My Old Ohio Home - Sloan

Ann Ellen (Sloan) O'Leary, Kilkeel to Cleveland

2026-09-01T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

When my mother's cousin Nan (Gallagher) Fleming researched our family history, she included a note next to her grandmother Anna Cunningham's sister Bridget saying that Bridget married a Sloan and that she was "Ellen O'Leary's mother." Nan Gallagher evidently knew Ellen O'Leary and expected the rest of her family to know as well, since she didn't include any further explanation. So I looked for someone by that name living in Cleveland.

Anna O'Leary in Cleveland

I found an Anna E. Sloan marrying a Dennis O'Leary in September 1882, most likely at St Augustine's Parish, Cleveland. That church is located on West 14th, but by 1883 when their first daughter was born, they were living on Broadway on the Southeast side, not far from the Rodgers clan in Newburgh. They later moved to Newman Avenue, off East 65th Street where they remained at least until Dennis' death on February 11, 1920. Ann was living around the corner on East 65th when she died, July 15, 1939.

On the 1910 Census Ann is called "Ann Ellen," in 1920 she was "Anna L," and in 1930 "Helen". Her death record called her Ann Ellen. So I am sure this is the person Nan Gallagher was referring to.

But Ann (Sloan) O'Leary's records consistently said she was born in Canada. How could she be the daughter of Bridget Cunningham, who was from either Ballymadeerfy or Ballygowan Townland, Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland?

The Canada Connection

Some years ago, on Ros Davies' County Down Website, I found a listing for a Bridget "Biddy" Cunningham of Kilkeel who married James Sloan on May 20, 1846, at the Catholic church in Kilkeel and was the mother of Bridget, born 1868, and Sarah, born 1871. (Since then, I have found the marriage in the Kilkeel parish records at Catholic Parish Records, Kilkeel and the births in the civil records at IrishGenealogy.ie.) What I should have noticed at the time was the long gap between the marriage date and the two births.

A few months ago I started working on this family again. Either more databases have come on line since I looked at them last, or I was a little more diligent in searching. Whatever the case, I found two of their children baptized in Kilkeel in 1849 and 1851, filling in the gap between their marriage and the birth of Bridget a bit.

More important, I found a James Sloan and Bridget Cunningham in London, Ontario, in the mid to late 1850's. They had three children baptized at St Peter's Cathedral between 1854 and 1859, but none before or after those dates. One was a son named Henry, born September 18, 1855 and baptized November 18. Then in the Irish civil records, I found a Henry Sloan, age 9, who died in Glenloughan, Kilkeel, on November 18, 1864, son of James and Bridget Sloan.

Since I have a lot of confidence in Nan Gallagher's research, young Henry's birth and death records were enough for me to conclude that Henry's parents, James and Bridget "Biddy" (Cunningham) Sloan, began their marriage in Ireland and then spent some years between 1851 and 1863 in Canada before returning to Ireland. Making it quite possible for them to have a daughter Ann Ellen, born in Canada, yet from a family in Kilkeel.

Conclusion

I never found the baptism record for Ann Ellen Sloan herself, despite browsing every page of the St Peter's Cathedral parish registers from 1855 to 1863. Perhaps her parents moved out of that parish and into another whose records are not online. Still, Nan Gallagher seems to have been a very careful researcher and her information has always proved true, so there is no reason for me to doubt that the lady in Cleveland belongs to the family in Ireland.

Rose Sloan and Richard Farrell, Killowen to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

SS Campania

This is a reworking of an older article. What's new:

the death information of Rose's father
Richard Farrell's birth information
elimination of a few candidates for Rose's mother

Rose Sloan and Richard Farrell were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Our Lady in Rostrevor on January 2, 1896. Rose said she was of full age, living in Ballincurry, the daughter of Daniel Sloan, a laborer, who had died.

So far I haven't found a birth or baptism record for Rose or for any child of Daniel Sloan from 1868 to 1874, and whoever provided the information for Rose's death record did not know her mother's name.

Rose's father is likely the Daniel Sloan on the Valuation Revision Books of Ballincurry from 1865 to 1892. He is renting a small parcel, consisting only of a house and garden, from Hugh Brennan. There were no out-buildings. Daniel died June 22, 1889, in Ballincurry at the age of 75. Rose was present at his death and provided the information for his death record.

