52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 35

For this week’s writing prompt, Back to School, I’m going back to the early to mid-1800s in Ireland. First, it’s important to understand a little bit about how children of the poor began to get educated in Ireland.

The Commissioners for National Education (National Board of Education) was established for the purpose of administering funds for education of the poor in Ireland. The Board was empowered to make grants to existing schools for the payment of teachers and the provision of equipment and to provide for the building of new schools, to appoint and pay inspectors and to establish a model school for the training of teachers.

Prison East and school location

It was through such a grant that the Prison School (also spelled Prizon School) was built. The name actually has nothing to do with any prison, but is derived from the townland in which it is located - Prison East. Located in County Mayo, Prison East is in Civil Parish of Manulla. The building of the school began around 1823, according to letters written by Father Patrick Nolan who helped to establish the school. The original dimensions were listed as 40 feet by 20 feet. In 1937 a new building erected on the same land just to the west of the old school. At some point the original building was torn down. The 1937 building is still standing today, but the school closed in 1970.

Prison School

The earliest records on the school are found in a report by the National Board of Education (NBE) from 1850. It mentioned that the Prison School had a male teacher and received funding of 10 pounds from the NBE that year. Both boys and girls attended the school, with the total number of pupils ranging from 56-65 during the school year.

Slates and chalk were the writing tools, and while some books were supplied to the school, it is unclear whether each student had their own or needed to share. The school had a timber floor with a large open fireplace for heating the space. Each student was required to bring a sod of turf each day to keep the fire burning.

Subjects studied at the school included reading, writing, spelling, grammar, arithmetic, music, geography, and history. For girls, sewing and needlework were added, and for boys, agriculture and book keeping. It was originally forbidden that students speak Irish in school. Those who did were punished. From that it would seem that a child who did not speak English would not be allowed to attend the school.

Attendance at the school fluctuated depending on the time of year. The older boys and girls would stay at home to help with the planting or harvesting of the crops. During winter months, attendance was higher.

According to a website on the history of Prison School, the first teacher at the school was a man with the last name of Carlos. He was followed by a man named Colgan from Bailefaidirin, who had been trained as a gardener. Colgan, it is said, had a very beautiful garden around the school. In 1864 Edward Colgan was listed as the teacher for the boys school, and Bridget Colgan (his wife) was shown as the teacher for the girls school. The one room school was split in half with a partition separating the boys from the girls. The website states that Colgan was a Fenian and was dismissed by the NBE, so he and his family emigrated to America.

Edward Colgan was my maternal 2nd great-grandfather. He was born 31 December 1834 in Drumadoon, Balla, County Mayo to Thomas Colgan and Catherine (Carroll) Colgan. On 26 December 1863 he married Bridget McHugh in Balla. They had eight children, with the first three (Catherine, Anna Marie, and Edward) being born in Prison. Children Charles, Barbara, Clara, John P., and John A. were all born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As noted above, Edward and Bridget were both teaching at Prison School in 1864. I am guessing that Bridget only taught for that year (and perhaps only part of the year) as daughter Catherine was born 27 December 1864.

In our family it had been discussed that Edward was a member of the secret society Fenian movement, a band of warriors dedicated to overthrowing British rule in Ireland. They staged an unsuccessful revolt in 1867. Was Edward an active participant in that? Is that why he lost his teaching post at Prison School?

While I have not located any emigration or immigration documents for Edward, I did find information on Bridget Colgan. She was 23 when she arrived in New York on 19 November 1868 aboard the ship S/S Minnesota. With her were 2-year-old Ann and 1-year-old Edward. Also listed above Bridget on the ship’s manifest was 17-year-old Catherine McHugh, Bridget’s younger sister. Where were Edward and their 4-year-old daughter Catherine? Did they travel to the United States earlier to get a home established in Cincinnati before the rest of the family came over?

Life in the new world was not easy for the Colgan family. Little Edward died 9 December 1868, a month after arriving in America. One has to wonder if he contracted something onboard the ship. Anna Marie died in 1869 at the age of 3, Clara was only 9 when she died in 1872, John P. was less than a month old when he died in 1876, and John A. just a year old when he died in 1881. Only three of Edward and Bridget's eight children lived to be adults.

Edward continued to teach, at least initially, at a Catholic school in Cincinnati. The 1870 Cincinnati Directory lists him as a teacher, but by 1873 he was working as a bookkeeper. It would be so interesting to know what he thought about the educational system in Cincinnati versus what he left behind in his old country school.

The 30 September 1870 issue of the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer contained an article stating that 40 Irishmen met the previous evening to organize themselves into a section of the United Irishmen. Edward Colgan not only attended but was appointed temporary Treasurer. I wonder if he was again dismissed as a teacher due to his Fenian affiliation?

Bridget died 30 March 1886, and by 1910 Edward was living with his daughter Barbara and her family. He died 20 October 1921. Most of the family is buried in New St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cincinnati.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 26

Black sheep is the writing prompt for this week, alluding to a family member who was a troublemaker or an outcast. While I may indeed have some black sheep in my family, I haven’t found any criminals yet. I do have a favorite story about an ancestor we thought was a bit of a troublemaker in Ireland, however.

