Birmingham-Forde-Leonard-Maloney-Talty

[smcarberry]

I am on the verge of submitting for the Library's U.S. Civil War database a new group of Clare-born soldiers but I am seeking help on additional information for the following men so that I can include them:

Michael Birmingham
According to his FindaGrave memorial, his birthplace was Clare, no source or further info provided. The memorial lists service in 8 NY Heavy Artillery -- confirmed, federal soldier & Sailors database and 1890 Genesee County NY veterans census. Death was 1910 in Batavia NY, where he had been listed age 12 in the home of his father John, a tailor. His 1910 obituary confirms Ireland as his birthplace, nothing more. I need an authoritative source for Clare as his birthplace.

Thomas Forde/Fordy
1879 Boston Pilot ad states Thomas of Co. Clare served “all throughout” the Civil War, no unit or state mentioned. Places listed for him were a livery stable in Columbus OH and maybe Cincinnati OH, with Australia once a goal. No OH unit found for a Thomas Ford but next-door Kentucky had Thomas J. Forde in 5th KY Cavalry, Co. B (federal Soldiers & Sailors database), a single Thomas Forde b.c. 1844 worked as blacksmith in Louisville KY 1880, and there is an 1882 burial of Thomas Ford in Louisville’s National Cemetery which is used for veterans’ interments. I need records confirming the KY man as a Clare man.

Thomas Leonard
1918 obituary indicates a birth year of 1808 and a birthplace in Co. Clare, with military service in the Civil War as well as the prior Mexican War, (consistent with his age). My quick survey of Thomas’s family shows he lived in Worcester County, Massachusetts since prior to 1850. His son Thomas, b.1846 MA, was also old enough to serve in the Civil War if he joined in the final year. There are multiple men named Thomas Leonard in the federal Soldiers and Sailors database in MA units, none listed as recruited in Worcester County. The obit states the old man had been in a Soldiers’ Home; the son Thomas had been murdered in MA in 1867 so later records are not his. I need to confirm a military unit for the father. Census records repeatedly list a birth year more like 1815 for him.

Thomas Maloney
1882 Boston Pilot ad states his birth in Druminaha, “parish of” Kilkishen, Clare, a son of Patrick Maloney and Margaret “Cunnane.” The ad, placed by his nephew in MA, has a rank for him of major in the Civil War, with last known place as St. Louis (likely meaning Missouri). I have located only privates named Thomas Maloney in Missouri units: 1st MO Cav. 26 MO Inf co. G, and 40 MO Inf co. E. The 1870 & 1880 censuses for St. Louis MO have a man Thomas Maloney (wife Margaret) b. 1835-38, a laborer, first son named Martin, second Thomas. I need to have a confirmed location in the U.S. for Thomas Maloney and then a military unit. Note: there is no RC baptism in the Parish of O’Callaghan’s Mills (covering Kilkishen) in the years 1835-1881 for any child born to a Moloney/Maloney whose wife is Cunnane/Cunneen. There is no townland similar to “Druminaha” in East Clare.

Simon (aka Sam) Talty
Confirmed Confederate service in a Tennessee artillery unit. FindaGrave memorial states 1831 birth in Ireland and immigration 1853 to Davenport, Iowa with parents Michael and Catherine, Marriage 1857 to Johanna Nash, burial 1918 Scott County IA. No source yet found for Clare birth but it is likely.

Thank you for whatever data you can provide. I am just stretched too thin right now with a home improvement project and trying to get a Covid vaccination appointment in the state that is the third slowest among the 50 states of the U.S. plus the District of Columbia (Washington city).

Sharon Carberry

[Sduddy]

Hi Sharon,
I did my best to find Druminaha in the vicinity of Kilkishen, but failed. I think it must be Irish for "Little hill of the Ford".
A Michael Birmingham was baptised in Tulla on 5 Oct 1832; parents: James Bermingham, Eliza Hogan, but I don't suppose that is of much use to you in this case.

Sheila

[smcarberry]

Thanks, Sheila. I omitted the 1850 census year for the listing when Michael was 12, which is consistent with his age 22 in the 1860 census. 1832 is not necessarily too far off for someone using a birth year of 1838, but I would need something to corroborate. Possibly this Birmingham family was from West Clare. Michael did have married sisters (Bridget Sexton, Elizabeth Congden) who also lived in Batavia, with obituaries likewise stating only Ireland. However, in 1851 an industrial accident in Batavia took the life of immigrant Simon Birmingham, whose family was noted as yet residing in Ireland. The later Batavia censues show the widow and her children, one of them a Simon.

Please keep an eye out for townlands fitting Druminaha or Little Hill of the Ford. That one may also be in West Clare, as antiquarian Eugene Curry wrote that his family came from phoenetically equivalent Kilcasheen, apparently near Kilrush.

Sharon C.