The Irish Catholic Parish, 10th Ward

As we learned about in class this week, Baltimore offered a spiritual home to many that were not able to worship freely in their native land. People of various faiths and denominations found fellowship here, and worshipped at churches that were cultural and social centers as well. An early example is St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, at Valley and Eager Streets in East Baltimore.

According to the web site for the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore (http://www.archbalt.org/), St. John's was established in 1853, which is right around the time that the Irish Matriarch arrived. It was located close to Harford Road, and was accessible to those Irish that settled both in the city and surrounding farmlands. From what I understand at the present, it would appear that the church was about 3 miles from the Burgan home. The building still stands today, but is no longer used. The parish itself closed in 1966, but its records are still available at St. Mary's Seminary, on Roland Avenue.

An organization exists to the present that remembers the Irish parish, and the people it served. It is called St. John's Old Tenth Ward, Inc. Their literature explains that the parish, in its infancy, was too poor to pay someone to build a church for them, so they built it themselves. From humble beginnings, the parish developed into a congregation with over 10,000 members.

I visited the Seminary's research library a while back, and spent some time going through the sacramental records that they maintain on microfilm. I was amazed to find that Agnes and her husband, John J., baptized at least one of their children there. John J. Jr. was born on January 25, 1870, and appears in their baptismal records with his parents and godparents.

It Seems That She Married Well

Among my inherited pictures is this one, of John J. Burgan. He was one of the Gardenville Burgans that grew up on the 500 acres of land owned by his ancestor, Thomas Burgan. Various searches I have done show that the land was in Burgan hands since 1740 or so. John J. was born on Christmas Eve, 1837, and appeared in the 1850 U.S. Census with his father, mother and several siblings. Records show that the Burgans were members of the Episcopal Church.

John J. Burgan was listed in the Baltimore Sun as marrying twice; once to Mary Alice Berenger, on 10/8/1860 (posted 10/18/60), and then to Agnes Kenney, the Irish Matriarch, on 6/04/1863 (posted 6/12/63). I hope that additional research will confirm that these John J.'s are one and the same. This raises a few questions:

• Did Mary Alice die, and was it in childbirth?
• Why did he marry a Catholic.....what would both Moms and Dads say about that?

My Irish Catholic background tells me that their children would have been raised Catholic, as per the church rules. I will be looking into that. I am also curious about their marrying in the middle of the Civil War. Did he have an exemption? One web site gave me some insights into this:

http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1994/winter/civil-war-draft-records.html

According to the site, he could have had an exemption for several reasons. Could it be that he was a widower, with dependent children? Or, perhaps he married while serving in the war. There are rabbit trails everywhere.

Enoch Pratt Free Library's Maryland Room has a few books that are called, "Index to Marriages in the Baltimore Sun", with various dates. These are where I found my marriage information.

A Good Day for the Bigger Picture

I had a fruitful visit to the Irish Shrine and Railroad Workers Museum today. It is located at 918-920 Lemmon Street, a short walk from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum. I was there due to a notice that I had seen on their web site: http://www.irishshrine.org/ . They had a grand re-opening to display several updates to their restored rowhouses, one of which was lived in by the Feely family. On previous tours, I had learned about the home they lived in, the church that the Irish workers built in their spare time, and the West Baltimore Cemetery where they were buried. Today was a good day for meeting new people, especially those that belong to an organization that remembers East Baltimore's 10th ward, home of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. This church was the spiritual home for both sides of my family, including the Irish Matriarch. I am hoping to follow up on some contacts I made, and see what I can learn about the Irish on the East side of Baltimore.

I was struck today by how the Irish lived during the time of the Railroad Strike of 1877. As I looked at the modest home they lived in, I thought of how horrified that generation of immigrant Irish would have been to lose it. That cut in pay that they simply could not tolerate represented more than a loss of conveniences to them. Undoubtedly, the Irish that lived in the area of the B & O remembered the horrors of The Great Hunger all too vividly, and viewed their home as life itself.

I was also reminded of another Baltimore reality. I first visited the Irish Shrine a few years ago with my Dad and Aunt. It was surprising to us that this neighborhood, and its important church, even existed. After all, we were from East Baltimore.