In 1892 the parcel passed into the hands of Daniel's representatives. In 1907 the parcel went from Daniel Sloan's representatives to Rose Brennan and there is a note in the margin that says "House not quite down as reported"–if I read it right. Rose's mother might not have stayed in Ballincurry after her husband died. I don't see her there in the 1901 census. She isn't Rose Brennan, since that woman had a 25 year old son named Brennan in her 1901 household.

On the other hand, Rose's mother may have died before her father, and she might have been named Rose also, who knows. But she is not:

Rose Sloane d 28 February 1871 in Mayhereagh (?), a spinster
Rose Sloane d 19 June 1876, Drummond, a spinster
Rose Sloane d 24 April 1883 Greencastle
Rose Sloan 19 Oct 1884 in Tullyframe
Rose Sloan d 20 Jan 1893, Ballincurry, wife of James
nor any other Rose Sloan who died in Kilkeel Registration District between 1870 and 1894.

I haven't yet looked for the death of a female Sloan not named Rose during those years.

Richard Farrell's marriage information said he was living in Ballinadoalty at the time and was the son of William Farrell, a butcher. His birth record shows that Richard was born April 19, 1875, in Benagh Townland, Kilkeel, to William Farrell, a butcher, and Margaret George. Whether Upper Benagh or Lower could be determined by looking at the Valuation Revision Books again.

Richard and Rose (Sloan) Farrell were on the SS Campania when it arrived June 9, 1900, in New York from Liverpool. Between them they had $50, but were not holding tickets to their final destination, which they said was Albany, New York. They were travelling with James O'Rourke, James Murney, and Matthew Sloan. All five of them said that their last residence in Ireland was Newry. However the three young men with the Farrells were from Killowen, Rose said she was living in Ballincurry when she was married, and Richard said he was of Ballinadoalty at the time of his marriage.

Rose was 28 and Richard was 24 when they emigrated. They said they were going to the home of Mary Pearl, Richard's sister in law, at 115 Jefferson Street, Albany. There was a Mary Pearl in Albany who had been born in Ireland about 1830. She was the widow of John Pearl, and had sons Thomas (born in New York in July 1852) and John (born in Ohio about 1860). She was living at 8 Jefferson, Albany, in 1898 and 1899, but she died on March 27, 1899. I have not determined her maiden name or county of origin in Ireland. I think the Farrells actually went straight through to Cleveland with the others.

What we do know is that in the 1902 Cleveland City Directory Richard Farrell was listed at 2059 Cannon, which corresponds to about 9200 Cannon in the current numbering. In fact he might be in the 1901 Directory as the Richard Farrell at about 8000 Burke, according to the modern numbering. Both of these streets are in the Newburgh section of Cleveland. The city directories reflect the previous year's information, so that could put the Farrells in Cleveland in 1900.

Having arrived in Newburgh, the Farrells didn't go far. They were at various addresses on Cannon until at least 1935. Richard worked in a "wire mill" and a "steel mill", which sounds a lot like American Steel and Wire. In 1910 Rose said that she had been married 14 years and had given birth to one child, but it was no longer living. I didn't find a record of this child's birth in Cleveland. Their census records say that Richard and Rose had no other children.

As for births in Ireland, the civil records are on line, and I have also eliminated the following children:

Not female Farrell, d June 6, 1897. She was the daughter of John Farrell, a farmer of Carrickbroad.
Not Elizabeth Farrell, d May 8, 1899, daughter of Catherine, a farmer's wife, of Carrickbroad.
Not Peter Farrell, d December 14, 1899, son of Mary Ellen Farrell, a laborer's wife, of Rostrevor.
Not John Francis Farrell, d July 25, 1900, son of John, a laborer of Rostrevor.

Conclusion

Rose died at home, at 9220 Cannon Ave, Cleveland, on Nov 24, 1935, of complications from chronic myocarditis, which had affected her for six months. Richard died on July 16, 1937, at 4055 East 91st, of the same condition. He was working at Allyne-Ryan Foundry when he died. They were both buried in Calvary Cemetery from Donlon's Funeral Home on Miles Ave.

Sources

Manifest of the SS Campania in the Ellis Island records.
"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8JN-ZZ5.
"New York, State Census, 1892," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X366-GX1; 1898-1900 Albany City Directories at ancestry.com; and 1900 Census of Ward 16, Albany, Series T623, Roll 1005, page 252, at HeritageQuestOnline.com
Cleveland City Directories at ancestry.com.
"United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/ML8G-VLT and "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDRT-NFC
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTDD-7PX : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Peter Farrell, 1899; citing vol. 1, p. 449, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101600.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FT8B-YZK : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Female Farrell, 1897; citing vol. 1, p. 579, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101599.
"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8HT-ZLF : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell in entry for Rose Farrell, 1935.
"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZXR-661 : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1937.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCJ-KNP : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.
Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanKW.htm.
Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanAJ.htm.

