Scanlon # 13

The "Boston Cornelius Scanlon" had lived at 81 Dove Street.  After tracing some of the other Irish families who lived on Dove Street in Boston, I have identified another possible sibling for Cornelius:  

“James Scanlan” died in Boston, Massachusetts on 8 April 1907 at about the age of 68, which would place his birth in Ireland around 1839.  His parents were “John Scanlan and Ann Lundregan” [1].

These given names are consistent with the given names of Cornelius’ parents on his marriage record [2].  They are also consistent with the given names of the "Missouri John Scanlon’s" parents [3].

The surname “Lundregan” is similar to “Lonergan,” which is Cornelius' mother's surname found on his possible baptism in the Roman Catholic parish of Lismore, Co. Waterford.    In fact, without the “d” in Lundregan, it would have the same Soundex Code as “Lonergan.” 

As it is now, the Soundex code for Lonergan is L562, and the Soundex Code for Lundregan is L536. 

According to one website, however, some of the variants of Lonergan include “Landergan, Landrigan, Ladrigan and Landragon” – all with a “D” [4].   

Here is a visual comparison of the parental information so far, and obviously not without conflicts:

	“Lismore Cornelius” [5]	“Lismore John” [6]	“Boston Cornelius” [7]	“Missouri John” [8]	James [9]
Father	John Scanlon	John Scanlon	John	John Scanlon	John Scanlan
Mother	Honor Lonergan	Elizabeth Lonergan	Anna	Ann [Langhun?]	Ann Lundregan

Onward... 

Notes:

[1] “Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915,” digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 October 2013), entry for James Scanlan, 8 April 1907, citing “Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840-1911, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.   

[2] “Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988,” marriage, no. 2158, entry for Cornelius Scanlon and Margaret Shanahan, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013).

[3] “Missouri Death Certificates,” Lawrence County, certificate no. 27203, entry for “John Scaulon,” Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 19 September 2013).  Note:  “Scaulon” rather than Scanlon.

[4] “Lonergan Surname History,” HouseofNames.com (http://www.houseofnames.com : accessed 14 October 2013).

[5] “Baptismal/Birth records for Ireland,” Irish Family History Foundation, Co. Waterford, Roman Catholic parish of Lismore, Cornelius Scanlon; copy of original record held at Waterford Heritage Genealogy Centre, Jenkens Lane, County Waterford, Ireland.

[6] Ibid., baptism for John Scanlon.

[7] Ibid., Cornelius Scanlon marriage.  See Note 2.

[8] Ibid., Death certificate for John Scanlon.  See Note 3.

[9] Ibid., Return of Death for James Scanlon.  See Note 1.

Thomas and Bridget Fox

Also…  

While scrolling through FHL film 930,929 (an index to Lawrence County, Missouri deeds), I discovered that a man named Thomas Fox also bought land from the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad Company on the same day (14 September 1877) that Cornelius and John Scanlon bought their land from the railroad.

Thomas’ land was situated between Cornelius’ and John’s [1].

Thomas was born in Ireland as was his wife Bridget [2]

A little digging produced what is likely their headstones in the same cemetery where Cornelius is most likely buried.  These stones, just as Cornelius’ did, place both Thomas’ and Bridget’s birth in County Waterford as well [3]. 

And so now I'm wondering if Thomas and Bridget migrated to Missouri from Massachusetts, as did Cornelius, where his oldest known son (John Scanlon) was born [4].   

Notes:

[1] An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lawrence County, Missouri (1879), Missouri County Plat Books, online database, Missouri Digital Heritage http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 18 September 2013).

[2] 1880 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 86, p. 39, sheet 483C, dwelling 329, family 333, Thomas Fox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,254,698; citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 698.

[3] See Memorial 51116621, digital image of headstone photographed by Tammi, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 4 October 2013), Missouri, Lawrence County, Pierce City, St. Patrick’s Cemetery, entry for Thomas Fox, b. 1833-d. 1907.  

  
[4] Lawrence County, Missouri censuses agree that Cornelius' oldest son John was born in Massachusetts.  See 1880 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 86, p. 39, sheet 483C, dwelling 331, family 335, Cornelius Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,254,698; citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 698.  Also see 1900 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 78, Sheet 2A, dwelling 22, family 22, Cornelius Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,240,870; citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 870.

Scanlon # 12

The birth year of the ‘Missouri Cornelius’ was about 1832 (See my previous post about his headstone).

In order for my hypothesis (that the ‘Missouri Cornelius’  was a godparent to John Higgins in 1842) to be more than plausible, it would be extremely helpful to find a baptism in County Waterford for a Cornelius Scanlon born around 1832, and preferably in the Roman Catholic parish of Lismore where John Higgins was baptized.

The headstone of the ‘Missouri Cornelius’ does place his birth in County Waterford, Ireland.  Yet in order to find a baptism, I need the maiden name of Cornelius’ mother, which has so far, not directly presented itself. 

If he and John Scanlon (born about 1846) were brothers, the maiden name of John’s mother will be helpful, if they had the same mother.        

So far what I have for John’s mother’s maiden name looks something like “Langhen” – which may possibly be Lanergan or Lonergan.  The handwriting is unclear [1].  

John is so far the only known possible sibling for Cornelius. 

To date, I have not found a baptism for a Cornelius Scanlon in the Roman Catholic parish of Lismore in 1832.  I did find a potential baptism for John Scanlon, however – and I’m not quite ready to leave the Scanlons behind [2]. 

