Millyard Immigrants

Amoskeag mill workers apartments - mill in distance

Throughout New England, one industry attracted immigrants during the 19th century - the mills. Swift flowing water allowed industrialists to construct textile mills in many small towns. Originally these mills attracted  New England farm girls, most of whom were Anglo-Saxon Protestants. However, the influx of Irish and later French Canadian immigrants provided a steady flow of cheap labor for these towns Often whole families including children would be employed in the mills. Most of those workers were Catholics and some spoke French or Irish.

In Manchester NH, many of the mill buildings still stand and an excellent Millyard Museum showcases the many ethnic groups that worked there before and after the Civil War.  see http://www.manchesterhistoric.org/millyard-museum 

From my own family history on my mother's side, her Bresnahan and Leary families were connected with the Manchester mills. Her great grandmother Margaret Fleming Bresnahan b. in 1798 appears there in mid-century.  Her son Andrew and daughters Julia and Honora immigrated with her but her husband Cornelius may have died in Ireland. She appears in the Manchester city directory in the 1850's but not in the 1850 census.

Whether she worked in the mill is not clear but by 1860 census she is listed with her two daughters: Julia , 20 (my great grandmother) and Honora, 16 both spinners as well as Patrick, 17 and Margaret, 15  possibly cousins and Honora Dillon, 19 relationship unknown. All were working in the mill. Well into the 20th-century children were an important part of mill labor force.

Mill children 1909 In the early 1850's Andrew Bresnahan met Mary Leary. Mary may have immigrated around 1848 with her sister Hannah and their father John. A Mary Leary (Lary) of the right age appears in the 1850 census in Manchester, a millworker. Andrew and Mary married in 1854 in St. Ann's parish. Mary was the elder sister of James Leary, my mother's grandfather, who would later marry Andrew's sister Julia. Did Andrew also work in the mills? Some sources say that before the Civil War the mill employees were all female. However, since the mills were also producing steam engines right before the war and converted some sections to making munitions during the Civil War so it is possible he worked there. What is puzzling is his disappearance - neither he, his wife Mary or their young son Cornelius appear in the 1860 census anywhere in the US. By 1870, when Mary is a widow and she and her son are in the census but not Andrew .   Mill workers about 1900

Where in the world do they come from? Following breadcrumbs.

My Leary and Callahan side is from Rathmore, Co. Kerry (and probably immigrated there in the 17th century from Cork). I can pinpoint the townland upon which they farmed in 1850. My Shea and Farrell line is from Limerick and lived in Mungret, near Limerick City before immigration. My Corbett and Grace line is from Turkstown, Co. Kilkenny. Thanks to finding their origen in Ireland I have been able to visit each place and in two cases stand on the land on which they lived. 

However my Bresnahan and Fleming side has eluded me. Unlike all three of the other lines there is no family oral tradition as to where in Ireland they lived. No vital record or obituary has been found that pinpoints the county in Ireland. So I started following the few bread crumbs I could see based on available records and a blanket search for other families with this surname in the immediate area.

Bresnahan is a traditional Kerry name. The names Bresnahan, Brosnan and Bresnan in Ireland are derived from the native Gaelic O'Brosnachain sept that was located in County Kerry in the South of the country. The name is most likely taken from the small townland of Brosna that is located in that region. A search of Irish parish records for the area - on line at www.irishgenealogy.ie has loads of Bresnahan/Brosnahan and other variants but none that fit my family. Sorting them out has gained me quite a collection of Bresnahans in this area of New Hampshire.Our family has used Bresnahan but others use Brosnahan, Brosnan.

Castleisland Kerry

Searching through the Bresnahans in Manchester and Concord NH where my ancestors settled opens up more questions than answers. James Leary, my great grandfather married Julia Bresnahan in St. Ann's parish, Manchester, NH in 1863. That points to her residence in that city since the custom was to marry in the bride's church.

Mill workers apartments near Amoskeag mill (ahead)

A search for Bresnahan families in Manchester yielded many, some of which may be related. The best match for mine was Julia, 21with her mother Margaret Fleming 62, sister Honora 16 and two other perhaps related Bresnahan's Margaret  15, Patrick 17 and a Honora Dillon 19  in the 1860 census.  They all appear to be mill workers. A Margaret is listed in 1855/6 in the city directory and the family appears to have arrived (according to different census) between 1850-1855. By the date of this census Andrew Bresnahan, brother to Julia and Honora had already married Mary Leary sister of her future husband James. Perhaps that was how Julia and James met. Sadly I have been unable to find a record for Andrew, his wife Mary and son Corneilius b. 1856 in the 1860 census anywhere in the US. There is no death record for him in New Hampshire or neighboring states. Mary and her son disappear until 1870 when she is working as a servant in Concord with the woman who will marry the Patrick listed in this census. Her son is being cared for by his aunt and uncle James and Julia Leary.

