USA births 1867,69,78

[suffolk*sue]

There is a newspaper report of William Bell Cordner being made bankrupt in 1864. It would seem soon after the family went overseas.

[philipsearching]

William Bell (aka Thompson) Cordner's character is summed up by an obituary in the Insurance Times (May 1881):
"The life of the deceased affords a striking example of wasted power. As a businessman he was remarkably gifted, astute and enterprising.  His resources seemed to be inexhaustible, and he was always full of hope and ready for a fresh venture. But his dissiveness (?) and instability forfeited all his chances of enduring success."  -  It appears that as soon as one business became established (but not always profitable) William got bored and moved on to a new challenge.

I am still looking for William's birth -place, date and parents (b Armagh, Ireland c1840 son of William a farmer) and the exact birth dates and places of his children: Edwin (c1861 England?), Auckland (c1864 Ireland), Alice (c1866 Canada - poss. Montreal), Mary/Marie (b c1868 New Orleans, Louisiana), Kathleen (b c1870 St Louis, Michigan ) and Ethel (b c1879 Boston, Massachusetts).

suffolk_sue has established that William's father William died before 1861 (Clady Bog, County Armagh) and had at least five children:
William Bell (b c1841), unknown daughter, unknown daughter, Anne (d 13 Feb 1861 Tandragee), and Thomas (b c1847)

[philipsearching]

Latest update:

William Bell Cordner
1860 married Eliza Aldwell Sandys (he 20, she 19)
1861-64 appears in newspaper reports & trade directories as shopkeeper, grocer Tandragee and Dublin
1864 June -goes bankrupt in Dublin
(William Bell Cordner then disappears from the records)

William Cordner
1880 US census
William Cordner - age 39, born Ireland, life assurance agent
Elizabeth (wife) - age 37, born England
Edwin age 19 born England
Auckland age 17 born Ireland
Alice age 15 born Canada
Mary age 13 born La
Kathleen age 11 born Mi
Ethel age 2 born Mass

William Thompson Cordner
(from newspaper article and obituaries)
1840 - born 19 September, Armagh
"He first entered into business in Dublin as a printing paper commission merchant, and started his first newspaper in that city.  He married about this time, and afterward engaged in the tea business."
1867, Mr. Cordner (J. P. Thompson) established the Western Insurance Review [in St Louis, Missouri]
1871 appointed Commissioner of Emigration by the Mississippi Venture Society and sent to London to set up and run office
1873 to 1877 - banking in the City of London - Thompson, Cordner & Co
1877 in Boston - manager of the New York Life Insurance Company
1881 died 9 March Aiken, South Carolina
leaves widow, 2 sons, 4 daughters.


1891 England census
Eliza S Cordner widow, age 40 (?!) born Longford, Ireland
Kathleen, age 22, born St Louis
Pauline, age 13, born Boston
Alice S C Trewartha-James (daughter) age 25, born Montreal
(plus Alice's husband and son)

1909 death certificate
Elizabeth Cordner, age 65, widow of William Cordner, president of an American insurance co.

NOTE
On various records Kathleen, Pauline and Alice Cordner use the middle name Sandys.

So, I have two questions:

1) Given the Eliza/Elizabeth Sandys name, is it "beyond reasonable doubt" that William Bell Cordner is the same person as William Cordner (in 1880) who I am certain is the same person as William Thompson Cordner?

2) Can anyone help with finding William on a passenger list?  I have tried Ellis Island, the ships list, olive tree, familysearch - but I can't see him.

Any help gratefully received!
Philip

(p.s. - there is a quantity of information on this thread, and I have amassed data on relatives of William and Eliza.  I am only after info regarding my two outstanding queries)

[suffolk*sue]

Hi Philip, these baptisms took place at St Lawrence, Dublin, which appears to be a RC Church

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie

[suffolk*sue]

Marriage of one of the daughters, mentioning Thompson, 1889.

[suffolk*sue]

The Boston Daily Globe, Boston Massachusetts.

A report says the Cordner family left Liverpool and arrived in Boston on June 28th, 1877 and the same newspaper reports the family are residing in the Commonwealth Hotel in October 1877.

[philipsearching]

The Boston Daily Globe, Boston Massachusetts.

A report says the Cordner family left Liverpool and arrived in Boston on June 28th, 1877 and the same newspaper reports the family are residing in the Commonwealth Hotel in October 1877.

Sue, you are wonderful!
Is this info off a website that I could search?

Also - I hadn't seen the Cordner baptisms as I had believed Cordner and Sandys were Protestant (they married in a Presbyterian church) - this offers a new area to search.  Yippee!

Now all I need are passenger records (if they survive!).

Many, many thanks
Philip

[suffolk*sue]

That was from the newspaper collection on Findmypast. I thought basically the Sandys  family were C of E, but maybe the Cordners were Catholic.

I couldn't find them on any passenger list, unless anyone else has any luck.

[philipsearching]

Time to revive this fascinating thread.

Basil SANDYS was baptised 31 Aug 1800 in Rathkeale, Limerick
He had around 5 children 1826-34 with Catherine DEVANEY (in London)
He had one daughter, Eliza Aldwell SANDYS c1841 with (we believe) Catherine GERAGHTY (suggested marriage 1837 not proved) Eliza/Elizabeth born either England or Longford, Ireland as per 1880 US census and 1901 England census.
He married 1855 Catherine OTTER (nee BIRMINGHAM) and had further children.
He died 7 Jul 1871 St Giles Middx

Nothing is known about Catherine DEVANEY
suffolk*sue has researched Catherine OTTER/BIRMINGHAM

I may have a new lead on Catherine GERAGHTY
irishgenealogy has records from St Catherine's RC church Dublin which suggest:
Thomas bap1764 (sibling Andrew bap1767) sons of Richard GERAGHTY and Sarah
Thomas GERAGHTY bap1787 son of Thomas GERAGHTY and Margaret O'CONNOR
Thomas GERAGHTY m1811 Mary TYRRELL
Catherine bap1814 (siblings Mary A bap1812, Eleanor bap1814, William bap1816) all children of Thomas GERAGHTY and Mary TYRRELL

If only I could find conclusive proof of marriages between Basil and the first two Catherines (or a birth record for Eliza Aldwell SANDYS) I would be an excessively happy bunny!

Philip