Credits

Photo of the SS Campania is from Wikipedia.

A Few Sloans from Killowen and Rostrevor

2019-12-07T00:00:00-05:00

While following up the article, Ellen Sloan, Killowen to Brooklyn, I found a few more Sloan families who probably trace back to Killowen, County Down, Ireland.

Mary Ann Sloan of Brooklyn, New York

David Sloan
"native of Killowen"

In that article, I mentioned David Sloan, son of David and Julia (Feran) Sloan, and a native of Killowen, who lived in Brooklyn, New York. David's wife, Mary Ann, was also a Sloan by birth. At the time, I thought Mary Ann was born in Ireland, since some of her records said so. But other records said England, including those for the birth of two of her children, where you would assume Mary Ann herself provided the information. Her death record said her parents were James Sloan and Margaret Sloan.

As it turns out, I am pretty sure that Mary Ann was baptized May 29, 1859, in St Patrick's Church, Liverpool, England. The parents' names on that record agree with her death record in Brooklyn, and the civil record also said her mother's maiden name was Sloan.

However, I wouldn't have looked there for Mary Ann Sloan, if I hadn't first found her brother ...

James Patrick Sloan, of Charleston, South Carolina

James Sloan's
obituary picture

James Patrick Sloan was born April 27, 1861, and was baptized April 28, 1861, in St. Patrick's Church, Liverpool, son of James Sloan and Margaret Sloan.

(Note: His death record names those parents, but said James was born May 6, 1861, in Liverpool. I think this is close enough, since there were no other James Sloans in Liverpool with those parents' names. Also not everyone born in the 1800's remembered their exact birth date.)

Other children in this family were John (b April 18, 1855), Patrick (November 15, 1856), William (November 16, 1863), and Joseph (December 30, 1865.)

James Patrick spent much of his early life at sea, dating his immigration into the United States at 1887. He was naturalized in 1896, and married Ellen Theresa Prunty, in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 30, 1902. Ellen was born in South Carolina to parents born in Ireland. James worked for the Clyde-Mallory Steamship Company in their shipyard. He died February 28, 1946, in Charleston. He and Ellen had no children.

But, I wouldn't have found James unless ...

Memory Cards

... a Sloan descendant, now living in Co. Fermanagh, hadn't shared some information with me. Her grandfather was Thomas "Gunner" Sloan born in Ballincurry but later of Rostrevor. Thomas was the brother of Ellen Sloan, mentioned at the beginning of this article. Among Thomas' mementoes was a prayer book with memory cards for James P and Ellen T Sloan, of Charleston, and Alicia (Sloan) Baker, daughter of Mary Ann Sloan, of Brooklyn.

Now I knew that the same Sloan family in Rostrevor knew both these families in separate parts of the United States. That is what helped me connect James Patrick with Mary Ann, and then find their family in Liverpool, including the parents ...

James Sloan and Margaret Sloan of Liverpool, England

James and Margaret Sloan were married July 9, 1854, at St. Nicholas Church, in Liverpool. They were living on Surrey Street, Liverpool, at the time. It was the first marriage for both of them. The witnesses were William Sloan and Margaret Sloane of Greenland Street.

I found baptism records for six of their children, as already mentioned. And I am pretty sure they were living at 2 Court, Bell Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, in 1861, if Mary Ann was mistakenly recorded as "Margaret". James was a ship's carpenter, which might help explain why his son James went to sea. I didn't find them on earlier or later censuses, and the names are too common to be sure of their sons' information later on.

The Killowen/Rostrevor Connection

So if the family is living in Liverpool, what does all this have to do with Killowen or Rostrevor, you may ask. This: James and Margaret's marriage record named both sets of parents. James' parents were Patrick Sloan and Mary Fegan. Margaret's were James Sloan and Elizabeth Fitzpatrick.

1854 Marriage of James and Margaret Sloan

Now those names might occur together in more than one locality in Ireland, but I know they are definitely South Down names. Putting that together with the clues from the memory cards, I think we can safely say that both sides of this family were from the Killowen/Rostrevor area. Unfortunately, I never figured out how closely they were related to Thomas "Gunner" Sloan, of Rostrevor.