From other records I was able to learn that the Margaret who lives with them in 1860 is the child of a John Bresnahan and a Johannah Fleming, Patrick is the son of a John Bresnahan and a Mary Fleming. I was led to these records by the obituary of Andrew's son Corneilius Bresnahan in 1903.  Margaret is listed as a relative of Corneilius when she attends his funeral in 1903 as is her half sister Julia. Both are listed under their married names and the marriage record of each showed they were Bresnahans. That led to a John Bresnahan who might be a brother to my great great grandfather Corneilius.

John Bresnahan b. 1810 lived in  Manchester NH with 1st  wife Johannah Fleming. He is father of Margaret Bresnahan who lived with our family in 1860 and of her half sister Julia Bresnahan with second wife Mary Sullivan Cashman. Margaret married  Peter Haggerty and Julia married to  John F. Cahill and both attended the funeral of Corneilius Bresnahan and are listed in obituary as relatives. Members of the Leary / Bresnahan family attended funerals from their family also and are identified as relatives.  Of course he may also be connected to our family via his wife, a Fleming like Margaret Fleming.

2nd from top: Record of Leary/Bresnahan baptism with John Bresnahan as sponsor 1870

Since the Irish usually ask relatives to be godparents and marriage witnesses I explored a connection with the only Bresnahan family in Concord in the mid 19th century. I discovered that John Bresnahan whose first wife was Mary Fleming appears also to be the father of Patrick, the young man who lived with my family in Manchester in 1860. John Bresnahan is the godfather of my grandfather James T. Leary son of James and Julia. He is a good candidate to be related to our family, both from the association as a godfather and the surname of his first wife. He remarried twice after his wives died, to Johannah Coughlin with whom he had a second family and late in life to Mary O'Hara. Born around 1800 he is also of the right age to be a brother to my great great grandfather Corneilius, husband of Margaret Fleming. John's parents are Dennis Bresnahan and Mary Broderick.

Trying to research this John Bresnahan's orgin in Ireland was confusing. He might be from Cork (on his son's grave in Wolfboro, NH that is given as place of origen) or  Limerick. A Callaghan McCarthy is living with John in 1860. Callaghan  (from other sources and another researcher) is from Rathkeale in Limerick and with him is  his wife Margaret Bresnahan. Two other Bresnahan women live there Kate and Catherine both single and listed as aunts in the McCarthy family.  Are they from Limerick or from Kerry or from Cork????

The majority of the  Bresnahan families in Manchester NH are from Kerry especially the area around Castleisland and Tralee. However a search of the Kerry parish records, which are extant for dates  of the family births did not yield records for Julia or her sister Honora that fit.  From the map above it can be seen that Castleisland is very close to the border of Limerick and to that of Cork.

Cemetary records for Old St. Joseph cemetary in Manchester have many Bresnahan burials. Unfortunately no stone has the name of Margaret Fleming Bresnahan on it although she is most likely buried there. There is an old Bresnahan burial plot with multiple interments but no individual markers. 

So the mystery remains - where in Ireland did my Bresnahan great great grandparents Cornelius Bresnahan and wife Margaret Fleming originate?

Let's hear it for the Irish matriarchs!

On Mothers’ Day it is appropriate for a genealogist to look at her matrilineal lines – the mothers of our mothers and grandmothers. In the family tree I am working on,  my Irish female ancestors are few as the line only goes back to the late 18^th century. 

Mary Margaret Leary & Maureen

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Mary Margaret Leary (1907-1994) married Elphege Chicoine 1935, St. Albans, VT. Born in Concord, NH. Graduated high school in St. Johnsbury, VT and worked as a bookkeeper there for the Fairbanks Scale factory.Moved to St. Albans in the 1920's and worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.Met her husband through her brother. They had two daughters Maureen and  Sheila named for the Irish version of family names Mary and Julia. She lived in Schenectady NY when her husband started working for GE during the second World War. She was a stay at home Mom, When she was 75 she fulfilled a life long dream of visiting Ireland. When her husband retired she moved to Glenville, NY and then to Reston, VA to be near her daughter Sheila and her family.

