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Looking for Manassah Ward family, born 1808, emigrated 1833 to US from Donaghedy, County Tyrone.

Tyrone

*He is possibly from Dunnyboe, according to some records.

*Most records are from this side of the pond, and simply list Omagh.

*Below is the ship's manifest listing my Ward family, who sailed to St. John, NB, Canada in 1833, then straight to Maine where they settled in Portland, ME.

*Manassah is my 4th great-grandfather.

*I have not been able to verify who his parents were, since it's going back to the early 19th century and records are sparse,

*records from his life in Maine indicate his parents may have been Ellen Bradley (1784-1861) and Michael F. Ward, (1775-1865)

...

ampaschos

3 replies

I assume your family was Roman Catholic. If so, and they were born in Omagh, the bad news is that the Catholic records for that parish (Drumragh) don’t start till 1853, long after your family had left Ireland. You also mention possible connections with Donagheady. Sadly their records don’t start till 1854. I see that your family were labourers. They can be hard to trace in the early 1800s due to the fact they often moved around to follow the available work and did not feature in many of the surviving documentary records. If your family left in 1833, there may not be any records of your family in Ireland to find.  They should have been in the 1831 census of Tyrone but it was sadly destroyed in the 1922 fire.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project and can offer FTDNA testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

The foIIowing Wards were Iisted in the 1796 FIax Growers Iist. I hope this provides a cIue as to where your Wards were Iiving.

Ward                Denis                 Donacavey              Tyrone

Ward                Farrel                Donaghenry             Tyrone

Ward                John                  Tullyniskan            Tyrone

Ward                Peter                 Urney                  Tyrone

Ward                Widow               Termonmaguirk          Tyrone

glanvil3@aol.com

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