Conclusion

So the road ends there. The parents would have been born about 1800 or so, and there are not enough hours in the day or days left in my life to start sorting out the Sloans and Fegans on the Kilbroney parish baptism records. So we will have to be satisfied with what we have. Perhaps a descendant of one of the other sons will turn up and clarify matters. For now, we can be happy that we have tied a few loose American ends together, and traced the families back to their origin.

The sources and details for all people mentioned are in the Ohio Families tree on this site.

Credits

The photograph of David Sloan's headstone is on his page, David Sloan, at findagrave.com.

Ellen Sloan, Killowen to Brooklyn

2019-11-12T00:00:00-05:00

Introduction

Some people are easy to find, some are hard. Ellen Sloan would have been a lot easier to find if 1) she hadn't said she was the cousin of Minnie Keeves/Caves of Mullahead, County Armagh; 2) she hadn't taken a few years off her age as she got older, and 3) she had shown up on at least one United States census. Just one would have been good enough. But, for better or worse, here is her story.

Early Life

Killowen, Co. Down

Ellen Maria Sloan was born August 22, 1873, in Ballincurry Townland, Killowen, County Down, and was baptized the same day in Kilbroney Catholic Parish. She is the third known child of James Sloan and Mary Brennan, preceded by her sister Susan and a brother Peter. Following her in the family were Thomas, David, Francis and Matthew.

Ellen was still in Ballincurry in 1894 and 1895 when she was the informant on the death records of her father (July 10, 1894) and her brother Peter (April 17, 1895), but is not with the family in 1901. She may or may not be the Ellen Sloan on the 1901 census who was working as a servant in the household of Oliver Goldsmith, vicar of the Church of Ireland in Greyabbey, County Down.

Emigration and Citizenship

At any rate, Ellen Sloan left Ireland for America on October 5, 1907, from Londonderry aboard the Columbia. She said she was 30 years old, born in County Armagh, and last resided in County Armagh. She was travelling with Minnie Keeves [Caves] whose father Charles lived in Mullahead, Tandragee, Armagh. Neither had been in the U.S. before. They were both headed to Minnie's sister Frances' home at 536 North 40th Street, Brooklyn. They said their final destination was Philadelphia, but I don't think they ever got that far. They arrived in New York on October 14.

Now, this might not look like our Ellen Sloan, but I am pretty sure that it is, because…

Declaration of Intention,
Ellen Sloan, 1925

…on February 11, 1925, an Ellen Sloan declared her intention to become a citizen of the United States in the US District Court, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn. On that occasion, she stated that she had been born in Killowen, County Down, on August 15, 1873, and had arrived on the Columbia on or about October 12, 1907. The dates match closely enough to what we have already seen to say that this is the daughter of James Sloan and Mary Brennan.

When Ellen filed her petition for naturalization on January 25, 1928, in the same court, she got the date of arrival exactly right, October 14, 1907. Both records required a physical description—Ellen was 5'6", 155 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. She also stated that her occupation was a food checker. She became a US citizen on June 12, 1928.

Return to Ireland

Previous to that, Ellen had made a trip back to Ireland. On June 9, 1924, she arrived at Moville, Co. Donegal, on the TSS Tuscania, and was headed to Mayobridge, Newry. On her voyage back to New York she stated that her last residence in Ireland had been her nephew Peter Sloan's home in Mayobridge, County Down. Interestingly, there was a Peter Sloan in Ellen's sister's household in 1901 in Ballincurry who later lived in Mayobridge before moving to Dundalk, Co. Louth. This Peter was likely the person Ellen visited.

On the passenger manifest, Ellen said that she was going to her sister Mary Sloan's home at 306 East 3rd, Brooklyn.

David and Mary Sloan, of Brooklyn

Let's take a brief interlude to consider Ellen Sloan's destination, her "sister" Mary Sloan. Ellen had no sister Mary, and definitely no sister at all born as early as 1859, which is what Mary Sloan's information said. Mary and Ellen may have been relatives in Ireland, or acquaintances. Or Ellen Sloan may have been related to Mary's husband David.

David Sloan was born about 1855, the son of David Sloan and Julia Feran. His tombstone said he was a native of Killowen, County Down. I didn't look through the baptism registers for David, but there was a Mary Sloan baptized April 19, 1850, in Kilbroney Parish, daughter of David Sloan and Julia Feran. David died February 3, 1908, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Brooklyn.

