McCarville & Lyon families in Brooklyn

The census records provide us interesting things. In addition to listing family members, it also tells us a little bit about the family itself. In the 1855 census it tells us that Hugh came to America in 1851, and his occupation while living in Brooklyn was "junk business". In the 1865 census, it lists his occupation as "junk". It would be interesting to know what this work was really about. Finally, we see the family living in Brooklyn in 1855 By 1865 most of the children had left the family home, and as we know, several moved to Wisconsin where other family were living.

1855 Brooklyn Census. Click to enlarge.

1865 Brooklyn Census. Click to enlarge.

 

Church of Hugh and Bridget McCarville in Brooklyn

It was Hugh McCarville's obituary that told us what church he attended while living in Brooklyn, New York. It was a Roman Catholic church that catered to the growing Irish community in Williamsburg. Today Williamsburg is a different place - it is home to a very large Hasidic Jewish population.

1The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (commonly called "St. Mary's") was founded in May of 1853; the first pastor of St. Mary's, the Rev. Peter McLoughlin, heroically served the Irish immigrants under his care. On September 1, 2007, Most Holy Trinity and St. Mary's merged forming the new parish of Most Holy Trinity – St. Mary. The final Sunday Mass at St. Mary's was celebrated on October 28, 2007; since that time the congregation of the newly formed parish has worshiped at the Most Holy Trinity site.

St. Mary's exterior

The church's interior which may have looked much the same way when the Mccarville's attended Sunday services. Click on photo to enlarge.

 

Immigration

In comparing the census information with this immigration record shows that Bridget McCarville and children came later to America than her husband, Hugh. It appears that he came to America a year earlier. This was not unusual during the famine years, as it was one way to earn packet fares to bring the rest of the family to America and Canada.

Click to Enlarge

It may be difficult to find the "right" Hugh McCarville's immigration record, but we see that they came to New York in 1852. The transcribed records list Bridget as "Bet", however, when you look at the original record, her name was shortened to "Bgt", a shorter version for Bridget.

 

Documents

It was not easy to find Hugh McCarvill's obituary notice in the Brooklyn Eagle, which is surprising as his obituary was printed for three days following his death. The obituary also told us where the family lived - they lived on the eastern edge of Williamsburg. Our family, the Smiths/Smyths lived on the southern edge of Williamsburg. The two families lived about a mile from one another, and it's likely that they socialized frequently. We now believe that at least four Greenan siblings were living in Brooklyn during the 1850s - Alice McCabe, Catherine Smyth, Bridget McCarvill and Terence Greenan.

	The listing on November 28th, 1875 gave us a clue where to look in the Brooklyn Eagle for Hugh's obituary and funeral notice. We had Bridget's funeral notice, which told us that she passed away in her daughter Catherine Lyon's home.

In the greater New York City area there were at least three men with the name of "Hugh McCarville". One was living in New York City, and we see him applying for citizenship in the late 1860s. The second Hugh McCarville murdered his wife Catherine in the mid 19th century, and this became a highly publicized event. The third Hugh McCarville is reflected below. He applied for citizenship in 1858. According to the 1855 census, it tells us that "our" Hugh came to America in 1851, and at the time of this census became a naturalized citizen (he could vote). Still...I wonder if this isn't the official record of his naturalization.

 

Backgrounds

James Henry O'Brien (1860–1924) of Brooklyn, New York was a U.S. Representative from New York from 1913 to 1915. He was a Democrat. 1924. James married Kate Lyons, daughter of James Lyons and Catherine McCarville