Catherine Colgan's birth certificate

My maternal great-grandmother Catherine Colgan was born 27 December 1864 in Ireland to Edward and Bridget (McHugh) Colgan. Her birth certificate indicates that she was born in Prison, and that the dwelling of her father was also Prison. Edward and Bridget were both school teachers in Ireland, and Edward taught at a Catholic school in Cincinnati after they emigrated. My aunts told me that Edward was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood when he was in Ireland. We all assumed that he was arrested for that, and they threw him and his wife in prison for his transgressions.

When I traveled to County Mayo in 1997, with Catherine’s birth certificate in hand, I stopped into a local pub near Drumadoon where the Colgans had lived to ask about the prison. As I said to them at the time, I thought it unlikely that the prison still stood after all these years, but was it possible records still existed that could tell me why Edward and his wife had been thrown into prison?

Seeing the blank expressions on their faces, I showed them the birth record. They began to laugh, and exclaimed, “Prison is a village near here!” I laughed too, and said they had ruined our favorite family story as we had been making up tales, thinking he was in prison. The barkeep replied, “Oh and to be sure he was, just not the kind with bars on the windows!”

And so the family black sheep was no more.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 3

When Michael arrived in Cincinnati in March of 1879, he came to a city with a population of around 255,000 people. How astounding and overwhelming that must have been to someone coming from a town of 4,600 residents! He could not read or write, so perhaps his half-brother Patrick helped him find work as a laborer. He settled in an apartment downtown at 2nd and 4th Streets, which would have been very near the Ohio River. Cincinnati was the largest city in Ohio, and also the densest with an average of 37,143 people per square mile. The city was served by fifteen railroads, with the major industries being iron production, meatpacking, cloth production, and woodworking. There were 130 newspapers and magazines, a large public library, an art museum, opera house and a music hall. There were also more than two hundred churches and five hospitals.

City directories and census records indicate that Michael was employed as a laborer. True enough, as he worked for one of the railroads as a freight truckman. His job would have involved loading, unloading, and transferring freight. He had only lived in America for one year when his father, also named Michael Crisham, died on 18 July 1880 in Tuam, Galway, Ireland. Later that year, his mother, Mary Crisham arrived in Cincinnati along with his youngest sister Julia. The three of them lived together for several years at 57 Mill Street.

On 21 July 1887 Michael married Catherine Colgan. She was born in County Mayo, Ireland on 27 December 1864 to Edward Colgan and Bridget (McHugh) Colgan. Here is her birth record.

Catherine Colgan's birth certificate

Digressing for a moment, I have an amusing story about the birthplace of Catherine. The record indicates that she was born in Prison, so my family had a lot of fun trying to guess why Bridget was in prison when she gave birth. Edward was a member of the Fenian Brotherhood (a fraternal organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic) after the family arrived in the United States in 1867. Did some militant action land him, and by association his wife, in jail in 1864? When I visited the Mayo Family History Society in 2007, I asked if the prison was still standing. Or if not, perhaps records existed to indicate why someone was incarcerated? The genealogist helping me busted out laughing. When he could finally catch his breath, he explained that Prison was a nearby village! I told him he had ruined our favorite family story as we had been certain Catherine was born in a prison. His reply? "Oh, and to be sure she was. Just not the kind with bars on the windows!"

Prison School

Edward and Bridget were both teachers at Prison School in Ireland. The school was founded around 1835 and served children in Prison as well as the surrounding communities. It was a one room school with a curtain that was drawn across the middle to separate the boys from the girls. The Colgans had another daughter, Anna Marie, as well as a son, Edward, who were also born in Prison. The family emigrated to the United States in 1868, setting up their household in Cincinnati. Little Edward died later that year at the age of one. Five additional children were added to the family in Cincinnati: Charles, Barbara, Clara, John P. (who only lived one year), and John M. As the head of the family, Edward held many different jobs in their new homeland, including that of a school teacher.

The Colgans lived on Mill Street, just like the Crusham family. Did Michael marry the girl next door?

Family Stories

Catherine Colgan's Birth Certificate

This was actually the BlogHer writing prompt for yesterday, but due to the fact that we were having 35 of my husband's associates and family members at our house for dinner last night, I was too busy to write on Friday.

My most interesting story involves my great-grandmother Catherine Colgan, who married Michael J. Crusham pictured in a previous post. One of my cousins had obtained Catherine's birth certificate which indicated that she had been born to Edward and Bridget Colgan on 27 December 1864 and listed the Place of Birth as Prison. The birth was registered in the District of Balla in the County of Mayo in Ireland. There was much speculation in the family as to why she might have been born in prison. Both Edward and Bridget were school teachers in Ireland before emigrating to the United States in 1867. Her father was rumored to have been a member of the Fenian Brotherhood, so perhaps he and his wife were thrown in prison because of that?

Catherine Colgan in the hat circa 1942

In 1987 my husband and I traveled to the Republic of Ireland, so one of my missions was to find out what I could about the prison birth. At the Family Research Center in County Mayo I showed the genealogist Catherine's birth certificate. I said that while I was pretty sure the prison was no longer standing, I was wondering if they had any records available so that I could see why the Colgans were in prison when they had their baby. He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face, and then told me that Prison is a village! We laughed about the misunderstanding, and I told him that he had ruined our favorite family story as we had thought Catherine was born in a prison. He said, "Oh and to be sure she was, just not the kind with bars on the windows!"