Floyd can be found on our family tree as a descendant of the first child of Thomas Donahue, a daughter, Amelia Bridget, born in Ireland. This daughter eventually came to the United States, most likely through the auspices of her father, and married in Milwaukee to one John Shimunok the great grandfather of Floyd Billings. Floyd has uncovered an extensive lineage history of his Shimunok family in Wisconsin that he has also shared with us but it is not included here.
What I consider to be the “Holy Grail” of our history, the records of our ancestors in Ireland, has yet to be found. I remain positive that someone in the future will find the records, at the very least that is my hope. In the meantime our overall knowledge has expanded greatly and all that Floyd describes in his narrative is the baseline that those in the future will use to actually trace down our Irish beginnings.
The following is a transcription of a Donahue Family History written by Floyd Billings Jr.
Note: The history that follows is based on the information that is presently available to me and reflects my interpretation of it. I expect that the story will change somewhat as further information becomes available. I welcome and appreciate any questions, comments or suggestions.
Floyd Billings. 12 December 2009
My second great grandfather Thomas Donahue was born in Galway county, Ireland, on or about December 25, 1816. Sources presently available to us indicate his father’s name was Patrick and his mother’s maiden name was Mary Connelly. (See note at the end of this account).
It is known that Thomas had a sister Mary and a brother (or half brother) Patrick, both several years younger than himself. It seems likely that there were other children in the family as well, but if so, we presently know nothing of them.
The early years of the Donahue children were characterized by an abundance of work and a lack of schooling. As Thomas’s brother and sister later explained, “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
About the year 1840, when Thomas was in his early 20’s, he married his first wife Anna White. A daughter was born to them on March 1, 1842, and named Amelia Bridget.
Two very significant events took place after that. One was the death of Thomas’s wife. The other was when Thomas went to the United States and joined the Army. It is not possible at this point to say which happened first.
In 1899 it became necessary for Thomas’s second wife Mary, then a widow, to establish the fact, the date and the place of death of the first wife. Since she was not personally involved, she could only repeat what she had been told earlier, namely, that the first wife died “a number of years” prior to her marriage to Thomas in May 1850.
Unable to locate non-relatives familiar with the facts, as requested, she turned to Thomas’s brother and sister, “who have a personal knowledge of the facts called for- and it is currently first hand information.”
Patrick and Mary then related in an affidavit that: “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland where Mrs. Donahue first wife of Thomas Donahue died, saw her, both of us, after she was dead and attended her funeral. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
So we know that Thomas’s wife died in Galway county, Ireland , that she died in the fall of the year and that it was sometime after March 1842 but “a number of years” prior to May 1850.
We can establish the date of Thomas’s departure from Ireland fairly closely by working backward from his enlistment in the army on May 19th, 1845 at Bangor, Maine.
When asked if Thomas had any U.S. military service prior to his May 1845 enlistment, Mary, again relying on what she had been told, said that she did not believe that he had served in the Army or Navy of the United States prior to that date “because he was then still in Ireland.” It was thus her understanding that Thomas left Ireland and arrived in the U.S. shortly before enlisting.
At this point, we must consider some of the circumstances in regard to immigration in the 1840’s. First of all, we need to realize that at that time the British government encouraged British subjects going to the United States to obtain passage on British ships and to go by way of Canada. Of course, many would have done so anyway because the crossing to Canada was shorter, somewhat quicker (typically 35 to 45 days at sea) and perhaps somewhat less expensive.
It is also important to understand that Canadian immigration was seasonal. The first immigrants in a given year typically arrived at the beginning of May and the last near the end of October. Because of unfavorable conditions, potential immigrants seldom ventured to cross the North Atlantic in winter.
So this leaves us with two likely scenarios. The first is that Thomas left Ireland in the latter part of March 1845, arrived at Quebec or at one of the ports in New Brunswick just after the first of May and then went directly to Bangor, Maine, where he enlisted on the 19th of that month. The implication here would be that he left Ireland with intention of enlisting, and that once underway, executed that plan as quickly as possible.
The other possibility would be that he left Ireland a bit earlier, perhaps in the summer or fall of 1844, and then, after arriving, spent a few months looking at other possibilities before enlisting in May. Of course it is also possible that he could have left Ireland sooner than that or that he entered the U.S. directly rather than through Canada.
Concerning the name of the first wife, the name Anna White comes from the 1899 affidavit mentioned earlier. On Thomas’s daughter Bridget’s death certificate in 1921, however, her daughter gives Bridget’s mother’s name as “--- Shaunessy”. At this point I am inclined to accept Anna White as the correct name and to speculate that Shaunessy may have been the name of relatives or others who raised Bridget as a foster child after her mother died. Bridget’s daughter just might have heard her mother mention the name Shaunessy and made an incorrect assumption.
As previously indicated, Thomas enlisted at Bangor, Maine by May 19, 1845. At enlistment, Lt. Bowen, the enlisting officer recorded the following:
Name: Thomas Donohue – Note: spelled thus
Age: 27 – Note: if December 25, 1816 is really his birthdate, he was actually 28.
