It’s time to make the leap from the US records to Europe. Finally! Feeling more confident, wanted to see how I did with moving to those other records. So, here goes! ~Rachel
Powers Family – origin is Waterford, Ireland
Me > father (still living) > Teresa U Powers > James Joseph Powers > Nicholas Powers
Nicholas Powers
Nicholas is the handsome one with the mustache in the front! Bridget (Brigit) is on thefront row, left. The other children are as follows (L to R): Elizabeth, Edward, Helen, Maurice (front row), Johana, Gertrude, James & Mary.
Names from each one of my grandparents’ families were continued to my aunts and uncles… which is so neat seeing how far back they go…. 😀
Keep in mind, while starting this part of the process makes me nervous because I don’t have a lot to reference in my own records. BUT, on the good side, I am looking at it from fresh eyes, analyzing all the information, asking questions while looking a numerous records to see if any of them match – family names, approximate correct ages, and so on. My references on these were Ancestry, ship passenger lists, NY census and US census.
Info I started with:
Nicholas Powers was born on May 21, 1844, in Waterford, Waterford, Ireland. Spouse is Bridgit Welch. He died on January 23, 1932, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of 87 due to being hit by a car. (the second in my family to have this happen).
I was able to find a passenger list from Ireland, through Liverpool, UK and final destination NYC, NY. I am making note to see the actual location they landed – not sure if it’s Ellis Island or not. That will be for later. Hopefully. On this record, Nicholas is listed as 4 years old, with an older sibling (sister?), age 6, and a younger sibling (brother whose name is possibly James), age 3. The parents’ names, unfortunately, are covered up on this specific record.
1846 Passenger list arriving in NY
The 1850 federal census lists the parents (Yay I have names!) as Patrick (obvious Irish name!) and Ann, but with only TWO children, Nicholas and James. So, that begs the question, what happened to the older sibling of Nicholas that was listed on the ship from 4 years prior – possible a sister? Again, noted for later.
Next record, in 1855, there is a Nicholas of the appropriate age (13 on this record; he was born in 1844), at a House of Refuge Randall Island, in NY. It looks like an orphanage at a glance as all the residents are youth under the age of 18. After pulling up a search of Randall Island, it was used for vagrants and youth who needed discipline. No parents are listed with the list of residents. That information is accessible from an interlibrary loan for the microfiche with NY Archives. (added to my list!). The females were housed at a separate location. I cannot find any trace of Nicholas’ brother, James, to know whether this is a behavior issue with N or something else. Asking one question definitely raises a dozen more!!!
I’m going to go ahead and publish this as I move forward. Otherwise, it would never be brought to the light of day!
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