|
|
The Frampton Irish, Ancestors to Many Americans
by Dennis McLane I was on an east bound flight from Boise, Idaho to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I could see out the north side window the many spreading farms of North Dakota. It suddenly occurred to me that somewhere out on that large expanse was the town of Sherwood, North Dakota where my Grandfather Miles McLane and his Uncle Mike Murphy had made their homestead claims in the early 20th century. In the county just west of them, my grandfather's brother James McLane made his homestead claim. The plane soon landed in Minneapolis and I caught my connecting flight to Montreal. Right after take off, through the south side window, I could see the farms around Neillsville, Wisconsin where Miles McLane and his brother James had spent their growing up years. Their parents were John McLane and Elizabeth Murphy. Elizabeth's brother Mike Murphy was living in the McLane household during the 1900 U.S. Census. So what does this have to do with Quebec family history? My grandfather, his brother, his parents, and his uncle were all born in Ste. Marguerite Parish of Dorchester County, Quebec. They are among the numerous Irish that once inhabited the area around Frampton, Quebec that moved on to find their way in the United States. The purpose of that plane flight was to make my first visit to Frampton, Quebec. I was tracing backwards in five hours what took my ancestors 100 years to do in their movements to the west. In reality, considering my genealogy research, it took me over seven years to reach this point. I had been brought up to have pride in my Irish American heritage. My family often talked of our Irish origins and I always thought us to be Irish Americans. I was quite surprised to find out that my Irish grandfather was actually born in Quebec, and that my true heritage was Irish Canadian. Like all amateur genealogists, it didn't take long before I was hooked by the intrigue of this unique (unique in America at least!) heritage. I began to gather and collect many sources related to the Irish community of Dorchester County. Being just six hours from Salt Lake City allowed me to visit the LDS Family History Library frequently to read through the Quebec sources and find my ancestors in the microfilmed Quebec parish registers for Frampton and Ste. Marguerite. I soon learned that there were significant numbers of Irish families from the Frampton area that found their way to the United States. My family was part of a large group of Irish families that began colonizing the area of Neillsville, Wisconsin around 1882. The heads of households of those Irish families were: Edward Cassidy, William Free, Thomas Free, Patrick Hughes, James Hughes, William Hughes, Edward Manes, John McLane, Miles Murphy, Moses Murphy, John Murphy, William John Murphy, Andrew Murphy, Martin Neville, Richard Redmond, Andrew Ross, Hugh Tackney and Andrew Wilson. I believe that as I continue my research, I may find additional Frampton Irish families that were a part of this colony. I have found that the descendants of these families are now distributed throughout the United States. One branch of the McLane family found their way back to Canada by homesteading in Alberta. It does not take any Frampton Irish researcher long before they stumble across the story of Martin Murphy and the Murphy/Stevens party being the first wagon train to cross the American frontier to California in 1844 (see article Wexford to California Via Quebec in March 2002 Connections). This story got me even more curious as Martin Murphy, Sr. lived in the Frampton area in the same time period as my ancestor Andrew Murphy and his father Miles Murphy. I continued to search for information about Martin Murphy in an attempt to make a connection between his and my Murphy families. In doing so, I have collected a great deal of information about him, including making a visit to a small museum that is located on the land where his home in Sunnyvale, California once stood. Also, the Martin Murphy family had a tremendous influence on the early history of California. The Murphys arrived in California when it was still a