Immigration
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| The DeWitt Clinton, built 1848, wrecked off the coast of New Jersey in 1860. A Patrick Allen, age 21, is on the May 1856 sailing of this ship. |
Mary and Patrick may well have been the first members of the family to immigrate to America. The records of immigration are confusing at best, but it does appear that Mary's first child, Anna Burns, was born in New Jersey in 1856. (The 1900 census shows them immigrating in 1860, but also being married in 1860....which is not correct according to the information in the Dangan church register above.) The 1870 census of Jersey County, Illinois shows Anna, age 15 (born abt. 1855) and Patson, age 13 (born abt. 1857) both born in New Jersey. The first child born in Illinois was Franklin, age 11 (born 1859.) The spelling of "Byrne" has been changed to "Burn" by the time of this census. Mary also appears to be the only Allen who was married in Ireland before immigrating to America.
Our family history tells us that Hugh Allen arrived in America at Castle Garden, New York, and lived and worked in New York for a few years before moving to Illinois. We know that he was in Illinois before 1863, when he registered for the civil war draft. We know that his brother, Franklin, was in Jersey County Illinois by 1861, when his daughter Delia was born there. The 1930 census claims that brother Thomas came to the U.S. in 1861.
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| Register of the Joseph Gilchirst from November 1857, showing a Hugh Allen, age 26, sailing from Liverpool to New York |
Immigration records have been hard to trace- many burned in a fire on Ellis Island. But some ship registers remain. There is a Patrick Allen, age 21, who arrived onboard the DeWitt Clinton at Castle Garden in June 1856. There is a Hugh Allen, age 26, who arrived onboard the Joseph Gilchrist in November 1857. In any case, it is unclear whether the Allen brothers traveled to America together, or individually, as money was saved to get them passage. What we can guess at, however, is that they had similar experiences along the way.
Leaving Summerhill
When Hugh left home, whether alone or with one or even two brothers, it must have been with a many mixed emotions- a heart heavy with grief at leaving his parents (whom he would never see again) and full of the excitement of a young man starting out on his own on his way to a new land full of hope and opportunity. He would have been in his mid-twenties, and already an experienced farmer who was not a stranger to hard work and tough times.
Did the family travel with him to nearby Dublin to wave goodbye to him as he caught the boat across the Irish Sea to Liverpool, or did they say goodbye at home, or in the village? Either way, it was surely a heartbreaking farewell.
Embarkation at Waterloo Docks- Liverpool
The steamer from Dublin took less than three hours to reach Liverpool. Once in the port of Liverpool, Hugh would have had at least a one night stay, probably in less than desirable lodgings near the docks, while he arranged for his passage. In Liverpool, passage brokers arranged for fares, which averaged about 5 pounds for steerage passage.
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| A passage advertisement to New York via steamer |
Hugh would have signed a passage contract, and been given his ticket.
Hugh and his fellow passengers had to go through a medical examination before they were allowed to board the ship. This was an effort to keep the ships free from the dreaded fever. Those who passed had their tickets stamped and were allowed to board the ship 24 hours before sailing. Hugh would have carried his few possessions on board, jostling with about 400 other passengers to find a spot between decks for the voyage, which would last 3-4 weeks.
Ships were towed ten miles down the Mersey River while the crew onboard conducted a search for stowaways- a common practice among those who could not afford the fare. Those caught in time were put ashore- others were used as laborers during the voyage. All the ticketed passengers assembled on the quarter deck, where the ship's officers conducted a roll-call comparing tickets and the passenger list. This often took 2-4 hours.(First class passengers in cabins were exempt.) After the roll-call was completed, the steerage passengers were allowed to go back to their berths between decks.
The beginning of the voyage was often a time of great celebration among the passengers, with new friendships made and great hope for better times to come. Many passengers were young adults, and there was time for country music with fiddle and flute and dancing with new acquaintances.
The accommodations themselves were simple. Passengers were given an allotment of food, which could be cooked on deck in good weather, or below deck in foul weather. Some ships provided a cook. The food was simple; bread, flour, oatmeal, rice or potatoes, and tea. Passengers were expected to supplement this with their own supplies.
If seas were calm, steerage passengers were allowed time on deck, but in foul weather, they were crowded into their space between decks.
Once arriving in New York, ships were again checked for fever. Those with fever aboard were quarantined for 30 days on Staten Island. Those with healthy passengers were allowed to disembark at Castle Garden, on the lower tip of Manhattan. New York received over 650,000 Irish immigrants during the famine years- giving the city a larger population of Irish born citizens than Dublin.
Once in Castle Garden, Hugh would have had to find his way in the city. Many Irish countrymen were set up on the docks trying to make a penny out of steering the new immigrants along- to their friends boarding houses, etc. The ghettos of New York were full of poor Irish immigrants trying to find jobs and begin making their way in this new country. If Mary and her husband were already in New Jersey, Hugh was lucky indeed to have someone to help him get adjusted and find employment. According to the "History of Jersey County" he continued working for a time in New York state before heading west.
