I am descended from a Thomas Kelly (or Kelley) who was born in Ireland, probably between 1810 and 1815. He went to Boston, Massachusetts, USA, where in about 1840 he married a woman named Margaret who was also born in Ireland. Her last name was probably Costello but possibly Crody.
Thomas and Margaret had at least 2 children in Boston, John about 1842 and William, from whom I am descended, in 1847. Soon after that they moved to Newark, New Jersey, USA and had at least one more son there. I am not aware of any daughters.
Thomas died about 1863, and I believe Margaret died about 1868. The family stayed in the Newark, New Jersey area for many generations.
I realize that Thomas Kelly is an extremely common name, but if the rest of these details sound familiar to anyone I would love to know more. Thank you!
Saturday 18th Aug 2012, 10:31PM
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Hi Erika,
Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc.? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool, Castle Garden etc....), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. You could try http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/immigrants.htm or even http://www.castlegarden.org/
You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/. Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.
I wish you the best of luck with your search.
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Ireland Reaching Out
Monday 20th Aug 2012, 12:09PM