David's wife, Mary Sloan, was also a Sloan by birth, the daughter of James Sloan and Margaret Sloan. She died June 10, 1930, and is buried with her husband. The headstone gave her birth as May 14, 1859. I have a feeling that Mary was also from Killowen or nearby, but I couldn't find her on the Kilbroney or Kilkeel baptism registers, at least as indexed at ancestry.com and findmypast.ie. But Sloan is a common enough name throughout Ireland, so Mary may have been from somewhere else.

Update: I found a bit more on Mary Sloan after all. It is included in the article A Few Sloans from Killowen and Rostrevor.

Later Years

Getting back to Ellen Sloan, you will remember that she was headed for 306 East 3rd, Brooklyn, in 1924. She is listed in the 1933 Brooklyn City Directory at that address. But alas, not on the 1930 Census at that address with Mary Sloan, her son, daughter, and granddaughter. Which kept her census slate clean, since I didn't find her in 1910 or 1920, in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, or Cleveland, where her brother Matt had settled.

Ellen Sloan died 22 Oct 1939, in Brooklyn. Her last residence was 306 East 3rd, Brooklyn, her occupation–food checker. The death record gave the names of her parents as James Sloane and Mary Brennan. Interestingly, it also said she was widowed and her husband's name had been John, no last name given. On all her earlier records–the passenger manifests and her naturalization documents–she said she was unmarried. I never found a trace of a marriage.

Ellen is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Brooklyn. There is no listing for her on findagrave.com, so I don't know the plot number or whether there is a stone or not; the cemetery might be willing to provide that information. There was no death notice in the Brooklyn Eagle for the dates October 23 to 25.

Conclusion

So in the end, I am about 99% sure this is the Ellen Sloan born in 1873 in Ballincurry. Which is about all the certainty you can expect from paper records, I guess. It would have been a little better, as I said at the beginning, if she hadn't claimed to be Minnie Keeves' cousin or, for that matter, if her death record hadn't said she was a widow. But in the first case, she may have needed a destination in the United States to be admitted, and may have known Minnie from working as a domestic servant. As far as "widow" on her death certificate goes, that information could only come from her survivors, probably a neighbor, or a relative of Mary Sloan. Although, they did get her parents' names correct. Well, we might just have to end it there…

Sources and details for Ellen Sloan are in the Ohio Families tree on this site.

Credits

The picture of Carlingford Lough and Killowen, "IMG_9643" by mary_mac_82, is licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 .

An Earlier Matt Sloan, Kilfeaghan to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Farmland, Kilfeaghan Road

In a letter, the date of which is transcribed as December 28, 1888, from Ballintur, County Down, Ireland, William Doran told his brother Peter in the United States, that 'Tom Murphy and Mathew Sloan is home from cleveland a few days agow.' ¹ For a long time I've wondered who this Matthew Sloan could be. My mother's aunt married a Matthew Sloan in Cleveland in 1907, but he was born in 1879, so he would be too young. Now, I think I might have found this earlier Matt Sloan in the Newburgh section of Cleveland.

First let me mention that I think the letter was dated December 28, 1883, not 1888, and there might have been an error transcribing the date. The reason I say this is because the letter later says that 'Joe Write and Cate Fearon has got married about a week after you left.' There is a civil marriage record of Joseph Wright marrying Catherine Fearon on 28 November 1883 at Rostrevor Chapel, that would be this couple.

With that settled, I think this is the Matt Sloan that William Doran was referring to:

1880 Census of Cleveland ED 53, sheet 318D
June 12, 1880
at 2054 Marble
in the John and Jane Graham household

Matt Sloane, 38, single, boarder, laborer, born in Ireland, parents also, cannot write, out of work 3 months last year
Richard Cunningham, 21, single, boarder, laborer, born in Ireland, parents also, out of work 1 months last year
Thomas Murphy, 28, single boarder, laborer, born in Ireland, parents also, out of work 10 months last year²

The Cleveland City Directories for the 1880s have these listings:

1881 City Directory, at 2054 Marble
Matthew Sloan

1881 City Directory at 2016 Marble
Timothy Murphy

1882 City Directory at 2450 Sawyer
William Sloan
Thomas Murphy

1883 City Directory at 2005 Booth
William Sloan
Thomas Murphy

1884 City Directory at 2430 Elmo
Matthew Sloan

1885 to 1888: no Matthew Sloan

I have a feeling that these are the same two men throughout, but their first names were not always recorded correctly.

Also, the 1884 Directory was valid from July 1883 to July 1884, so Matt could have returned to Ireland in December 1883 and still be listed in the 1884 book.

So is this him?

