James Cashman : Short Biography

Life in Ireland

James Cashman, was born in the townland of Pluckanes North in the Civil Parish of Donoughmore, County Cork, Ireland, on 2 February 1820. He was one of eight children born to Denis Cashman and Johanna Herlihy. A baptismal record has not yet been found for him, but his naturalization papers list his place of birth as "Pluckanes, County Cork, Ireland" and his date of birth as "on or about the second of February 1820" (13). His filial relationship to Denis and Hannah Cashman is established by his death record (14,15).

James had many brothers and a sister all baptized in Donoughmore Roman Catholic Parish in County Cork, Ireland: John (b. 1817), Denis (b. 1821), Mary (b. 1823), Cornelius (b. 1828), Timothy (b. 1831), and John (b. 1833). With the exception of Timothy it cannot be established at this point whether or not James' siblings emigrated to the United States. James married Catherine Long, daughter of John Long and Julia McNamara, on 3 Sept 1844 in the Church of Aghabullogue in County Cork, Ireland (1). The witnesses were Denis Long and Denis Cashman.

James and Catherine had three children that were born in Ireland: Johanna (aka Hannah), Judith (aka Julia) and John. Johanna was baptized on 12 July 1845 in the Church of Cloghroe in the Parish of Inniscarra in the Diocese of Cloyne (20). Her sponsors were John Long and Johanna Cashman. Judith was baptized on 8 Apr 1847 in the same Church (21). Her sponsors were Timothy Murphy and Hanora Cashman. John was baptized 25 June 1849 in the same Church (22). His sponsors were John Murphy and Catherine McCarthy.

In 1848, James Cashman was occupying Plot 1 in the townland of Lisladeen, in the civil parish of Inniscarra. Figure 1 shows Plot 1 on a historic map of Lisladeen. Figure 2 is an aerial photograph of this location as it exists today. On this plot of land, Plot 1, there were two structures: a house and a cow barn. Figure 3 is the Ordnance Survey map of Lisladeen (1833-1846) showing the likely location of James Cashman's house and barn. Figure 4 is a present day street map of that same location. His neighbors in the townland were Widow Johanna Herlihy, Timothy Kelaher, and John Murphy (24). By late 1851, when the Lisladeen House Book was revised, James' name was crossed out to indicate that he was no longer living on Plot 1 and the structures were listed as "down" (23).

Voyage to America

On 26 Mar 1850, James departed from the Port of Liverpool on the Barque Adonis (4) with his wife Catherine and two of their children, Judith and John. They arrived in the port of Boston on 14 May 1850 (5). As steerage passengers, they would have disembarked at the passenger ships' docks and gone through customs and immigration inspection. If they passed inspection, they would have walked out into another area of the steamship dock where they would receive their baggage and then proceed directly to the city proper or Boston suburbs. If they did not pass the primary inspection, they would have immediately been given a hearing before the Board of Special Inquiry. Immigrants deemed inadmissible were transported to the U.S. Immigration Station at the end of Boston's Long Wharf. Of particular interest is the fact that their oldest daughter, Johanna, was not listed on the Adonis' passenger list. Johanna also did not appear with her family in the 1850 Federal Census. Documents suggest that she came over in 1853 with James' brother, Timothy Cashman. By the time of the Massachusetts State Census in 1855, she has been reunited with her family in Hanover, Massachusetts.

Building a New Life

Upon arriving in America, James and Catherine took up residence in the town of Hanover, Massachusetts. What made them decide to settle in Plymouth County? It's hard to know for sure, but Martha Campbell, the author of Remembering Old Abington, suggests that Irish immigrants were drawn to the area by railroad jobs. It just so happens that the Old Colony Railroad was beginning to build a line between Boston and Plymouth at a time when large numbers of Irish immigrants were arriving in Boston. The Old Colony Railroad needed laborers to clear the right of way; lay the crushed stone roadbed and wrestle the heavy rails into place and spike them down. The young Irishmen needed immediate jobs and were willing to undertake any kind of labor. Perhaps James signed on with the railroad and helped build the railway that runs through Abington, which is about five miles from the place where James and Catharine built their home. Perhaps this is where he learned many of the skills that he would use later as a surveyor, road builder and contractor.

