  One name, Terence Green, appears immediately before the children’s’ names.  We think this may be significant as you will see shortly. 

4)  The ages of these children match closely with the ages seen in the 1850 US Federal Census taken while they lived in Brooklyn.  The census was taken in September of that year. 

 They traveled on the Centurian which showed 249 passengers on board. This ship left Liverpool, sailed to New York City and arrived there on July 18, 1850. The Centurian’s Captain, Edward Coombs, sailed to America with Irish, English and Italians immigrants.  Liverpool was a common starting point for poor Irish immigrants from Ulster and surrounding area.  When the ships docked they had to submit documents to the 'Collector of the Customs for the District of New York' showing who was on board, where the immigrant was from, age, any deaths and other pertinent information.  Ellis Island comes much later, and there was no formal naturalization procedure in place. 

One point of interest in the ship record is the fact that John is listed as the second oldest child.  From his age and when the ship landed it would appear that he was born in 1842 and not 1841. Owen’s age suggests he was born in 1845, which is the same birth year he mentioned in a later census. 

In 1850 the Smiths lived on Walworth Street in Brooklyn.  It was common for Irish families to live together with other groups of people in one or two room quarters.  At Walworth Street Irish John said he lived with his two siblings, mother, Uncle Terrence Greenan and Thomas McCabe.  The following information was taken from the 1850 Federal Census which shows the ‘Free Inhabitants’ in 7^th Ward, Brooklyn City in the County of King, State of New York.  The Census was taken on September 9, 1850, and shows the following people living in the same house or room: 

 Irish John said his uncle Terence Greenan lived with the family in 1850. Terence Green is listed on this census and not Terence Greenan.  ‘Green’ is another variation of the surname ‘Greenan’, and many Greenans changed their name to Green or Greene in America.  We believe this Terrence Green is the same Terence Green whose name appears on the Centurian’s ship manifest records.  Look at Irish John’s age.  On the ship his age was listed as 8 years old; however, here he is listed as 7 years old.  That would mean he was born in 1843. 

Thomas McCabe and his family are unknown.  McCabe is a common surname found in County Monaghan; therefore, these people may either have been friends or possibly related to Catharine or Terence in some way.  The family lived in the 7^th Ward of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. 

The Smiths lived on Walworth Street, which bordered Clinton Hills.  In those days, Clinton Hills was an area of Brooklyn where the wealthy lived.  Many of the Irish living along the Clinton Hills boundary served these rich folks as their maids, groundskeepers, and other related service occupations.

Walworth Street is roughly six blocks long and located in East Brooklyn.  It is now a light industrial section of Brooklyn, and was one of the areas where the early Irish immigrants settled.  St. Patrick’s Catholic Church began construction in 1848, and was the first Catholic Church constructed in East Brooklyn.  This would have been the same church that Catharine and her family attended while living in Brooklyn. 

The Smiths lived in the Seventh Ward of Brooklyn. This is a description of the Seventh Ward as it existed in 1854: 

“A line beginning at the point of intersection of the centres of Washington and Atlantic avenues, then along the centre of Atlantic avenue to centre of Bedford avenue, thence along the centre of Bedford to centre of De Kalb avenue, thence along centre of De Kalb avenue to centre of Nostrand avenue, thence along centre of Nostrand avenue to centre of Flushing avenue, thence along centre of Flushing avenue and a line to centre of Division avenue, thence along centre of Division avenue to point of intersection with centre of South sixth street, Williamsburgh, thence to and along the line of the city of Williamsburgh to Wallabout Bay channel, thence along said channel to southerly side of Wallabout Bay and Newtown Creek canal, thence along said canal to the northeasterly corner of the United States Government lands, thence along said lands to a point on the northerly side of Flushing avenue oppose the centre of Washington avenue, thence along the centre of Washington avenue to the place of beginning” 

Years later Irish John’s pension was delayed and almost denied because federal bureaucrats could not find him in the 1850 census records.  They were looking for him in the Eleventh Ward instead of the Seventh Ward.  The following picture shows panoramic view of New York harbor as it appeared at the turn of the twentieth century. 

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