Toomeys of Allegheny City

TOOMEYS OF ALLEGHENY CITY This information is provided for genealogical purposes only, please respect the wishes of the individuals and their families and the Churches providing the information named in these records. I wish to thanks all the people who have contributed to this work: My husband Rene’Thomas Urzua-Corona, who has waited outside half the libraries in the world and suffered through many late suppers. My Seanachies, especially my father Joseph John Toomey who never denied me a great story, My uncle and godfather, Francis Joseph Toomey who shared the only known record of my ancestors, My uncles Anthony and Thomas who explained many things to someone who had only book learning, My Aunt and godmother Ellen (Helen) Toomey Renter who put up with all my questions. The librarians of Carnegie library of Oakland and Woods Run who are always willing to find a book and fix the computer. Historic Pittsburgh.com which provides early photographs of the area and Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection. ANCIENT HISTORY This can be found in two books which are available at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Oakland Branch, reference section on the 3rd floor. Family Names of County Cork by Diarmuid Ó Murchadha, Glendale Press, pp. 314-316 (Tuama). This book is recommended by the Cork Historical Society The O’Toomeys of Croom by Thomas Noxon Toomey, pp. 1-7 The Coat of Arms The coat of arms used by the OTuama. The Irish Board of Heraldry uses the distinctive Irish custom of sept arms permitting any descendent of an Irish chieftain to display the arms. The person is not required to have the same surname. He may display the arms as opposed to bearing the arms. Chapter Two NAMING PATTERNS Old Irish Naming Patterns as found in <<Cork Ireland Gen Web>> Sons 1st son was named after the father’s father 2nd son was named after the mother’s father 3rd son was named after the father 4th son was named after the father’s eldest brother 5th son was named after the mother’s eldest brother Daughters 1st daughter was named after the mother’s mother 2nd daughter was named after the father’s mother 3rd daughter was named after the mother 4th daughter was named after the mother’s eldest sister 5th daughter was named after the father’s eldest sister An observation at the end of the discussion notes the following break in the pattern. “This convention was modified when the resulting name would mean that 3 people in one family had the same name. The superstition was that in the case of 3 having the same name, one would die. When one of the people having the name died that name was reused on the next born child.” This pattern appears to have been followed by the first two generations of the family of Timothy Toomey. The result is an overwhelming repetition of given names and usually only one name is given. As an aid to identify each person bearing a repeated name, I assigned a number to each person in the first three generations beginning with Timothy Toomey, born in Ireland in 1811. He will be T-1. His children are T1-1, T1-2, T1-3, and T1-4. The children of each of the following generations will be numbered in order of birth showing how each is related to Timothy Toomey T-1 through the number of the parent. VOCABULARY Many people have asked about the occupation of several members of the family which was known as “puddler”. As the iron and steel industries evolved, different steps in the manufacturing process changed, sometimes dramatically. In the “Hall of Genealogy Website” under Old Occupation Names there is a description of puddling. The Puddling Process In 1784 Henry Cort devised a method of producing wrought iron from cast iron using a coal fired Reverberatory Furnace. Solid Cast Iron was heated within an enclosed furnace. A Reverberatory Furnace is a long low structure built out of fire bricks. The coal fire was at one end with the hearth between the fire and the chimney. The hearth was slightly dished with a roof that directed the smoke and flame from the fire wall above the iron. By keeping the smoke and flame above the iron, no carbon from the fire came in contact with the iron. Solid Pig (Cast) Iron was heated vigorously in the hearth until it was all molten. The fire was then damped down and the iron stirred so as to bring as much as possible in contact with the air. As Wrought Iron has a higher melting point than Cast Iron, if the temperature in the furnace was correct the iron began to solidify as the carbon was removed. Eventually the Wrought Iron could be worked into a single lump of iron in the center of the hearth. Although in theory this was Wrought Iron it was not usable in this form because of the slag within the lump. For the Wrought Iron to be made usable, it was lifted from the furnace and forged using a ‘Shindling Hammer’. Finally it was rolled into bars or sheet. As most of the slag was squeezed out of the iron under the shindling hammer this could be a dangerous job, with each drop of the hammer white hot slag would be strayed out across the forge. As the workmen had to hold and move the iron during the forging, there was no option other than for them to dress in heavy protective clothing. An improvement to Cort’s puddling process came from Joseph Hall in 1816. Hall added mill scale (iron oxide formed and broken off during the forging and rolling) to the Cast Iron at the start of the puddling process. Once the iron had melted, the carbon monoxide formed by the mill scale bubbled up through the iron giving the impression of boiling, thus the common name for this refinement “Pig Boiling”. This process resulted in the elevation of the rolling and puddling procedures into the most important positions in steel mills in the 1870’s. But according to S. J. Kleinberg in The Shadow of the Mills, the invention of the Bessemer converter and later the open hearth furnace made these two skills obsolete. If he worked a 10-12 hour shift, in the mid 1870’s a roller might earn $38 a week usually ($1200 to $2000 per year) and a puddler $22.50 per week ($600 to $1000 per year), earning them more than some white collar workers. A laborer’s wages increased from 14 to 16 cents an hour by 1907 ($300 to $550 a year). This forced the families of unskilled laborers to take in boarders and send their children to work. SEANACHIE This is the name given to official story tellers in old Irish society. Many of the Toomeys fit this description and are still capable of relating history which they themselves did not experience. Accuracy is not a requirement but once the story began no one ever interrupted the teller except to request additional information. This usually results in the lead-in to another story. Chapter Three – Cork City, Ireland A search of the church records of <<Irish Genealogy,ie>> has turned up the following records which have been accepted as those of Timothy Toomey by the Cork Historical Society due to coincidence of family name, given names, dates of birth and location. As you can see, accepting all of these records will involve accepting probably 6 different spellings of the family name, two in Irish (Tuaima, Tuama) and four in English (Tuomy, Twomy, Toomy, Toomey). After all, there really is only one way to spell it ! All the records are from the South Chapel of Saint Finbar’s, Cork City, Ireland. In the book “A Walk Through the South Parish Where Cork Began” by Roger Herlihy, this church is identified as the oldest Catholic church in the city and the original was built in 1766. The front was set back from the street so as not to make it too obvious due to having been built during Penal times. The parish priest administered a parish that covered approximately 9000 acres. There is a legend that permission had to be obtained from the Protestant bishop who allowed it to be built, as long as he could not see the church from his own residence. In 1827 and 1828, the years leading up to Catholic Emancipation, two great meetings were held in the South Chapel. Both were attended by Daniel O’Connell, known as the Liberator. They sent one petition to Parliament and another denounced the “Tithe” system requiring all non-Anglicans: Catholic, Presbyterian, Quaker, Non-conformist, to pay the upkeep of the Anglican clergy (Church of Ireland). This tax fell most heavily on potato patches and was felt directly by the poorest residents. Between 1823 and 1840, 109 charges were brought against various members of the Toomey clan in County Cork for refusal to pay tithes. SOUTH CHAPEL – 2017 The first known records of our Toomey ancestors can be found in the South Chapel records. Begin with a marriage record of Tim Tuomy and Mary Sullivan of Blueboy Lane on 18 January 1803. No occupations were given and no names of parents. Witnesses were John Hegarty and Mary Sullivan. 1. A baptismal record for Dens Toomy of Little Blue Bell Lane on 25 Nov 1803. His parents are listed as Timy Toomy and Sullivan. His sponsors were Timy Regan and Peggy Bell. 2. A baptismal record was found for John Tuomy of Barrack [Street] on 25 February, 1806.

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