Mary's birth year was between 1808 and 1812. She is believed to be Protestant and probably Scots/Irish. She met her husband, a French Canadian, in NY after she arrived in the U.S. She is listed in the Rochester NY 1855 census as having lived in that city for 25 years. At the time of the 1840 census, she had three children, the oldest being between 5 and 10 years of age.
Her actual birth year is elusive. She was enumerated as being between 30 and 40 at the time of the 1840 census. At the time of the 1850 census, her oldest child was 15 y/o, and she was enumerated as being 38 y/o. Then in 1860, she was 43, and in 1870, she was 62!!
Ship records I have found for Mary Boyce have arrivals in 1836 and 1839, which are both later than would fit with the other known facts.
Any hints or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Diane Brush
Friday 26th Oct 2012, 02:03AMMessage Board Replies
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Hi
Do you know much about Mary's emigration? Dates, the reason why she left, who she may have travelled with 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.
Church records may be of assistance to you once you have established a County of origin:
Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870 are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes, however many were destroyed in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. A list of all surviving registers is available in the National Archives. http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
Presbyterian registers are held in three main locations: in local custody, in the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm and at the Presbyterian Historical Society http://www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com in Belfast. PRONI has microfilm copies of almost all registers in Northern Ireland and also lists of records held by the Presbyterian Historical Society. For the rest of Ireland, almost all records are in local custody. It can difficult to locate these as many congregations in the South have moved, amalgamated, or simply disappeared over the last sixty years.
Some useful sites are:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/records/index.htm#records
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Fee paying genealogy services are available via: http://www.rootsireland.ie/
Remember to post as much information as you can regarding the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further 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
Tuesday 27th Nov 2012, 03:34PM