A to Z Blog Challenge
I is for Ireland
Over the years, I’ve trace a majority of my family from England, but I’ve found a few stuck in there from Ireland!
My 2nd great grandpa, John Francis Burke, according to family history, was from Dublin. He stowed away on an America-bound ship at the age of 15 in 1861. He was found en route and told by the captain they could not take him back. He said, “If I wanted to go back, I wouldn’t have stowed away.” They dropped him off in Florida – right at the beginning of the Civil War.
I’ve found Confederate records of three different men who could be him. I’m not sure which, if any, is him. He next shows up in the 1880 census married to Nancy Didama Spencer and living with her family in Mississippi.
Another 2nd great grandpa was Thomas Gilbert Lafayette Keene. He doesn’t have much of a history. Seems his parents died when he was young. Family rumor has it the Keene family also came from Dublin and were originally O’Keene.
My 7th great grandpa James Rogers came from Tyrone County in Northern Ireland. Looks like a beautiful place! He was married to Mary McPherson. Go ahead, say that with an Irish accent!
I find it interesting that all these people came from another part of the world, joined in marriage and children, and the outcome was ME! We ancestry-type people spend so much time thinking of the past. I wonder if they did too. And, I wonder if they ever thought of the distant future. My mind doesn’t go much past children and grandchildren. What if seven generation from now, people we couldn’t even imagine are thinking about us?
Lori Crane 
I’m the great grand daughter of Thomas Gilbert Lafayette Keene. Great niece to Ben and Eula Keene Pickett.
Well, hi, Mary Ann! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Ben and Eula were my great grandparents and I loved them dearly!! You’ll find lots of info on the blog about them, not much about TGL Keene, I’m afraid.
I believe I found his parents (Green Keene and Sarah Tabitha) in a 1860 census, but by 1870, when TGL was ten, they must have died as he and his three sisters (Martha, Minerva Ellen, and Mary) were living with their Aunt Elizabeth Keene. By the 1880 census, TGL and Minerva were living in their sister Martha’s house with her husband and young children. I don’t know what happened to Mary as there are no further records of her. It seems there was also an older boy named John who was born in 1849 and appears in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but then disappears at the same time as the parents.
I’m pretty sure the trail is correct as young Thomas’s grandfather’s name was listed as Gilbert, living with them in the 1860 census. There are also future generations named Tabitha. Not 100% positive, but 99% because of the location, dates, and names.
Please keep in touch and thanks again for stopping by! 🙂