Small Treasures Found in a Big Package

It was a lovely day for a visit to the Main Branch of the Enoch Pratt today. I visited the Maryland Room, which was quite crowded. My goals were to find when the Irish Matriarch arrived from Ireland, using the clues I have gathered, and see if I could figure out when she moved to Homestead with her family. I spent two hours or so glued to the microfilm viewer, beginning with the Soundex film that contains passenger lists for those arriving in Baltimore. My particular film covered 1820-1897, with everyone whose Soundex number was 500. This is the number given to those with last names beginning with a K, and having an N somewhere in the middle. There were some Kenneys, but none that matched up by first name or arrival date to those who I know something about.

There is a small room there that contains lots of rolls of microfilm, and among them are City Directories, beginning in the 1820's. The Burgan family I am researching lived in the surrounding farmlands at least through 1877, but I would like to know when they moved further in. The earliest listing I found was in 1884, where Agnes' husband is listed as living at 19 Getz Avenue. A little research showed this as a small street near the intersection of East Eager and St. Paul Streets. He was a "hostler", or stable man. 1885's listing includes John J. Burgan as a grocer, living in Homestead; no street address was given. I assumed that there was no street address because the neighborhood was actually in Baltimore County at the time, and this was their way of noting that. However, the 1887 listing states that they were living on Madison Street, in Homestead. John J. Jr. was 15 years old by then, and is listed as a canmaker.

There were four Burgan families in the small neighborhood, so I suspect that this was a popular destination for the Burgans to move to once their farm land was sold to developers.

Caring, and Being Cared For

The Irish Matriarch began a lifetime of nurturing others in 1867, when she gave birth to Annie Jane. This is their picture together. She raised 3 children of her own, and 3 granddaughters who lost their mothers at an early age. She would have these young ones in her home for the next 57 years, until her death in 1924.

Annie Jane lived with her mom for many years, and helped to care for her three nieces in their youth, and her mother in her old age. She also provided the information for her Death Certificate. The clues that will help me in my search include:

• The Irish Matriarch died on June 8, 1924 of old age, at her home.
• Her name was recorded as Bettie Agnes Burgan.
• She lived in Baltimore for 68 years, making 1856 her arrival date.
• No birthdate was given, but she was "about" 78 years old; if correct, she was born in 1846.
• Her parents and deceased husband were listed.
• Her doctor, cemetery and undertaker were listed.

My grandmother, Mary Viola Burgan Sullivan, told a story about the family doctor. He lived in the neighborhood, just four houses from where she was born, on Gorsuch Avenue. Imagine a doctor living on such a modest street today. Perhaps you remember the local firehouse from the movie, "Ladder 49", which is on Gorsuch Avenue, just west of Harford Road.

She Came From Good Irish Stock

The Irish Matriarch arrived in the 1850's as a young teen. These pictures are part of my collection, and are dated 1870. Her mother, nee Anna Leahey, and her dad, Daniel T. Kenney, were listed in the 1860 U.S. Census, with her siblings. She is not listed with them, and I wonder why. She was between 15-20 years old at the time, depending on what census record is right. Was she married by then, or living elsewhere? I look forward to more research on this. Census records state that she arrived in 1852 or 1853. I will visit the Enoch Pratt's Maryland Room, and the MD Historical Society on Saturday to learn more about her arrival. I attended a lecture a few years ago given by Tom Neill , who is part of the Locust Point Historical Project. He said that the early Irish arrived in Fell's Point, rather than Locust Point. That might be a clue.

Wondering : When, Why and How ?

The Irish Matriarch came to Baltimore after the Irish Famine was over. I am hoping that my research will be able to nail down the year she came, as there are contradictions. Her dad was listed as a farmer in the 1860 census, and lived in the Gardenville area of Northeast Baltimore. Perhaps the strain of the Great Hunger convinced them to go to America before the same happened again. Their mode of travel was by ship, of course, but what sort? I have always read about the "coffin ships", those boats that carried the half-starved and miserable to the New World, with many not surviving the voyage. My internet surfing led me to a site that told another part of that story. I read about the Jeanie Johnston, a Canadian made ship that never had a death at sea while transporting immigrants to Baltimore. It made 16 voyages from the West Ireland town of Tralee to the New World, and came to Baltimore several times. The journey took 1 1/2 months, and could cost as much as 6 month's wages. I am wondering whether my ancestors traveled from Tralee, which is not very far from County Galway. Feel free to visit the web site, http://www.mdoe.org/irish_immig.html . A replica of the ship was made, and visited Baltimore in 2003. Where was I? Probably up to no good.

