I am trying to find information on my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Fenton Murphy. He was born 11 Sept 1865 to Nicholas & Mary Murphy in Taghmon, Co Wexford.. He had a brother, James, but I don't know if he was older or younger. Thomas went to Chicago, IL prior to age 18 according to his naturalization papers. I believe James went with him, but know nothing of other siblings or his parents. Thank you!
Do you know Mary's maiden surname ?
I found a number of Thomas Murphy birth/baptisms in Co. Wexford but nothing matching the parents first names or date you mention in the Taghmon area. Does the birth date you have come from a secondary source - e.g a US death cert or census ?
Allowing for inaccuracy in reported ages & birth date and widening the search area (all Co. Wexford 1865 +-10yrs) the closest Catholic baptism match is a Thomas Murphy born 24th December and baptised on the 27th Dec 1865 in New Ross (NLI RC Register images), parents Nicholas Murphy and Marie (Mary) Molloy. New Ross is several parishes to the west of Taghmon - abt. 26km (16 miles).
I found a more likely match for your Thomas in Taghmon - it's before the start of Civil records and a couple of years earlier that the date you have, but baptism date matches - Thomas Murphy , baptised 11th September 1862 Taghmon RC parish, parents Nicholas Murphy and Mary Walsh, godparents James Renville [?] and Pat Kehoe.
I dont see a baptism for James.. the register is little disorganized with entries out of sequence and difficult hand-writing. Only definite sibling I've found is a Bridget Murphy bapt. 8th Oct 1860 in Taghmon.
Thank you! I took me a couple of days to be able to go through the papers of his that I have. I only know his parents first name from his marriage certificate issued in Virginia, USA. His date of birth is listed on several papers for the US Navy and insurance forms as 11 Sept 1865. Those papers were typed, so depending on his print it is possible that he wrote 1862, and it looked more like 1865. I can't find a hand printed birthday to confirm this. The birth place is listed as "Taghmon" or simply "Ireland." His daughter, however, thought he came from Dublin. The only thing I know about siblings is the one brother. The story I was always told was that he lived in Chicago, and had only one child who died very young. He requested his brother do the "proper" thing and send them his youngest child, my great grandmother, to raise. He refused and never spoke to the brother again...but my granny always had the picture of the little girl they wanted her to "replace."