The last time I looked for this Matthew Sloan, I looked on the 1900 Census of Cleveland to no avail. Now if he is also not in the 1885 to 1888 directories, then maybe he went back to Ireland for good. If so, is he:

1901 Census of Ireland
Residents of a house 7 in Kilfeaghan (Killowen, Down)
Sloan, Matthew, 60, head, farmer, can read and write
Sloan, Mary, 61, wife, can read and write
Sloan, Rose Anne, 24, daughter, can read and write, farmer's daughter
Sloan, Thomas, 22, son, can read and write, farmer's son
Sloan, Mathew, 86, uncle, cannot read, agricultural laborer

all Roman Catholic. all born in County Down³

I hardly ever trust ages on censuses, but the head of this household was born about the same time as the Matt Sloan in Newburgh in 1880, who was 38 at the time.

There is a record in the Kilbroney Parish Register of a marriage of Mathew Sloan and Mary Murphy on May 17, 1876. The civil record says May 19. This couple had a daughter Roanne baptized on February 13, 1877, and a son Thomas on December 11, 1878.⁴ This looks like the couple in Kilfeaghan in 1901.

And there is a record in the Valuation Revision books for Kilfeaghan that says a Matt Sloane took over occupancy of parcels 19 and 20 from Rose Sloane in 1883.⁵

So if this is the same Matt Sloan, did he marry and then spend a few years in Cleveland before returning to Ireland? Did he intend to bring his family over a few years later? I haven't really seen that pattern–where the husband arrives first–in the Kilbroney to Cleveland emigrants in this time period.

On the other hand, maybe he only planned to stay a short while, make a few dollars and go back. Or on the third hand, maybe he intended to move his family but his plans changed in 1883 when he took over the farm from Rose Sloan.

As a side point, did you notice that there were two Matthew Sloans in the Kilfeaghan household in 1901? The second was Matthew's uncle, born about 1815. I've corresponded with a Matthew Sloan whose family was from Ballincurry. So "Matthew" has been used as a given name in the Sloan family for at least 200 years.

I have added this family to the Ohio Families section of this site.

Note: for more on Richard Cunningham see the article Richard Cunningham, probably Kilkeel to Cleveland.

Footnotes

Peter Doran, Ballintur, [Co Down?] to " Dear Brother"; Document Presented by & Copyright Retained by Sharon DoranTurnbow, at http://ied.dippam.ac.uk/records/26775
1880 Census Cleveland ED 53, page 318D or 56D.
1901 Census of Ireland, house 7 in Kilfeaghan (Killowen, Down).
Valuation Revision Books at nidirect.gov.uk.
Kilbroney Parish Registers at The National Library of Ireland, nli.ie.

Credits

Picture of the farmland at Kilfeaghan Road is © Copyright Eric Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Ann Ellen (Sloan) O'Leary of Cleveland, Ohio

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

See Ann Ellen (Sloan) O'Leary, Kilkeel to Cleveland.

John Mcavoy—Rostrevor to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

While I was working on Bernice Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland, I came across John and Bridget (McCartan) Mcavoy living on Elmo Street, Cleveland, in 1900. Both of their mother's maiden names were Sloan. With surnames like those going for them, they almost had to be from the Rostrevor - Kilkeel area of County Down. It took a little while but I was able to trace them back there. I'll discuss John in this article.

John and Bridget were married November 9, 1897, in Cleveland, most likely at St Agnes Church. As mentioned, in 1900 they were at 2455 Elmo, Ward 26 of Cleveland, in 1900. They moved to 9536 Meech Avenue by 1916. John was hit by a train on July 7 of that year and died at the age of 54. Bridget remained at that address for most of her life. They had no children.

John's death certificate listed both his parents: Patrick Mcavoy and Elizabeth Sloan. With that information I went to familysearch.org and looked for other people with those parents. I found his sisters Elizabeth, Margaret, and Mary in Cleveland, and brothers Peter and Daniel on the Irish birth registers. The Cleveland death notices mentioned another sister, Rose.

Elizabeth's death certificate said she had been born in "West River" Ireland. Since there isn't any such place, and since I was already leaning toward South Down as their place of origin, I figured the informant–another Elizabeth Mcavoy, by the way–meant to say Rostrevor.

From there I went to the Irish civil and parish records and found most of the family, except for John himself. His parents Patrick and Elizabeth are on the 1901 Census of Rostrevor with daughter Rose still in the household. And Patrick Sr.'s death record named another daughter, Sarah Sloan, who provided his information.

