Chicago

Chicago in the latter half of the 1800s was one of the fastest growing cities in the country and dominated the Midwest as a center for transportation, commerce, and manufacturing.   From a population of just 4,000 when it was incorporated in 1837, the city grew to 93,000 in 1857, (about the time the Brown family made its way to the Midwest), to over 334,000 in 1871 at the time of the 

Chicago 1868 (see footnotes)

Chicago fire.¹   In a large part, this was due to its strategic location on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan.  From the earliest times, the area around Chicago had been visited by all manner of water craft navigating the Great Lakes.  The phenomenal expansion of railroads and canal systems by 1850 facilitated movement of people, livestock and goods.²  Growth in commerce and manufacturing followed.  Livestock could be moved into Chicago from all parts of the Midwest creating vast stock yards which, in turn, rapidly turned Chicago into the meat-packing capital of the country.  Lumber was transported from Wisconsin for the building, millwork and furniture trades creating a need for warehousing and factories which further expanded the city.      



The burgeoning city was a magnet for anyone wanting to “get ahead,” including recent European emigrants.   The Irish quickly established themselves as part of the expanding city, organizing politically and developing an extensive support system through churches and social societies.³   While there was still prejudice against the Irish, and indeed against all emigrant nationalities, ⁴  Chicagoans in the 1850s were more interested in “making money” and less interested in a person’s background and pedigree.  Jobs were available for those willing to work hard.  It is easy to see why emigrants, including the Brown family, were drawn to the city.

The David Brown letter, (see copy of page 2 below right), states that the family went to Chicago through Ohio, perhaps Columbus or Cincinnati.⁵  The two oldest boys, Patrick and John, did travel to

Page 2-David Brown Letter (click to enlarge)

central Ohio, but, I have not found evidence that the rest of the family traveled with them.  The information in the letter has been, and continues to be, vital to my research into this family.  However, additional records have become available since the letter was written in 1943, and, more sophisticated methods have been developed to review these records.  At this point, it may be helpful to have a picture of the basic family tree to follow along.  This post, and the next one, is about Hannah Kelly Brown, the matriarch of the family.  In subsequent posts, we will look at each individual on the tree, and, expand the tree to clarify the story as it progresses.

Brown Tree showing first generation (click to enlarge)

Because Brown is such a common surname, to say nothing of the first names and use of “nicknames,” especially among the Irish, I found it helpful to look at the entire family as a group rather than at individuals to determine the locations of the family in Chicago.  I referred to Chicago city directories,⁶ city, state, and US census records, along with cemetery records to follow the family, often referring back and forth to multiple records as the family revealed themselves.

 

1860 US Census Mary, Johanna, James, Thomas Brown
(click to enlarge)

The first record I found was the 1860 US Census, (see left), for four of the Brown children.  The two youngest boys, James and Thomas, were living with their older sisters, Mary Brown Gray and Johanna Brown Roach, their husbands and families.⁷  Cross referencing the census record with the corresponding city directory puts them at 258 Wolcott (now State St).  Hannah Brown is shown at a different location, (124

1860 US Census - Hannah Brown
(click to enlarge)

Edina Pl, name changed to Fourth Ave), with “Kate Connor.”⁸  (see right)  No other record, besides the 1860 US Census, gives an occupation for Hannah Brown.  Using the “family group,” I have found them in multiple locations in Chicago over a number of years.   I have included a table below that identifies who was living at each address in each year.

USC = US Census                                       CCD = Chicago City Directory

Year	Source	Address	Residents
1860	USC & CCD	258 Wolcott	James & Thomas Brown; Mary Gray; Johanna Roach
	USC & CCD	124 Edina Pl	Hannah Brown
1861	CCD	154 Washington	Mary Gray; Johanna Roach
1862	CCD	127 Illinois	Norah, wid of Timothy; James; Thomas; Johanna Roach
1863	CCD	45 N Dearborn	Johanna, wid, ROACH
1864	CCD	45 N Dearborn	Johann, wid.; Johanna Roach
	CCD	219 E Jackson	Mrs Nora K[Kelly?]
1865	CCD	221 Jackson	Johanna Roach,
1866	CCD	219 E Jackson	Norah, wid.; James; Thomas; Mary Gray; Johanna Roach
1867	CCD	219 ½ E Jackson	James; Thomas; Johanna Roach
1868	CCD	219 ½ E Jackson	Johanna Roach
1870	CCD	219 ½ E Jackson	Nora, wid.; James; Ellen, wid of John; Michael

 Because many of these addresses were for tenement houses or other rental properties, I did look in the city directories for additional people at the same address using a digital search function.⁹  While there were many, a few of the entries stand out as potential family members.