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Complexion: fair
Height: 5’ 7” – Note: fairly tall in those days
Born: Ireland, Galway
Occupation: Laborer
Enlisted: May 19, 1845
Where: Bangor
By whom: Lt. Bowen
Term: 5 yrs
Regiment or co: 1 Art. G – Note: Battery (or company) “G”, 1st artillery regiment
A perusal of the Enlistment Registers shows that eleven men enlisted at Bangor in May of 1845, five of them born in Ireland, but Thomas was the only one on the 19th. There does not seem to be any connection between Thomas and any of the other men who enlisted during that month.
Thomas remained in Battery G of the 1st Artillery for his full five year term. During the war with Mexico he went to that country with his regiment and participated in a number of battles, including the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerre Gordo, and Chepultapec. At the conclusion of his enlistment, he was discharged from Fort Columbus (Governor’s Island), New York on May 19, 1850, having served five years as a private.
Before his discharge, Thomas met a young Irish woman named Mary McHugh or McKeough. On May 12, 1850, Thomas and Mary were married at the Church of the Transformation in New York City according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas was about 33 years of age. Mary was in her early 20’s. The witnesses were Thomas Green and Margaret Long. The names of the parents were not recorded.
Upon his discharge, Thomas applied for and received a Bounty Land Warrant redeemable for 160 acres of government land. The warrant was dated May 27, 1850. He qualified for this warrant based on his service in Mexico
Thomas and Mary then started west. At Buffalo they boarded a steamer bound for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Aboard the boat they became acquainted with the Mulholland family who had just arrived from the old country and were planning to settle in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. So Thomas and Mary followed them there.
By early July Thomas and Mary had arrive in Manitowoc where on July 8th Thomas sold his land warrant to a man named John Stevens “for value received.” On that same day, he purchased 80 acres of land, being the west half of the southeast quarter of section 35 in the township later known as the town of Liberty, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. This is the farm where Thomas and Mary lived for the next forty years or so and where they raised their family.
Thomas purchased this land from John Stephenson and his wife Elizabeth, paying a total of $100 or $1.25 per acre. The presumption would be that Thomas figured that it was better to purchase 80 acres of previously-owned land, likely at least partially cleared and developed, and possibly in a more favorable location, rather than to claim the 160 acres of totally unoccupied, uncleared and uncultivated government land which the land warrant entitled him to claim.
(A few months later, John Stevens used the land warrant to claim 160 acres of public land after first inspecting the land and certifying, as required, that it was entirely uninhabited and that no part of it was under cultivation.)
About three years after Thomas and Mary arrived in Manitowoc county Thomas’s brother and sister Mary also arrived. It is unclear whether they came together or separately. In his declaration of intent Patrick indicated that he entered the country at New York City in November of 1853.
It is not known at this point if Thomas sent passage money for Patrick and Mary or if they came on their own nickel. It is clear, however, that although neither he nor they could read or write, he devised some way to keep in touch with them and to paint a picture of Manitowoc county as a good place to live. Otherwise they simply would not have known where to come.
On March 12th, 1855, Mary married Arnold Siehr at Manitowoc Rapids in Manitowoc county. A native of Prussia (Germany), Arnold had arrived in Manitowoc county a few years before and by the time of his marriage had established himself as a farmer in the town of Meeme, having purchased and patented 40 acres of government land there in 1852.
At the time of the marriage, Arnold gave his parents’ names as Jacob and Maria Siehr (spelled Sierh). Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
In June of 1855, the state of Wisconsin took a census which identified each household and recorded the number of persons living there. The Siehr household (spelled Sears) included, as we would expect, one male and one female, both foreign born.
The enumeration of the “Th. Danehow” household in the town of Newton – this was before the town of Liberty was separated from the town of Newton – is more problematic. It lists four males and three females, five of them foreign born. This does not add up since by this time Thomas and Mary had three children -- John, Patrick and Sarah. So the members of the immediate family should have included three males and two females. If we add Thomas’s brother Patrick and another foreign born female that makes four males and three females as recorded, but only four are foreign born rather than five.
It appears that Thomas and Mary, after purchasing the 80 acres in 1850 enjoyed some degree of success as farmers because on July 28, 1855, they purchased another 120 acres. This land is described as the west half of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 31 in the township known as the town of Newton and is thus located two miles east of the home farm. In this case the purchase price was $480 or $4.00 per acre.
Also in 1855, Patrick was involved in a legal matter which came before the Manitowoc county court. The card index does not specify the nature of the case or the outcome – only that the other party was W. Richmond.
On February 16, 1857, Thomas and Mary sold half of the 120 acres to Patrick for $200 or $3.33 per acre.
In 1859, Patrick again appeared before the court, this time to face a charge of assault and battery brought by one Anna Burns and the State of Wisconsin. The card index does not indicate whether he was found guilty or not.
In October 1859, Thomas and Patrick were both admitted to United States citizenship, Thomas on the 24th and Patrick on the 29th.
About 1859, Patrick married Honorah Luby and they settled on the land in the Town of Newton where they raised a family of one son and three daughters. This was the land that Patrick purchased from Thomas and Mary in 1857.
