John Drinnin

The story of how John Drinnin came to leave Ireland as told in a letter to my mother, LaDonna English by Vivian Malone Hocker, a great granddaughter of John Drinnin and Christina Acker.

“I wonder how you found out grandpa Drinnin was born in Queen Co. as he didn’t want his family in Ireland to know where he was. John and his mother lived with his older brother who was married and had a baby (nephew) just old enough to crawl. John loved that baby and always played with it when he came in from the field. One day at noon, it crawled out on the porch when it heard John’s voice. He was washing up for dinner and didn’t see the baby. As he stepped away from the wash bench, he stepped on the baby’s hand. He felt terrible and was going to pick up the baby, when his brother called him some kind of clod, hit him, knocking him out of the yard. John picked himself up and started walking, until he came to a seacoast town. Some sailors took a liking to him and hid him on the ship that was headed to New York. The captain found out about him after they were out to sea. He was allowed to work on the ship to pay his way. When the ship landed, the sailors helped him find a place to live and a job. He was 16 years old and could neither read nor write.”