52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 25

When I saw the writing prompt Same Name, I immediately thought of Michael Crusham (or Crisham, as it was more commonly spelled in Ireland). My maternal 3rd great-grandfather was Michael Crusham, and he was born in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland about 1811. He married Catherine Archer on 28 September 1826 in Tuam. They had the following children, all of whom were born in Tuam: Mary b. 1827, John b. 1832, Michael (my 2nd great-grandfather) b. 1833, Catherine b. 1835, Honor b. 1844, and William b. 1846.

My 2nd great-grandfather Michael Crusham married Mary Cruise on 15 October 1855 in Tuam. Their children included Michael (my great-grandfather) b. 1857, Peter b. 1860 and d. 1863, Judith b. 1861, Peter b. 1864, and Julia b. 1867. All the children were born in Tuam as well.

Michael and Catherine

Great-grandfather Michael Crusham emigrated to the United States ~1882, and he married Catherine Colgan in Cincinnati, Ohio on 21 July 1887. From their union the following children were born: Michael (my grandfather) b. 1887, Edward b. 1889, Mary b. 1892, Clara b. 1894, Charles b. 1896, Agnes b. 1899, Thomas b. 1902, John b. 1906, and Dorothy b. 1908.

My grandfather Michael Crusham married Mayme Metz in Cincinnati on 21 June 1911. Their children were Marie b. 1912, Edward b. 1913 and died 1913, Stella b. 1914, stillborn infant b. 1916, Catherine (my mother) b. 1920, Margaret b. 1922, Charles b. 1925, Elizabeth b. 1927, and twins James and Michael (my uncle) b. 1930.

Michael and Mayme

Uncle Charles Crusham and his wife Dorothy (Gronefeld) Crusham named one of their sons Michael. One of his other sons, Charles, has a son named Michael Crusham. Also, my Uncle Michael Crusham and his wife Rita (Murphy) Crusham have a grandson named Michael Crusham.

For at least seven generations there has been at least one male named Michael Crusham in the family tree. And five of those were directly father to son. That is pretty impressive! It also adds a degree of difficulty when trying to do genealogical research in an area where several of them lived in the same town during the same time period. Which Michael Crusham is in the record? It reminds me of the old television show, "To Tell the Truth". Will the real Michael Crusham please stand up?

Family History Writing Challenge Day 16

Note: This Family History Writing Challenge began with the story of Michael J. Crusham, my great-grandfather, and his emigration to the United States around 1879. It covered his marriage and his children, continuing with my grandfather, Michael A. Crusham and his family. The next logical step would be to write about his daughter Catherine, my mother. But first I want to backtrack to information that I found while on a trip to Ireland with my husband in 1987. 

The National Archives in Dublin had no records of the family we know by the name of Crusham. The man at the archives essentially told me to go back to the United States and start over with my information. It wasn't until I went to the history center in Galway that I achieved success in learning the real names of Michael J. Crusham's parents. This time a young woman helped me, and she took the approach of putting into the computer Michael C with the parents Michael and Mary. (I had the information that his parents were Michael Crusham and Mary Heneghan from his death record, but she left off the last names in her search since Crusham wasn't coming up.) She got a hit, and it was a big one. She found Michael Crisham born the same date as Michael J. listing the father as Michael Crisham and the mother as Mary Heneghan. Jackpot! So the name was Crisham, not Crusham but it was much closer than we thought it would be. With the new names in hand she looked for further records. As with most old records, there were variations in the spelling of the name – Clesham, Cresham, Clisham – but Crisham was by far the most common, and also the name that the computer there gave as the root of the name. We spent about an hour with the genealogist and got copies of all the people we could place with our family. 

Tuam

From this information I learned that my great-great grandfather Michael married Mary Heneghan on 15 October 1855 in Tuam. Michael's father, my great-great-great grandfather, was named Michael as well. He was born in 1811 in Tuam, and he died on Tullindaly Road in 8 October 1883. The death was reported by his wife, Catherine Crusham, whose maiden name was Achard. Catherine was born around 1813 in Tuam, and died there on 23 January 1888. Michael and Catherine had the following children in addition to Michael: Mary born in 1827, John born in 1832, Catherine born in 1835, Honor born in 1844 and William born in 1846.

St. Joseph's Cemetery, Tuam

After leaving the history center I wanted to see the cemetery. We found St. Joseph’s Cemetery and in the pouring rain tried to locate any Clisham or Crisham graves. We found some Crishams from the 1950’s but none older than that. We began to wonder if there was an older cemetery somewhere. Unfortunately there was no one in the caretaker’s house, so we headed back into town to find St. Joseph’s rectory, called the Presbytery in Ireland. Hmmm…sounds pretty close to Presbyterian, doesn’t it? Anyway, a lady at the Presbytery advised us that all the cemetery records were held at McGrath’s store in town because he takes care of them. Mr. McGrath was in, and he went in the back room and brought out a huge old book in which all the cemetery plots are registered. As I was studying the book with him a lady in her mid-forties came into the store. He said to her, “Margaret, you’ll not be believing what name we’re looking up.” And she asked, “Who?” “Crisham,” he replied. She looked startled.  “Oh, go on with you now!” she exclaimed. He told her that I was there from the States looking for Crishams. As it turned out, her 95-year-old grandfather is a Crisham. She studied my records a bit, but none of the names looked familiar to her. She said that her grandfather was having a bad day, or she would take me to meet him. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her in a couple of days. Well, a couple of days later we were two counties away, so I couldn't call. I did, however, contact her when we got home, and mailed her our tree to review with her grandparents. They did not recognize any names, but emphatically stated that no one in Tuam had ever gone by any of the other name variations – it was always Crisham. 

