University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship 1992 The world of Kavanagh and Cottril: A portrait of Irish emigration, entrepreneurship, and ethnic diversity in mid-Maine, 1760-1820 Edward Thomas McCarron University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation McCarron, Edward Thomas, "The orldw of Kavanagh and Cottril: A portrait of Irish emigration, entrepreneurship, and ethnic diversity in mid-Maine, 1760-1820" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations. 3. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/3 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. 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Order Number 9225258 The world of Kavanagh and Ccttril: A portrait of Irish emigration, entrepreneurship, and ethnic diversity in mid-Maine, 1760-1820 McCarron, Edward Thomas, Ph.D. University of New Hampshire, 1992 Copyright ©1992 by McCarron, Edward Thomas. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE WORLD OF KAVANAGH AND COTTRIL: A PORTRAIT OF IRISH EMIGRATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN MID-MAINE, 17 60-1820 BY EDWARD THOMAS McCARRON B.A., Drew University, 1978 M.A., Florida State University, 1982 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History May, 1992 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c 1992 Edward Thomas McCarron Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Charles E. Clark, Professor of History J.t-'william Harris, Associate Professor of History H & + .% C r K & 2 . William R. JonesPnoc? v PProfessor r o f c of History B. B. Khleif, Professor of Sociolog 29 April. 1992 Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FOR FIDELMA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION............................................. iv LIST OF TABLES......................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................ viii ABSTRACT................................................ x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................ xii CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION........................................... 1 I. SOCIAL ORIGINS............................ 12 II. MIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT...................... 72 III. THE IRISH MERCHANT TRADE...................... 133 IV. DAMARISCOTTA MILLS............................. 193 V. THE CATHOLIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLNCOUNTY 253 VI. THE FARMING COMMUNITY OFWHITEFIELD .......... 305 VII. EPILOGUE......................................... 358 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................... 371 APPENDICES............................................. 384 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Occupational Structure, Inistioge, Ireland, 2 9 1831 2.1 Ship and Passenger Arrivals, Boston, 1763-1769 75 2.2 Surname Origins: Newfoundland Passengers to 76 Boston, 1763-1769 2.3 Irish Ship Arrivals, Port of Boston, 1763-1769 86 2.4 Occupations: Irish Passengers to Boston, 1763- 89 1769 2.5 Port of Arrival, Maine Irish, 1788-1830 94 3.1 Irish Imports of Timber, 1800-1813 vtons) 136 3.2 Irish Imports of Staves, 1800-1813 (hundreds) 137 3.3 New England Timber Ships Entering Cork Harbor 140 June 1810 - September 1811 3.4 Percentage of New England Timber into Irish 141 Ports, 1810-1812 3.5 Irish Merchants and Mariners: Lincoln County 146 Maine, 1785-1815 3.6 Irish Passengers, 1803-1805: Occupational 150 Background 3.7 Occupations of Irish Settlers in Mid-Maine: 182 1780-1835 4.1 County Origins: Lincoln County Irish, 213 1770-1830 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.1 Catholic Baptisms in Lincoln County: Irish 2 6 3 and Convert, 1798-1822 5.2 Selections of Sponsors, Lincoln Irish: By 298 County of Origin, 1798-1822 5.3 Godparent Selection: Irish Maritime Community, 301 by Occupational Group 6.1 Irish Householders, Whitafield, Maine, 316 1811-1850 6.2 Provincial and County Origins: Whitefield 319 Irish, 1798-1840 6.3 Port of Arrival, Whitefield Irish: 322 1798-1840 6.4 Farm Holdings: Whitefield, Maine (1826) and 327 Inistioge, Ireland (1829) 6.5 Acreage per Farm Among Irish and Non-Irish in 345 whitefield, 1850 6.6 Average Number of Animals per Farm: Irish and 346 Non-Irish, Whitefield, 1850 6.7 Crop Production Among Irish and Non-Irish 349 Farms: Whitefield, 1850, Average Bushelage 6.8 Marriage Details of Whitefield Irish, 1801- 352 1850 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 The Townlands of Inistioge 17 1.2 Woodstock House, Inistioge 18 1.3 The Square, Inistioge, 17 65 20 1.4 Cottril House, Inistioge 25 1.5 Headstone of Patrick Cottril, (1725-1777) 37 1.6 Family Networks: Cottril and Madigan 39 1.7 Bernard Scale Map: Upper Cluen, 1771 48 1.8 Bernard Scale Map: Lower Cluen, 1771 51 1.9 Kavanagh House, Oldcourt 52 1.10 Kavanagh House, Lower Cluen 60 1.11 Farm Holding, Kavanaghs of Cluen, 1811 62 2.1 Pew Plan, Walpole Meeting House, 1771 106 3.1 The Marine School, Dublin 142 -7 \ j CituCw 1’iCt a u Wu ^ • j. < s/w .lOvs/ y 3.2 Damariscotta River Country, 1800 156 3.3 Matthew Cottril House, Damariscotta, Me. 159 3.4 Migration Corridor: The Barrow and the 190 Nore, 1780-1840 4.1 James Kavanagh House, Damariscotta 202 Mills, Me. 4.2 Family Networks: Kavanagh and Smithwick 211 viii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.3 Damariscotta Mills, c. 1812-1815 218 4.4 Mercantile Networks along the Damariscotta 242 5.1 St. Patrick's Church, Damariscotta 290 Mills, Maine 5.2 Distribution of Irish Families. St. 303 Patrick's Parish, 1821 6.1 Irish and New England Households, 310 North Whitefield, Me., c. 1830 6.2 Chain Migration: Lacy, Shea, and 325 Gaffney Families, 1800-1827 6.3 John Field House, North Whitefield, Me. 333 6.4 Residences of Irish Farmers, North 336 Whitefield, c. 1830 6.5 Homeland Origins of Whitefield Irish 348 6.6 Headstone: Anastasia Shea 356 ix Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE WORLD OF KAVANAGH AND COTTRIL: A PORTRAIT OF IRISH EMIGRATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN MID-MAINE, 1760-1820 by Edward Thomas McCarron University of New Hampshire, May, 1992 This dissertation examines a remarkable and little known episode in the peopling of early New England: The founding of an Irish-Catholic community in Lincoln County, Maine, 1760- 1820. It details the experience of over three hundred Irish families, tracing them to their Old World origins, following their progress across the Atlantic, and documenting their efforts to establish an ethnic and religious identity on the Maine frontier. Their story parallels the lives of two immigrants, James Kavanagh and Matthew Cottril, who made a fortune in the Maine timber trade and