Children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney of County Meath- Thomas Allen 1841 Summerhill- 1920 Jerseyville

 

Thomas Allen was the seventh son born to Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney. The seventh son was thought by some to hold special powers; the seventh son of a seventh son was though to be a healer. (We don't know Thomas' father Richard Allen's birth order!)

Hugh was seven years old when his brother Thomas was born. We can only imagine the tiny cottage full of little boys; the eldest child, Mary, now 15 years old, was the only girl to help Margaret when this new baby was born.The family was predominantly boys; Frank 12, John 8, Hugh 7, Patrick 6, Peter 4, and Richard 2. 

The baby was baptized at the church at Dangan on November 22, 1841. His baptismal sponsors were Thomas McCan (likely his uncle- the husband of Mary Sweeney, his mother's sister) and Christine Fitzsimons (also likely Sweeney relations- Catherine Sweeney, another of his mother's sisters, had married Andrew Fitzsimmons.)

On the 1900 census, Thomas reports immigrating in 1864. But we see no records for him for the civil war draft.

 However, we do know that on New Years Day in 1872, Thomas married Bridget Burnes/Byrnes at St. Francis Xavier Church in Jerseyville. Richard? and Anna Burns were the witnesses.

In 1880 they were living at 251 Tea Street in Jerseyville.

There were no children born to the union, and we can only assume that Bridget died young. Her burial record shows she  died Sept 28, 1887. She was buried in St. Francis Cemetery.

In 1900, Thomas was 59 years old, living and working on the farm of newlywed John J. and Catherine "Kate" Maloney Quinn and their family, including John's parents- 76 year old Thomas Quinn and 64 year old Ellen Kinsella Quinn (my great grandparents), who note their immigration date as 1855, and Richard Quinn, John J. Quinn's brother who was born in 1869 and would die that year.

In 1910 he is listed as 65 (again, ages seem to be vague to this generation of Allens- according to his baptismal record he was 69) and living with his nephew, 39 year old Thomas Allen (my grandfather) and his 38 year old wife Nellie Quinn (the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Quinn above) and their family.

         My grandparents- Nellie Quinn and Thomas Allen as newlyweds

He was still with them in 1920, when my mother, Pauline Allen, was 4 years old. His age is now listed as 80, which would be close to correct.

My mother never knew her grandparents; they all passed away before she was born. So her great-uncle, Thomas Allen, was the closest thing she had to a grandfather. She remembered him very fondly; he would often sing and play games with her. As the youngest child in a large family, she was the "baby" of the family, and he was the eldest member, so they enjoyed their special time together. Her oldest sister, Mary, would write letters for him back to John Allen, his brother who still lived on the old family farm in Summerhill Ireland, and read the letters to him that came back, written by John's niece.

                  Pauline Allen and her great-uncle Tom Allen

One day Tom was helping in the garden, burning grass, when his trousers caught fire and he was badly burned. He must have suffered terribly; the burns were so severe that he died several days later. My mother lost one of her dearest friends.

He died on the last day of March in 1920 and his funeral was held at St. Francis Xavier Church in Jerseyville. This would have been the first time my mother experienced the funeral of someone she loved, although another Allen death would come just a month later- the sudden death of her 47 year old uncle, Hugh Allen, who lived on the farm just across the road from her home. Both services were held by Father Clancy, a priest who would serve Jerseyville and the Allen family for many, many years to come.

He was buried at the cemetery at St. Francis, next to his wife, Bridget. 

He was the last of the children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney to pass from this world.

Children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney of County Meath- Chain Migration of the Allen's from Ireland to America

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.

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.

Source: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau



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.

Source: Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 8 Range 12, Jersey, Illinois; Roll: M593_233; Page: 796A; Image: 811; Family History Library Film: 545732

In April 1874, Hugh was the witness for Patrick's marriage to Catherine Burns, at St. Francis Xavier in Jerseyville. 

Source: Catholic Diocese of Springfield; Springfield, IL; Illinois, Church Records, 1853-1975



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)