IRISH PASSENGER LISTS Published in U.S. Newspapers Thomas Jay Kemp IRISH PASSENGER LISTS Published in U.S. Newspapers Thomas Jay Kemp © Copyright 2020, GenealogyBank Cover Illustration Photo: Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, Ireland Credit: Kenneth Allen; Wikimedia Commons © 2020 NewsBank All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America GenealogyBank, a division of NewsBank, Inc. 5801 Pelican Bay Boulevard, Suite 600 Naples, Florida 34108 www.GenealogyBank.com (866) 641-3297 About GenealogyBank GenealogyBank is a leading online genealogical resource from NewsBank, Inc. GenealogyBank’s exclusive newspaper archive features over 13,000+ small town and big city historical newspapers across the U.S. from 1690 to present day to help you discover and document your family story. You’ll find births, marriages, engagement notices, hometown news, obituaries and much more! Search today and get a glimpse into the triumphs, troubles and everyday experiences of your American ancestors. NewsBank, Inc. has been one of the world’s premier information providers for more than 35 years. Through partnerships with the American Antiquarian Society, Wisconsin Historical Society and more than 3,000 publishers, NewsBank is uniquely qualified to offer some of the most comprehensive genealogical information available – and to provide new content regularly. About the Author Thomas Jay Kemp is a librarian and archivist. He is the author of dozens of reference books and hundreds of articles about genealogy and family history. Tom previously served as the Chair of the National Council of Library & Information Associations (Washington, D.C.) and as Library Director of both the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He began his career in 1963 as the Assistant to the Librarian in the Genealogy Section of the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut. Irish Passenger Lists Introduction I am just amazed every time I find Irish American passenger lists in GenealogyBank’s online newspapers and see that they tell me where these new arrivals had lived in Ireland, and where they were going to live in America. That information is NOT in any other passenger list source. How in the world did the editors of New York City’s Irish American newspapers find the time to interview and document the incoming Irish immigrants, and keep doing it for over a century? Source: GenealogyBank, Irish Nation (New York City, New York), 20 May 1882, page 7 Irish American newspapers were diligent about reporting the great migration of Irish immigrants to America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Newspapers like the Irish Nation, Irish Voice, and Irish World regularly published lists of Irish passengers that came over on the passenger ships week by week. These published lists did not include every Irish immigrant – but for the tens of thousands that were interviewed and documented by the newspapers, these lists give us the critical place of origin and where they were heading, valuable information that is just not found in any other source. One of my colleagues, Duncan Kuehn, closely compared some of the passenger lists published in newspapers to the corresponding federal passenger lists. She found that for the passengers interviewed and listed by the newspapers, their 6 Irish Passenger Lists names were often more complete – and often, additional names of accompanying family members were given in the newspaper account that didn’t appear in the federal lists. It would be even better if the newspapers had interviewed every single passenger, but we’re grateful for the excellent job they did on those persons that were documented. This is a must-see resource for genealogists. For example, in an issue of the Irish Nation from 1882, we see the following passenger lists. The first three passengers arriving on the steamer England on 28 December 1881 are: • Patrick Mitchel, from County Sligo – his destination was New York • Peter Judge, also from County Sligo – he was heading to Baltimore, Maryland • Patrick Rourke, from County Clare – he Source: GenealogyBank was going to Wisconsin Irish Nation (New York, New York), 7 January 1882, page 8 For genealogists having difficulty finding where in Ireland their ancestors came from, these newspapers give you that answer. Newspapers can also tell you the details of their trip to America. Over 40 years ago, I found multiple passport applications filed by my cousin George Kemp (1826–1893). In them he stated that he “emigrated to the United States on or about . 