March is Irish-American Heritage Month. The Irish immigrated
to America in record numbers between the years of 1841-1860. Most Irish settled
in New York and Massachusetts but many major cities across the country saw an
increase in the Irish population. Most Irish faced great discrimination and
stereotypes. The thought of the day was since the Irish were descendants of the
Celts and not Anglo-Saxon, they were inferior. Many Irish-Americans have become
presidents and other government officials as well as others who aren’t so
famous but still helped build this great country. I have Irish ancestors
through my paternal grandmother’s mother. I decided to explore those roots a
little bit now that I have access to amazing databases as Ancestry.com and
FamilySearch.org. It’s been an interesting journey which started out as a
simple search and has opened up a whole new world of information.
Margaret Jane Robinson is my 2nd great
grandmother. She was born on March 22, 1874 in County Cavan, Ireland to William
and Mary Ann (nee Lamb) Robinson. County Cavan is located in the province of
Ulster and part of the Border Region. In medieval times, the area was part of
the kingdom of East Bréifne. The natural landscape of drumlin hills and loughs
have the area a high degree of defense. The poorly drained clay soils also
provided an obstacle for any invaders. Areas of Cavan were hit hard by the
Great Famine potato blight (1845-49) with the winter of 1847 hit hard by typhus
and cholera. The 19th century saw several mass evictions. To be
evicted from your home was a death sentence. If you didn’t have a family member
to take you in, your only other option was emigration. I found the record of
Margaret entering the country in 1894. She could have been a part of these mass
eviction which took place. The next record I can find of Margaret is the 1910
census as she has married my great great grandfather, Charles E. Burns. I don’t
know the reason why she came to America or which family members came with her.
I don’t how she ended married and living in Oakland, California. When her
daughter, Lillian (my great grandmother) married, she would live with her in Klamath,
Oregon where she would live out her days. Margaret died February 6, 1945 at the
age of 70 due to hepatic cirrhosis.
Charles Edward Burns is my 2nd great grandfather.
He was born on August 23, 1869 in Oakland, California to Thomas and Ellen (nee
Clancey) Burns of Ireland. He was a musician and played the trombone. In the
1900 census, Charles was married to Elizabeth Burns with three sons: Charles,
Frank, and Thomas, and living in New York. By the 1910 census, he is married to
Margaret with two sons and two daughters and in living in Oakland. To imagine
in 10 years, he would lose his wife, Elizabeth and a son. I presume that Elizabeth
may have died after giving birth to their daughter, Elizabeth (born 1901). He
would marry Margaret on April 27, 1908 and have a second daughter, Lillian
(born 1909). Charles died on November 27, 1911 at the age of 42 due to
endocarditis (inflammation of inside lining of the heart chambers and heart
valves). The son I have been able to find records of is Frank who died May 7,
1950 in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I have not been able to find any record of what
happened to Charles’s other sons, Charles and Thomas, or his daughter,
Elizabeth. All three would disappear from the census records. What happened to
Charles’ other three children? I can only guess between 1900 and 1910, his
sons, Charles and Thomas, have died. By 1920, Elizabeth could have been married
or she, too, could have died.
While searching on FindAGrave.com, I found my great
grandparents, Joseph and Lillian Mingo’s grave sites, I discovered that they
had a fourth daughter named Virginia Lee. Baby Virginia was born on February
28, 1943 and died on April 4, 1943 at the age of 1 month and 6 days. She died
from an acute infectious meningitis as well as an unknown micro-organism
nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys). I have never heard about this sister.
I always thought my great grandparents only had three daughters. I searched
more into my great grandparents and I discovered that they were married on
August 17, 1927. Their first child, my grandmother, was born seven years later
in 1934. I was curious about the long time between marriage and first child. It
seemed a long time for that era to wait so long. I asked my grandmother if she
remembers if they talked about having problems having children. She told me
that she remembers that they did. It also makes sense since there is a gap
between the sisters. Their second daughter was born in 1938 and their third
daughter in 1940 and lastly the baby in 1943. With this new information, I
wonder if my fertility issues are contributed to by genetics, which makes sense
because everything is genetically linked. I feel a strange bond with my great
grandmother Lillian as she and I both share a struggle to have children. Even
though I never met Lillian as she died seven years before my birth, I feel a
stronger connection with her knowing that she felt the same pain of fertility
issues as well as losing a baby so tragically.
Although I wasn’t able to find more concrete information
about my ancestors’ lives in Ireland or their lives in America once they
arrived here, this journey has been eye opening. Through demographic
information, I can form an image of who these people were. Margaret left her
home in Ireland and made her way to America where she would meet her husband
and have a family. The marriage was a short one with Charles’ death after three
years of marriage. A simple search about my Irish heritage has led to amazing discoveries. I would encourage everyone to looking into their
family history. A great place to start is FamilySearch.org, a free site as well
as Ancestry.com which is a paid service although they do offer a 14-day free
trial. I also recommend FindAGrave.com. It is a site of gravesites about
information about the person and family histories have been added. I have found
so much information from this site alone. All you need is the person’s name and
approximate birth and death years. You never know what you might discover when
you all you have is simple information.
Links to get you
started:
Ancestry www.ancestry.com
FamilySearch www.familysearch.org
FindAGrave www.findagrave.com
Thank you!
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