Daniel Birmingham : Short Biography

My great grandfather, Daniel Birmingham, was born 3 July 1809 in county Longford, the son of William Birmingham and Elizabeth Ferrall.

He was one of eight children.

The family lived in Townland Cloontirm.

Daniel would immigrate to America, leaving from Liverpool on 16 April 1830 for New York, aboard the ship LIMA . Daniel arrived in New York on 31 May 1830. From New York, Daniel traveled to western Marylamd where he first worked as at Quarryman, likely on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal, and its many locks that passed through Washington County, Maryland.

In 1839 Daniel declared his Intent to become a Naturalized US citizen, which he was granted in September 1844 in Baltimore, Maryland. Daniel Birmingham and Ellen Collins, also an Irish immigrant, married in Baltimore on 31 December 1849. There, they would begin raising their family while Daniel would continue work as a Quarryman and Stonecutter near Baltimore.

Their second son, Daniel Collins Birmingham, my grandfather, was born in Baltimore on 16 May 1860. In 1870 the Birmingham family, Daniel and Ellen and their 7 children would travel from Baltimore to Cumberland, about 160 miles west. There, Daniel and his oldest son William, would find work on the Western Maryland Railroad being constructed in the area. There, Daniel would join with his younger brother, James, and his family, who had settled in Cumberland in1851.

Daniel Birmingham would die in Cumberland, Maryland on 13 March 1872. He was buried at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church Cemetery. His brother James Birmingham died in 1878 and was also buried at Saint Patrick's Cemetery. The youngest brother of Daniel and James Birmingham of county Longford was Patrick Birmingham. Patrick also immigrated to America around 1849. Patrick would also marry, raise a family, and settle in Jersey City, New Jersey. The lives of each of the three brothers who immigrated to America, and their families, are described in the attached Biographical Details linked below.