According to the Federal Census taken on 5 Sep 1850, James, age 30, was working as a laborer and Catherine, age 30, was tending to Julia, age 5, and John, age 2 (6). Over the next sixteen years, they had seven more children, all born in Massachusetts: Denis (b. abt 1851), Catherine (b. 1854), James T. (b. 1856), Mary (b. 1858), William (b. 1859), Ellen (b. 1862) and Luke J. (b. 1866).

In September of 1855, James purchased a two and one quarter acre parcel of land on the southerly side of Walnut Street (now known as Webster Street or Route 123) which he purchased from John Stetson Barry for one hundred and twenty dollars. He constructed a house on the land to shelter his growing family and called it the "Cashman Home Place." Over the next twenty years, Cashman added to that property with purchases from Charles Jacob, Edward F Jacobs and Elisha Jacobs. On 24 Oct 1856, only six years after arriving in America, James Cashman appeared before the Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, took an oath of allegiance and became a naturalized American citizen (13).

By 1875, the Cashman Home Place consisted of twelve and one-half acres of field and woodland as well as two houses. In addition to the Home Place, James owned a number of houses, some of which he rented to tenants. By 1878, he had purchased, in total, twenty-one parcels (78 acres) in Hanover and nine parcels (about 78 acres) in Norwell. Types of property included: lots with tenant dwellings, pasture land for grazing animals, hay lots for mowing, woodland and swampland. Swampland was considered extremely valuable because it provided white cedar, which was used extensively for shingles and post and rail fences, and pine which was straighter and less knotty than its upland cousins and well-suited for building. According to the 1875 Hanover Valuation of Estates (18), James owned a total of 63.75 acres valued at $5050. Only fourteen of the 607 landowners in Hanover owned land valued at a greater dollar amount than James and all of them were born in Massachusetts. James' personal property included four horses, a carriage, two cows, one yearling and stock in trade worth eight hundred dollars. Compared to other Hanover residents, Cashman was a wealthy landowner and the most prosperous immigrant living in the town in 1875.

During his almost thirty years in Hanover, James' listed occupation on census and other records changed from "laborer" in 1850 (6), to "brickmaker" in 1856(13), "farm laborer" in 1860 (8), "farmer" in 1867(23),  "shoemaker" in 1870 (10), and then finally to "laborer" in 1879(15).

Annual Reports for the Town of Hanover for the years 1862 to 1887 give us a more detailed picture of James as a man that was very active in town projects such as road improvement, bridge repair, construction of new roads and bridges, clearing roads of snow, construction of sidewalks, laying drainpipe, carting gravel, digging ditches, and digging wells. He sold wood to heat the town's schools and stones to build the town's bridges. He surveyed for the town and served as Road Commissioner, an elected position, from 1872-3. By 1874, James was an independent contractor and bidding on new road construction jobs in the town of Hanover. While small by today's standards, these projects would have been quite substantial for the time.

James and Catherine were members of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Abington (Figure 5) which was founded in 1863. Parish financial records from the years 1873 to 1882, show that James paid $24 per year to rent six seats in Pew 14 on the Left Aisle. Their daughters, Julia and Catherine were married in the parish in 1865 and 1881, respectively. James' generosity and commitment to the parish is evidenced by the beautiful stained glass window (Figure 6) he gifted to the church.

Legacy

Twenty days before he died of cancer, James Cashman, wrote a last will and testament, in which he bequeathed his considerable land holdings and personal estate to his wife, Catherine (16). He named his relative, John Spence of Rockland, as executor and he named his son, John, as trustee. He instructed John to invest the personal estate and use the income to provide for Catherine.

James Cashman died 24 Sept 1879, in Hanover, Massachusetts (15). He is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery in Rockland, Massachusetts, in a large family plot marked by a handsome granite memorial stone (Figure 7). Buried with him are his wife Catherine, his brother Timothy, four of his ten children (Dennis, James, Mary, and Julia), one granddaughter (Katherine F. Riordan), and one son-in-law (Daniel Riordan). Of interest is the presence of a stranger named Jeremiah Philpott, a laborer from Ireland, who died in 1884 at age 23 in Falmouth, Massachusetts; cause of death listed as "casualty." Research has uncovered that Mr. Philpott worked for James Cashman's sons, who were in the stone contracting business. Philpott died accidentally on the job, while blasting rocks in Woods Hole for a client. It is likely that a sense of responsibility and decency compelled the brothers to offer their family plot as a final resting place for Philpott.