The Illinois State Census for 1865 shows the Roach family, (Thos with 2 males under age 10, and 1 male and 1 female ages 20 to 30), within two lines of a “D Brown” (1 male and 1 female ages 20 to 30).  The 1865 Chicago City Directory shows Thomas Roach (husband of Johanna Brown) AND David Brown at 221 Jackson.

A digital search of the 1870 city directory turns up Ellen Brown, widow of John, and Michael Brown at “r [rear] 219 Jackson.”  I did finally locate Hannah Brown in the 1870 census.  She is shown as

1870 US Census-Ellen Kelly/Johanna Brown
(click to enlarge)

“Johanna” (see right) with Ellen Kelly, Michael Brown, and a number of other “Brown” people. I had seen this entry years ago, and while Hannah’s maiden name is “Kelly,” I did not think this was the correct entry, (and actually agreed with the David Brown letter that Hannah was living with her oldest son Patrick), until I looked at the Chicago Census Report for 1871 available at the Newberry Library in Chicago.¹⁰   The records show the following persons at r [rear] 219 Jackson and, I believe, suggest family ties.

Brown, Ellen, wid. John, r. 219 Jackson, ward 2, born Ireland

Brown, Honora, wid. Timothy, r. rear 219 Jackson, ward 2, 2 male, 1 female, born in Ireland
Brown, James, tobacconist, r. rear 219 Jackson, ward 2, born Ireland
Brown, Michael, lab. R. 219 Jackson, ward 2, 1 male, 4 females, born Ireland.

There is another record that provides further evidence that these people are family.  A few years ago (2010), I found a burial record in Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois for James Roache.  I

Cemetery Records - Calvary - Chicago
(click to enlarge)

thought this may be a son of Johanna Brown and Thomas Roach, (more about the Roach family in a future blog post), and sent for a list of all persons buried in the lot.  The list I received is shown at the left.¹¹  At the time, I really didn’t think this was the correct family until I started putting together census and directory records; now I think it very well could be.  It would make sense that if other members of the family immigrated to America that they would all eventually locate in the same vicinity.¹² 

I also searched church records for Patrickswell RC Church in County Limerick where I found the original church records for Timothy and Hannah Kelly Brown and their eight children.  I discovered that Ellen Kelly married John Brown on 13 Feb 1825.  (The Ellen in the 1871 city census is a widow of John; and, the 1870 US Census gives her surname as “Kelly.”)  There are baptismal records for five children: 

Johanna – 3 May 1825 – parents: Joanne Brown/Ellenora Kelly; sponsors: Thadeus Brown/Honora Kelly

Maria – 15 Jun 1828 – parents: Joanne Browne/Helena Kelly; sponsors: Jacobus Browne/Alicia O’Conner
Davidum – 5 May 1830 – parents: Joanne Browne/Ellina Kelly; sponsors: Thoma Brown/Catharina Lynch
Brigidam – 29 Jun 1832 – parents: Joanne Browne/Helena Kelly; sponsors: Patritius Kelly/Maria Beslon
Honora – 17 Aug 1837 – parents: Joanne Browne/Helena Kelly; sponsors: Allen Molony/Maria Molony

I did not find a baptismal record for Michael; however, these are pretty good matches for the cemetery records for Ellen, David, Hanora and Mary, (who could have married an O’Brien).  I believe the remaining burials are family members of Mary O’Brien.¹³

Are the individuals in Calvary Cemetery the same people in the Patrickswell church records?  Timothy had brothers in Fanningstown named John, James, and Thomas.  Is this family in Chicago headed by John Brown the brother of our Timothy?  Is Ellen Kelly a sister of our Hannah? While I cannot say with any certainty, the evidence certainly points to that conclusion.   It seems like every time we find additional records, we have more questions!

We will pick up the story of Hannah Kelly Brown during the time of the Chicago fire and how the fire affected her and her family in the next blog post.

 Ruger, A., Map of Chicago in 1868 from Schiller Street north side to 12^th Street south side, Chicago Lithographing Co., available online at the Library of Congress,  https://www.loc.gov/item/73693350/   Birds-eye view of Chicago in 1868.  Zoom in on the map for incredible detail down to individual buildings.

1.       Andreas, A. T., History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, The A. T. Andreas Company, Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1884, p. 52, available online at: https://archive.org/stream/historyofchicago01inandr#page/n6/mode/1up 

2.       Cromie, Robert, The Great Chicago Fire, Illustrated Edition, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, 1958 and 1994, p. 9-10.  By 1850 there were at least 20 mainline railroad lines servicing Chicago.  The Illinois and Michigan Canal completed in 1848 connected Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle, Illinois, and on to the Mississippi River.  

