Hugh Smith O'Donnell : Short Biography

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name:  Hugh Smith O’Donnell                                   Birthplace:  County Donegal, Ireland

DOB:      12 August 1841.                                                He listed DOB as 4 July 1841 on Naturalization Petition.

Naturalization Order: October 30, 1869                   Place:  Boston, Massachusetts

DOD:     14 February 1900                                              Place of Death:  Brockton, Massachusetts

Hugh’s FATHER: John O’Donnell                                Hugh’s MOTHER:  Mary Smith

DOB & DOD:  Unknown                                                 DOB & DOD:  Unknown

                                                                                                Hugh’s MOTHER’S FATHER: Edward Smith/Smyth?

SPOUSE AND MARRIAGE

Hugh’s Wife:      Catherine/Catharine A Brynes (a/k/a Burns)

Wife’s DOB:        About 1844

Wife’s Residence: Catherine lived in Alexandria VA with her family.  Her sisters, Anne (McNally) and Ellen (McSherry), later married and moved to Brockton, Massachusetts. 

MARRIAGE

Date of Marriage:  Civil License in Washington DC on 6 June 1863.

Date of Religious Ceremony:       Married June 18, 1863 at St Mary’s Catholic Church Alexandria VA (This church is still functioning and I have received a copy of the original marriage certificate.

CHILDREN

Hugh and Catherine O’Donnell had ten (10) Children.  Their names and DOB are:  MARY E O’Donnell DOB May 12 1864; JOHN F O’Donnell DOB October 23, 1865; ANNIE R O’Donnell DOB October 1867 (Married Philip H. Smith); EDWARD E O’Donnell DOB January 10, 1870, DOD 1909; CATHERINE Anges DOB December 28, 1871 (Married James J. McMahon); HUGH H O’Donnell DOB January 31, 1874, DOD 1916; MARGARET L O’Donnell DOB January 8, 1876 (Married Fredrick P Connelly);  ROSE A O’Donnell DOB April 29, 1878 (Married Josephus N. Caron); ELLEN O’Donnell DOB 1880, DOD 1880; WILLIAM Smith O’Donnell DOB August 21, 1881; and my Grandmother, ELIZABETH Grace O’Donnell DOB September 1885, DOD August 13, 1955 (Married Thomas F. Smith).

MILITARY INFORMATION

Hugh was a Civil War Veteran and enlisted in the 2nd Reg Mass Voluntary Infantry.  He mustered in on May 25, 1861.  He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Cedar Mountain (Virginia) on August 8, 1862.  He was transported to Mansion House Hospital (largest Union Hospital) and remained there during his recovery.  It is at this hospital he met Catherine A Brynes who was employed as a “matron” at the hospital.  Hugh was discharged from service on May 23, 1864.  He and/or his spouse received a military pension due to his injuries.  It was in the military/pension records that I found information about his immigration to America.

IMMIGRATION

Warning.  This is where the information becomes confusing and less reliable.  In an affidavit presented to the Pension Board after Hugh’s death, his surviving spouse, Catherine, who was illiterate, states he “was born in Ireland and came to this country at age of 12”.  If this is correct, Hugh s O’Donnell would have travel to America in or about 1853 or 1854.   However, Hugh stated in this Naturalization Petition he arrived in Philadelphia on September 18, 1856.  He would have been 15 years old.  I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND ANY RECORD OF HIS ARRIVAL ON THIS DATE. However, I did find a Hugh O’Donnell arriving in Philadelphia on August 5, 1854. The Ancestry Record is:  Pennsylvania, U. S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists 1800 – 1962 for Hugh O’Donnell. M425 – Philadelphia 1800 – 1882 77 , 505 of 860.

I was able to locate a passenger list of a ship, TUSCARORA, that sailed from Liverpool, England and arrived in Philadelphia on August 5, 1854.  Two passengers on the ship – and listed in the document – are Hugh O’Donnell (age 12 and this is very close to his DOB) and an adult, Margt O’Donnell (age 40). 

It is likely Hugh was an only child.  He may have been orphaned in Ireland as there are no (located) records of his parents (John and Mary O’Donnell) immigrating with him or living near him in Massachusetts.  Records to support this belief were presented at Hugh’s civil war pension hearing.  A James G. Plunkett states he and his wife, Bridget, had known Hugh O’Donnell since he was “a young child” as they “took him from an orphanage home in Boston” where he lived and worked for the Plunkett family until he entered the service.  See attached affidavits.

RELIGIOUS/CHURCH RECORDS

The O’Donnell family was Roman Catholic and participants at St Patrick’s Church, Brockton MA. The majority of the O’Donnell baptisms, marriages and deaths were at St Patrick’s Church.  However, I have located a few records (marriages of Rose A. O’Donnell and Margaret L O’Donnell) and the marriage of my grandparents (Thomas F Smith and Elizabeth Grace O’Donnell) at St Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Church.