Kathryn Grace Corbett ca. 1893.

Kathryn Grace Corbett (1873-1961) Mary Margaret’s mother married James T. Leary 1904 St. Johnsbury, VT. Kathryn worked as a maid for one of the Fairbanks family (as did her sister). Her father was a carpenter in the Fairbanks scale factory. She had at least an 8^th grade education. Loved to travel, write letters and wanted her daughters as well as her sons to have more education. She attended the Chicago exposition in 1893 traveling by train. She was married in a double wedding with her sister Mamie and the couples traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World’s fair on their honeymoon.

Mary Bridget Shea Corbett with Mary Margaret

Mary Bridget Shea (1844-1924) Kathryn’s mother,  married Dominick Corbett 1867 St. Johnsbury VT. Born in Limerick and immigrated with her family when about 3 or 4. Family tradition is that she and her mother were midwives. She was left a widow with 3 small children to raise in 1877 and took in boarders to supplement family income (Civil War pension from her husband) Her daughter Kathryn probably met her future husband James T. Leary when he boarded in her mother’s house.

Mary Agnes Farrell (1815-1888) Mary Bridget’s mother, married Michael Shea ca. 1839 Limerick Ireland and  immigrated from Mungret, Limerick in the famine years 1848-1850. She came with her husband and at least two small children: Michael and Mary Bridget. They brought with them a white lace trimmed baptism gown still used by the family today.

Mary Catherine Supple (ca. 1790-abt 1850) Mary Agnes’ mother, married Michael Farrell ca.1813 Limerick Ireland. He probably died in Ireland. She immigrated with sons Michael and John to US when in her 60’s. She may have died in either Ohio where Michael settled or in Vermont where her daughters Mary Agnes and Bridget were living.

Mothers and grandmothers of James and John Leary, Dominick Corbett

Julia Bresnahan, (1839-1926) mother of James T. Leary, was born somewhere in Ireland and immigrated in the 1850’s with her mother Margaret and sister Honora. In 1860 she is living in Manchester, NH working in a textile mill with her mother, sister, and two other probably related Bresnahans. She spoke Irish. She may have met her husband, James Leary through her brother Andrew who married his sister Mary. She settled in Concord NH after her marriage. She raised her deceased brother’s son and cared for her elderly in-laws and seven children.

Abbie (Gobnait, Juliana) Callahan (1800-1875) grandmother of James T. Leary, was born either in Kerry or Cork. She married James Leary’s grandfather, John in Ireland about 1828 and they had at least 6 children. Two of her daughters Mary and Hannah left for America perhaps accompanied by  John around 1848. One son died in Ireland. She, John with sons James and John, and daughter Catherine  immigrated  in 1853. They landed at the current South Street Seaport in New York City and traveled to New Hampshire to join her other daughters Mary and Hannah. She spoke Irish. When she died in 1875 she left nearly $500 in the bank in her own name. Her husband and son went to court to get access to the money and used it to buy a burial plot, pay for her funeral and erect a monument that says: Abbie Callahan (large letters) wife of John Leary (smaller letters). Unfortunately her death record does not give her parents names.

Hannah Walsh (Welsh) (ca. 1770-1840) mother of John Leary who was born in Kerry about 1798. She and her husband James may also have been from Kerry or may have moved there at the end of the 18^th century from Cork. They were married in Ireland and may have had other children. She did not immigrate to the US. She probably was an Irish speaker.

Margaret Fleming (1799-before 1870) mother of Julia Bresnahan married Corneilius Bresnahan around 1825 in Ireland. She may have been a widow before she immigrated with her two daughters. She probably worked with them in the textile mills. She spoke Irish. She had at least three children.

Anastasia (Anty) Grace (1792-1873) mother of Dominick Corbett had lost her husband John sometime before 1850. They were probably married around 1825.  She immigrated with Dominick and son Patrick  from Turkstown, Kilkenny Ireland about 1854 to Taunton, MA. Her mother was Mary but no maiden name was written on her daughter's death record. She was not an Irish speaker. She and her sons seemed to have had some education. One son, Richard, a sailor went to the gold fields of California, three other children immigrated between 1855 and 1860 and are living with her in Taunton that year: Ellen, Johanna and William.