3.       Skerrett, Ellen, Encylcopedia of Chicago, Irish, available online at: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/652.html  

4.       Cromie, op. cit., p.61.  There was an Irish “slum” in the city located in a “narrow strip south of Randolph Street, running from Wells Street – recently renamed Fifth Avenue – west to the river . . .The lower part of Fifth Avenue, known as Conley’s Patch, was particularly notorious.  It was lined with squat frame buildings which housed brothels, dance halls, pawnshops, tawdry boardinghouses, and saloons.” 

5.       Brown, David Earl, Kewanee, IL, 11 May 1943,  Letter to Esther _______, Columbus, OH.  Patrick, the oldest son, settled in Franklin and Delaware counties for a few years.  John, the next son, settled in Columbus.  However, both of these individuals lived outside the area which would have been covered by city directories making it difficult to determine if the remaining family members were with them.  I have checked both the Columbus and Cincinnati directories for inclusion of the family.  None was found in either city for any year.

6.       Chicago city directories from 1855 through 1887 have been reviewed for the family.  These directories are available from multiple sources.  I have used microfilms at the Cincinnati Public Library, Cincinnati, Ohio, and online records from Ancestery.com and Fold3 to gather data for the family.  Please note that directories are not available for all years, and that, at times, there are multiple, sometimes competing, directories for the same year.  Entries may be available in one source and not the other in the same year.

7.       1860 U.S. Census, Chicago, Ward 8, Cook, Illinois; Roll: M653_168; Page 114; Image 114; Family History Library Film: 803168. Note that the oldest child of Johanna and Thomas Roach was born in Wisconsin.  This may be where the family was located in the intervening years between Vermont and Chicago

8.       1860 U.S. Census, Chicago Ward 2, Cook, Illinois; Roll: M653_164; Page 426; Image 430; Family History Library Film: 803164.  Her occupation is given as “nurse.”  Would this occupation have precluded her from having the two youngest boys with her?  The distance between the two residences is about three miles.

9.       City directories at Fold3 are in a digital format; however, searches use OCR (Optical Character Recognition).  While this is a much better method than manually looking through each page in each directory, there are many false positives and likely other records where the OCR did not pick up the requested data.  Because of this, some records may be missing.  Also, note that not all persons appear in the directory for every year.  Just as today, inclusion in the directory is optional.

10.   Chicago Census Report; and Statistical Review, embracing a Complete Directory of the City, showing the Number of Persons in Each Family.  Available online at the Newberry Library, http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1871%20intro%20page.pdf 

11.   List of burials in Calvary Cemetery, Lot 35, Block 3, Section F, received November 2010.  There is an additional burial for Edward Ryan who died 27 Dec 1890, age 2.  A total of three burial graves were purchased by Michael Brown in November 1868.  Multiple people, a total of 13 altogether, were buried in the same three graves.  Additional information obtained by phone call to the cemetery on 14 Jun 2016.

12.   Recall from the post, Putting them on the Fanningstown Map, that the Sales Catalogue for Lot 13 shows Thomas Hogan who took over the property previously occupied by John Brown, a brother of Timothy, in 1856.  Perhaps John Brown died about this time and the family left Ireland sometime after to make their way to Chicago.  While I have not yet found evidence to state this conclusively, this was a common immigration pattern for the Irish.

13.   Nellie O’Brien married Edward Ryan 29 Nov 1885 in Chicago.  [Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1N7XH3V9 citing Cook, Illinois., Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,030,151.] 

Loretta, Ella, and Mary Ryan Judd are children of Nellie and Edward.  Nellie was born about 1859 in Wisconsin.  [1910 US Census, Chicago Ward 20, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_263; Page 17A; Enumeration District: 0885; FHL microfilm: 1374276.] 

Mary Ryan married Ray Judd on 2 Oct 1915 at St. Mel Parish in Chicago.  The names of Mary’s parents are given as Edward Ryan and Ellen O’Brien on the marriage record.  [Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVMN-RF9Q)] 

Additionally, there is an entry for the family of Michael O’Brien (b. abt. 1832 in Ireland) in the 1860 US Census for Wilton, Rock County, Wisconsin. This record lists Mary (b. abt. 1832 in Ireland), Ellen (b. abt. 1859 in Wisconsin), and James Brown (b. abt. 1835 in Ireland).  [1860 US Census; Milton, Rock, Wisconsin; Roll: M653_1430; Page 486; Image 493; Family History Library Film: 805430]

The 1860 census for Johanna Brown and her husband Thomas Roach show a daughter, Emma, born in 1859 in Wisconsin.  See Footnote 7.