Thomas and Mary continued to farm in the Town of Liberty where eight additional children were born to them – Thomas, Michael, Mary Ellen, Katherine, Martin, Margaret, James and Alice.
Meanwhile about 1857 or 1858 Thomas’s daughter Bridget arrived from Ireland. She remained with the family for a short time. Then she and another girl that she knew went off to Milwaukee to find work. There she met and married John Shimunok, but that is another story.
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Note: I have reached my current conclusion as to the likely names of Thomas’s parents as follows:
- At her 1855 marriage, Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
- When Patrick died in 1907, his daughter gave the parents’ names as John Donehue and Mary Cornelia.
- When Mary died in 1915, her son gave the parents’ names as Patrick Donehue and Maria Cornelia.
- Since it was almost unheard of in the 1790’s for a common person to receive more than one given name, I must assume that the name Cornelia was probably an attempt to supply a surname. However, since Cornelia did not exist as a surname in Ireland at that time, I must assume that it is likely a poorly recorded or poorly spelled version of a similar name – such as Connelly.
The following is a descendant tabulation of the family of Thomas and Mary Donahue as detailed by Floyd Billings:
Thomas Donahue
Husband: Thomas Donahue
b: 23 December 1816 (tombstone)
b: 25 December 1816 (death record)
m: abt 1840 in Ireland to Anna White
m: 12 May 1850, Church of the Transfiguraton, New York City, to Mary McHue
occ: 19 May 1845 – 19 May 1850 – Private in Battery “G” First Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army; was in Mexico at least 60 days during the war with that country and participated in the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Chepultapek and others.
occ: 1850 to retirement, Farmer in Liberty twp, Manitowoc co, Wis.
d: 14 January 1898, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
First Wife: Anna White
b: abt 1820 in Ireland, probably county Galway
d: abt 1843-1847 in County Galway, Ireland
Note: this information comes from the affidavit by Patrick Donahue and Mary Siehr dated 19 July 1899 in which they declare under oath that “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland, and attended her funeral, her maiden name was Anna White. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
Note: Patrick and Mary add this further comment: “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
Known child:
1.Amelia Bridget Donahue
b: 1 March 1842 in Ireland, presumably in County Galway
immigration: 1858
m: 17 August 1862 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin to John Shimunok
d: 14 December 1921, Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis,
Second Wife: Mary McKeough
Also: McHugh, McHue, McCue
b: abt 1825 in Ireland
d: December 1900 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Children:
1.John Donahue
b: 6 April 1851
m: abt 1875 Margaret (Maggie) Fitzgerald
d: 1 October 1912, Centerville, Manitowoc co, Wis.
b: 3 October 1912, St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Newton and Centerville, Manitowoc county
2.Patrick W. Donahue
b: April 1853
m: abt 1901, Amelia Emma McLaughlin
d: Chicago- I have the date but cannot find it at the moment.
occ: Grocer in Chicago
3.Sarah Donahue
b: 3 February 1855
m: 28 January 1891, Seattle, James H. Hall
d: 26 September 1910
b: Florence, Snohomish, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
4.Thomas Donahue
b: 9 June 1857
m: 18 November 1884 to Mary Ann McMahon
d: 14 March 1887
b: St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Manitowoc county
5.Michael J. Donahue
Note: His baptismal name was simply Michael. He often added the initial J (for Jeremiah) which was the name of his godfather
b: 1860
m: 24 September 1905 at Florence, Washington to Bridget McPadden
occ: Lumber camp cook
occ: Farmer, Iron River, Michigan abt 1882-1896
occ: Gold Miner in the Klondike 1897-1905
occ: Farmer, Quincy, Washington
Note: For numerous details about him and his brother Martin, refer to the transcript of the U.S. Supreme Court case :Donohue v Vosper” (1917). Also “Donahue v Lake Superior Ship Canal, Railway and Iron Co.” (1894).
6.Mary Ellen Donahue
b: 7 May 1861
m: 3 July 1883, Chicago, to James McGinnis, witnesses Hugh McGinnis and Kate Donahue
d: 15 May 1929, Florence, Snohomish co., Washington
bur: 18 May 1929 at Florence, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
7.Catherine I. (Kate) Donahue
b: 6 May 1863
m: 29 December 1889, Seattle, Hugh Patrick McGinnis
d: 6 August 1929 at Everett, Washington
bur: 8 August 1929, Florence, Washington
occ: Dairy farm in Florence
8.Martin Edward Donahue
b: 15 December 1866
bap: 21 December 1866, St. Isadore
m: 1913 Jessie Florence Pidd
m: 1920 Della Richards
d: 12 May 1936, Escanaba, Michigan
bur: Iron River, Michigan
occ: Farmer in Iron River, Michigan
occ: Principal stakeholder in the Homer Mine
Note: See note under Michael above
9.Margaret Donahue
b: 22 May 1869
m: 27 December 1889 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to William Scherer
d: 13 December 1944
10.James Roger Donahue
b: 28 August 1872
bap: 1 September 1872 St. Isadore
m: Laura P,
d: 1951
11.Alice Donahue
b: 4 April 1878
m: 31 May 1902 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Robert Martin Puls
d: 15 July 1966
