A Social History of the Brooklyn Irish, 1850–1900 Stephen Jude Sullivan Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Stephen Jude Sullivan All rights reserved ABSTRACT A Social History of the Brooklyn Irish, 1850-1900 Stephen Jude Sullivan A full understanding of nineteenth century Irish America requires close examination of emigration as well as immigration. Knowledge of Irish pre-emigration experiences is a key to making sense of their post-emigration lives. This work analyzes the regional origins, the migration and settlement patterns, and the work and associational life of the Catholic Irish in Brooklyn between 1850 and 1900. Over this pivotal half century, the Brooklyn Irish developed a rich associational life which included temperance, Irish nationalism, land reform and Gaelic language and athletic leagues. This era marked the emergence of a more diverse, mature Irish- Catholic community, a community which responded in a new ways to a variety of internal and external challenges. To a degree, the flowering of Irish associational life represented a reaction to the depersonalization associated with American industrialization. However, it also reflected the changing cultural norms of many post-famine immigrants. Unlike their pre-1870 predecessors, these newcomers were often more modern in outlook – more committed to Irish nationhood, less impoverished, better educated and more devout. Consequently, post-1870 immigrants tended to be over-represented in the ranks of associations dedicated to Irish nationalism, Irish temperance, trade unionism, and cultural revivalism throughout Kings County. Unsurprisingly, over 70 of Brooklyn’s 96 Catholic churches in 1901 were built after July 1, 1870. The internal diversity of the Brooklyn Irish was extensive. Opportunities and experiences for some Irish differed markedly from those available to others. Gender, county of origin and skill level all served as factors in post-emigration success. Moreover, generation was especially pronounced as a socioeconomic agent in Brooklyn. Economic prospects for the Irish- born remained as poor in Brooklyn as anywhere in the nation, but improved more rapidly for the American-born Irish then anyone might realistically have considered possible. Increased opportunities for land ownership seemed to support the socioeconomic prospects of thrifty Irishmen, but occupational mobility strongly favored the second generation, more so than in other locales. Why do both popular and scholarly accounts tend to portray all nineteenth century Irish Americans as either an undifferentiated mass of unskilled proletarians or as nouveau riche “lace curtain” aristocrats when significant variation clearly existed? In Philadelphia, Detroit and Brooklyn, at least 30 percent of Irish-born male workers in 1880 could be classified as “skilled craftsmen.” In five other major cities, from San Francisco to Providence, the corresponding figure was roughly one-fifth in the same census year. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Irish displayed a curious pattern of halting socioeconomic progress among foreign-born men (55% nonskilled in 1850 51% nonskilled in 1900) alongside impressive progress for their American-born sons (35% nonskilled in 1880 22% nonskilled in 1900). Irish American socio-economic mobility paled in comparison to that of their German peers, especially among the foreign born. Their intra-urban geographic mobility patterns differed as well. Irish Americans, in Brooklyn and other Northeastern and Midwestern cities, tended to move out of the older core wards as soon as they enjoyed a degree of economic success. German Americans, conversely, seem to have reinvested their new wealth in “a nicer house in the old neighborhood.” Germans tended to separate themselves, whether they lived in the tenement districts of New York’s Germantown and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, or the single-family homes of Riverdale just south of the Bronx. By 1890, the Irish were virtually ubiquitous, inhabiting all areas and all housing types of Brooklyn. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction—Who Were the Brooklyn Irish? 