Michael English lived with his wife, Mary Sullivan, in the Townland of Glencairn, Parish of Lismore and Mocollop, with their nine children. After most of the children left for New York, starting in 1838 and ending in 1851, Michael and Mary English sailed for New York on the Ship Marmion in 1853. Mary Sullivan English died at sea of cholera. Of 295 passengers on board the Marmion, 34 died of disease.
Arriving in New York without his wife of many years, Michael lived and worked at 13 Broadway, the site of the present Cunard Building on Bowling Green. Two of his daughters lived across Broadway at number 30, the site of the present Standard Oil Building. Michael was a porter at 13 Broadway, at that time the site of the Atlantic Hotel. By 1860 Michael English lived with his widowed daughter Ellen and an orphaned niece at number 30 Broadway. Other children lived nearby in the 4th Ward, notably his sons Jeremiah and Denis. Both men had first settled in Coney Island, but moved to Lower Manhattan when their father arrived from Ireland. Denis was a grocer and liquor merchant until he joined the 88th New York Volunteers and served in the Civil War under Thomas Francis Meagher. He saw a lot of action and was finally wounded at Fredericksburg and spent the rest of his Army career in hospital or as a hospital orderly.
Michael continued to work as a porter or janitor until he was 75 years old and died on 27 Feb 1866. He is buried with his family in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1791 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 2nd Feb 1866 | |
