Cornelius Kerin b. Aug. 1829 in Ennis

[nlion]

I am looking for information about my Great-Great-Grandfather, Cornelius Kerin. He emmigrated to the US in 1849 on board the ship, The Laing, from Galway to New York. He married a woman named Mary. He died in Pennsylvania, USA, in November of 1906. I have quite a bit of information about him since his arrival in the US (we have the names of his children, etc.), but I have no information about his parents or siblings.

I am seeking to confirm something we have seen mentioned in a family scrapbook: that Austin Kerin, (spelled Kearin in articles written about the shipwreck) one of 21 survivors of the Wreck of the St. John in 1849, was one of Cornelius' brothers. The St. John had sailed from Galway and was lost off the coast of Massachusetts; 99 lives were lost; writer Henry David Thoreau witnessed the tragedy from the beach and wrote about it.

Any information about Cornelius Kerin and his family is most greatly appreciated.

[smcarberry]

Since I was the one who posted on this Forum about the 1849 shipwreck of the St. John, I did some quick checking on the possibility of the survivor Austin Kearin, age 20, as a sibling of Cornelius b.c. 1829, d. 1906 Pennsylvania. The ages are indeed similar, but the survivor Austin seems to have settled in Vermont, where in 1860 his household was next to those of Morty Kerin age 65 and of John Kerin age 24. The appearances are that these are Austin's family members.

In 1880 the household of Cornelius in PA had sons, in order: Austin, John, Thomas, James, Patrick, and Cornelius; as a boarder that year there was a second Austin Kerin, age 22 b. PA. There is a space between the first two sons in which another son or daughter may have been born, and thus there might have been a son Mortimer. However, in the same county (Clearfield) that year there is an Austin Kerin age 75, who is a likely candidate for the father of Cornelius. Members of Cornelius's family in later years (if not also earlier:none of these Kerin households was found in PA censuses prior to 1870 although the children's births occurred there prior to 1870) were in nearby Allegheny County, which has the magnet city of Pittsburgh. In Allegheny Co. in 1880 was the household of Thomas Kerins age 45, with his sons James, John, and Bernard. Another nearby county with later residences of Cornelius's children is Centre County, which in 1880 had a Bridget Kerin household, a widow with sons William and Austin.

It is unfortunate that to date the LDS Pilot Search/Beta Search covers only Philadelphia records in depth, not the western area of the state that this research needs. When that coverage exists, though, running the name Austin Kerin through the databases should be very fruitful. The only thing that I can add at this time is that the PA state database called ARIAS, online, has a Civil War military card for Thomas Kerin, age 33 upon enrollment in Sep 1864, Co. I, 88th Infantry.
http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/ ... L=K&Page=3

With the names Cornelius, Mortimer, and Austin being few in number in Clare Kerin families, the chances are strong that there is a close family relationship between the Vermont and Pennsylvania families, with Mortimer and Austin born in the early 1800s being siblings perhaps. You might also find that at least one of Cornelius's sons joined a fraternal organization, such as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick or the Hibernians, both active in PA in the late 1800s/early 1900s, and perhaps the membership records have some further description of the birth family. A likely member might have been Cornelius's son Thomas, who became an attorney, with a further source being perhaps a local history book with a biography on him. The local genealogical or historical society for any of the involved counties is a good place to make an inquiry.

Here is the link to the Library's section providing background on the 1849 shipwreck, which was found by Paddy Casey and then posted as a supplement to my posting: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... t_john.htm

Kindly let us know what more you may find on your family.

Sharon Carberry
USA

[nlion]

Thanks so much, Sharon, for all the information. While we had some of the information already, you have given us some interesting new leads and much to consider. For example, we knew Austin settled in Moretown, VT, and we've been in touch with the historical society there. They've responded and will get back to us if/when they find more information about the Kerins. We are pondering the possiblity that one son would settle in Vermont, while other siblings settled in Pennsylvania...
We knew Cornelius settled in first in Clearfield County, then, Center County, later moving to Pittsburgh; he had nine children. His son, Thomas (b. 1861) who was appointed to West Point, but did not graduate; he went on to be an attorney. Another son, Patrick (b. 1865), who served as an editor for the Pittsburgh Leader newspaper. He had a daughter, Anna Anastasia (b. 1875), who went on to be Mother Angela Theresa, a nun and founder of the Barrington Carmelite Monastery in Rhode Island. My Great-Grandfather was James (b. 1865), who was a letter carrier in Pittsburgh.
We will pursue your suggestions, Sharon, particularly the Hibernians. We hope that perhaps others may have information about Cornelius' siblings, likely born in Ireland in the mid-1800's.
Again, many thanks!

[nlion]

Can anyone tell us the names of the Catholic churches in Ennis in the 1820-1840 timeframe? We think that church records could be very productive sources of information about Cornelius Kerin, but we do not know if there was one or ten Catholic churches in Ennis to search. Thanks very much!

[mcreed]

Slater's Directory (1846) on the Clare Library website has this for Ennis:
(http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... orship.htm)

Part 1: Ennis with the village of Clare and neighbourhoods:
Places of Worship
(And their Ministers)

ESTABLISHED CHURCH, Church street Rev. John Warburton, rector; Rev. R. N. Plunkett, vicar; Rev. Henry Murphy, curate, Green park; George Ratchford, clerk, Brewery lane.
SAINT MARY'S CHURCH, Clare Rev. Francis P. Studdert, curate, Clare Glebe.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, Jail st The Very Rev. Dean O'Shaughnessy, parish priest, Jail st; Rev. Patrick Hennessy and Rev. Thomas Mahony, curates, Jail street.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHAPEL, Clare Rev. Patrick O'Gorman, parish priest, New hall; Rev. Michael, Quinlivan, curate, New hall.
FRANCISCAN CHAPEL, Bow lane Rev. Francis McLaughlin and Rev. Joseph Killian, guardians.
URSULINE CONVENT, Lifford Mary Angeline Luby, lady superioress.
METHODIST CHAPEL, Causeway ministers various.
INDEPENDENT MEETING HOUSE, Arthur's row.

[pwaldron]

There are online indexes to the surviving nineteenth century baptismal and marriage registers of Ennis Catholic parish at http://www.ennisparish.com/genealogy/