My Kennedy origins

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron Scott on July 22, 2009 at 12:02am

My ancestor Patrick Kennedy sailed from Cork in 1850 and arrived in Boston, we lived there for some time before moving down the eastern sea board to Texas.

Permalink Reply by Jeanette Seaborn on July 22, 2009 at 12:07pm

My 3x great grandparents were Henry Kennedy (born between 1820-1830) in Ireland and Ann Montgomery (also born between 1820-1830 in Ireland). The emigrated to Canada in the 1850s. Their children were John (born Feb. 1853 in either Ireland or Canada; died in Hastings County, Ontario, Canada); William (born about 18 February 1853; died 18 July 1922 in Belmont Township, Peterborough County, Ontario); Robert (born about 1855 in Huntingdon Twp., Hastings County, Ontario; died 13 April 1939 in Peterborough, Peterborough County, Ontario); James Henry (born 1862 in Hastings County, Ontario; died 13 April 1893 in Hastings County, Ontario); and Margaret (born about 1872 in Ontario).
I heard that the family could be from Enniskillen, Ireland, and I would like to learn more about the family.

Permalink Reply by Iain Kennedy on July 22, 2009 at 12:42pm

Fermanagh is one of the quieter areas for Kennedys as it was mostly settled from England, one survey I have ranked Kennedy outside the top 100 surnames. But there were some there in Griffiths valuation. Have you tried searching the parish registers/civil registers for Henry's marriage, assuming he married before leaving, as some of these are now coming online?

I usually point people to this site but the data is incomplete unlike the equivalent Scottish registers which were all centralised, so so far I'm reluctant to spend money on it.

http://www.irish-roots.ie/pay-per-view.asp

There is some indication of a Henry Kennedy marriage in Fermanagh around 1850 but no guarantee its yours.

Assuming from the names that they were Presbyterian, remember that civil registration of Protestant marriages started in 1848, before all the other records which started in 1864. You can search them at pilot.familysearch.org and there are some potential records there:

http://pilot.familysearch.org

Marriages have to be searched manually one partner at a time. It looks like the Henry Kennedy and Anne Montgomery 1849 Lisnaskvea RD (nr Enniskillen) isn't a couple but it might be worth having a dig around yourself. Their image numbers don't match.

Iain Kennedy

Permalink Reply by Jeanette Seaborn on July 27, 2009 at 3:42pm

Thanks for the information, Iain. It gives me a few more avenues to research.

Permalink Reply by Kathleen on July 25, 2009 at 9:40pm

Iain: Thanks for starting this group. My aunt is a "Kennedy" but I have precious few tidbits on them. Her father was Russel Ensign Kennedy and was born in Iowa but her grandfather was Mark Lamonia Kennedy and was born on 11/16/1841. Since my aunt married a McCullough, I'm thinking they might had started in Scotland or Ireland. Any ideas where to start looking?

Thanks for your help!

Kathy

Permalink Reply by Iain Kennedy on July 27, 2009 at 5:28am

Its best if you tell us the sources you have got this information from and in particular the source for Mark's birth. Also do you have his marriage and/or death certs, and which censuses you have searched and the results. Start tracking back through the earlier census years, although if its the family I am looking at Mark seems to have been unsure which state his father was from, assuming he is the one in Clarke county Iowa in 1880. There is a curious lack of evidence for Mark before the 1880 census. If he was a recent arrival then his name is strongly suggestive of Irish and not Scottish origins as Mark is simply not used as a given name at that time in Scotland whereas it was in Ireland. Have you looked at any incoming shipping records, as there is a convenient Mark Kennedy arriving from Liverpool/Ireland b 1841 and arriving 1866; he was travelling alone. Do you any evidence that puts Mark in the States before this date? (apart from his claim on later census returns which may be false).

Just some thoughts. Let us know how you get on!

Iain

Permalink Reply by Kathleen on July 28, 2009 at 1:09pm

Iian:

Thanks again for your imput! In answer to your question where the information came from was my aunt (Mark 's Granddaugter) who was our family tree person until she passed in 2003. Her information was then passed on to my brother and just recently myself. As I am fairly new to this research I am glad for your imput and pointing us in the right direction. I will follow your lead and let you know how it goes!

Have a good day!
Kathleen Myers Warren