Thomas Fox # 4: Baptism!

Eureka!  Eureka!  Eureka!  I’ve found what may be the baptism of Thomas Fox in the Roman Catholic parish of Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland… 

Name	Date of Baptism	Parish	Father	Mother
Thomas Fox [1]	13 Oct 1835	Lismore [Roman Catholic]	John Fox	Helen Burns

Thomas Fox of Michigan (and more than likely Missouri) probably had a sister named Ellen.  And she was more than likely married to Jeremiah Noonan, whose household can be found in the 1870 U. S. census for Quincy, Houghton, Michigan – just below the household of John Fox, which is below the household of Cornelius Scanlon.

Noonan Household, 1870 U. S. census, Quincy, Houghton, Michigan [2]:

Noonan Jeremiah	35	M	“ [Miner]	Ireland
----Ellen	33 [born about 1837]	F	Keeping house	Ireland
----Mary	7	F		Ireland
----John	5 [born about 1865]	M		Michigan
----Kate	4	F		“ [Michigan]
----Ellen	1	F		“ [Michigan]

 A death records search for Noonans in Houghton County yielded the following records:

FULL NAME	DATE OF DEATH	DATE OF BIRTH	BIRTHPLACE	NAME OF FATHER	NAME OF MOTHER
John Noonan [3]	April 20, 1917	Oct 30, 1864	Michigan	Jeremiah Noonan	Ellen Fox

Full Name	Age	Date of Death	Birthplace	Date of Birth	Name of Father	Name of Mother
Ellen Noonan [4]	65	Apr 27, 1900	Ireland	Don’t Know	John Fox	Ellen Burns

Thomas Fox’s and Ellen (Fox) Noonan’s parents were more than likely John Fox and Helen/Ellen Burns.

Notes: 

[1] Irish Family History Foundation extraction from records held by Waterford Heritage Genealogy Center, Jenkins Lane.

[2] 1870 U. S. census,  Houghton County, Michigan, population schedule, Quincy, p. 9, dwelling 54, family 57, Jeremiah Noonan; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 552,173; citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 674.

[3] “Death Records, 1897-1920,” digital image, Houghton County, Seeking Michigan (seekingmichigan.org : accessed 9 October 2013), entry for John Noonan (1917). 

[4] “Death Records, 1897-1920,” digital image, Houghton County, Seeking Michigan (seekingmichigan.org : accessed 9 October 2013), entry for Ellen Noonan (1900). 

Thomas Fox # 3

I've found Thomas Fox on the 1870 U. S. census listed in the household just below Cornelius Scanlon's.  He is listed with an older couple.  I have extracted a few columns below:

1870 census for Quincy, Houghton, Michigan [1]

Dwelling 52, Family 55: 

Scanlon Cornelius, 33, M, W, Laborer, Ireland
Scanlon Margaret, 31, F, W, Keeping House, Ireland
----John, 1, M, W, Massachusetts
----Michael, 5/12, M, W, Michigan

Dwelling 53, Family 56:

Fox John, 70, M, W, At Home, Ireland
-----Ellen, 55, F, W, Keeping House, Ireland
-----Thomas, 32, M. W, Miner, Ireland

Neither Cornelius or John owned real estate. 

That Cornelius and Thomas would be listed next to each other in the 1870 census in Michigan and in the 1880 census in Missouri ten years later deserves a little pondering [2].

Notes:

[1] 1870 U. S. census,  Houghton County, Michigan, population schedule, Quincy, p. 8, dwellings 52 and 53, families 55 and 56, Cornelius Scanlon and John Fox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2013), citing Family History Library microfilm 552,173; citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 674.

[2] 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.

 

Thomas Fox # 2: Quincy, Houghton, Michigan

I ended my last post by wondering if Thomas and Bridget Fox migrated from Massachusetts to Missouri -- as Cornelius Scanlon had migrated. 

The move for Cornelius wasn't a direct one.  Prior to Missouri, He had spent a few years in Michigan after moving from Massachusetts.  And it's possible Thomas Fox did, too.

The 1880 U. S. census indicates that five of Cornelius Scanlon's children (Michael, Nancy, Cornelius, James and William) were born in Michigan prior to the daughter (Julia) who was born in Missouri about 1879 [1].

Michael at age 10 would have been born about 1870, while William at age 3 would have been born around 1877, placing their father Cornelius and mother Margaret in Michigan for around seven years.

Last month I searched for birth records for the children born in Michigan -- and found possible matches for Cornelius, James, and William -- all born in Quincy, Houghton, Michigan in years 1873, 1874 and 1876 [2].

The 1880 census lists the Thomas Fox family just above Cornelius' family. Thomas and wife Bridget are listed, as are three of their children. The oldest child (Thomas) was also reported to have been born in Michigan.

While I have not found a birth record for the son Thomas Fox, I did find a birth and death record for what may have been an older sibling named John. John was also born in Quincy, Houghton, Michigan, and died at the age of five days [3].

Quincy was a mining town known for the "Quincy Mine" and several of these birth records indicate Cornelius Scanlon and Thomas Fox were miners at the time of their children's births.

It is plausible then, that Cornelius and Thomas spent time together in Houghton County, Michigan as miners prior to buying adjoining land on the same day in September 1877 in Missouri with the intention of becoming farmers.

There is a glaring problem, however: Thomas' 1900 U. S. census indicates that his wife Bridget only had three children and that all three were living on census day in Lawrence County, Missouri [4].

If this is accurate, it would eliminate an older sibling named John.

Of course, I don't know who gave the information for the census. It could have been one of the children who were by now in their late teens and twenties and who may not have known about an older sibling.


Notes:
[1] 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.

[2] For Cornelius' birth, see "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902," FamilySearch (htpps://familysearch.org accessed 19 September 2013), entry for Cornelius Scanlon, 22 Jan 1873; GS film 2,297,933. 

      For James' birth, see "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902," FamilySearch (htpps://familysearch.org accessed 19 September 2013), entry for James Scanlan, 26 Jan 1874; GS film 2,320,443.

      For William's birth, see "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902," FamilySearch (htpps://familysearch.org accessed 12 September 2013), entry for William Scanlon, 15 Dec 1876; GS film 2,320,448.

[3] For John's birth, see "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902," FamilySearch (htpps://familysearch.org accessed 3 October 2013), entry for John Fox, 25 Sep 1875; GS film 2,320,446.

      For John's death, see "Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897," FamilySearch (htpps://familysearch.org : accessed 3 October 2013), entry for John Fox, 30 Sep 1875. Note: The indexing of this record lists John's age as 5 months, but the record itself states 5 days.

[4] 1900 U. S. census, Lawrence County, Missouri, population schedule, Mt. Pleasant, Enumeration District 78, Sheet 2A, dwelling 23, family 23, Thomas Fox; 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.

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.