Hi,
WOW, you have a lot of connections to a variety of locations in Ireland through various branches of this Clark family. Still trying to find various documentation to determine James H and Catherine locations of origin, but these are connections that popped up right away. Some publihed (on the internet) suggest that Wife Catherine is of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, but I have not been able to discern where they obtained that information from, so will keep checking to prove or disprove it as a lead.
So far I have uncovered branches: Thomas Moran in County Kilkenny, Mary Catherine McDonald in County Antrim and her father and mother, Michal McDonald in County Antrim and Mary McKeney in County Antrim.
Mary McKeney tombstone reads:
?? Her Leys Remains of
Mary McKeney The
Daughter of John McKenney,
born in the Parish of
Lough Geel. Consort
of Mical McDonal & from
The County of Antrim,
& aged (unreadable)5 years.??
Mary and husband Mical (Michael) remains are said to ?be in St. Joseph?s in Guernsey County Ohio.?
As the Tombstone of their daughter Rosanna also reads that she was born in ?Parish Loch Geel, County Antrim? I would expect to see that their daughter Mary also was born in Loch Geel, County Antrim.
http://www.antrimhistory.net/content.php?cid=54
Mary McDonald married Thomas Moran (of County KilKenney) and in turn had a daughter named Mary Catherine Moran in Ohio.
Mary Catherine Moran in turn married Hugh Clark Jr, son of Hugh Clark and Margaret McColough, born est 1827 Ireland. Hugh Jr. shows on census records as estimated DOB of 1832 -1834. These would be Great Aunt and Great Uncle if the James is his elder brother. The great portion would increase depending on how far down the generational ine you were born
I am giving the full link here as it directly opens a PDF.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.colsdioc.org%2FLinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3D3mc59x4_lE0%253D%26tabid%3D2732%26portalid%3D0&ei=ytlwUYHgIMm9iwLHhYHQCQ&usg=AFQjCNHWMJCy8g0G0VH2hc-DdjoDtK-L9g
Mary Catherine Moran and Hugh Clark Jr. are both buried in St. Patricks Church Cemetery. Hugh Jr. and their family unit resided in Jackson Township, Perry County, Ohio until their deaths. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X86Q-PMX
Both St. Joseph and St. Patricks Churches are Catholic and was in the Diocese of Columbus.
Any relations to these people would be cousins of various degrees.
I have been looking into this aspect for clues and first see your family James H and Margaret located in 1850 Jackson Township Perry County Ohio, listed in the same house with Hugh Sr. and Wife Margaret. Children at that time are John DOB ABT 1845 Ireland, Margaret DOB 1846 Ireland, and Edward DOB Dec 09 1848 Ohio. So it looks like Charles Edward was the first generation to be born in America. James does give a date of 1847 as emigration in later census.
1860 though does not show James and Catherine in Jackson, Perry County Ohio with Hugh Sr.. Margaret is not listed so presuming has passed.. Hugh Jr is with Hugh Sr. along with John Black, his wife Mary Black and their 4 children, Mary, Margaret, Hugh and Daniel. Margaret and Hugh are born in Canada.
1860 shows James and wife Catherine in Pike, Perry County, Ohio with children John J DOB ABT 1844 IRE, Margaret DOB ABT 1846 IRE, Edward DOB ABT 1848 OH, Patrick DOB ABT 1850 OH, Elizabeth DOB ABT 1856 OH.
1870 no longer shows Hugh Sr. in Jackson Township, Perry County, Ohio, but does show Hugh Jr. and wife Catherine with children John, Margaret, Mary, Alice and James. The Black household is also shown separate and appears that wife Mary has passed, children listed are Margaret, Hugh and Daniel.
1870 Darby, Madison County Ohio shows James and Wife Catherine with John DOB ABT 1844, Edward dOB ABT 1850, Patrick SOB ABT 1852, Elizabeth, DOB ABT 1855 and Mary C DOB ABT 1861.
From 1880 till death James and Catherine stayed in McDonald Township, Hardin county, Ohio.
Skipping ahead to 1900 as this census does show a connection the Black family listed prior.
1900 shows your James @ 77 widowed with daughter Mary C. @ 39 and a little girl Edney Black @ 8 listed as niece.
1940 census Lists Mary C as Head @ 49 with Edna E Black as a cousin.
Ok, now I have a few questions that might help determine where James and Catherines records might be located. Excellent explanation of what records are where can be found at http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.htmlWhat do you have that links James as a son of Hugh Sr.? Death certificate? Is it possible that James was a nephew of Hugh Sr.? Where is Catherines last name from? Is it a death certificate?
What religion did they prefer? Were they Catholic? Are there any relevant family traditions? Any other details that might give insight? Which sibling are you descended from? ( so I can rule out your publishings if you have any online)
Look forward to hearing from you and hope this is helpful, Jeanette