Margaret (O'Donnell) Carpenter, Bruckness, Donegal, and Detroit, Michigan

2019-09-07T00:00:00-04:00

Bruckless, Donegal

In 1915, Mrs Charles Carpenter of 693 Meldrum Ave, Detroit, Michigan, received a postcard from her sister Cassie in Bruckless, County Donegal, Ireland.(footnote)The image of the postcard once appeared at the Jim Forte Postal History website. The card has since been sold, and the image is no longer there. I am not connected with Mr. Forte's website or company in any way. Here is a transcription of the text:

Dear Sister
Glad to get your letter and to know all are well.
Thank God we are all well at home. My thoughts were all about poor Jane these past few days, 2 years passed so quickly. I hope she is happy in heaven. Con's wife was in a great hurry.
Fr. Brennan asked me a week ago did you write lately. He is expect- soon to hear from all the Yankees.
The Bradys have not written yet + I wrote to Pat himself to send something in memory of Jane, but he has not answered. We miss the dear old church so much now in Lent especially.
Best love from all,
Cassie.

Working from this information, let's see if we can find a family to match with this county of origin in Ireland.

The 1915 Detroit City Directory at ancestry.com has a listing for a Charles M Carpenter, watchman, living at 693 Meldrum Ave in Detroit.(footnote)City Directories at ancestry.com.

In 1920 Charles was still at that address. He was 45, born in Michigan and working as a tower man for the railroad. His wife Margaret, the recipient of the postcard, was 46 and born in Ireland. They had a son William J. who was 11.(footnote)1920 Census of the 15th ward of Detroit, Michigan; series T625, Roll 814, Page 158, at HeritageQuestOnline.com.

In 1930 the family is at 2917 Meldrum, and with them is a niece, Mary O'Donnell, age 17, who had arrived in the US in 1926.(footnote)"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X79T-MCQ : accessed 26 Sep 2013), Charles M Carpenter, 1930. In 1940 Charles, his son William, and William's family are all still there, but Charles is a widower(footnote)"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KH9K-5K8 : accessed 26 Sep 2013), Charles Carpenter, 1940. . Looking for a death record for Margaret, we find that she died 27 Oct 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. Her father's name, John O'Donnell, is on that record.(footnote)"Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KF71-41X : accessed 26 Sep 2013), Margaret Carpenter, 1934.

Finally, the 1901 Census of Bruckless, (Dunkinelly, Donegal), Ireland, lists this family in house 2:

John O'Donnell, 65, head, postmaster
Mary O'Donnell, 62, wife, postmaster's wife
Cassie O'Donnell, 30, daughter, dressmaker
Lizzie O'Donnell, 27, daughter, dressmaker
Ellen O'Donnell, 25, daughter, dressmaker
Henry James O'Donnell, 23, son, station master

All were Catholic and could read and write. All could speak English, and all but Ellen could also speak Irish.(footnote)National Archives of Ireland, http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Dunkinelly/Bruckless/1168440/

Conclusion

So I think it is safe to say that Margaret (O'Donnell) Carpenter of Detroit, Michigan, was from Bruckless Townland, Dunkinelly, County Donegal, Ireland. I hope this helps her descendants find their Irish roots.

Miss Carrie I Martin of Rochester, New York

2019-09-07T00:00:00-04:00

Postcard, Tamney, Ireland,
to Rochester, NY

In November 1906, Miss Carrie I Martin of Rochester, New York, received a postcard from Miss. J.C.V. Moore, of Tamney, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland.(footnote) "PHILGEN: Philatelic Genealogy". Can this postal cover tell us anything about Carrie Martin's ancestry? What can we learn from the online records?

In 1900 there was a Carrie I Martin at 61 Magne St, Rochester. She was the daughter of William H and Carrie A Martin. Carrie's father William was of German extraction. Her mother was born in Ireland in April 1845, so we can concentrate on her side of the family. In fact, on the 1930 census, Carrie A Martin said she had been born in Northern Ireland, which includes Co. Donegal.

It would help in our search to know Carrie A Martin's maiden name. She was married by 1870, so we could search the 1860 census of Rochester for anyone named Carrie or Caroline born in Ireland at the right time. Our search turns up a Caroline A Livingston, age 14, with her father Alex Livingston, age 45. Also in this household is Catherine M Livingston, 41, Alex C Livingston, 19, and Edmond H Livingston, 17. Could this be the right family?

It seems so, since when Catherine M Livingston died, on January 28, 1873, she was living on Magne Street next door to Caroline and her husband. Carrie Martin's death record (November 5, 1934, in Rochester) should confirm or deny this theory, since it probably asks for her maiden name.

Catherine was not Caroline's mother, however. Alex Livingston and family entered the United States on March 3, 1851, having arrived from Liverpool on the ship America of New York. He was 33 and his wife, whose name was Eliza, was 31. The children were Alexander, 10, Edmond, 7, and Caroline, 3. Eliza also had an infant with her. But by 1855, Alex, Sr., was widowed and living in Clay, Onandaga County, New York. He had just arrived there the month before. So evidently Eliza died soon after arriving in the United States and Alexander remarried.

As mentioned Carrie A Livingston married Henry C. Martin. They had six children: William H (born August 1869), Francis (about November 1871) John F (November 1874), Laura A (March 1880), Jessie A (July 1882), and Carrie I (May 1887). None of these children married.

Carrie's brother Alex Livingston married Harriet A Glen and had three children: Edmund H (born about 1864), Charles B (about 1871), and Alfred (about Jan 1875). Her brother Edmond married a woman named Mary. They had two children: Harriet (Dec 1881) and Edith A (about 1884).

All this is interesting, but what about the postcard from Letterkenny, Donegal?

Well, it might help us a bit, but not as much as we would like. There were no Livingstons in Donegal at the time of Griffith's Valuation in the mid 1860′s, but there were twenty-five men by that name elsewhere in Northern Ireland. The sender of the card, Miss J.C.V. Moore is probably the Jeannie C Moore, in Tawney, Donegal, age 23 in 1911. Her mother's maiden name was Cassidy. It would have been nice if it was Livingston.

So to find the Livingston's Irish origins we might have to look elsewhere. For a start, the death records for Carrie A (Livingston) Martin and her brothers Alex and Edmund might record their mother Eliza's maiden name. An obituary for their father in the Rochester papers might have some helpful information. Their may be birth records for Carrie and her brothers in Ireland. Or there might be a mariage record for their parents.

Or maybe someone out there just knows.

Sources

Federal and state censuses of Monroe and Onandaga Counties, New York, at familysearch.org and ancestry.com.

Rochester City Directories at ancestry.com.

1911 Census of Ireland at the National Arvchives of Ireland.

Irish Times Surname Search.

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/27PK-8SH : accessed 19 Dec 2013), Caroline Livingston, 1851.

Marriages and Mt. Hope Cemetery records at search at:
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/app.aspx?id=8589943531

My Old Ohio Home - Donegal

Margaret (O'Donnell) Carpenter, Bruckness, Donegal, and Detroit, Michigan

Miss Carrie I Martin of Rochester, New York

Sources