Patrick Crowley of Lynn city ward 6 Massachusetts

[cybertracker]

I wish to find the immigration details of Patrick Crowley b1855, who lived in Lynn according to 1900US Census. His wife was Margaret Flynn also b1855. The census says he arrived from Ireland in 1874 and she arrived in 1868 but I can find no evidence of either of them. He is likely the brother of Timothy b1853 in Cork who went to NZ in 1874, parents John and Ann.

Any info on this family would be appreciated.

John Crowley

[*Sandra*]

Have you tried surname variations and this site http://www.castlegarden.org/searcher.php   
A number of Patrick Crowley listed but could his age be varying 

Census information is only as good as the informants knowledge so immigration year could be incorrect. 

Could be married and living in Lynn MA in 1880

Patrick Crowley  28 Born Ireland. Father and Mother born Ireland.  Morocco Dresser.
Margerett Crowley  29
John Flinn  24

Sandra

Added :- Never come across this peculiar occupation so had to look it up.
Apparently the person in this trade was some sort of a shoemaker/bookbinder or dealt with leather.
 "Morocco" was a type of goat skin leather that was much lighter in weight than what people of the day had been wearing. The "dresser" was the person who actually tanned or softened the leather.

Learnt something new 

[*Sandra*]

Marriage of Patrick Crowley to Maggi Flynn 8 February 1880 - Father David and Mother Ellen. (not matching the parents you gave  )
Birth year given as 1852 and aged 28 years.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHFL-DB5

http://www.geni.com/people/Margaret-Flynn/6000000003634725206

1900 Census gave 1879 as marriage year so that was slightly incorrect according to this marriage record.

Sandra

[cybertracker]

Thank you so much for your quick replys Sandra.

I also found these people and, funnily, also did not know what a 'Morocco Dresser' was and also found leather worker. At a level below that, one of his sons was a shoemaker, which kind of makes sense.

I do wonder whether he was escaping something such that he had to give false age and parents names. In the 1900 census he gives a precise birth date of Feb 1855.

The family were very strong Catholics and, as they lived in Cork at a time when there was some political turmoil as well as famine, I suspect they may have been in an early form of the IRA. (am I paranoid? Who said I was paranoid!)

Other possibility with the variance in age is that they may have needed to appear older in order to get through the red tape (ie. marriage)

Then again, his wife Margaret Flynn came from Ireland in 1868 and I can not find her in immigration records either. My other thought is to search a current directory of the Lynn area and contact people with the surname with a faint hope of getting a hit.

Thankfully most search sites these days cover variants in spelling but, yes, I have also tried that and will continue on...........

Thanks again

John Crowley

[shellyesq]

In my experience, it is pretty common in this era for immigrants (particularly Irish) to give incorrent ages/dates of birth.  I don't think it's usually due to deception or malice, but more likely confusion or ignorance of the facts.  Census information can often come from other members of the household or neighborhood, who may be guessing.

However, if there are different parents' names given on the marriage certificate of a person with a common name like Patrick Crowley, I'd be more inclined to think that you're looking at the wrong person unless you have other information to connect this Patrick to the one you're looking for.

[cybertracker]

Thanks Shelley.

A good point about the parents, it is likely I have gone up the wrong tree.

In the search of immigration records I have found an error in the recording of a location which I have only discovered by reading lots of the original documents available with the translations. Timoleague was given as 'Limoleague'. As Patrick was born in Currihevern near Timoleague. I may be able to get a trace from that.

Thanks

John