Mexican possession. They obtain substantial Mexican land grants and were founders of what would become Santa Clara County (San Jose), California. I have also found that a substantial number of Frampton Irish families emigrated to California starting with the Murphy/Stevens party and continuing through most of the 19th century. Several subsequent Frampton Irish families went to California by ship and traversed the isthmus of Panama. The head of households of those Irish families were: Nicholas Devereux, James Doyle, William Doyle, Murtha Doyle, John Doyle, Patrick Duff, James Fitzgerald, John Fitzgerald, Walter Fitzgerald, Patrick Fitzgerald, Thomas Kell, Jr., Patrick Kelly, James Miller (early founder of Marin County, CA), Mary Duff Mills, Martin Murphy, Sr., Martin Murphy, Jr., James Murphy, Bernard Murphy, John Murphy, Daniel Murphy, Clement Murphy, James O'Connor, John O'Toole, John Sinnott, and Patrick Sullivan. There are now many descendants of these Frampton Irish families living throughout California, especially in the San Francisco Bay area. All of this American history started in the small village of Frampton, Quebec. The Frampton Irish first began arriving in Lower Canada starting between 1810 to 1816. In 1806, a young Irishman from County Wexford named John Walsh found his way to Ste. Marie de Beauce and became a notaire. My own ancestor, Miles Murphy, also from Wexford, arrived around 1810, living first in Quebec City and around 1818 in Ste. Marie. It appears that many of the early Irish settlers to the Frampton area came from County Wexford. John Walsh may have had something to do with this phenomenon. Those Irish families finding their first homes in the Seigneurie of Ste. Marie were: Denis Doyle, Murt Doyle, Thomas Kell, Henry Lynch, Miles Murphy, James Neville, James O'Neill, John Reed, William Slevin (merchant), Dunn, Parker, and James Walsh. Most of them obtained their lands from Seigneurs Antoine Charles Taschereau, Jean Thomas Taschereau or Thomas Pierre Joseph Taschereau. Ste. Marie was the only village of substance at the time and was essentially the gateway to what would become the Frampton area. The Township of Frampton was created in 1806. Unlike the French seigneurial system where the lands were in the hands of certain families for many generations, these township lands would be developed by grants to certain persons who would in turn make sales of the lands to individuals. Pierre Edouard Desbarats is known as the founder and benefactor of Saint Edouard de Frampton. However, the Crown also made land grants to George Pyke, Gilbert Henderson, and William Henderson. The Taschereau family had possession of a few of these lands as well. So most of the Irish that would occupy the township obtained their lands from one of these persons. Most early Frampton land records are to be found among the notaire records, usually by the notaire most frequently used by the land owner. The actual occupying of the lots in the township began around 1815. The following persons were recorded as the entire population of Frampton in the 1825 census: Richard Aylward, William Bartholomew, George Beatty, Hugh Bradley, Edward Brennan, Patrick Burns, John Childs, John Dailey, Patrick Devereux, James Doyle, Myles Duff, Patrick Farrell, James Fitzgerald, Lawrence Fitzhenry, Joseph Garwitts, John Hodgson, Thomas Kell, Thomas Kirkwood, William Manne, William Meagher, Andrew Murphy, Martin Murphy, Peter Murphy, John Nicholson, Edward Pyke, Matthew Reid, Adam Ross, John Ross, Robert Sample, James Scott, Michael Simpson, Kenneth Sutherland, Joseph Sutton, Charles White, and Widow William Wilson. Some of them had arrived many years prior to this census. For example, Marie Louise Burns was baptized at Ste. Marie on June 23, 1816 and she was the daughter of Patrick Burns and Catherine Hastings and Patrick was recorded as a farmer in the Township of Frampton. By studying the differences between the 1825 and 1831 census, it becomes apparent the the vast majority of settlement in the Frampton area occurred between these two census enumerations. At the beginning of the Frampton enumeration, the census taker included the following notes: "The county of Beauce by law comprises several seigniories and townships which are not noticed by the commissioners. The returns of some of the parishes were found to be incorrectly copied in the general recapitulation, but they have been corrected in the present. The commissioners have not stated the rents in the seignoiries, nor the date of the establishment of the several parishes. In the parish of St. Francois there are several Govt. grants and on the new Kennebec road, the lands are held on free and common soccage. The township of Frampton is of recent origin containing 925 souls, of whom 618 have settled since 1825. They are principly Roman Catholics. In St. Marie there is a convent."Using the enumerators comment, the population of Frampton had tripled in 6 years. Most of this increase was due to the arriving Irish families. I made extractions of the 1831 census in order to use it as a benchmark for the arrival of the progenitors of the various Irish families. Although origin was not an element of this census, I extracted those names that were not obviously of French origin. Consequently, not all the names listed here are of Irish origin, but I believe the majority are. The Dorchester area was basically included in the Township of Frampton, the Parish of Ste. Claire and the Parish of St. Francois. At the time, the Parish of Ste. Claire included all the area of the Seigneurie of Jolliet that was later to become the Parish of Ste. Marguerite. I also extracted Irish names from the neighboring Seigneurie of Ste. Marie. These represent my best interpretations of the spelling and handwriting on the census records. In Frampton the following names were recorded: Pat Coughly, Mic Fitzsimmons, Alex Craig, And. Murphy, Peter Murphy, Widow Wilson, Alec Smieson, Wm. Bartholomew, Hugh Bradley, Jas. Clark, John Sergeant, Wm. Morrow, John Wilson, Jas. Lennox, ? Wilson, M. Donahue, Hugh Paisley, Tim McCarthy, Pat Kinsella, Pat Morgan, Wm. Warner, And. Cullen, Pat Doyle, David Walsh, Jas. Duncan, Pat Healey, Pat Moran, And. Dickson, Jas. Coyle, John Shehan, Jas. Sheehy, John Walsh, John Doherty, And. Fulton, Pat Connolly, Mic. Swanson, Arch. Smith, Jas. Shea, John Enright, Jas. Connell, Mic Many, Robert Kell, Jas. Wilson, Wm. Weeks, Pat Kinsley, Alex Hall, Jn. McMahon, Pat Curtin, Edmund Ryan, Edm. Ryan, Jr., Cornelius Lyons, Edw. Hogan, Thos. Glennan, John Drake, John Lonnorgh, Wm. Dundon, John Ralph, Jas. Foster, Jas. Hall, Mic Lynch, Thos. Kingston, Wm. Dickson, Crist Conway, Jas. Smith, John Daylen, John Thomson, John Stanley, Barth Barnard, Owen Bird, Mic Rooney, Mic Fitzgerald, Gilb. Henderson, Hen. Adams, Wm. Parker, John English, Wm. Ruff, Ch. Harper, Wm. Fitzsimmons, Sam Davidson, Robt. Blakiston, John Ross, Mic Doran, Rob. Mills, Jn. Fitzpatrick, Jas. Mills, Jn. Robinson, Edw. Brennan, Wm. Elvis, Jos. Jamieson, Wm. Waren, Wm. Mane, Wm. Brennan, Pat Daverick (Devereux), Mat. Reid, Jn. Mitchell, And. Breton, Edw. Mane, Pat Cavanah, Edw. Horan, Jn. Cavanah, Mic Armish, Hugh Kelly, Mic Furlong, Jn. Dayley, Hugh Dayley, Pat Murphy, Hny. Connors, Jn. Tucker, Mic Daniel, And. Mills, Wm. Rooney, Wm. Martin, Thos. Kells, Jas. Nugent, Cris. Nugent, Wm. Martin, Wm. Goodwin, Dan Madden, James McElgan, Gar. Griffin, Jos. Sutton, Phil Nana, Mic Caferty, Pat Moran, Pat Byrne, Pat Doherty, Jn. Riley, Mic Farlin, Dav. Barry, Dan Hayes, Terrence Caffrey, Jas. Courtney, Mar. Keenan, Ric. Hanley, Miles Duffs, Jas. Fitzgerald, Wal. Fitzgerald, Wm. Doyle, Mic Fitzhenry, Jas. Doyle, Jas. Butler, Moses Jordon, Mary Bulgers, John Golden, Jas. Franklin, Thos. Welch, Martin Conroy, Wm. Miller, Mic Kernan, Pat O'Neil, Thos. Nash, John Sullivan, Pat Coyle, Nick Corkeson, Jas. Hughs, Neil Hughs, Jas. O'Brien, Tho. Lawlor, Wm. Turner, Pat Martin, Henry Free, Sam Henderson, Jas. Grogan, Jas. Wall, Mar. Murphy, Pat Ryan, Pat Sullivan, Pat Neil, Adam Ross, Jas. Barden, Pat Burns, John Calden, Jas. Gathway, Wm. White, Rob. White, K. Sutherland, and Rob Rin. In Ste. Marie the following names were recorded: Miles Murphy, John Walsh, M. McNamara, and Hugh Donally. In Ste. Claire the following names were recorded: Jas. Walsh, Jas. Walsh, Jr., Wm. Belt, Mic