1834: sailing on board the Hector from Liverpool.” Immigration document from National Archives Source: National Archives 7 Irish Passenger Lists Source: New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1891, National Archives and Records Administration Source: New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1891, National Archives and Records Administration I had the name of the ship and the date George immigrated – now what? Is there more to this story? Yes; because international commerce was news back then, it is possible to track ship movements in the 1800s in the pages of old newspapers. Let’s track the ship Hector. 13 May 1834 – The Ship Hector Cleared the Port of Mobile, Alabama I searched GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives and found that the ship Hector had sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, bound for Liverpool, England, and cleared at the port of Mobile, Alabama, on 13 May 1834. 8 Irish Passenger Lists #7 Source: GenealogyBank, Charleston Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), 24 March 1834, page 2 This fits. The captain was William Williams and he was taking the ship from Charleston, South Carolina, to Liverpool, England, before taking the next group of passengers from Liverpool back to the United States. 20 June 1834 – The Ship Hector Departed from Liverpool, England Digging deeper into GenealogyBank, I found more good information. The newspaper Evening Star informs us that the ship Hector, under the command of William Williams, had departed from Liverpool on 20 June 1834, and that the ship held 219 passengers – including eight-year-old George Kemp, who was coming to America with his family. Source: GenealogyBank, Evening Star (New York City, New York), 20 July 1834, page 2 9 Irish Passenger Lists So, the ship made a quick voyage to Liverpool and then loaded the passengers and cargo to return to the United States. The ship departed from Liverpool on 20 June 1834. 18 July 1834 – The Ship Hector at Sea, Latitude 42.30, Longitude 60 According to the newspaper Columbian Centinel, the ship Lowell, led by Captain Crocker, arrived in Boston 20 July 1834 from Liverpool, England. They “sailed in co[mpany] with ships Hector, [Captain] Williams, [bound for] New York; [ship] Colossus, [Captain] Wylie, [bound for] Philadelphia; [ship] Grace Brown, [Captain] Higgins, [bound for] Baltimore – saw her 18th inst.[ant] [they were last seen July 18, 1834] lat[itude] 42.30, lon[gitude] 60.” Source: GenealogyBank, Columbian Centinel (Boston, Massachusetts), 26 July 1834, page 1 This is great. We now know exactly where the ship was as it neared its arrival in New York City. 28 July 1834 – The Ship Hector Arrived at Port of New York A little over one month later, the ship safely arrived in New York City. The Commercial Advertiser describes the cargo and to whom it was being shipped to, and states that it brought “219 passengers.” Source: GenealogyBank, Commercial Advertiser (New York City, New York), 29 July 1834, page 2 10 Irish Passenger Lists There are more than 1 million published newspaper articles in GenealogyBank that document where in Ireland our ancestors were born – including thousands of published passenger lists. To give you an idea of the scope of these records, here is an index and extract to the arrival records of over 2,000 Irish Americans. Notice that these records tell us where they were from in Ireland, and where they were going to live in America. This is important, critical information, information that is NOT in any other passenger list source. GenealogyBank lets you peel back time and document not only the arrival of your family in the United States, but also lets you document the voyage of the ship that carried your family here. Find out how long it took – from the date the ship left for Europe, arrived there, loaded its cargo and passengers, and made the return voyage to America. Did their ship have an easy voyage – or was it hit by storms – or worse, cholera? Once you have these stories, pass them down to the rising generation. It’s a great day for genealogy! 11 Irish Passenger Lists Ahearn, John Allen, Michael From: County Limerick From: County Cork To: Brooklyn, New York To: California Arrived: 14 March 1882 Arrived: 2 March 1882 Ship: Steamer City of Brussels Ship: Steamer State of Georgia Irish Nation (New York City, New York) Irish Nation (New York City, New York) 18 March 1882, page 8 11 March 1882, page 8 Notes: Notes: Sister Ahearn, Letitia Anderson, Eliza From: County Limerick From: County Antrim To: East Bennington, Vermont To: Paterson, New Jersey Arrived: 6 March 1882 Arrived: 15 February 1882 Ship: Steamer Egypt Ship: Steamer State of Pennsylvania Irish Nation (New York City, New York) Irish Nation (New York City, New York) 11 March 1882, page 8 18 February 1882, page 8 Notes: Notes: Ahern, Patrick Anderson, James From: County Cork From: County Meath To: Boston, Massachusetts To: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Arrived: 10 February 1882 Arrived: 1 December 1881 Ship: Steamer Devonia Ship: Steamer City of Chester Irish Nation (New York City, New York)