Keeping in touch with family and writing letters was traditionally the role of women. In our family, the eldest daughter, Aunt Mary (Marlin,) wrote the letters back to Ireland for her great Uncle Tom, who lived with her family, to his brother, Uncle John, in Dangan, Summerhill Parish, County Meath. The women in the generation before her surely did the same, writing to their parents and siblings who remained in Ireland.
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| Pauline Allen and great uncle Tom |
Often letters from America contained money - it was common for small bits of cash to be sent around the Christmas and Easter holidays. During the height of the famine, these gifts sustained the family back in the old country- helping not just with food, but with rent and taxes- a necessity to avoid eviction. Millions of letters flowed from Irish Americans back to their families in Ireland, easing the pain of separation, and encouraging the possibility of emigration.
Their letters home told about family news; marriages, the births of children, and details of their lives in America. This provided hope for the future and connections for their siblings to make the journey themselves. Sometimes they even contained a prepaid ticket for a sibling to emigrate and join them. Three quarters of Irish emigration were paid for by money or tickets sent from America.
Chain Migration to Jerseyville, Illinois
Few Irish immigrants during the famine could afford to bring the whole family to America all at once. Instead, they practiced "chain migration" in which one member of the family would come to America, and save money to help the next person, often giving them a place to stay and a start in the new country. This was the pattern for the Allen's from County Meath. (Some of our Kilkenny ancestral families did come all together- which was often a sign, during the worst of the famine, that their landlords had evicted them and paid their passage so the small plots of land that they farmed could be converted to more profitable pasture.)The Chain Migration for the Allen family siblings took nearly 20 years. The order appears to be:
Mary- 1850's
Frank- before 1860
Hugh- before 1860
Patrick- before 1870
Thomas-before 1872
Richard- before 1872
Edward- before 1880
Peter- about 1881
John and Catharine (the youngest child) were the only two Allen siblings to stay on the farm in Great Umberstown, Ireland, along with their aging parents, Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney Allen.
Mary Allen (Burns)- It is likely that Mary was the first of the Allen siblings to come to America.
Mary, the eldest Allen sibling, was married to Patrick Burns in Summerhill Parish in February, 1851. A biographical article on Patrick B. Burns, of County Meath, shows him born Aug. 15, 1825, the son of Patrick and Anna Murray Burns, who came to America and settled in New Brunswick N.J., where they remained until their deaths. According to the family history, Patrick and Mary settled for a time in New Jersey, likely with his parents in New Brunswick. The census records show that their first two children were born in New Jersey; Anna in April 1855, and Patrick in 1856.
The family notebook says that Patrick Burns worked for three years until he could purchase his land. (article in notebook of Helen and Margie Allen)
According to the census, they had moved to Illinois before the birth of their next child; Francis "Frank" in 1858. By the 1870 census, they are shown on a farm in Township 8, Range 11, Jersey County, not far from the farms of Franklin and Hugh.
Hugh and Frank Allen
Our family history says that Hugh first arrived in New York, and worked there for several years before coming to Jersey County, Illinois. He likely arrived in the late 1850's. I wonder if he might have lived right outside NY with his eldest sister, Mary Allen (Burns) who had settled in New Jersey.
1860- A census with the right names but the wrong ages and place of birth!
(I have found that census inconsistencies happen and we have to remember that many of our ancestors could not read and write.) This census entry is for Macoupin County, right next to Jersey County. This shows that Hugh Allen was living with older brother Franklin Allen and his wife Rachel Allen and their child. Franklin's personal property was valued at $520, Hugh at $75. If this is our Hugh and Franklin, it hints that either they came together, or Franklin came first, with Hugh then joining him.
Source: Year: 1860; Census Place: Township 12 Range 7, Macoupin, Illinois; Page: 188; Family History Library Film: 803206
1863-By June 1863, the U.S. civil war draft records show both Franklin, age 30, and Hugh, age 25, in Jerseyville.
Our ancestor, Hugh Allen, helped many of his siblings get a start when they came to America.
Patrick Allen
By 1870, Hugh's younger brother Patrick had immigrated to America. He was 29 years old and was living with Hugh's family in Jerseyville, helping on the farm.
In April 1874, Hugh was the witness for Patrick's marriage to Catherine Burns, at St. Francis Xavier in Jerseyville.
Thomas and Richard Allen
By 1872, both Thomas and Richard Allen (Hugh's younger brothers) were also living in Jerseyville.
According to census records, Thomas Allen (great uncle Tom who later wrote letters home to Ireland) had come to America by 1861. In 1872, he was married in Jerseyville, with his brother Richard Allen as his witness. (Later Tom's wife died, and by 1910 he was living with his nephew, Thomas Allen (my grandfather) Hugh's son.)
On September 21, 1876, Richard Allen died at the age of 32.
Chances are that Richard, too, had been living with Hugh, as Hugh was the executor of his estate.
Edward Allen
By 1880- Hugh's youngest brother, Edward, was living with Hugh's family in Jerseyville.
In 1885, Edward Allen married Mary Bryan at St. Francis in Jerseyville.
The move west to Nebraska- Patrick, Edward, and Peter Allen
Patrick:
Patrick Allen moved to Nebraska between 1875 and 1876. Homesteads were readily available at this time.
By the 1880 census- Patrick Allen had moved to Mud Creek, Gage County, Nebraska
The census shows that Patrick's first son, Richard, had been born in Illinois in 1875, but by the birth of his daughter, a year later, he was in Nebraska. By 1885 they were in Filley, Gage Nebraska. Patrick continued to farm there, until his death in 1910, at the age of 74.
Edward:
Edward Allen and his wife Mary Bryan soon moved to Nebraska as well. Their son Richard was born in Filley, Gage, Nebraska in June 1886. The family then moved about 18 miles to Plum Creek, Pawnee, Nebraska.
Edward died in 1897, at age 53, leaving his wife Mary a widow with 6 young children. The 1900 census for Plum Creek, Pawnee County Nebraska, shows Mary, a widow, Richard 14, James 12, Maggy 10, John 8, Peter 6, and Edward 3.
Peter
The 1900 census also shows Peter Allen, who emigrated in 1881, living in Plum Creek, Pawnee, Nebraska, next to the farm of Mary Allen, the widow of his brother Edward. He was 63 years old. Peter died 5 years later in 1905.
Although the youngest Allen child, Catherine, never came to America to join her siblings, her daughter, Maggie was another story! (See separate Post)
Sources:
https://www.theirishstory.com/2018/11/17/the-irish-girl-and-the-american-letter-irish-immigrants-in-19th-century-america/#.Xnn2at_Yosk
http://www.mayolibrary.ie/en/LocalStudies/Emigration/LettersinIreland/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Ireland&co=stereo (explore this)