Vermont

Sometime after September 1849 when little Ellen passed away in Boston, the Brown family traveled to Vermont.  They are shown together in the 1850 US Census, dated 16 September 1850, in

1850 US Census - Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont

Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont.¹   The census for the Brown family shows “Annora,”²   age 46, and the six children that we originally knew about  – Patrick, age 18; John, age 16; Mary, age 14; Johanna, age 12; James, age 6; and, Thomas, age 4.  There are some small discrepancies in their ages, based on known baptismal records, but, not enough to question whether or not this is the correct family.³   The Browns appear to have had a traumatic stay in Boston so it is understandable why they left; but, why Vermont?

Rutland County is located in the west central area of Vermont

bordering Lake Champlain and the state of New York.  Brandon Township is in the northern most part of the county.   Rutland County is known for its extensive high grade marble quarries which would have provided employment for unskilled laborers.  The marble industry in the area expanded significantly after 1850, but, even before then it was a

Rutland County townships
(Click to enlarge)

major source of employment.  Not only were there jobs in the quarry, but there were also jobs in preparing marble for shipment to their final destination.  Marble slabs were floated down the Otter Creek from Proctor to saw mills in Brandon.  Mills in the town for sawing marble and for agricultural purposes would have provided additional employment opportunities.⁴ 

Railroads were built in Vermont during the 1840s and 1850s.  Construction of railroads and canals provided more jobs, especially

Vermont Central Railway lines
(Click to enlarge)

for the unskilled.  The Vermont Central Railway in Rutland was completed in 1850.  The first train from Bellows Falls to Burlington ran on 18 December 1849.⁵  Could this train have been the way the family traveled to Brandon, Vermont?  The Central Vermont railway provided direct access from Boston to Burlington, Vermont and passed straight through Rutland County.  (See the map shown left.)⁶

Rich deposits of brown hematite, used in making iron ore, are found near Forestdale in the northeast section of Brandon Township.  As a result, there were two iron furnaces located in Brandon Township.  One was in the village of Brandon; the other was in Forestdale.  Jobs were available in the forges and foundries in addition to those needed for excavating and hauling ore to the factories.  Shovels, iron stoves, potash kettles and other varieties of iron castings were manufactured.⁷  Markets for the goods could be found all over New England and specifically in Boston.  Could the Browns have had contact with representatives from the manufacturers which caused an interest in Brandon?

Jobs were obviously one factor which drew the family to Vermont, but, there was likely another reason.   Many displaced native Irish were settling in Vermont in great numbers.  They would have shared the same customs and difficulties as others living in the vicinity.  “By 1850, the largest foreign-born group in Vermont was Irish, numbering 15,377.  The largest Irish settlements were in the railroad towns of Bellows Falls, Northfield, Rutland, Burlington, and St. Albans.”⁸   Nearly 20% of the population living in Rutland in the 1850 US Census were Irish born.  Many residents in the Rutland and West Rutland area specifically were natives of Roscommon⁹ while those in Castleton came from the north of County Tipperary.¹⁰

The population of Brandon Township in the 1850 US Census is given as 1,488.  Of that number, 256 residents, comprising roughly 70 families plus individuals listed as servants or farm hands, gave their place of birth as Ireland.   Additionally, there are 108 children born in Vermont living with adults whose birthplace is Ireland, presumably their parents, or other relatives.  The ages of the children are given as just a few months old to late teens indicating that while some of the families were recent arrivals, others had arrived well before the famine.¹¹ 

The Brown family lived in a close cluster of eleven families listing their place of birth as Ireland.  I do not know if other families in this group came from County Limerick, but there are two surnames, Maloney and Hogan, that are also found in the area

1869 Brandon Township Vermont
(Click to enlarge)

surrounding Fanningstown.  The earliest map I could find which identified specific individuals based on land ownership was from 1869.  (See the map to the right.)¹³  I cannot identify a specific location for the Brown family or other people from this group.  Since there is twenty years between the 1850 census and the publication of the map, some of the individuals listed in the census record would have died and many more would have moved away.  However, a few of the landowners in the 1850 census, who were listed within a few pages of the Browns, are shown on the map either just south of Forestdale or southeast of the village of Brandon.  Perhaps our family lived in one of those locations.