Cathedral of the
Assumption

Mr. McGrath showed me where the cemetery plot would be located, and also described where the Crishams had lived so we could go look at that land. They are buried in Section D, Plot Line 9, Row 7. The records showed that a single grave 9’x4’ was purchased for Catherine Crisham for 1 shilling 6 pence in 1888. Back to the cemetery only to find that our Crishams had no headstone! Oh, the frustrating sides of genealogy… We also drove out to where the Crishams had lived and that area is all built up with new development, so there was nothing of interest there. 

The beautiful church on the left is where the Crisham family worshiped in Tuam. As I traveled the area and enjoyed all the natural beauty, I wondered again how our ancestors could stand to leave their family, friends and this lovely county behind.

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 History Writing Challenge Day 2

The Irish Potato Famine occurred long before Michael Crusham was born. Begining in 1845 and lasting a disastrous six years, it killed over a million men, women and children. The famine eliminated the primary food source for peasants in the country, leaving those who survived faced with the decision to flee their homes in an effort to survive. Nearly two million Irish citizens emigrated to the United States in the 1840s. They, in turn, encouraged others to leave Ireland as they earned enough money to send for relatives and friends. Considering that the entire population of Ireland was around eight million, the emigration number is pretty staggering.

Many of these immigrants settled in existing Irish communities in America, where Catholic Churches had been built and cultural traditions were carried out. Like many immigrants, they went to towns and cities where their old friends, neighbors or relatives lived. Michael's family was no exception. His half-brother Patrick Henaghan left Tuam in 1872, possibly traveling with his sister Nora Henaghan. The siblings settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city that offered many opportunities to the Irish immigrants. There was work on the riverfront, railroad construction, and digging for the Miami and Erie Canal. The Irish men took jobs that were dangerous and unskilled with low pay. The women often found jobs as servants and nannies. Perhaps the promise of such work enticed Michael to follow his siblings to this part of America.

By 1870 more than 90 percent of immigrants traveled by steamship on their way to America. The fare would have ranged from 70 to 100 shillings, depending on whether they had accommodations in standard class or steerage. For the majority of immigrants, steerage was all they could afford. Undoubtably, Michael would have been with all the others below deck. Often called "coffin ships" about 1 in 7 passengers did not survive the crossing. Michael survived the journey, but would he survive living in the Queen City?

Cincinnati, Ohio

Family History Writing Challenge 2016

It's February 1st, so that means the Family History Writing Challenge begins today. I will be participating for the fifth straight year. The goal of the challenge is to help genealogists make the transition from just being keepers of family statistics and documents to telling the stories behind the numbers and papers. For the second time I will be posting my daily writing on this blog. Last year I wrote every day about John Murdoch, and it really helped keep me on track and make me accountable to myself. John is not a relative of mine, but I have been researching his St. Louis story for many years. It was a good exercise to help me understand what I need to make my own family stories more compelling.

The biggest decision in writing family history is where to begin. When you have over 4,000 people in your family tree, it is quite overwhelming to think about writing the family story. Obviously it is not something that can be accomplished in a month. It reminds me of that old joke - How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So I will begin with my first bite, writing about one particular relative.

I got interested in genealogy when my mom died at the age of 69 in 1989. In a sudden, heart-breaking moment I realized that I could no longer ask her any questions about my grandparents or any other family members, for that matter. Instead I began asking questions of my mom's remaining siblings. So it seems logical to begin with my mom's grandfather, Michael Crusham. Here's how his story begins.

Michael J. Crusham

Note: While the family name has always been spelled Crusham in the United States, there are no records for that name in County Galway, Ireland. My aunts remember their grandpa telling them that a cousin of his came from Ireland for a visit and accused him of being "high hat" for changing the family name. From that we had deduced that the name had been changed. But from what? There was a lot of family discussion on what the name might have been. Cushin? Cushing? O'Cashan? Grisham? (Some deep-seated desire to find out we were related to John Grisham, no doubt.) During a trip I made to Tuam, County Galway, Ireland in 1997, I was able to find the family name predominantly as Crisham. Church records, however, also had it spelled as Cresham or Chrisham, sometimes within the same record that indicated the name was Crisham. I have been told by various sources that the true name was, and still is, Crisham.

Why did Michael leave Ireland? Did he really steal a horse? Was the law after him? Family lore says it is so, but I have not substantiated that fact. What I do know is that Michael J. Crusham left Ireland in 1879. While I have yet to find him on a passenger list, I believe he came to the United States by himself around the age of 22. His age at arrival is a little murky, however. His Petition for Naturalization through the State of Ohio, Hamilton County Probate Court, dated 11 March 1887, states that he arrived in the United States on 4 March 1879 "under the age of eighteen years." Later in the same record the witness for Michael states that he "knows that said applicant has resided in the United States three years next preceding his arrival at the age of twenty-one years."

Tuam, Ireland

A known fact is that Michael was born in 1857 to Michael Crisham and his wife, Mary Henaghan Crisham. His Roman Catholic baptismal record from Tuam in County Galway, Ireland lists the baptism date as 25 August of 1857. While Michael was the first child of Michael and Mary, he had two older half-siblings, Patrick and Norah, who were born from his mother's previous marriage to Michael Henaghan. Later additions to the Crisham family included Peter, Judith and Julia.

Church of the Assumption

The town of Tuam was the second largest in the county of Galway, boasting a population of nearly 4,600 people in 1862. Because the town was central in position with regards to the counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, a good deal of traffic passed through the town. The Crisham family lived on Tullinadaly Road, which is indicated on the map above. They worshipped at the Cathedral of the Assumption, and visited the nearby town center. Their extended family all lived in the area as well.

Tuam

So what happened to make Michael leave all that behind in 1879?