Philip Conlon, 1832-1895

Hi Genkit,  

This is a difficult one.  I tried tracking him, I could find them in 1880 Census, but not in 1870.  Have you found them there?  I was hoping that I might have found other information eg date of marriage or naturalisation.  Do you have his death certificate, is there any further information on it.  I am guessing you have not tracked their marriage cert, if you could it would be a great clue.  The parish of Annagh is different from the parish of Killinagh (Kill lie na).  Townlands in Co. Cavan are found at https://www.townlands.ie/cavan/  There is Drummanbane in Lavey.  

I found their headstone on Find A Grave, it is a fine memorial.  Did he leave a will?

I seen that his mother in law was with them in 1880, she and her husband were also Irish born. Do you know their names, the only reason I ask is to see were their names carried down into the family, this may allow you to use the names to see can you find naming patterns, it may or may not help you find the name of his father, it is a long shot but worth putting in the work.  

The Conlon name is more of a Co. Monaghan name in 1901 Census it is carried by 244, while in Co. Cavan it is carried by 43, not including various spellings.

I am sorry I could not solve this mystery for you, but I hope that I have given you some more ideas think about.  

Regards Carmel O'Callaghan

 Hi, Carmel--Thanks for your helpful reply. I can try searching in Co. Monaghan. The biggest problem I have is that it appears that Philip left Ireland before most of the records were being kept, so finding him in Ireland is going to be really difficult. And Philip Conlon is not an unusual name--the emigration records contain LOTS of Philip Conlons, spelled in a wide variety of ways and with various nicknames.

I have both Philip's and Maggie's death certificates (Philip and Ellen died just 6 weeks apart). All they say is that Philip was born in Ireland and Ellen was born in Rochester, NY. I've found the family in the censuses, and I have photos of their headstones as well. (My grandparents and many of my great-aunts and great-uncles are buried in the same cemetery, which is about 30 miles from where I grew up.) I don't know if there was a will for the family--that's one thing I could investigate further.  I have not been able to find a copy of their marriage--records in upstate New York are also very difficult to find.

I see that I made a note to myself in April of 2014 that Drumbrawn is part of Killinagh Parish (not Annagh)--but when I first looked at the Griffiths Evaluation, I thought it said that the parish was Annagh. I didn't read my notes well enough before I posted here, obviously. ^_^

Regarding siblings, I know that there are 4 children in Philip's family: Peter, Philip, John, and Margaret. Based on the guide that Ireland XO published about naming conventions in Ireland, Philip's dad's father may have been named Peter and his mom's father may have been named Philip. The father of Philip and his siblings may have been named John, and their mother's mother may have been named Margaret. We know that Philip married Ellen O'Brien in Rochester, New York. This marriage most likely occurred before 1864, because Philip and Ellen's oldest child Mary was born 1 March 1864 in Rochester. Their second child, Ella, was born in Rochester in 1866; my g-grandmother Margaret (who went by Maggie) was born in Augusta, Michigan. The remaining 5 children were also born in Michigan, in and around the small town of Hastings. 

My father and his siblings knew Margaret and her husband Samuel James Culbert, and they talked some about the family. My uncle became the family history custodian, and he gave me all the data he had gathered about the family. Recently, my brother and I found a whole bunch of information about Philip's brother John and sister Margaret, and some of what we found confirms what we already knew about the family. But unfortunately, none of what we've found says "We were born in the town of _______ in the Parish of _______  in Ireland." That would make everything a whole lot easier! ^_^

I'm a bit skeptical of some of the family history that my uncle was given by his cousins. The reason for my skepticism is that the family story is that Ellen's mother was Mary Tumelty, who lived to be 107 years old and never left Ireland. Yet, Ellen was born in Rochester, NY, and we know that Mary was living with Ellen and Philip in 1880 because she's in the census! She may have been living with them at that time because Agnes, the youngest daughter of Philip and Ellen, was born in March of 1879. So perhaps Mary was there helping with the baby and the family in general. But Agnes is one of the people who compiled the family history later. It doesn't make sense that she says her grandmother Mary Tumelty never left Ireland. 

Well, I'll see if I can find out if there was a will. Philip couldn't read or write, and I don't know if that would have impacted whether he made a will or not. Ellen could both read and write, so perhaps she talked him into making a will. Given that he died of a stroke at age 62 while out working in the fields, and she died of stomach cancer 6 weeks later, I think it's unlikely there was a will, but I could be wrong. 

Again, thanks for your help, Carmen. It's nice to meet you via the internet. 

Sue Clark,

 Webster, Texas.

Thank you Sue, I hope you succeed in your search.

Thanks, Carmel. So far, I have not found a will for Philip or Maggie Conlon. One of the reasons I posted in this group is because Conlon is a more unusual name in Co. Cavan than elsewhere. Also, Co. Monaghan doesn't seem to have any towns that start with the word Drum, and County Cavan has several. I was hoping maybe someone descended from the Philip Conlon who shows up in the Griffiths Evaluation would be on IrelandXO and would see my question and say, "AH! That's where umpty-great-uncle Philip and his sibs went!" It's just a pipe dream, of course. ^_^ If I find anything useful out, I'll make a new post here, so people will know. 

Sue.

Hi Sue,

All the townlands are listed on https://www.townlands.ie/cavan/ likewise for Monaghan, townlands are a collection of fields where several people lived, some townlands would have a crossroad or a very small village comprising of a pub, shop and perhaps a school or a pub with the same name, the names of towns would not be known by the townland they are situated in.  I hope you follow this.  I have found that when people retell stories, some women called their husbands Daddy!! and vice versa, which knocks you out by a generation!  Who do you think was the last of the Conlon family to leave Ireland? hoping that they would be easier to trace..

Regards Carmel  

Thanks, Carmel. That is useful information, though I'm not sure how I can implement it. I fear that I'm not going to find out where the Conlons came from. There just isn't enough information to figure it out. I'll keep looking, and maybe one day I'll find another clue.

The townland/town distinction is one that I had not really understood, but it makes sense. It's like me saying I am from Bath, Michigan. Well, I didn't grow up in Bath the town, I grew up on a farm located in Bath Township (outside of the actual town).

As far as women calling their husbands Daddy, sometimes, when my children were little, I would tell them "Daddy said thus-and-such," or "Daddy wants you to come outside and see the stars," so I can see how that could happen. Especially if the women were relating family stories with or to their children. It does complicate things!

As far as who was the last Conlon to leave Ireland--in my family--I think the whole gang came at the same time. But I don't know that for sure. I was not aware that my great-great-grandfather had siblings who were here, until recently. My family never heard that he had siblings in America, but my brother was poking around on newspapers.com where he found the will of Peter, Philip's brother, and it mentions that he has relatives in other states. Given the age difference between Peter and Philip (who is my g-g-grandfather), I'm thinking that probably Philip was the youngest child. There's a 10-year gap between him and Peter. There's quite a lot of information about Peter in his obituary, but it only says he came from Ireland. The last sentence in his obituary is sad: "He was unmarried and lived alone the life of a hermit and a miser." Maybe I can figure out when he emigrated. And now that I'm sitting here typing this, I realize that based on Irish naming traditions, if Philip is the third son he would have been named after his father (not what I speculated in my earlier post above). Hm. I shall have to think about this and do more research. Thanks! you've stimulated my brain cells. LOL!

Sue.