Want to establishment contact with Hughes / Traynor Families in the Rathkenny - Montnewtown area,
Between 1827 and 1831 the Hughes and Traynor familiesfrom Kellystown, Montnewtown, Meath emigrated to up state New York,just south of the St Lawrence River. Father, Matthew Hughes (1771), mother, Bridget Traynor,(1765), children Michael. James, John, Margaret, Julia, and Thomas. They were all baptized in Rathkenny parish and lived in Kellystown.Their new American locationwas the original American Frontier.The Irishwere separated and isolated from most of therest ofAmerica. The Irish were not welcomedin many of the developedareas of America. Since the new Irish immigrants could not speak, read or write theEnglish language they all lived together and livedtheir old Celtic livestyles. They farmed their new properties, established their churches, intermarried andraised their familieswithin their own communities. When my GGGgrandfather died in 1853 he still could not write his name and signed his "Will"with a "X".
Matthew Hughes and family never forgot their home land. When Matthewdied in 1853 he left $600 to the poor and destitute in Kellystown. These immigrantsnamedtheirfirst Catholic Church,St Mary's,(RathKenny Church was St Mary's),andnamed their roads Irish Rd, Ireland Rd andIrish Settlement Road, Hughes Road for their Irish homeland.When the original St Mary's church burnt down in the 1840's, they built three new churchesin the adjacentnewly established villages all named St Mary's. All these churches arewithin 10 miles of the original church site. Today the adjacent villages of Waddington, Potsdam, and Canton all have a St Mary's churchand many St Mary's Cemeteries.
Some of the original Hughes - Traynor family members still live in the original upstate New York settlement area but most are now spread all over the USA and the world. The manySt Mary's Cemeteries are now thehometo thousants ofthe original immigrants and the road and Church namesare still there. Mygeneration is trying to reestablish contact withour Ireland past and our families..
If you could help or pass on my requestto peoplewho my be interested in exploringtheir pasts and helping thereAmericanrelatives. Please contact. Bill Hughes @hughes.w@comcast.net. I am planning on visiting Meath and Louth in September 2016.