Very Hard to Research

[heatherwalsh]

Hello Everyone, I have a very hard person to research. I do not have much information and i was not quite sure what board to post this one on.  I do know that this person died in America so thought this board would be a good place to start. All the information i have i will give. Looking for LOUIS COLLIGAN, he is male, not sure of spelling. He was born between 1800 and 1830 Ireland, maybe scotland. Father's name Francis, brother William born 1821. LOUIS COLLIGAN went to America to make his fortune and never came home. It is beleived he died in 1875 in America and there was quite an argument over his will.   This information is from an elderly family member who is nearing 100 years of age and she is one hundred percent certain that he died in America. She also remembers Coffeyville, Kansas being mentioned.

Any help, Any information about LOUIS COLLIGAN will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance from Heather.

[heatherwalsh]

I have been researching everywhere i can think of, hard as well as spelling changes from country to country sometimes. i found a louis callagan a confederate solider circa 1865, but cant find anything else about him.....doubt its my LOUIS COLLIGAN though.........hmmmm

[philipsearching]

I have been researching everywhere i can think of, hard as well as spelling changes from country to country sometimes. i found a louis callagan a confederate solider circa 1865, but cant find anything else about him.....doubt its my LOUIS COLLIGAN though.........hmmmm

Have you tried CORRIGAN as a variant?

[Lisa in California]

The following could provide some clues for us (if known, of course)...   

He very well could have changed occupations when he arrived in America, but what was his brother's occupation, please?  I'm hoping he may have had a similar occupation in the states.

Where did his family live c1875 (Ireland, Scotland, etc.)?

Were any family names passed down through the generations?  Perhaps he also passed down family names?  Of course, if there was an argument over the will, perhaps he didn't have family in the states.

If there was a will, possibly he either was ill for some time and set up a will, or he was a somewhat wealthy man?

[heatherwalsh]

Ok, William his brother was married in 1843 in down ireland, by 1851 he was in lanarkshire scotland and died there. His occupation was a miner as were his sons. I assume william was born in ireland, from the scotland censuses about 1821. His father  francis collighan, as spelt on williams death certificate and it says his occupation was a soldier in her majesty's royal horse artillery.  In past down christian names we have not come across another louis as yet......williams sons were francis, william, meredith and john that i have found so far.

[heatherwalsh]

oh william died 1875/76, buried in shotts kirk, but spelt cooligan.............oh my gosh !!!!!

[Lisa in California]

Thank you for the information.

Perhaps no connection, since the sailing was from Melbourne (rather than somewhere in the UK), but

Sailing from Melbourne to Sydney, New South Wales, arriving 13 November 1857 on board the Yarra Yarra
Mr. L Colligan
Description: Miners?  [But was it Minors, as there were at least 3 female names in the list of "Miners".  The description for the names above this list was "Gentlefolk".]

[heatherwalsh]

 i just dont know,  i just looked on the person who gave me this information ,  her tree on my heritage, she has a birth date for louis as 1851, but does not say where.........if she is doing this from memory.........well who knows......then another birth she has is between 1800 to 1821............this is impossible........ i will try and get more information

[Lisa in California]

i just dont know,  i just looked on the person who gave me this information ,  her tree on my heritage, she has a birth date for louis as 1851, but does not say where.........if she is doing this from memory.........well who knows......then another birth she has is between 1800 to 1821............this is impossible........ i will try and get more information

Not impossible yet.  We've only just started.   

There is a big difference between born in 1851 and c1800-1830 as you first mentioned.  Maybe if you could think of all of the known information about the family, even the tiniest things, and sum it up, perhaps we can start to piece it together.

My suggestion might be to find the names, birth dates and birth places of Francis' children.  We could then see if there is any pattern.

I'm wondering how certain Louis/Lewis died c1875.  Is there a chance that he could have died earlier or (much) later?

I have to step away for a bit, but I will be back later today (it's mid-day in California).  Please feel free to take your time assembling the facts/information.  There are quite a few RootsChatters who visit the US Board who can try to be of help, so don't worry about this being a challenge.