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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: dwyerk on Wednesday 12 May 04 16:50 BST (UK)
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Hi,
Just started and need help finding GGGrandfather in UK. Please help me by:
1: Pointing me in the right direction in regard to resources
2: Sugestions on the next steps to dig deeper from the US
I have a records of my GGGrandfather that say:
1:
Perhaps another early immigrant at the time provides a clue to this mystery. Thomas A. Dwyer came to Nueces County in 1849. He was a barrister in Dublin, then London, but gave up the practice of law to raise horses and mules on the lower Nueces River.
In a pamphlet published in 1872, Dwyer wrote about mustangers. "At that time,'' he wrote, "many Mexicans, whose families resided at Corpus Christi . . . supported themselves by 'running,' that is, catching wild cattle and by mustanging, or hunting wild horses.''
2:Another colorful chapter is the story of Thomas A. Dwyer, a barrister in London who gave up law to breed horses on a ranch near Corpus Christi.
Dwyer came here in 1847 aboard the steamship "Fanny." He was one of the passengers who wrote a letter commending the captain for an easy voyage. Dwyer later gave the welcoming address when Henry L. Kinney returned to Corpus Christi in 1858 from his failed attempt to conquer Nicaragua.
Dwyer sold his horses and ranch on the Nueces at the beginning of the Civil War. But he stayed in Texas, somewhere. He published a pamphlet in 1872 about taming mustangs. He explained in that article why he gave up the practice of law: "Eleven years at law in London and Dublin, with few briefs," he wrote, "and just forty guineas in fees (equal to $200 of our American money) in four years' practice at the Irish bar, had given me a big disgust, not only of law but of civilization at its crowded centers, fenced in by all kinds of restrictions, conventionalities, infinitesimal etiquette, artificiality and 'red tape.' "
Here was a man who gave up his life's training to move to a strange new land. Here was a man of true grit. What happened to Dwyer - failed lawyer in London and successful mustanger in South Texas?
Both of these accounts are from newspapers in Texas.
Any help would be a great help. Also, How would I find out what ship and what port did he use to depart the UK for the US. I can find no record of him in on-line immergration lists and no record of a "Fanny" in ship registers.
Thanks,
Ken Dwyer
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Hi Ken
I have found "a" Thomas A Dwyer on 1850 census, b c 1819, Ireland, living in Rio Grande Valley, in Counties of Cameron, Starr and Webb.
Might this be your Thomas?
Valerie
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That is him. An irish cowboy. The problem is that I can not find any info of his life before moving to Texas. All I know is that he was a lawyer before moving to the US.
Ken
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If he was a barrister in London you might find him on the "Law List"
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F8A79105-E9C9-41B1-9298-09ECD819E2D1/0/LH_CL_lawcollect.pdf
- law collections at the Guildhall.
In addition he does not sem to be in the 1841 London directory.
http://www.loughman.dna.ie/dublin1850/xdubdir23.html#Dwyer - Thomas Alexander Dwyer, barrister, was in the law directory in Dublin in 1844, but not in the 1850 directory.
http://ccgi.fisks.plus.com/LUE/london.php - someone here has an 1846 London Post Office directory, might just catch him on that?
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Jorose,
Thanks for the info, Thomas came to Texas in 1847, so that make sense, his being on the 1844 register and not on the 1850 register. So, that may be a lead. I have to assume that him being Irish, he received his degree at Trinity College in Dublin. He was born about 1817, so he attended college sometime between 1830 and 1840.
According to a letter I have he states that he spent "eleven years at law in London and Dublin, with few briefs," he wrote, "and just forty guineas in fees (equal to $200 of our American money) in four years' practice at the Irish bar.
So I need to find someone willing to search Trinity college records to see if a Thomas Dwyer went to school there.
Ken
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http://www.tcd.ie/info/visitors/genealogical_information.php - they might be willing to check Alumni Dublinenses for you. Entries here, according to another source, include date of admission, age, father's name of occupation, birthplace, religion, and degree.
http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/ff327fa900f3276e.html - if you want to look yourself, from here you can find which libraries it is in in - for example, there are a couple copies in Texas!
