My great great great grandfather William Roulston left Donegal about 1850. His son, William Roulston, claims on his naturalization application to have emigrated in 1864. Both came to NYC. I have been unable to find a passenger list for either man. Hoping to connect with other Roulston family members in Donegal.
According to rootsireland.ie, William and his two sisters were baptized in the Presbyterian Church in the parish of Carnone in Donegal. Parents William, Eliza Wray. William James Roulston was born 17 Dec. 1844, bap. 15 Feb. 1845. I hope this is helpful.
Patricia, OMG...I am practically in tears to read your message. I never expected to hear back so quickly, and certainly never with such detail. I had found one sister (Mary), but not the second. Thanks also for confirming Eliza's last name for me (Wray). I'm terribly ignorant about the geography of Ireland. You mention "parish of Carnone in Donegal". Is "Donegal" used here the town or county?
Your message has given me hope that it will be worth my while to visit next year (or whenever Covid releases its hold on the world). I hope you are well, and thank you again.
William James Roulston (my great grandfather) had an interesting history once he got to NYC. He had 3 wives, the last being my great grandmother (Mary Louise Turner). She died when my grandfather was only 3 years old, and William died 5 years later at 50. My grandfather and his sister went into an orphanage (which had been started by Eliza Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton). That's how I knew about Donegal because the New York Historical Society has the admission and dismissal journals in their archives.
When I hunted down William and Mary Louise's grave sites, I found them interred with her in-laws (Satterley), but their names were not on the gravestone, so I had them added. It felt like the least thing I could do to honor them!
Sorry...I tend to run on about my ancestors. Their histories are so fascinating. I once thought I had a pretty "boring" history, but wow, I've learned that is far from the case.
Thank you again for taking the time to relaunch my research.
Lynne (NYC)
You mention "parish of Carnone in Donegal". Is "Donegal" used here the town or county?
--It's the county, not the town.
Hi again, Lynne,
William's sisters were Mary, as you mentioned, and Eliza Jane, born 07-Apr-1848
and baptized in parish of Carnone on 14-May-1848.
Thank you again, Patricia! This clue has opened up an entire branch here in NYC which I will be working on later today. So exciting.
From earlier research, I had the same birth year (1848) for Mary. Can you confirm that? ...and therefore, were they twins?
Wish there weren't so many Elizas, Janes, and Williams!!! *-)
Regards,
Lynne
Patricia,
I've just spent the last 3 hours adding family that cascaded forth thanks to the information you provided. Eliza Jane married into the Eakins family here, and I have several generations thereafter, including the possibility of one living descendant. That's always exciting. The tricky part is contacting them and hoping they don't think you are a scam artist or whack-a-doodle! One of these men was an inventor and the company was later purchased by Proctor Silex. He must have died a wealthy man. Thank you again. I can't wait to work on this newest branch. At the very least, I'll visit their graves in nearby Green-Wood Cemetery, where there are at least four other branches. Stay well.
Lynne
Digging around the documents I have, I "discovered" Eliza Wray Roulston lived until she was 91. (We have a lot of 90-somethings in our family, including my mother who is through the Roulston line, who died when she was 94!). I also discovered in the 1910 US Census, she listed that she had 5 children in total, of which only one was still living, a daughter also named Eliza. Now I need to find out if they were born here, or earlier. Have not confirmed her immigration yet, but it may be 1850 or 1851. I found her burial site in Green-Wood along with her Eakins "in-laws". So exciting to learn more about these people.