Someday I might write an article about all the men in Newburgh who died being hit by a train. John Mcavoy is the fourth I have found. But for now, we will go next to his wife, Bridget McCartan—Kilkeel to Cleveland.

Sources and details for John Mcavoy's family are in the Trees > Ohio Families section of this site.

Matthew Sloan, Killowen to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Matt Sloan, 1915

Matthew Sloan was born 27 Apr 1879, in Ballincurry Townland, Kilbroney Parish, County Down, Ireland, the son of James and Mary (Brennan) Sloan. He was baptized the same day with John Fearon and Kate Brennan as godparents.

He is the seventh known child in his family. Earlier children are: Susan born 8 Dec 1870, Peter (14 April 1872), Ellen (22 Aug 1873), Thomas (about 1874), David (21 Feb 1876), and Francis (about 1877). On the 1901 Census of Ballinacurry, Susan is head of the household. Living there also are Thomas and Francis, and a nephew Peter, age 6.

The Sloan farm in Ballincurry was supporting three unmarried adults and a Sloan nephew; it could hardly have been expected to support another family as well. So in the summer of 1900, Matt Sloan headed to America along with four other young people from the area: James O'Rourke, James Murney, and a married couple, Richard and Rose Farrell. They departed Liverpool on June 2, 1900, aboard the HMS Campania, and arrived in New York on June 9. There are separate articles about all these people on this site.

The three young men went on to Cleveland. James O'Rourke said he was going to his brother William's house and the other two said "a friend's". All three probably showed up at William O'Rourke's door one cloudy day in June. It's always cloudy in Cleveland, even in June.

Matt Sloan was naturalized in the Court of Common Pleas, Cleveland, Ohio, on September 27, 1905. At the time he was living with Edward and Anna Rodgers at 2484 Elmo, Newburgh. Everyone else from Killowen lived there at one time or another, so why not Matt?

Lucy (Rodgers)
Sloan and Matt Jr,
1915

In 1907, Matthew married the Rodgers' daughter Lucy. They had four children: Sue (Toomey), Anna Marie (McNamara), Matthew Jr., and Lucy "Pete" (Henry).

The Sloans were living at 4073 East 78th in 1910. The whole area was criss-crossed with railroad tracks. One Sunday night, Matt Sloan–who for the first twenty years of his life probably never saw a vehicle bigger than a horse and carriage–was hit by a train on October 14, 1917, and died of his injuries. He was buried October 17 in Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland.

Note: The preceding paragraph was edited with the help of a descendant of Matt Sloan's brother Thomas, who still knew the family story–100 years after the incident happened–that Matt died on a Sunday evening at 8:00. I thought I had heard he was coming home from work, but October 14, 1917, fell on a Sunday.

Lucy (Rodgers) Sloan lived as a widow for fifty-three years and one day. Later in life she was with her daughter Lucy "Pete" Henry and her family in the area of East 189th and Harvard. Lucy was my mother's last surviving aunt; I remember her as thin and quiet, sitting next to the window in her daughter's kitchen.

Matt's wife and children are in some of the Rodgers' family photographs on the Ohio Photos page on this site. (Now available by request.)

For a map of the townlands in Kilbroney, see the image at Ros Davies County Down site.

Rose (Sloan) Farrell, Killowen to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

So far in this series, we have discussed some young men who left Killowen for Cleveland, but this time we will consider a young woman, Rose Sloan, from the same area.

SS Campania

Rose Sloan was born about 1872, possibly in Ballincurry, the daughter of Daniel Sloan. I didn't find a baptism record for Rose, or for any child of Daniel from 1868 to 1874, or else I would know Rose's mother's name. Her death record said her parents were "Donald Sloan" and "unknown." Her civil marriage record only recorded her father's name.

There is a Daniel Sloan on the Valuation Revision Books of Ballincurry from 1865 to 1892. He is renting parcel 9a, consisting only of a house and garden, from Hugh Brennan. In 1893 the parcel passed into the hands of Daniel's representatives, so that might be the approximate year of his death. There were no out-buildings. I wonder of Daniel was a tradesman. His occupation was not on his daughter's marriage record since he had died by that time.

Richard Farrell's marriage information said he was living in Ballinadoalty at the time and was the son of William Farrell, a butcher. There is a listing at ancestry.com for a Richard Farrell born 19 Apr 1875 in County Down, son of William Farrell and Margaret George. That might be this Richard's birth date. I don't remember seeing too many Farrells in the Killowen area, so Richard's family may have been from somewhere else. If that is his birth in April 1875, then the civil birth record should list the place he was from. There was no William Farrell in Ballinadoalty on the first Valuation Revision Book.