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Hi Ken,
There's no sign of him either as Counsel or as an attorney (what today would be called a solicitor) in London between 1843-1846, according to the Law List.
I also can't see any sign in the Times archive of an announcement of his being called to the English Bar.
It may be that in those days Irish advocates were permitted to practise informally at the English Bar without being formally called etc - which doesn't help much with tracing him!
I'll see if I can think of any more Bar-related sources and come back to you.
Anna
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For the following info I don't have the exact sources at hand, but will post later.
I found a mention in a book in the Mormon library in Salt Lake of a Thomas Dwyer matriculating at Trinity College in 1830.
The story I got of my ancestor was that he was a law student who was involved in one of the student protests (against the British?) and had the option of going to jail or getting out of town. We assumed it was to the US. He was supposedly smuggled out by his aunt, in a nun's habit. Who knows which of the stories we got were 100% truth and which were embellished.
The other day I found a copy of a newspaper article where Thomas A Dwyer said his first visit to Texas was in 1827 but another part of a similar article implied that he got to Texas around 1837.
The Thomas who is my ancestor was brother to Edward who was in Texas by 1838 and was one of the first Anglo mayors of San Antonio.
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Hi Kathy,
I found a Thomas Alexander Dwyer, admitted as a barrister in 1844, fourth son of Joseph Dwyer, of Upper Camdenstreet, Dublin.
http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/20th-april-1844/11/ireland
However, this gentleman also appears to have married in 1854 in Dublin:
http://members.webone.com.au/~nickred/newspaper/np_abst26.htm
and possibly be the same listed on his father's probate record in 1866:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-23427-148-87?cc=1921305
There seem to be a couple of Irish-born Thomas Dwyers/Dyers around in Texas - can you confirm the dates (birth, death, marriage) of the one you're looking for?
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In response to jorose's post - Thank you! The references you found may fit my ancestry.
I've been looking for the Irish connection for both of my Irish great-great grandparents.
The Thomas A Dwyer who is my Irish-born ancestor married Annie Croker (Crocker). They had 6 children: Joseph Luckett and Thomas A (Anthony or Aloysius), born in or near Corpus Christi TX, in 1855 and 185x (7?), Anna Eleanor, born in Virginia 1859, (I can't find specific birth/baptism documentation for her yet), Marie, Elizabeth (Bessie) (born around 1863, and John T, born in Texas in 1873. Thomas was a judge (and merchant) in San Antonio and southwest TX; he died suddenly in 1879. I found an obituary in a San Antonio paper. I found some information in censuses but only can rely on TX 1880. 1870's was mostly lost.
Thomas was, we believe, the brother of Edward Dwyer, one of the first Anglo mayors of San Antonio. He married Mariana Leal de Ramon, a member of one of the early Canary Island settlers of San Antonio. His birth date on his grave stone is listed as 1808. His first name may have been William. His daughter, Anita Dwyer Withers, wrote a diary which was published in the S.A. paper and now in book form. Her husband was an adjutant to General Lee of the Confederate army. Her brother Joseph had many children who were in politics and law in San Antonio and El Paso.
Joseph Luckett Dwyer married Anna Ihnken and settled in El Paso, TX. Thomas,my mother's mothers' father, married Paula Holguin of Parral Mexico; they immigrated to the US (El Paso) during the time of Pancho Villa. Anna married Nicholas Nolan who was a person of note in the US Army. She is buried in Arlington Cemetery. Marie married Charles Nordstorm who was in the US army. Their daughters were in theater, and their granddaughter Ursula was an author and editor at Harper Books. At some point they were stationed in Montana, where her mother died (during a visit or residence, which I don't know) - I know this because Annie Croker Dwyer is buried in a military cemetery in Montana. Bessie was the first woman to obtain a law degree in Texas. She worked at the Library of Congress, has some articles in print, and went to the Phillippines (with a long, fascinating history), where she died in a Japanese concentration camp. John T became a stage actor.
There is also a Thomas Dwyer who lived in Brenham TX.
A couple of stories that were handed down were that a male ancestor was a Lord Mayor of Dublin and a female ancestor was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. I haven't been able to verify either.
Thank you, all who have posted in the last day, for your interest and help!