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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Runner55 on Monday 05 October 20 11:42 BST (UK)
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Hi Rootschatters
Two of my grandfather's first cousins - brothers Michael and John Martin - emigrated from the little village of Doagh in County Monaghan, Ireland to the town of Radersburg, Montana in the early 1900s.
From my Ancestry research I see that Michael (a farmer/carpenter) died unmarried in 1908 aged 31 of peritonitis in St Peter's Hospital, Helena. His brother John (documented as a 'merchant') applied for US citizenship in 1912, but I have no further records beyond this for him.
I'm just guessing that John Martin probably stayed on in Radersburg until his own death, but I don't when that was ..... or if he ever married and had children and there might be descendants.
I live in England, so have zero knowledge of Montana, but I have learnt that Radersburg had a population of only about 60 people back then, and not many more today, so wondered if anyone might have any pictures, documents, newspaper articles, street directories or personal knowledge and stories of either of these Martin brothers, or can kindly point me in the right direction to find those things.
Thanking you in advance!
Runner55
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I don't see him in any later census records in Montana, but you can check for yourself at www.familysearch.org. Given his age, unless he joined the military, he should have completed a WWI draft registration card if he was alive in 1917/1918. I didn't see one of those either, but they are at familysearch.org.
I didn't see him in the Montana death index, which goes to 2018, so he probably died elsewhere.
There are some mentions in newspapers of John Martin of Radersburg visiting places, but earlier than 1912. http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn86075288/1909-07-10/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1873&city=&rows=20&words=John+Martin+Radersburg&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=0&date2=2018&proxtext=%22john+martin%22+radersburg&page=1
http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053286/1910-12-29/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1873&city=&rows=20&words=John+Martin+Radersburg&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=1&date2=2018&proxtext=%22john+martin%22+radersburg&page=1
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Hi Shellyesq
Thank you for your reply.
That's really great information because I've learnt for the first time that there was a business under the name of Martin & Martin in Radersburg (the brothers John and Michael) which I'm presuming might be something to do with carpentry and now at least gives me something to follow up on with other local history sources. Brilliant!
It makes me smile though to see the 'Local News' column in the old papers which reports what individuals were up to that week - who's visiting who, who's away on vacation, who's in hospital and why etc.
Just like Facebook but without the selfies!
(Not sure if everyone would particularly have wanted their personal movements reported in such detail - and some of it seems a bit intrusive to our 21st century sensitivities - but that's just how it was back then!)
Thanks once again.
Runner55
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Townsend Star
May 23, 1908
Page 4
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Wow! Thanks so much for that RJ137. That's amazing to see that tribute to Michael Martin.
Wonderful to add to our family tree album.
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I'm still looking for John. Could he have returned to Ireland?
Do you have their brother Hugh, who settled in Iowa:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1887/02549/1943463.pdf
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG6N-RZP3
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJJC-RPN
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Hi Rootschatters
From my Ancestry research I see that Michael (a farmer/carpenter) died unmarried in 1908 aged 31 of peritonitis in St Peter's Hospital, Helena.
The image of the death record says his parents names were John Martin and Ann Crosby.
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I forgot this, a tree with more info on Hugh:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LTK9-QCW
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deleted.
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Hi Oldohiohome
Thank you very much for your notes and those links.
Yes, John and Michael did indeed have a brother called Hugh Martin who settled in Iowa, and they all were from Doagh (also spelt Dooagh and Dooagha) in the parish of Magheracloone, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan ......... where my family are still alive and thriving to this day!
Also, yes, the boys' parents were John Martin and Ann Crosby.
Hugh, Michael and John were part of a larger group of young male and female Martin cousins from Doagh (my paternal grandparents included) who all emigrated to the States in the late 1890s and early 1900s, the majority settling around New York City and New Jersey.
Some of the family stayed in the States, some returned home to Ireland - my paternal grandparents went home to Doagh after just a couple of years.
Hugh, John and Michael Martin took very different paths to the rest of the clan by venturing out into Montana and Iowa.
I'm particularly keen to learn more about John and Michael's experiences in Radersburg, so thank you for this information and any more you may have!
