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James Ward family in or near Clifden, Galway, Ireland

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James Ward was born c. June 1853 in or near Clifden, Galway. He had two sisters that I know of. One sister was Catherine Ward, born c. 1856-1858. He had another sister whose first name I do not know. She was listed as Mrs Mullen in James Ward's obituary. James died October 26, 1907 in Fort Plain ( Minden), Montgomery County, New York State.

When James Ward came to the United States at about age 19 in 1872, he was listed as a Master Carriage maker. I am not certain as to where he arrived, but can say that Fort Plain and neighboring Amsterdam, New York were carpet manufacturing meccas and drew huge numbers to these towns for employment. The towns were on the Mohawk River and the rugs were called Mohawk rugs and were the premier rug manufacturers throughout the United States.

I do not know for

certain ifJames Wardwas Catholic in Ireland but he certainly was in the US. He was a Charter member of the Knights of Columbus and is said to be the builder of ST James Catholic Church in Fort Plain, NY. His funeral was Catholic as well.

I have recently learned that I amrelated to the Davin family fromin or near Clifden, Galway and have a possible second cousin

relationship w a man from Boston who has done a lot of Davin research.Ilearned this from Ancestry DNA.Thissecond cousinmentioned the Ward's of Skye Road, in Clifden.

James Ward married a Ellen ( or Helen ) Sweeney who came to the US on or about 1863 w her parents Patrick Sweeney

and Bridget O Connell, origin in Ireland unknown. I have deduced that James Ward and Ellen Sweeney married c. 1875. Hoping someone will have access to local Clifden or surrounding area

genealogical information.

Note: On Catherine Ward ( Gibeau ) death certificate a father, James Ward, is listed by the Undertaker. She died in 1923. I have a distrust of this document as the Undertaker could be surmising that father and son have the same name or whatever.

Therefore, I do not take large stock in the fathers name. There was no mothers name.

Would love to hear from someone who has access to Clifden area genealogical resources. Thank you.

Anne Baldwin

Lake George, New York State

OShaughnessyLoughlin

4 replies

Anne:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

The Cliden RC records for baptisms start in 1838 http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/1046  Do you know the names of the parents of James? I looked at Roots Ireland and the earliest James Ward baptismal record for a James Ward in Clifden was in 1860.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Roger McDonnell

This is Anne Baldwin, from New York, USA.

 

Thank you for your reply.  Are you a volunteer for Ireland Reaching Out ?

My great grandfathers sister was Catherine Ward .  I first found her, I believe, as a servant in 1875 in the residence of

Maria and William Averill , their daughter and a son in law Oliver Nash.  I have not looked at this family yet.

On Catherines death certificate, it states her father was James Ward, mother unknown.  listed by undertaker.

on James death certificate ( Catherines brother) , it lists Thomas Ward and either Helen or Ellen Ward as his parents, also

listed by undertaker.  James Wards wife was Ellen ( Helen ) Ward and his only son was Thomas Ward.  So I have conflicting

information and really dont know yet.

I have been contacted by a dna match from Boston and we are 2nd/3rd cousins.  His people left Clifden, Galway area and

are definitely related to the Davin family.  Of note, they are two rows apart in the Catholic cemetery in Canajoharie which is

a town adjacent to Fort Plain.  Also of note, I would make an assumption that employment brought James Ward to Fort Plain.  In the latter part of the 1800's, Fort Plain , Amsterdam and Canajoharie, NY were the carpet mecca cities .  No doubt they employed thousands in this Mohawk carpet industry named as they are on the Mohawk River.

So to sum up, I dont really know exactly who the father and mother were for James Ward. 

Anne Ward Baldwin

annebill79@hotmail.com

OShaughnessyLoughlin

Hi Anne!

Yes, I am a volunteer for Ireland Reaching Out. I live in Maryland but I'm a parish liaison for two parishes in Co. Roscommon and I also try to help out with messages posted to the IRO message board.

I'm not having any success looking for baptismal records for James or Catherine Ward on Roots Ireland. When you have time, I would go through the parish register and see if you can find any possible records.

The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Omey civil parish (which includes Clifden) does show a sixteen Ward records so the surname was very common in the parish.

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/galway/omey.htm

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Anne,

I just sent you an email regarding another part of our shared ancestry, the Warren line. Hopefully your email is the same.

Thank you!

Darrell

frenchconnecti…

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