Ballykilcline Rising: From Famine Ireland to Immigrant America

Appendix

171 Appendix { Table 1. U.S. Census Searches for the Immigrants from Ballykilcline Census Year 1850 1860 1870 rutland county Rutland Town x x x Poultney x x x Fair Haven x x x Brandon x Castleton x x Chittendon x Ira x x Pittsford x West Haven x bennington county Dorset x x x Table 2A. Literacy of a Sample of Ballykilcline Immigrants per U.S. Censuses Before Approximate Rutland Immigrant 1850 1850 1860 1870 1880 Birth Year/Notes Bridget Geelan Brennan yes yes 1831 Daniel Brennan yes yes 1823 Maria Kelly Brennan yes no yes 1833 William Brennan yes yes 1821 Owen Carlon (Carolan) yes 1840 Bernard Carlon (Carolan) yes 1820 Susan Hanley Carrington yes read only 1822 Bernard Colligan yes 1811 Michael Costello yes yes 1816 Jane Brennan Driscoll yes yes 1830 Eliza Foley yes yes 1810 172 Appendix Table 2A. (continued) Before Approximate Rutland Immigrant 1850 1850 1860 1870 1880 Birth Year/Notes James Foley yes yes 1825 Margaret Hanley Hackett yes yes 1833 James Hanley yes dead 1817 John Hanley yes yes 1805 Michael Hanley* yes 1821; (died 1848) (family knowledge, personal effects) Owen Hanley yes dead 1825 Sabina Brennan Hanley yes yes read only 1810 Catherine Geelan Igo yes dead 1829 Michael Igo yes no 1820 Eliza Cline Kelly yes no 1812 Patrick Kelly yes read only 1806 Thomas Kelly yes 1836 William Kelly yes 1840 Edward McCormick yes yes yes 1808 Thomas McCormick yes 1840 Ann McGann McGinty yes yes yes 1815 John McGinty yes yes dead 1800 Patrick McGinty yes 1838 Ann Cox McGuire no 1838 Ann Wynne McGuire no 1827 Bartley McGuire yes 1830 James McGuire yes 1837 Terrance McGuire yes yes 1838 Bridget Mullera yes no no 1797 Bridget Mullera (dau) yes 1837 Denis Mullera yes 1836 James Mullera yes dead 1797 Thomas Mullera yes read only 1827 (an “R” in census column headed “cannot read”) Bartholomew Neary yes prob 1802 dead William Neary yes no yes 1811 Mary Ann Geelan Regan yes 1826 Ann Stewart yes no 1797 John Stewart yes no 1825 Appendix 173 Analysis The initial plan was to take the literacy results that were reported in the 1850 census, since it was the first one after the immigrants left Ireland and thus seemed to promise the strongest data about their literacy in Ireland. In fact, though, a notable number of immigrants answered one way in 1850 and differently in a later census. In addition, in 1850 the immigrants appeared reluctant to disclose information about themselves, perhaps because of transference of their still-fresh hostility toward their former British government, the fear of intimidation they had known in Ireland, uncertainty about how the information would be used, or mere unfamiliarity with American ways. It also appeared that the year’s census takers had not been rigorous in their inquiries. Therefore, a major effort was made to obtain information from a second census if the initial data was derived solely from the 1850 data. Doing so, however, risked the inclusion of immigrants who may have learned to read in their first decade Table 2A. (continued) Before Approximate Rutland Immigrant 1850 1850 1860 1870 1880 Birth Year/Notes Honora Winters yes yes dead 1787 Honora Winters (dau) yes 1830 John Winters yes no 1825 Margaret Winters yes 1823 Thomas Winters yes yes yes 1818 Other Ballykilcline Immigrants John McGann yes yes 1823 Luke McGann yes yes 1827 Arthur Mullera yes 1814 Patrick Mullera yes 1820 Abby Carrington Neary yes yes 1824 Edward Neary yes 1805 Luke Neary yes 1824 Mary Padian yes dead 1817 Richard Padian yes yes 1815 *The source of information on Michael Hanley was unique and not a census but seemed sufficient to include here. 174 Appendix or more in the U.S. which would then “cloud” the picture of literacy at the time of the strike. Nor was obtaining data from the following census always possible, since that decade was one of great mobility for the immigrants . In addition, a number of immigrants died during their early years in the United States. Such was the case, for instance, with Bartholomew and Patrick Neary and James Mullera, who all apparently passed away during the 1850s and thus are recorded in only one federal census. Although my comprehensive study extended only to 1870, it was necessary to take information recorded in censuses up to 1880 on this issue so as to establish a good...