At the time of his death, James Cashman owned property valued at $8,101 and personal items valued at $3,159 (17). After his death in 1879, James' wife Catherine appears to have taken over the management of some of her husband's enterprises, for the town remunerated her for highway repairs, new road work and gravel. James and Catherine's sons Luke and James T. were paid for shoveling snow and repairing highways.

After 1887, there is no mention of the Cashman family in the Hanover town reports. In 1903, there was a fire at the Cashman place and the original house that James built was destroyed. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources:

[1]  Diocese of Cloyne, marriage record for James Cashman and Kate Long.

[2]  Griffiths Valuation House Books, National Archives of Ireland, PRO OL 5.0707 IRELAND;County of Cork, Barony of East Muskerry, Parish of Inniscara, House Book No. 2, Office Copy.

[3]  Griffiths Valuation House Books, National Archives of Ireland, PRO OL 5.0708 IRELAND; County of Cork, Barony of East Muskerry, Parish of Inniscara, No. Surveyors House Book - Original - p. 23.

[4]  Boston Evening Transcript, April 20, 1850 - Marine Journal.

[5]  Ancestry.com, Boston Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1943 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.Original data - Boston, Massachusetts. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943. Micropublication T843. RG085. 454 rolls. National Archives, Washington,), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Bark Adonis from Liverpool; arrived Boston 14 May 1850; page 6; line 28; James Cashman.

[6]  Ancestry.com, 1850 United States Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1850; Census Place: Hanover, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Roll: M432_332; Page: 104A; Image: 211. James Cashman; Dwelling #50 ; Family #60; lines 21-24; James Cashman household.

[7]  1855 Massachusetts State Census, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts, South Scituate in the County of Plymouth; page 5; James Cashman; dwelling #39; family #1; lines 25-34, James Cashman household.

[8]  Ancestry.com, 1860 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Online publication - Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1860; Census Place: Hanover, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Roll: ; Page: 190; Image: 191. James Cashman; Dwelling #1648 ; Family #331; lines 23-33; James Cashman household.

[9]  1865 Massachusetts State Census (FamilySearch.org), Massachusetts State Archives, BostonMassachusetts, Hanover in the County of Plymouth; James Cashman; dwelling #260; family #306; lines 25-33, James Cashman household.

[10]  Ancestry.com, 1870 United States Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1870; Census Place: Hanover, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_638; Page: 264B; Image: 533. James Cashman; Dwelling #184; Family #186; lines 3-11; James Cashman household.

[11]  Ancestry.com, U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. A portion of this collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data - State CitationUnited States. Federal Mortality Census Schedules, 1850-1880 (f), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, James Cashman.

[12]  Ancestry.com, U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors in partnership with the following organizations: Anchorage Genealogical SocietyCalifornia State Genealogic), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, James Cashman.

[13]  Massachusetts, Suffolk, Superior Civil Court, 1856-1863, Jay M. Cashman, 549 South Street Quincy, MA 02169, Superior Civil Court, Suffolk County, Boston, Mass., 1856-1863, page 81.

[14]  Massachusetts State Archives, Massachusetts Death Registers on FamilySearch.org (Salt Lake City, Utah, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org)), Massachusetts State Archives, BostonMassachusetts, p 277, no 28.

[15]  Massachusetts, Plymouth, Hanover, Death Certificate, Hanover Town Clerk, James Cashman.

[16] Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Court, Docket 3673. Last Will and Testament

[17]  Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Court, docket for James Cashman. Probate

[18]  Hanover, Massachusetts, Valuation of the Estates of the Inhabitants and Proprietors of the Town of Hanover, Together with the Annual Report of the Officers of Said Town for the Year 1875, Jay M. Cashman, 549 South Street  Quincy, MA 02169, page 20. 19 Massachusetts, Plymouth Country Registry of Deeds, 50 Oberty Street Plymouth, MA 02360, book 273, pages 209-210.

[20] Diocese of Cloyne, Parish of Inniscarra, BIRTH and BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE for for Joanna Cashman.

[21] Diocese of Cloyne, Parish of Inniscarra, BIRTH and BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE for for Julia Cashman.

[22] Diocese of Cloyne, Parish of Inniscarra, BIRTH and BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE for for John Cashman.

[23] Plymouth County, The Plymouth County Directory:  Historical Register of the Old Colony (Middleboro, MA:  Stillman B. Pratt and Co., 1867), page 44, James Cashman.  Hanover Historical Society, 514 Hanover St  Hanover, MA 02339.