Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

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MlouMcNam
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:52 pm

Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by MlouMcNam » Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:20 pm

Looking for information related to Denis McNamara (b. 1805) from Clare. He married a Catherine Woods; she was from County Limerick.
Denis and Catherine had three children in Ireland: John, Patrick, and Denis; the rest of their children were born in Wisconsin

Declan Barron
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:13 am

Re: Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by Declan Barron » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:15 pm

You should try get more information (the marriage and death certs) of the 3 sons born in Ireland. If you can identify the parish they were born in their baptismal records should survive. Finding these would help bring you back further.

pj.culligan
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:43 pm

Re: Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by pj.culligan » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:19 pm

Here's a link to a couple of marriages https://familysearch.org/search/collect ... id=1708704

MlouMcNam
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:52 pm

Re: Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by MlouMcNam » Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:02 am

Thank you! Will do!

Jimbo
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:43 am

Re: Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by Jimbo » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:37 pm

Hi MLou,

You most likely already have this information but here is the McNamara family living in Wauwatosa Township in Wisconsin in the 1860 census. From the location of the birth of their 12 year old son Dennis in Ireland, and 10 year old daughter in Wisconsin, it looks like the family emigrated about 1849 or 1850? The father Dennis was only 50 years old in 1860, so born about 1810.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW9W-7C5

Have you found any record of the eldest son John in the 1860 census? Was he old enough to fight in the American Civil War? If so, there might be pension records that have information on his birth.

In addition to the 3 sons born in Ireland, have a look for the Wisconsin death records for the parents. Also obituary records in the local newspaper might have detail where exactly in Ireland they are from.

From this 1851 newspaper account, it looks like the father Dennis McNamara was a newspaper subscriber and perhaps still adjusting to life on the wide open prairies of Wisconsin:

Milwaukee Sentinel, December 29, 1851 (genealogybank.com newspaper archive)
STRAYED.
Came into the inclosure of the subscriber on
or about the first of November, an old red
COW - white striped on her back and very large
horns. The owner is requested to prove property,
pay charges, and take her away. DENNIS McNAMARA
Wauwatosa, south of the Spring Street Road

Have you had any luck finding their immigration records? McNamara is such a common name that it could be difficult. But if they were traveling as a family of five and since you know the year 1849 / 1850 you should be able to find them. Perhaps they were traveling with a group of families from Clare which could provide a clue where they were from - especially if it was an organized emigration.

The Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper in August 1849 had an advertisement that made reference to the creation of an office of the Irish Emigration Society in Milwaukee that was ready to take orders for the sale of lands. Once approved the different lots would be advertised in the Irish papers for 3 months for the benefit of the Society which consists of several hundred Irish families of respectability and capital...
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Milwaukee Sentinel 29 December 1851.jpg
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smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Denis McNamara (b. 1805) and Catherine Woods

Post by smcarberry » Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:44 pm

I agree with the research method suggested in the prior posting. However, I happen to already have the 1856 naturalization index card for Denis, which fortunately lists a ship arrival date and it is accurate. Seeing the ship manifest and researching the Irish man who was Denis's naturalization witness, nothing more seems helpful for locating the McNamara townland in Clare. The ship record states "coachman/driver" as Denis's occupation, and his Irish witness was a drayman, suggesting that he had an immediate use for his skills upon arrival, perhaps permitting saving of funds to buy the farmland which he so quickly acquired, for the occupation he kept until his last days.

Since Catherine Wood was born in Limerick, and Wood is not a common Clare surname, a possible direction is to find the marriage record in a city of Limerick parish. Tradition has the marriage take place in the bride's parish, and, with some luck, Denis's parish might be listed. If you find the Limerick parish, you would also search for the children's baptisms. With the ship record and the 1850 census indicating the correct birth years for the children, compared to the marriage year, you can determine if the son John had been truly the first son, which then indicates whether Denis's father was John.

Denis's son John seems to have gone off on his own as a young teen and thus becomes one of the many McNamara young men named John in an 1870 census.
The cemetery of the family doesn't have a burial for him, so I assume he left to take his own direction, becoming a dead end for research purposes.

My interest in McNamara of Wisconsin is tied to my earlier research on the Clare families of Manitowoc County in that state. I continue to collect bits and pieces on McNamara families in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. I currently am doing extensive research on the Clare immigrants of Richmond, Virginia, where four McNamara men were living as of the early 1850s. The way in which their families kept in touch with relatives in other states is all very well reported in the local newspaper. It's unfortunate that the newspaper databases don't yield more for Milwaukee families.

Sharon Carberry
Richmond VA
McN, Denis Sep 1848 arrival.jpg
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McN, Denis b. 1808, 1856 Milwaukee nat.jpg
McN, Denis b. 1808, 1856 Milwaukee nat.jpg (26.09 KiB) Viewed 11576 times
McN, Denis, Cath 1850 WawautosaWI.jpg
McN, Denis, Cath 1850 WawautosaWI.jpg (57.73 KiB) Viewed 11576 times

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