Regards
Gabrielle (Runner55)
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John is just not showing up anywhere. :(
While looking I found:
a reference to "The Club", Radersburg, Martin & Martin, proprietors
http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053284/1907-11-14/ed-1/seq-1.pdf
and their passenger manifest information. Here it is in case you don't have it:
SS Germanic, arrived NY 14 September 1900
Michael Martin, 24, laborer, from Carrickmacross, headed to his uncle Michael Crosby, 515 North Wyoming St, Butte City, Montana
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SS Baltic, arrived June 16, 1905
John Martin, 23, laborer, from Carrickmacross, headed to brother Michael Martin, East 3rd, Anaconda, Montana [Helena was scratched out but was in the column for general destination]
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There are a lot of John Martins, but none with those parents' names. Parents' names often are on US records after about 1900 or so, which is why I posted them from the death record - to aid anyone else searching.
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There's a John Martin with the same parents born 17 Jan 1880 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP8D-C85M
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGXJ-N9N
In the naturalization record, John in Montana gives his birthdate as 2 Jan. 1885. I don't know if the first John died young and the name was reused or if John in Montana is confused about his date of birth or making himself younger.
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There's a John Martin with the same parents born 17 Jan 1880 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP8D-C85M
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGXJ-N9N
In the naturalization record, John in Montana gives his birthdate as 2 Jan. 1885. I don't know if the first John died young and the name was reused or if John in Montana is confused about his date of birth or making himself younger.
Deaths, Carrickmacross
20 March 1880 in Dooagha, John Martin, bachelor, age 9 weeks, child of farmer, cause unknown, informant: Ann -her mark- Martin, of Dooagha, present at death
edited to add:
and
Births, Carrickmacross
28 June 1881, in Dooagha, John Martin, son of John Martin, a farmer, and Ann Martin, formerly Crosby. informant: the father
still off by a few years, but close to the age at immigration. I didn't find any more deaths of John Martin, a child, 1881 to 1885 in Carrickmacross.
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Hi Shellyesq and Oldohiohome
Hmmm, very interesting about the death record of the John Martin in 1880.
I have built a very extensive family tree around the Martins of Doagh on Ancestry and thought I'd exhausted all the records on irishgenealogy.ie. but I've just checked the death record out and realise that I've never come across that one before.
I do know that in Ireland back in those days, it was common to name a later child after an older sibling who'd died, so it wouldn't be unrealistic for that to have happened with 'Radersburg John'.
Equally, I also know from experience that dates of birth in these situations are very 'flexible' to say the least, certainly in my family from that era!
Incidentally, the other John Martin born in 1880 in Doagh was actually my Dad's father, who's mother was also called Ann (but married to my great grandad, Terence Martin).
Looking around my family tree, there is yet another John Martin of Doagh with a mother called Anne who was married to Frank Martin, but their John was born in 1882.
So, thank you for that - a great find! I'm now going to explore this because it looks like there is a gap amongst his siblings in 1885 for 'Radersburg John' to feasibly have been born then.
Can I also say huge thanks to Oldohiohome for the cutting about "The Club" in Radersburg, owned by Martin & Martin. That is not at all what I was expecting from the brothers - I thought they'd just be working on farms, but it does explain why John's occupation on his US naturalisation petition is given as a 'merchant' - a liquor merchant I guess ..... or maybe The Club was also a saloon of some sort.
This is pure gold in terms of my research because in a town of about 60 people, The Club must have been a prominent business and this may explain why, according to the earlier cutting you sent me, Michael Martin's funeral in 1908 was allegedly the biggest ever seen round those parts!
Maybe it had something to do with the whiskey they sold that guaranteed "no headaches"!!!!
All I can say is, you've opened up some great research avenues for me that I never expected.
Massive thanks again.
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The Club was also a saloon of some sort.
It appears the Martin & Martin saloon burned down in 1910. From the article, Martin & Martin was both a saloon and a pool hall.
The Broadwater Opinion
December 22, 1910,
Page 4
RADERSBURG NUGGET
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Hi RJ137
That's absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for those cuttings. This is a really fascinating avenue of research for me that I really never expected to be following.
I am now going to see what I can find out about the M&M Saloon and what happened after the fire.
Much appreciated!