Clarke siblings from Ireland to New York

Also surnames Donard / Leonard and Havey

(Navan is location of baptisms described in fourth paragraph)

We are looking for the families of Patrick and Bridget (Clark(e)) Cadwell (Caddell, Caddel, Caddle, Cadle, etc), who emigrated from Ireland to New York in 1847.

Patrick's son Simon Cadwell's Kansas tombstone says he was born in County Meath, about 1839.  He was Roman Catholic. Patrick's wife Bridget had brothers John (born c1806) and Charles (born c1810).  Patrick and Bridget had children Richard (c1836), Simon (c1839) Ann (c1843) and Margaret (c1844) all born Ireland, presumably all born County Meath.  Patrick, Bridget and family emigrated from Liverpool to New York 1847; Charles Clark emigrated to Canada c1846 where a child was born and then continued to New York; John Clark emigrated to New York c1850.  All three families (Patrick and Bridget and their children, Charles and wife Margaret and 5 surviving children, and John and wife Margaret and 7 surviving children) ended up in St. James Roman Catholic church, Cazenovia, New York (their farms were located in nearby Pompey and Oran).  

We have no further information about Patrick's family - no idea of siblings or parents, other than that his tombstone says he was born in County Dublin.  Since Wicklow is adjacent to County Dublin to the South, this is certainly possible.  Patrick was illiterate, so the spellings of his name were all supplied by others.  We have seen Patrick's surname spelled as Caddle, Cadle, and Codale / Coddle (difficult to make out the handwriting).  All his children changed the spelling to Cadwell, which is how the name is spelled on later censuses.   We know many descendants of Patrick and Bridget - they were Elsa's great-great-grandparents - but none of those descendants has knowledge of Patrick and Bridget's early life in Ireland.

We have found an 1821 census for the townland and parish of Ardsalla(gh), Barony of Lower Navan. which shows a James Clark, 36, his wife Mary Monaghan, 35, living in the house of her father Bryan Monaghan, 58, with children (?) Charles Clarke, 11 and John Clarke, 7.  In that same household is a listing for a Bridget Clarke, 27.  Charles and John are called "nephews" and Bridget "niece" but Bridget is too old to be the daughter of Mary Monaghan.  However this could be a census error, in which case we believe we have the Clarke parents identified.  

We have found a conforming church record for this Charles Clarke, who was baptized in the parish of Navan, 20 Feb 1811, son of James Clark and Mary Monaghan, sponsors James Crosby and Mary Ferrally.  But there were two other baptisms in the parish of Navan to parents named James Clark and Mary Monaghan: Lochlin Clarke baptized 25 Jan 1790 and Laurence baptized 8 Aug 1794.  This is terribly frustrating: If Mary was indeed 35 years old at the time of the 1821 census, then she was born 1786, and COULD NOT have been the mother of these two boys baptized in 1790 and 1794.  So there must be one couple James Clark(e) and Mary Monaghan who had children in Navan parish Laurence (1794) and Lochlin (1790) and a different couple with the same names who had the child Charles (1810).

Our hope has been to find the marriage record between Patrick and Bridget Clark(e). This would have been 1836 or earlier - our best guess for their births is 1810-1814, and their oldest child, Richard, was born about 1836.  The closest marriage we have found is Patrick Carroll and Bridget Clarke, in Athboy, on 26 Feb 1838.  We would either have to have errors in the birthdates of the children, or else there would have to be children born out of wedlock, both of which are possible but not probable.

We are in Dublin (arrived 3 weeks ago), and have worked a little bit at the NLI and the Archives and the Dublin P.L.; we have subscribed to rootsireland and findmypast and joined the Genealogical Society of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.  We hope to crack the mystery of the Clarkes who came to New York State with so many Irish emigrants.

It would be helpful to know what percentage of the Irish Roman Catholic church registers for the period in question exist and have been transcribed.  What little we've seen at the National Library tells us that some registers are missing from the microfilms.

Our best chances definitely seem to be associated with the Clarke line; the surname is quite frequent in Meath and Westmeath.  We found 408 Clarkes on the Griffiths for Meath, and have transcribed them all, but aside from the family we mention we haven't got too far.

John Clarke was born around 1806, married a Margaret Havey (?) in Ireland, had children Simon (1841), Mary (1846), Ann (1848), and Margaret (1850) born in Ireland, and were in Onondaga County, NY to have Rosana (1852).  Finding this family in Ireland would clearly be a win.  John and his family emigrated after Bridget and Patrick Caddell.

Charles Clarke was born around 1809, married a Margaret Donard / Leonard (?) in Ireland, had children Charles (Canada, 1846), Michael (1852, Onondaga County NY) and later children in New York.  So evidently Charles and his wife were first to emigrate, but came to Canada first and (presumably) walked across the border into New York, as so many did.  Finding a marriage of Charles in Ireland would also be very helpful.

What we are most hoping to find is possible Clarke or Caddell, etc., descendants living in Ireland who may have further family stories about these families.  Were there other siblings besides Bridget, John, and Charles?  That would be most helpful.

Anyone who can help us pin down these three Clarke siblings: John, Charles, and Bridget, who emigrated separately from Ireland from 1846 - 1850 but ended up living close together and worshipping in St. James Roman Catholic Church in Cazenovia, New York, while farming in the nearby communities of Pompey and Oran, New York, we hope to hear from you!!

Bob and Elsa Pendleton
bobandelsa@gmail.com
www.bobandelsa.com