Murphy, Wm. Roach, Jn. Coffin, Mic Hogan, Wm. Paisley, Hy. Lynch, Thos. Murphy, Mat. Doyle, Jn. Connell, Mat. Connell, L. Connell, Hugh Edmond, Jas. Kelly, Geo. Beaty, Mary McLarity, Phil Walsh, and John Connell. In St. Francois the following names were recorded: Hugh Dayley, John Elliott, Thos. Hicks, Thos. Murtha, Jas. Stafford, Jn. Porter, Stafford, Jas. Leary, Pat McCulloy, Geo. O'Neil, John O'Neil, J. Sullivan, Wm. Hennessy, Ch. McCarty, and Jas. Wilson A pattern of four waves of emigration can be discerned from studying the early data available about the Frampton Irish. The first wave were the initial settlers in the Ste. Marie area prior to 1820. The second wave are the first settlers in the Township of Frampton arriving between 1820 and 1825. The third wave are those who arrived between the 1825 census and the 1831 census. The fourth wave are those that arrived after 1831. It is important to note that almost all the original progenitors of the Frampton Irish families arrived in Lower Canada before the great famine emigration. So the impetus for these families to leave Ireland was based upon many other factors besides famine. Also, the history of the immigration station at Grosse Ile, which opened in 1832, may not have played a big part in the history of the Frampton Irish. The Township of Frampton soon became the hub of the Irish community in Dorchester County. In 1825, Edouard Desbarats donated 6 acres of land on lot 4 of the 3rd range of Frampton Township to build the first chapel, leading towards the creation of the Parish of St. Edouard de Frampton. The following Irish heads of household then made a request to the Bishop to establish a parish church in Frampton so the mass can be said in their language: Peter Murphy, Robert Sample, James Farrell, Patrick Byrns, Edward Brennan, Patrick Devereux, Timothy Connell, James Shea, James Nevil, Miles Duff, James Fitzgerald, William Doyle, Michael Fitzharris, Bridget Whelan, Denis O'Neil, Patrick Bulger, Andrew Murphy, Dennis Kelley, William Maher, Joseph Sutton, Thomas Conley, Patrick Kinsella, Miles Murphy, Matthew Reed, Martin Murphy, Walter Fitzgerald, Lawrence Fitzharris, William Whelan, James Doyle, and John Daily. The request was approved and the first village of Frampton began to spring up around the new chapel. Many of the Irish also took part in civil and military duties related to the community. The officers of the Quebec Militia, Bataillon du Comte de Beauce, included the following Irish: Captains: Gilbert Henderson, Andrew Murphy, James G. Hanna, John Hodgson, Martin Murphy; Lieutenants: William Slevin, William Dickson, Kenneth Sutherland, Charles Julian, Charles Harper, Alex. Smyson, William Martin; Ensigns: Timothy Connell, Edward Brennan, James Naughton, John Dillon, John Duff and James Sheehy. Gilbert Henderson established the first school in the township in 1828. Gilbert Henderson was Captain of the Militia and Justice of the Peace in the eastern part of Frampton Township. As such he was President of the school board and the following trustees served on his board: Michael Fitzgerald, William Dixon, and John Dillon. Andrew Murphy was Captain of the Militia for the western part of the township and was president of two school boards there. The following served as trustees on his boards: Andrew Cullen, Patrick Healy, James Duncan, Patrick Delaney, James Coyle, and John Sullivan. Just north of the Township of Frampton was the Seigneurie of Jolliet. Many Irish began settling on these lands in the 1820s. Although, officially they were part of the Parish of Ste. Claire they actually spent much of their time in the Irish community of Frampton. Many of the Irish families settled in the concessions of St. Alexander and St. Edouard. These concessions were located on the northern boundary of Frampton Township and were only a few miles from the first village of Frampton. According to an assessment for financial support of the parish of Ste. Claire taken in 1825, the following Irish families were living in this area in 1825: John Whalen, Patrick Keyhaugh, Alexander Whalen, Timothy Whalen, Peter Murphy, Edward Brennan, and James Nevill On November 8, 1831, the