Notes:

[1] “Missouri Death Certificates,” Lawrence County, certificate no. 27203, entry for “John Scaulon,” Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 19 September 2013).  Note:  Indexed as “Scaulon” rather than Scanlon.

[2] The baptism for John Scanlon was found via the Irish Family History Foundation’s database for baptisms.

  

Scanlon # 11

So I headed to the FHC as soon as it opened yesterday morning and spent a couple of hours scrolling through FHL film 930,929-- an index to Lawrence County, Missouri deeds.

I found Cornelius and John Scanlon listed as grantees.  They had each bought land on 14 September 1877 from the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company.

***

I decided to take another look at John Scanlon’s mother’s maiden name on his death certificate.   

What looked initially like “Laugher or Laughur or Laughlin” is more probably something like “Langhen or Langhun,” and possibly “Longhen or Longhun,”  and perhaps even "Lonergan."

What looks like a “U” in “Laugher” is probably an “N,” based on the indexing of “Scaulon” for Scanlon. 

That is, what initially looked like a “U” in Scaulon has the same appearance as the “U” in “Laugher” [1].

I haven't forgotten I still need to find additional records that give the maiden names for both Cornelius' and John's mother.

Notes:

[1] “Missouri Death Certificates,” Lawrence County, certificate no. 27203, entry for “John Scaulon,” Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 19 September 2013).  Note:  Indexed as “Scaulon” rather than Scanlon.

 

Scanlon # 10

Yesterday I said I was unsure whether or not Cornelius Scanlon and his possible brother John had homestead entry files.  I searched the BLM land patent index for their names a couple of weeks ago, but found nothing for a Cornelius or a John Scanlon or Scanlan.  Nor did their names appear when I searched by township, range.  Nor did they appear in the Missouri Land Patent database 1831-1969 provided by Missouri Digital Heritage.

Because certain names do not appear in an index does not mean they shouldn’t be there, but it’s plausible they bought their land from a previous land owner.

While I’m waiting to hear from the Lawrence County Justice Center about naturalization records, I’ll be scrolling through film 930,929, an index to Lawrence County, Missouri deeds, 1871-188? – which arrived at the Family History Center yesterday.  I'll be headed there this morning.    

Scanlon # 9

I ended my last post by saying I would begin looking for John Scanlon’s naturalization records.   It seems plausible that if either he or Cornelius were naturalized in Missouri, that they would be naturalized in a local court – close to home – rather than in a court not close to home. 
 
The National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri located (through a brief search of indexes) a record for one “Cornelius M. Scanlon,” from Ireland -- who was naturalized on 26 March 1901 in Jackson County – which is about seven counties north of Lawrence County – where the Cornelius I am researching lived. 

It seems unlikely that this Jackson County Cornelius and the Lawrence County Cornelius were the same individual, based on the 1920 U. S. passport application for one “Cornelius M. Scanlan,” a clergyman of Jackson County, Missouri – which states he was naturalized on 20 March 1901 [1]. 

There is a difference of six days between the Jackson County naturalizations, but this could easily have been a copy error.

   

Both John and Cornelius of Lawrence County were farmers and owned land by 1879 [2].

The Homestead Act of 1862 required individuals purchasing land to file a declaration of intention to be naturalized – although I’m not sure Cornelius or John even have homestead entry files [3].

Regardless, today I will be sending a letter to the Lawrence County Justice Center to see if they have any naturalization records for either Cornelius or his possible brother John.    

Notes:

[1] “U. S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2013), entry for Cornelius M. Scanlan, Jackson County, Missouri; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1372, roll 571. 

[2] See An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lawrence County, Missouri (1879), Missouri County Plat Books, online database, Missouri Digital Heritage http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 18 September 2013).

[3] John J. Newman, American Naturalization Processes and Procedures 1790-1985 (Indianapolis, Indiana:  Indiana Historical Society, 1985), 16. 

Scanlon # 8: Objectives

My main objective for Cornelius Scanlon is to prove or disprove a connection to the Roman Catholic parish of Lismore, in County Waterford, Ireland.

I’m going to focus part of my time now on locating naturalization records for both Cornelius Scanlon and his possible brother John – even though these records are not likely to list a specific town of origin for either Cornelius or John. 

The records may, however, list a county of birth; I have seen other naturalization records prior to 1906 that do so.

U. S. censuses agree that both Cornelius and John were naturalized citizens.  The 1920 U. S. census indicates John’s year of naturalization was about 1877, which does not pre-date his immigration year:

	Immigration Year
RECORD	CORNELIUS	JOHN
1900 U. S. census [1]	1850	1873
1910 U. S. census [2]	1862	1872
1920 U. S. census [3]		1872 (Naturalized 1877)
1930 U. S. census [4]		1873

The immigration year for Cornelius is obviously less defined than John’s, so I will begin with John.

Notes:

[1]  For Cornelius, see the 1900 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 78, Sheet 2A, dwelling 22, family 22, Cornelius Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,240,870; citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 870.

     For John, see the 1900 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 78, sheet 2B, dwelling 31, family 31, line 83, John Scanlon, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,240,870; citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 870.

[2] For Cornelius, see 1910 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 94, Page 132, Sheet 8B, dwelling 166, family 169, line 84, Cornelius Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,374,808; citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 795.

      

     For John, see 1910 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 94, Page 132, dwelling 155, family 158, line 34, John Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 1,374,808; citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 795.

[3] 1920 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 110, Page 119, dwelling 141, family 143, line 16, John Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 932.

[4] 1930 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 14, dwelling 38, family 38, line 58, John Scanlon; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 2,340,943; citing National Archives microfilm publication T626, roll 1208.