References
Ancestry.com. Family Tree "Taylor - Carrigan | USA | VIEW SOURCE |
Patrick Charles Carrigan claimed to have been born on St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1824 in County Tipperary, Ireland, at least according to his massive family gravestone, which stands as the centerpiece on the sole hill of St. Mary’s of the Lake Cemetery in Skaneateles, Onondaga County, State of New York. He died on Thursday, 18 April 1895 in Satsuma Heights, Putnam County, State of Florida, on his eight-acre, horse & orange grove estate, which had served as his winter and retirement home since approximately 1891. His body was transported back to Skaneateles the Sunday for a memorial service and burial. This would have indicated his age at death as 71 years, and 1 month.
However, various obituaries in the local paper claimed that his age at the time of death was 69, thereby indicating his birth in the year 1826, rather than 1824. The year of his birth was further complicated by the various Federal and State censi between 1855 and 1892, as follows:
Census Year Age at Census Inputed year of Birth
1855 26 1829
1860 30 1830
1865 42 1823
1870 49 1821
1875 46 1829
1880 53 1827
1892 62 1830
The issue here is that all of the censi were conducted always between June to August of the census year. Therefore, if his birthday was in fact in March, his age would have been expressed correctly – unless he was embellishing his age to make him seem younger. Regardless, the census data would seem to indicate the possibility that he may have been born in yet a third possibility, i.e. 1829, and thus his age at his death as 66. Yet there is another possibility – that the gravestone engraver could have misread the year of birth, transcribing 1829 as 1824.
It is uncertain when PC as a young man emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland, nor whom his parents or siblings might have been. From the census records of his wife’s family, however, some dates can be inferred. The most likely scenario is that PC emigrated to the USA before 1849, and probably between 1846 – early 1849, according to scant immigration records found on Ancestry.com. By 1849 he had found his way to Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, which was a bustling commercial center halfway along the east-west Erie Canal linking Albany and the Hudson River to Buffalo and Lake Ontario. He married the daughter of Irish immigrants, Mary Riley (1830 – 1875), whom had been born in New York City. They were married on 2 Dec 1849 in a Roman Catholic Church in Syracuse. By 1851, they moved out of Syracuse, 20 miles to the west , to the Town of Elbridge, Onondaga County, where PC began farming and to begin raising a family. Here are the children of the marriage with associated dates and places.
Children’s Name Birth Date & Place Death Date & Place
Michael Charles 14 Mar 1852 Elbridge, NY 19 Aug 1936 Syracuse, NY
Mary 25 Jan 1853 Elbridge, NY 07 Feb 1874 Elbridge, NY
Ellen E. 15 May 1856 Elbridge, NY ?? ??? 1950 Syracuse, NY
Thomas 19 Apr 1857 Elbridge, NY 09 Apr 1918 Lansing, NY
Julian 19 Apr 1857 Elbridge, NY 22 May 1863 Skaneateles, NY
Margaret 26 Jan 1860 Skaneateles, NY 27 Mar 1953 Skaneateles, NY
William 19 Jul 1860 Elbridge, NY 12 Apr 1863 Skaneateles, NY
Patrick 02 Jun 1862 Elbridge, NY 12 Mar 1863 Skaneateles, NY
Julia 24 May1864 Elbridge, NY 12 Jul 1864 Skaneateles, NY
Bridget F. ?? Dec 1864 Elbridge, NY 21 Mar 1941 Fulton, NY
Anne 05 Jun 1865 Elbridge, NY 19 May 1868 Skaneateles, NY
Katie 22 Jul 1867 Skaneateles, NY 02 Jan 1875 Skaneateles, NY
Elizabeth A. 09 Apr 1869Skaneateles, NY ?? ??? 1954 Skaneateles, NY
Andrew J. 27 Jun 1870 Skaneateles, NY 25 Dec 1959 Skaneateles, NY
Out of the 14 children only 8 made it to adulthood. Their mother, Mary Riley Carrigan, only survived to the age of 45, passing on 7 Feb 1875, perhaps heartbroken one month after daughter, Katie, died.
Given that his first born child was named Michael, and given the middle name as his own middle name, it is quite possible that this son was named after PC's own father. Since PC's wife's father or immediate family lacked a "Michael", this increases the probability that the son was named after the grandfather. A search on Ancestry.com (primarily Griffith's Valuations) revealed that the only "Michael Carrigan" in Tipperary County during PC's early life had leased farmlands around Anlishcloghane and that he died there around 1878.
Attachment | Size |
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1895 0426 Skan Press - Obituary of P C Carrigan.pdf (1.16 MB) | 1.16 MB |
Additional Information | ||
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Date of Birth | 17th Mar 1829 (circa) | VIEW SOURCE |
Date of Death | 19th Apr 1895 | VIEW SOURCE |