Parish of Ste. Marguerite was established. In December of 1845, the first chapel of St. Malachie was blessed. This began the creation of the Parish of St. Malachie. The creation of the Parish of St. Malachie basically divided the Township of Frampton into two parishes. The western township being St. Edouard de Frampton and the eastern township being St. Malachie. This to some extent resulted in a division of the Irish community. However, this was perhaps necessary considering how the Etchemin River provided geographic separation of the township. Some degree of controversy arose when it came time to build a new church of St. Edouard de Frampton. The Pastor at the time was Fr. Odilon Paradis. Fr. Paradis arrived in 1856 and began a process to move the location of the church. This did not set well with the early Irish families that inhabited the lands surrounding the old chapel. Also, the old chapel had become the center of the Irish community just a stones throw from the Irish families located in the southern part of Ste. Marguerite. The cemetery surrounding the old chapel is also where many of the Irish ancestors and family members were buried. Never-the-less, Fr. Paradis was successful in this endeavor and the new church was built in 1863 on lot 3 of 3rd range and a new village of Frampton grew up around the new church. The Irish community of Frampton was not exclusively Catholic. By 1825, a community of ten Anglican families was established in the north part of the Township of Frampton in the vicinity of what would become Springbrook. The families often meet together for worship with other Protestants in the home of John Ross, a Presbyterian. The building of the first Anglican chapel took place around 1830 on land donated by John Ross on Springbrook Road. Christ Church of Frampton would eventually be known as Springbrook. I have found the following to be the primary Anglican progenitors in the Frampton area: Edward Anderson, John Bagley, Daniel Bagnall, George Bagnall, Andrew Bartholomew, William Bartholomew, Andrew Bradley, Hugh Bradley, Samuel Bradley, William Bradley, Thomas Dawson, Hugh Dickson, Thomas Dickson, John Dillon, James Doherty, John Doherty, John Duncan, William Fitzsimmons, James Foster, John Foster, Richard Free, William Harper, Andrew Haslet, Henry Hodgson, William Holmes, Ephrain Holt, Isaac Holt, George Hurley, Hugh Hurley, Thomas Kell, Andrew Kingston, Thomas Kingston, Edward Manes, John McBean, William McLaughlin, Richard McLaughlin, John McNeilly, William Paisley, George Pickford, James Reynolds, Adam Ross, Andrew Ross, John Ross, John Rutherford, Edward Sergeant, John Sergeant, James Scott, John Scott, Thomas Scott, Thomas Smith, John Smith, Archibald Smith, John Watson, Charles White, Richard White, William White, Anthony Whyte, Joseph Whyte, and Andrew Wilson. While many would assume that this Irish Protestant community would be separate and distinct from the Irish Catholic community, after study of the records I don't believe this to be true. There are many indications of inter-marriage between these communities. For example, in some census records a husband may be identified as Church of England and the wife as Catholic. One couple seemed to work this out by all the males in the family being shown as Church of England and the females as Catholic. I have found Catholic servants and laborers listed in Protestant households and vice versa. There are indications in some notaire records that they often conducted business with each other. Also, identical surnames could be identified with either faith. It seems that the bonds these communities shared as Irish transcended any differences they may have in their faith. Much of what was provided on this subject by Daniel Parkinson in Crossing Over Protestant/Catholic Intermarriage, 19th Century, Rawdon, QC (see Connections, March 2003) appears to have been true in the Frampton area as well. With the many sources I have collected, I am developing a Frampton Irish genealogy index. It is still in a developmental stage, but is now up to 370 pages. I compiled the initial index using the Recueil de Genealogies des Comtes de Beauce, Dorchester, Frontenac, 