I have found more information on James H. Calhoun, the person i mentioned yesterday morning. He came over to York City, New York from Northern Ireland on June 24, 1831, and he had a sister with her family with him. Unfortunately, she had a different surname, so I am struggling to find her. Also, James' birthday appears to be in 1809 instead of 1811. Can anyone help me find her? I think it will be easier to find their grandparents that way.
Link to previous post:
https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/message-board/calhoun-search
What’s the source of your information that Robert Calhoun was born in “Derry, Co. Cavan”? I ask because Calhoun and the variant spelling Colhoun seem pretty well unknown in that County, never mind in Derry. You should also be aware that there are 3 townlands named Derry in Cavan. I have checked the tithe applotment records c 1830 and Griffiths Valuation (1856) and there is no-one of that surname to be found in any of them. Nor anywhere else in the county. No Calhoun/Colhoun in the 1821 census fragments for Co Cavan either. Makes me wonder if he really was born in Co Cavan. The name is more common in Co Londonderry/Derry and Co Donegal.
According to MacLysaght’s “The Surnames of Ireland” Calhoun and the more common version Colhoun are, in Ulster, normally descendants of the Scottish clan Colquhoun. So that would point to them being descendants of Scots who moved to Ireland in the 1600s. They are likely therefore to be either Church of Ireland or more probably Presbyterian. (Presbyterianism was brought to Ireland by the 200,000 Scots who arrived in the 1600s).
As Roger has mentioned, many Church of Ireland records were lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin, and of those that have survived, many are not on-line. Likewise only some Presbyterian records are on-line too, and not all go back as far as the late 1700s and early 1800s. So tracing the family may be challenging. If you want to check out the Cavan records, you would probably need to go to PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast and look them up. Given that there’s 3 parishes involved (Shercock, Crosserlough & Killashandra), that’s probably 6 or 7 sets of records. Where records exist, they should be on microfilm in PRONI.
I wouldn’t worry too much about James exact birth year. Most people in Ireland in the 1700s and 1800s didn’t celebrate birthdays and often had no idea of when they were born. Ages were therefore often just guesses, especially on gravestones. The normal advice is to search 5 years either side of the apparent event date.
I can’t really help with identifying the sister without some idea of her name and where she lived. But if you find James’ baptism, she and any siblings could be in the same set of records.
Hi,
I don't have anything to add to Roger and Elwyns' comments.
You mentioned that James came over June 24, 1831. Was he a shoemaker?
Record from Ancestry
| Name | James Calhoun |
| Arrival Date | Jun 24, 1831 |
| Age | 22 |
| Gender | M (Male) |
| Port of Arrival | New York |
| Place of Origin | Ireland |
| Occupation | Shoemaker |
| Destination | United States of America |
| Ship | Ship Renown |
| Microfilm Serial Number | M237 |
| Microfilm Roll Number | 14 |
| List Number | 160 |
Original ship record. Would the name below be his sister? Maybe she wasn't married? I am having difficulty transcribing the name. Maybe Betsey??
Mary,
Well spotted. Suspect that the passenger below James shares his surname (hence the ditto) and could well be his sister. I read her name as Bessy, the name having been written with the now obsolete long S (used as part of a double S). Explanation here:
Elwyn,
Thank you. It's always nice to learn something new.
Mary
Mary,
Yes, James was a shoemaker, I forgot to mention this. I will try to find information on either Betsey or bessy. 4
Also, Elwyn, my dad seems convinced that James' father was robert, because he was into family research when he was younger. He may have made that up though, I'm not sure.
Thank you,
Justin
I found this file of James and his children, but the name Elizabeth, Henry, and John are listed below James. I know bessey is a nickname for elizabeth, so is it possible that these are his sister and nephews that live in virginia? The age is about the same span apart, give or take a few years, for elizabeth and james.
More likely James married an Elisabeth. Elisabeth and the two oldest children were born in Virginia and the younger children were born in Texas.
Roger McDonnell
Roger,
you are right, I made a mistake. James did have a wife named Elisabeth, but her maiden name was Thurmon. I forgot that people usually take the last name of their spouse. The older children were born in virginia, so i'll have to look back in new york again for Bessie.