Searching for Griffith

Do you know much about their emigration? The dates, the reasonwhy they left, who they may have travelled with?..etc..Generally more information was given atthe port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g.Liverpool, New York, etc.), this could be a good place to find more information. -And perhaps evenfind out an exact place of origin. Ellis Island:http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp Castlegarden:http://www.castlegarden.org/ US National Archives/Immigration info:http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/ The Boston Pilot; From October 1831 through October 1921, the Boston Pilot newspaper printed a?Missing Friends? column with advertisements from people looking for ?lost? friends and relativeswho had emigrated from Ireland to the United States. This extraordinary collection of 40,743 recordsis available here as a searchable online database, which contains a text record for each ad thatappeared in the Pilot. http://infowanted.bc.edu/ The next thing you could do is find the counties and places in Ireland your family names are mostprevalent. Look at the website http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/ and perhapssomething will match some other clue you may have found elsewhere? If nothing turnsup ? it is advisable to try different variations of the spellings of the names. If you have a possiblefirst name you could try the Irish Census 1901, 1911 at www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ or the landvaluation record called Griffiths Valuationhttp://askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

To whom it may concern,

I am having difficulty using this website (I'm new to it) and I cannot find any contact details for the person who put up the message about Edward Patrick Griffith so, for the moment, I can only communicate by posting this reply.

The Edward Patrick Griffith born in 1834 that you've mentioned was the son of Patrick Griffith of Kilmacrickard, Glinks, County Galway and Catherine Morris of Murneen, Claremorris, County Mayo. From around 1827 Patrick and Catherine Griffith lived on what is now Mount Street, Claremorris, County Mayo. The lease states as follows:

Lease dated 9th August 1827, from the Right Honourable Denis Browne, to Patrick Griffith, for 3 lives, viz: the lessee, James Griffith, and Thomas Kelly, and 999 years, and for ever after, of house and premises, 26 feet by 22 feet, from 1st May, 1827, at the yearly rent of £3.10s 1 and 1/2d. Covenant by lessee, his heirs, etc, to build one dwelling-house, two stories high, at least, and slatted; reservation to lessor, his heirs, etc, of all mines, etc. Covenant on lessee, his heirs, etc, to pay the usual tolls and customes of Clare.

Unfortunately, Patrick and Catherine died young. They are buried in the Catholic Plot of the Church of Ireland graveyard in Crossboyne, County Mayo. The Headstone reads:

Patrick Griffith, Claremorris, died Sept. 8 1836, Aged 38 years, his wife Catherine (nee Morris), died Nov. 10 1835, Aged 29 years, Erected by their sons Martin and James Griffith.

Martin, James and your Edward were raised by a School Teacher named McGovern in Ballymoe, County Galway (she was a relation of theirs). James Griffith moved to Ballindine, County Mayo and has many descendants there. Your Edward Griffith went to America. The eldest, Martin Griffith, went to Claremorris, County Mayo. I am a descendant of this Martin Griffith and I would be very interested in making contact with you to swap information on the Griffiths (and related families). The only information I ever had on your Edward Griffith was that he was living in Santa Cruz in 1906 with his children Matilda, Cella and Maurice and that he attended the funeral of his nephew and namesake, Fr. Edward Griffith (son of my ancestor Martin Griffith) who was a Priest in Yorbua, California. There is a book called "The Griffith Family History" by the late Brendan Griffith (descendant of James Griffith mentioned above) but it doesn't list your Edward Griffith because the family had forgotten that he even existed!

I would be more than happy to share the information that I have if you would like to send your contact details.

Regards,

Michael

This is my fourth try to reply to Michael T's awesome email re the family of Edward Patrick Griffith!

I am thrilled to hear from you!  Would love to exchange information!!

Please email me at catherine@catherinehaynes.com!!

Can't wait!

Catherine