While the Irish were living in Vermont in great numbers, they still were not treated as full members of the community.  A few years ago, I had the opportunity to review an account book from one of the local physicians.¹²  Entries included the dates of house visits, names of the patients, and treatments.  In attending to members of the Irish community, he did not give names.  He referred to the patient as the “Irish servant of,” or an “Irishman.”  He did, however, provide free clinics periodically to the community.  (He was reimbursed by the township for his services).  He still did not give the name of the patient, referring to them as an “Irish woman,” or an “Irish child.”  Whether this was an early form of patient confidentiality because of their inability to pay, or some show of reluctance to accept the Irish, it was quite different than the way he referred to his other patients.

The two oldest boys, Patrick and John, may have moved to Vermont before the rest of the family.  Jobs were abundant in 1849 and 1850, and employment was hard to find in Boston, especially in winter months when shipping would have been slow.  Wherever they lived or for what reasons they went to Vermont, they did not stay long.  We don’t know if it was lack of employment¹⁴, the weather, which would have been much different from their native Ireland, or family ties, but we do know from church records that the two oldest boys, Patrick and John, were living in central Ohio by 1854, and, perhaps earlier.  It seems that the family split up at this point.  We will look at each family member in more detail in their own turn, but, for now, we will follow the mother, Honora Kelly Brown as she traveled on to the Chicago area.

1.       United States Census, 1850, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC2X-Z5D) Brandon, Rutland, Vermnt, United States; citing family 1636, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.:National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)  Special thanks to Marion for finding the census record.  Just as I did not know the family spent any time in Boston until Marion found the death record for Ellen, I did not know the Browns were in Vermont until Marion found the census record shortly after we located the passenger list. 

 

2.       I love the name “Annora!”  I think you get a hint of what her Irish lilt would have sounded like since the census taker recorded the name by sound instead of “Honora.”   

3.        Patrick, who was born in 1830, would have been 19, Mary would have been 13, Johanna would have been 9, James would have been 4, and Thomas would have been 3.  Notice there is no listing of Bridget, the other child shown on the passenger list.

4.       Smith, H.Y. and W.S. Rann, History of Rutland County Vermont; with illustrations & Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, History of the Town of Brandon, D. Mason & Co,  D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y., 1886, pp. 473-516.  Available on-line at:  https://archive.org/details/historyofrutland00smit 

5.       Website of the Rutland Railroad Historical Society, Timeline, http://www.rutlandrr.org/history/timeline/ 

6.       Wikimedia Commons, Central Vermont Railroad, David Rumsey Collection, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1879_CV_map_only.jpg

7.       Smith, op. cit., pp. 488-490

8.       Guyette, Elise A., Gathering and Interactions of Peoples, Cultures, and Ideas, Immigration to Vermont: 1840 to 1930, Adapted from Guyette, E.A. (1992).  Behind the white vail: A history of Vermont’s ethnic groups.  In Many cultures, one people: A multicultural handbook for teachers., Middlebury: Vermont Folklife Center, 17-27, http://www.flowofhistory.org/themes/movement_settlement/immigration.php 

9.       Dunn, Mary Lee, Ballykilcline Rising: From Famine Ireland to Immigrant America, University of Massachusetts Presss, Amherst, MA, 2008.  Mary Dunn devotes an entire book to the study of people from the townland of Ballykilcline in Roscommon in Ireland.  Some were “assisted” in their emigration; others left on their own.  Many of them resettled in the area of Rutland, Vermont.

10.   Buggy, Joe, Townland of Origin Blog, From Tipperary to Rutland County, Vermont, 12 May 2014 blog post.  Available online at:  http://www.townlandoforigin.com/2014/05/from-tipperary-to-rutland-county-vermont.html  Information is from a list of men who naturalized in Rutland County, Vermont.

11.   US Census, 1850, Brandon, Rutland, Vermont, op.cit.

12.   Backus, Charles, Account book, 1838-1852, Manuscript, Vermont Historical Society Library, Barre, Vermont

There is another family associated with the Brown family that lived in Brandon, Vermont.  Mary Burns married John E. Brown (son of John Brown, one of the immigrant children of Honora and Timothy Brown).  Her family (John and Margaret Martin[Kilmartin] Burns) lived in the Rutland area from the early 1850s to around 1880.  Some of the family may still be there.  I was tracking down a reference in Margaret’s Civil War widow’s pension records that referred to a letter from Dr. Backus who stated he had delivered two of her children when I ran across this resource.

13.   Beers, F. W., Atlas of Rutland Co., Vermont, F. W. Beers, A.D. Ellis & G.G. Soule, New York, 1869

14.   Smith, op. cit., p.490.  Many jobs were lost when John Conant & Sons sold their iron foundry to Howe, Blake and Carricut in 1852.  They closed the business shortly after that.