I have a hand-written letter from my g-g-grandmother, Margaret H. JOHNSON born about 1822. She states her parents told her she was born in Ireland County Down and they emigrated to the USA when she was small.
I do not have names of her parents or siblings. The only other piece of information she gave was that her father was a Freemason in Benton County, Alabama.
She was married to George CALDWELL 26 December 1852 in Talladega, Alabama.
In a separate affadavit applying for Homestead Application for land in Arkansas:
Margaret H. Caldwell states she was born in Ireland in the year 1822.
On 1 December 1886 she states she is age 64 years. She states: “I am a native of Ireland, but have been in the United States 63 years. My father was naturalized when I was a minor”.
Sunday 12th Aug 2012, 02:25PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Joyce,
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. Castle Garden, Ellis Island etc...), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. A few sites that may help are: http://www.ellisisland.org/ http://www.castlegarden.org/ and https://familysearch.org/ .
A few other sites you might try are:
www.immigrantships.net This site has been created by volunteer transcribers. It lists immigrants from all areas of the world. It is another option in your search for ancestors.
www.wiki.familysearch.org This site has been setup by the LDS and is another part of their large website with references for family history.
www.ngsgenealogy.org An American site with some videos about genealogy .
These sites may be a good place to start, remember any information concerning her life in the US may lead to clues about her family. I wish you the best of luck.
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
Thursday 16th Aug 2012, 11:29AM -
Thank you so much for the information, tips and interest in my search.
Unfortunately all I have is Margaret H. JOHNSON and an approximate date of birth and emigration date. She was born about 1822 and they would have arrived in the US around 1824. I do not have her parents or siblings names.
She stated in her letter that she did not know when her father became a naturalized citizen but without additional information I have not been able to determine what his name was, where he was naturalized or where they entered the US.
I will pursue the links you provided and steer any other Irish researchers to your site!
Kindest Regards,
Joyce
Thursday 16th Aug 2012, 10:53PM