1625 1946, the 1861 census, and the LDS Family Search 1881 census index as a base. Although, I encountered some of the same issues identified by Daniel Parkinson in Why Can't I Find Them? (See Connections, June 2003). I am continually adding data to it from the 1825 census, the 1831 census, cemetery books for Frampton, St. Malachie, and Ste. Marguerite, and a variety of local history books and documents. As my work progresses I attempt to make links between the families, determine common ancestry, and obtain as many references to origins in Ireland as possible. I will later compare this with U.S. census data in various locations to determine where many of the descendants of these families went after they left Frampton. It is my hope that this index will someday be handy for those searching for their Frampton Irish ancestors. I have also begun some research using the notaire records for Dorchester County. I must agree with other writers that these source are very rich in details about the lives of the people involved. Some of the acts of notaire identify important family links and I have found a few that have revealed Irish places of origin. My motivation for this comes from a desire to find my own family events. I have been somewhat successful, having found a land concession to Miles Murphy (father of Andrew Murphy) from Antoine Charles Taschereau for land in concession St. Gabriel in the Seignuerie of Ste. Marie, a school trustee proclamation by Andrew Murphy, and a land concession to Miles Murphy (son of Andrew Murphy) from William Pyke for land in concession St. Edouard in the Seignuerie of Jolliet, Ste. Marguerite. This is very time consuming work considering there are very many notaires and each with many records. The records are not indexed and most are in French in old handwriting styles. However, I have noticed that when both parties to a act were English speakers, most notaires wrote them in English. As I look for records specific to my families, I have been recording in an index every record I find pertaining to the Irish community. I estimate that I have only looked at about 10% of the available records. My visit to Frampton turned out very well. Although I couldn't help notice that this part of rural Quebec showed little signs of Irish heritage. I found out that the old cemetery in Ste. Marie de Beauce now has buildings built where it once stood. However, I am sure there might not have been any old gravestones left anyway. The cemetery in St. Marguerite had only three monument stones that identified Irish people. Entering Frampton township, I soon noticed place names like Lake O'Neill, Brennan Road, Reed Road, Golden Road, and Devereau Road to name a few. The Frampton Cemetery had many stones with the names of the Irish. The same was true for St. Malachie. The highlight was spending time at the old Frampton cemetery and at Christ Church in Springbrook. All the other villages had grown and adapted to the dominant Quebecois culture, but those two places seemed to be frozen in time. The old Frampton cemetery was where the first chapel once stood as well as the originally village. Several of my own ancestors are buried there and I could sense their quiet spirits. Yet despite the silence, I could imagine a village full of Irish people carrying on their day to day business. Springbrook gave me a similar experience. Springbrook was located only about 1 ½ miles from the farm once occupied by my Ancestor Andrew Murphy. Unlike how the old Frampton cemetery had been restored, Springbrook was truly historic with the old church building still standing and over looking the vast countryside where almost every farm was occupied by Irish families. Irish families seeking a new life in the dense forests of Lower Canada. Their existence there has been described in some sources as "poor farming." Yet today the country side has a richness to it. Although there remains a few Irish surnames in the local telephone book, the great Irish community that once stood on this spot remains only in the hearts and minds of the numerous descendants of the Frampton Irish. |
| Please send suggestions for this site to: Dennis McLane |
