Emigration of Bridget, Mary, Katharine, Annie Doyle from Ireland to US 1887-92

[GeoffTurner]

Hi all,

I have been going around in circles trying to find the emigration of a mother and her daughter and two step-daughters from Ireland to New York. James Doyle and Bridget Brennan (my 2nd great aunt) were married on 7 Aug 1881 in Dublin. It was Bridget's first marriage but James had been married before. His first marriage (from 1875 until 1880 when his first wife died) resulted in three children -- a boy who died as an infant and two girls, Mary (b 1877) and Katharine (b 1878). James and Bridget had two daughters, Annie (b 1883) and a girl who died.

James went on ahead, catching the Furnessia from Moville and arriving in New York on 5 Sep 1887. He then sent for Bridget, perhaps also called Bessie, and the three girls. It is the crossing of the wife and three daughters that I can't find.
 
Katharine married George Worden Keefe in Manhattan in 1895 and died in 1965. Mary never married but was a governess in Manhattan in the 1905 Census. Annie married James Floyd Sloan in Manhattan in 1900 and died in 1936.

James was naturalised in the Superior Court, New York County, on 29 Sep 1892, with Bridget as witness, so I think it safe to assume Bridget and the girls emigrated between Sep 1887, when James arrived, and Sep 1892, which is when we first find Bridget in the US, witnessing the naturalisation.

Annie's death certificate in 1936 says she had been in the US for 47 years, meaning she came to the US in 1889 -- which fits nicely into the target range of 1887 to 1892. So we are looking for Bridget, Mary, Kate (Kitty) and Annie Doyle on a ship in that period.

I have had limited success trying to track down transatlantic voyagers (I'm in Australia). Can anyone tell me the best (free) site to help us track down this group's emigration?

I subscribe to Ancestry.com but my membership level (and geographical focus) does not seem to give me access to the relevant information.
 
All help gratefully received,
Thanks,
Geoff Turner.

[shellyesq]

www.familysearch.org has passenger lists from that period.  Keep in mind that sometimes people traveled to whatever port was cheapest, so they may not have sailed into New York.  Philadelphia, Boston, or even Canada may be possibilities.

[GeoffTurner]

Thanks for the tip about other ports. I have now been through familysearch.org for the US and Canada with no port specified so I get more than just NY, searching in the 1887-1892 period for Bridget, Bessie, Anne, Annie, Mary,  Kate, Kitty, Katharine ... but no luck. Got me stumped! Time to move on, although this has been frustrating me for a while now.
But again, thanks for your help.
Geoff

[wivenhoe]

"..James was naturalised in the Superior Court, New York County, on 29 Sep 1892, with Bridget as witness"

One witness only?....and named Bridget DOYLE......wife...the word wife is recorded?

Where do you see James DOYLE in the 1890 Census?

"... Bridget, perhaps also called Bessie"   What does this mean...where do you see Bessie DOYLE?

Is there a reason for Bridget and children staying in Ireland after James left.....caring for aged parents etc?

[GeoffTurner]

One witness, wife of applicant (see attached). I don't have James in a 1890 Census. I have only ever seen her called Bridget, but some other family members think she may have been called Bessie as well. I was just trying to cover all bases, that's why I said "perhaps". Bridget's parents were both dead when she married James in 1881. I don't know when James' parents died, but I think sending him first was more likely to be decision based on finances. He was a porter and she was a house servant, and they had three extra mouths to feed (not counting the two infants who died). He is listed on the Furnessia in 1887 as a porter with two pieces of luggage, no family travelling with him. He is a porter on the Irish civil registrations. There is an unconfirmed story that he worked on a news stand in New York until he saved enough money to send for his wife and girls. I have not been able to contact the person with that version of the story. Thanks, Geoff

[gaffy]

One issue is that they may emigrated in more than two tranches, so targeting a search on a family unit of mother and 3 daughters might not be successful. Another issue is that the level and accuracy of travel 'detail' available, eg. on ship manifests, might not permit conclusive identification.   

The SS Ethiopa arriving at NY from Glasgow on 17 June 1890 had a 30 year old housekeeper Bridget Doyle and (listed immediately below) an Anne Doyle who looks to be either 4 or 7  years and 6 months, they boarded at Moville.  Could the ages simply be out? Unless there's  another source document somewhere for the passengers on that sailing, it's difficult to rule them in or out.     

[GeoffTurner]

Thanks Gaffy,
Yes, I was looking for them individually but hoping to hit the jackpot with them all together. Bridget was baptised in 1842 so would have been 48 in 1890, although she had a younger husband so might have shaved a few years off. Certainly her sister Catherine (my great grandmother) who came to Australia was very cagey about her age (if she in fact knew when she had been born). Even so, that’s a big stretch. I’ll run it past the cousins. It’s better than anything we had.

In 1890 Mary would have been 13, Kate would have been 12 and Annie would have been 7. So that’s a good possibility for Annie, and Bridget I guess. The stepdaughters Mary and Kate might have come separately. Kate married in New York in 1895 so she was there by then. Mary never wed but was on the 1905 NY Census.

I like Moville, since that is where James boarded. Most of the other possibilities we were looking at (and discarded) left from Cobh/Queenstown. There seems no reason for them to leave from opposite ends of Ireland, when they were a Dublin family.

Geoff

[shellyesq]

The 1890 US census was almost entirely destroyed by fire.  Only a few fragments remain, so I would not expect to find them there.

New York did have an 1892 state census.  Some counties are missing from that, but that is a possible place to look.

[RJ137]

New York did have an 1892 state census.  Some counties are missing from that, but that is a possible place to look.

From what I can see from various newspaper clippings (1879-1897), 434 West Thirty-eighth St / 434 West 38 Street is an apartment building in Manhattan.

If I remember correctly, Manhattan was not covered in the 1892 State census.