1 Chapter 1—From Whence They Came: Geographic, Economic and Cultural Variation in 19th Century Ireland 18 Chapter 2—From There to Here: Irish Emigration Patterns, 1800–1900 45 Chapter 3—Life in the City of Homes: The Brooklyn Environment, 1850–1898 82 Chapter 4—A Fair Living: Work, Housing and Mobility 115 Chapter 5—Kin and Community: Family Structure and Gender Roles 182 Chapter 6—Socialization and Assimilation: Religious and Voluntary Affiliations 256 Conclusion—The Brooklyn Irish: Diversity and Identity 331 Epilogue—The Post-Brooklyn Irish: Ethnicity & Identity beyond the Geographic Boundaries of Kings County, 1919– 358 Sources 374 Appendices—Methodology 416 I: Federal Manuscript Census Files 416 II: Occupational Classification 418 III: Surname Analysis 422 i LIST OF TABLES 2-1: Sex Ratio of Irish Emigrants by Provinces, 1851–1910 50 2-2: Males and Females Aged 15–24 as a Proportion of Total Irish Emigration, 1852–1921 51 2-3: Age Distribution of Irish Emigrants, 1852–1921 52 2-4: Ranking of Irish Counties 55 2-5: Irish Emigration per Decade as a Percentage of the Population at the Prior Census: Provinces and Selected Counties, 1851–1910 57 2-6: Irish Emigration, 1851–1910, from Counties with Specified Levels of Irish-Speaking Population in 1891 58 2-7: Irish Emigration from Counties Containing Significant Area Designated as “Congested Districts,” 1851–1910 59 2-8: Occupational Distribution (%) of Irish Emigrants, 1851–55 & 1875–1910 60 2-9: Brooklyn Irishmen’s Top 12 Counties of Origin 70 2-10: Birthplaces of Association Members, 1851–1917 74 2-11: Estimated Irish-Speaking Emigrants in 1851–55 and 1891–1900 75 2-12: Total Irish Emigration, 1851–1920 76 2-13: Percentage Changes in Irish Emigration, 1856–1910 78 3-1: Brooklyn and New York City Population, 1850–1900 85 3-2: Population Growth in Selected Eastern and Western Cities, 1850–1880 86 3-3: Number of Persons per Brooklyn Residential Building in 1865 and 1875 96 3-4: Brooklyn Population by Ethnicity, 1845–1890 97 4-1: Occupational Composition of Bedford in 1870 by Section 118 4-2: Occupational Composition of Bedford in 1855 by Section 118 4-3: Number of Persons per Brooklyn Residential Building in1865 and 1875 119 4-4: Number of Dwellings in Brooklyn 1865 and 1875 With Percentage of Increase 120 4-5: Brooklyn Population by Ethnic Group from 1845–1890 124 4-6: Brooklyn Population by Ethnic Group and Ward, 1855 125 4-7: Brooklyn Population by Ethnic Group and Ward, 1890 126 4-8: Brooklyn Population by Ethnic Group and Ward, 1865 128 4-9: Sex Ratios in “Irish” Wards, 1880 131 4-10: Mean Ages in “Irish” Wards, 1880 131 4-11: Proportion of Irish Adults Married (Age 35) 133 4-12: Endogamous Marriages of Irish-Born Adult Males 133 4-13: Occupational Distribution of Irish Immigrant Workers in Selected Cities, 1880 134 ii 4-14: Occupational Distribution of Brooklyn’s Irish, German & Native-stock Males, 1850–1880 135 4-15: Occupational Distribution of Irish Adult Male Workers by Generation 138 4-16: Occupational Stratification of Ethnic Groups Male Workers, 1880 144 4-17: Irish Immigrant Upper-Class Occupations 1850–1880 146 4-18: Number of Irish-Born Property Holders* 1850–1870 148 4-19: Real Property Distribution by Occupation Level and Ethnic Group 1850 and 1870 149 4-20: Average Total Wealth of Property Holders 149 4-21: Irish-Born Property and Wealth Distribution 1850–1870 151 4-22: Residents Wards 1–5 151 4-23: Number of Dwellings in Brooklyn by Ward 1890 and 1900 157 4-24: Index of Dissimilarity of Major Ethnic Groups In Brooklyn 1890 and 1910 158 4-25: Components of growth of the Brooklyn Irish & German Population 167 4-26: Occupational Distribution of the German Labor Force of Brooklyn, 1844–1860 (%) 168 4-27: Occupational Distribution of the Irish Labor Force of Brooklyn, 1844–1860 (%) 176 4-28: Occupational Distribution of the Irish Labor Force of Brooklyn, 1844–1860 (%) 176 4-29: Career Continuity 177 4-30: Components of Growth: Comparison of Population Growth in Brooklyn & Boston: 1850–1890 178 5-1: Females per 1,000 Males 217 5-2: Women Identified as Earning Money in the Manuscript Census 218 5-3: Women’s Employment by Marital Status 219 5-4: Adults Living as Boarders / Lodgers 219 5-5: Occupational Status of Distributions of Employed Adult Females 220 5-6: Women in the Labor Force 220 5-7: Adult Female Labor Employed in Specified Occupations by Ethnicity 221 5-8: School Attendance 228 5-9: Formal Labor Force by Ethnicity 228 5-10: Never-Married Persons Aged 45–54 232 5-11: Never-Married Persons Aged 25–34 232 5-12: Mean Age at Marriage 235 5-13: Marriage Rate: Marriages per 1,000 Single Persons, 20–44 235 5-14: Endogamy, Married Persons with Spouses of Same Ethnicity 241 5-15: Marital Fertility: Births per 1,000 Wives Aged 15–44 242 5-16: Own Children Residing with Married Women Aged 35–44 243 5-17: Child-Woman Ratios: Children < 5 per 1000 Women 243 iii 5-18: Persons 45–64 Living in Disrupted Marital Status (Widowed, Separated or Divorced) 244 5-19: Percentage of Adult Women Listed as “Family Head” 244 5-20: Females as Percentage of Brooklyn Family Heads 245 5-21: Death Rates due to Accidents and Injuries per 100,000 Workers 245 5-22: Charges in Divorce Proceedings, 1880 248 6-1: Birthplaces of Association Members, 1851–1917 270 6-2: Occupational Levels of Association Members, 1850–1917