Kearnen Burke County Offaly

KEARNEN BURKE – 1818 - 1911

My G-G-Grandfather was Kearnen Burke, born in County Offaly, Ireland in 1818.

His mother’s name was Mary Flannagan (also from Co. Offaly) & his father’s name is unknown to me & is not listed on Kearnen’s death certificate.

He emigrated to the U.S. in 1850 according to U.S. Census records.

On official U.S. records Kearnen’s first name is spelled various ways: Kearnan, Kernan, Kiernan, Keirnan & Kieran. When he became a U.S. citizen on September 15, 1856, the Hamilton county clerk spelled his name phonetically as “Carin Burk”.  His certificate of exemption from military service during the civil war, dated March 27, 1863, gives his name as “Kiernan Burke”.  The Miami Township records for 1870 list his name as “Kernan Burke”.  Both his official death certificate & burial certificate spell his given name as KEARNEN, although his grandson's name was JOSEPH KEARNON BURKE as it was spelled on his draft registration (his own signature), so Kearnon is also possible. Another grandson, named after him, was recorded in the family bible with the spelling “Kearnan Burke”.

The 1850 passenger list for the ship Nathaniel Kimball (Liverpool to New York) shows the name "Kiernan Burke".  Other Burkes on that same ship were Mary age 50, Kiernan age 24, Johanna age 16, and Pat age 26. If this IS my G-G-Grandfather, his age is different from what appears on his death certificate. He would have been 32 in 1850, not 24 as appears on this passenger list. I am not 100% certain that my G-G-Grandfather landed in New York. Census records do not say, and family lore had him landing in New Orleans although I can find no record of any Burke with a similar given name on any New Orleans passenger list.

What I DO know:

His wife was named Anna (1837-1907) – maiden name unknown. They had 3 sons & 1 daughter:

Daniel B. Burke 1853-1914

Patrick E. Burke 1855-1912

Kearnon Burke 1859-1898

Anna Burke 1860-1888

They settled in the vicinity of Cincinnati Ohio (North Bend Village & Miami Township).

According to family lore, he and Anna settled in North Bend village, where Kearnen worked as a farm laborer on the property of the John Scott Harrison, son of William Henry Harrison (9th President of the U.S.), and Father of Benjamin Harrison (23rd President of the U.S.).

He later got a job with the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad (later B&O Railroad) and lived mostly in Miami Township just outside of Cincinnati.  He died at his son’s home in Lawrenceburg Indiana on 17 June, 1911.