Richard and Rose Farrell were married 2 Jan 1896 in the Catholic chapel of Our Lady, in Rostrevor. That might be St. Mary Star of the Sea, but that is the way it was recorded on the civil marriage record. Their witnesses were William Fleming and Ellen Majan.

Richard and Rose (Sloan) Farrell were on the SS Campania when it arrived June 9, 1900, in New York from Liverpool. Between them they had $50, but were not holding tickets to their final destination, which they said was Albany, New York. They were travelling with James O'Rourke, James Murney, and Matthew Sloan. All five of them said that their last residence in Ireland was Newry.¹ However the three young men with the Farrells were from Killowen, Rose said she was living in Ballincurry when she was married, and Richard said he was of Ballinadoalty at the time of his marriage.

Could it be that Richard Farrell was originally from Newry, they were living there after their marriage, and the three other men joined them first in Newry before leaving for America? I don't know.

Rose was 28 and Richard was 24 when they emigrated. They said they were going to the home of Mary Pearl, Richard's sister in law, at 115 Jefferson Street, Albany¹. There was a Mary Pearl in Albany who had been born in Ireland about 1830. She was the widow of John Pearl, and had sons Thomas (born in New York in July 1852) and John (born in Ohio about 1860). She was living at 8 Jefferson, Albany, in 1898 and 1899, but she died on March 27, 1899. ² I have not determined her maiden name or county of origin in Ireland. I think the Farrells actually went straight through to Cleveland with the others.

Updated March 12, 2019

There is a death recorded of a Peter Farrell, age 2, in Kilkeel, in the fourth quarter of 1899,⁵ and of a "female" Farrell, age 0, in Newry, in the second quarter of 1897.⁶ Either of them could be Rose's child, or neither. I would lean toward the second if I had to guess, because when the Farrells emigrated they said they were from Newry.

Neither of those two children were Rose (Sloan) and Richard Farrell's daughter. The images of the civil records are now on line, and I have eliminated the following:

Not female Farrell, d June 6, 1897. She was the daughter of John Farrell, a farmer of Carrickbroad.

Not Elizabeth Farrell, d May 8, 1899, daughter of Catherine, a farmer's wife, of Carrickbroad.

Not Peter Farrell, d December 14, 1899, son of Mary Ellen Farrell, a laborer's wife, of Rostrevor.

Not John Francis Farrell, d July 25, 1900, son of John, a laborer of Rostrevor.

Conclusion

Rose died at home, at 9220 Cannon Ave, Cleveland, on Nov 24, 1935, of complications from chronic myocarditis, which had affected her for six months.⁷ Richard died on July 16, 1937, at 4055 East 91st, of the same condition. He was working at Allyne-Ryan Foundry when he died.⁸ They were both buried in Calvary Cemetery from Donlon's Funeral Home on Miles Ave.

I have a feeling there is a bit more to their story. Rose was four years older than Richard. They were married when Richard was only 20, which seems very young for a man in that area to be marrying. How was he planning to support his family? They said they were from Newry—and might have been—but they were travelling with three men from Ballintur and Ballincurry. They said their destination was Richard's sister in law, but Mary Pearl was about forty years older than Rose.

Were Rose and Richard run out of Killowen because of some "indiscretion"? Did they move to Newry where Richard could find some sort of work? Or was he originally from Newry, and was working in Killowen? Was her child actually taken from her and adopted, not "dead" as she said in 1910? Something is missing here. If you know what it is, please let me know.

Footnotes:

1. Manifest of the SS Campania in the Ellis Island records

2. "United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8JN-ZZ5; "New York, State Census, 1892," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X366-GX1; 1898-1900 Albany City Directories at ancestry.com; and 1900 Census of Ward 16, Albany, Series T623, Roll 1005, page 252, at HeritageQuestOnline.com

3. Cleveland City Directories at ancestry.com.

4. "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/ML8G-VLT and "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDRT-NFC

5. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTDD-7PX : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Peter Farrell, 1899; citing vol. 1, p. 449, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101600.

6. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FT8B-YZK : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Female Farrell, 1897; citing vol. 1, p. 579, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101599.

7. "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8HT-ZLF : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell in entry for Rose Farrell, 1935.

8. "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZXR-661 : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1937.

9. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCJ-KNP : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258; and "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.

10. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.

11. Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanKW.htm

12. Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanAJ.htm

Credits:

Photo of the SS Campania is from Wikipedia.