Making Sense of the U.S. Census

One of the most valuable sources of information on the Irish Matriarch has been census records. These are readily available to anyone that has a library card with the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Visit their web site: http://www.prattlibrary.org/ . The databases include a category listed as "Biography and Genealogy", which offers free access to Heritage Quest. Among other things, you can look through U.S. Census records from 1790-1930. There are other companies on the Web that offer this for a fee, such as http://www.ancestry.com/. Heritage Quest can be a bit difficult at times, as they tend to list heads of household, while Ancestry lists everyone. If you have the time, Baltimore County Public Library has free access to Ancestry on their in-house computers.

The image included in this blog is the 1920 census record that includes the Irish Matriarch. It appears that she was a native Gaelic speaker who arrived in the U.S. in 1853. I compared this to other records, and concluded that census records can be a bit erratic. They were compiled by visitors to individual homes, and I would suspect that the person writing down the information trusted whatever they were told, by whoever told them. As I reviewed other census records pertaining to Agnes Bettie Kenney Burgan, I found contradictions in her age and date of immigration. I am looking forward to reviewing ship passenger lists for the period, and her Death Certificate. Hopefully, they will be more accurate than a census record might be.

Courthouse

I am hoping to make it to the 6th floor of the Clarence Mitchell Courthouse this week. The man on the phone said that they are open to 6 p.m. on some weekdays, so I am planning to look up some things in the Land Records Office. The Irish Matriarch was living in Homestead by 1885, but I would like to know when they moved off the family farmland in Gardenville, and began their new home in Homestead. It would seem that Annie Jane Burgan, her oldest surviving daughter, married her next door neighbor there, but I am not sure.

Look her up; she's in the book!

Those pesky initials on the doorstop were another issue altogether. I could not figure out who they belonged to, so I looked at microfilm copies of the old Baltimore City Directories. They were a precursor to our modern day phone books, and folks were sorted by name. Their address was included, as well as their profession, when applicable. I figured that it was a safe bet that the last initial stood for Burgan, and looked at the pages where they could be found. My search was at the Maryland Historical Society. Their library has a lot of microfilm copies of old documents. The directory for 1906 contained a "Burgan, Bettie A.", who lived at the same address as the Irish Matriarch. It just had to be her! Her husband had died a few years earlier, and widows were typically listed as the heads of households. She must have gone by her middle name at times. It was her doorstop, after all!

The Mystery of the Doorstop

My curiousity led me in two directions. The first, and most familiar, was a remembrance of stories and photos of my great-grand dad, William Edward Burgan. He was the youngest surviving child of the Irish Matriarch, and made a living as a stone cutter. I have a few pictures of him, including the one above. He is pictured here, carting a grave marker to its final resting place. My grandmom told me that he was employed by Hilgartner and Sons, a long established marble cutting firm. My trip to the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Maryland Room was a fruitful one. I found information on Hilgartner in their vertical file collection. They specialized in grave monuments, and used doorstops, complete with the potential customer's initials, as a sort of "calling card", or promotional tool. Rather than giving out calendars, or some other reminder of their services, Hilgartner promoted their business by giving away customized marble doorstops.

She's a Brick.........House?

Every picture tells a story. For years, I thought of this family heirloom as a fancy brick, and nothing else. My mom told me a story or two, but I was not sure where fact met fable. A trip to the Barre Monument Co. , on East Baltimore Street, confirmed that it was a marble door stop. I suspected that it was made by my great-granddad, William Edward Burgan, who was a stone cutter by trade. He worked for Hilgartner & Sons, a local firm that has been around a long time. I figured that he made it for a relative and it had been passed down, but I couldn't match up the initials to anyone. I was hoping that a trip to Enoch Pratt Free Library's Maryland Room would shed some light on this .I went there last Saturday, and found some information on the Irish Matriarch and Hilgartner that solves the mystery.

My Great-Great Grandmom from Galway

Welcome to my first blog. After inheriting some old pictures, I wanted to learn about the lives of those who came before me, and became fascinated by Agnes Bettie Kenney Burgan, from my mother's side of the family. She was born in Ireland, and moved to America with her parents between 1855-1860. Agnes married into a landowning family, and raised her 3 children in the farmlands bordering Northeast Baltimore. Eventually they moved to Homestead, Baltimore's first planned suburb, and established a home that lasted another 70 years.

I plan on using this blog to share how she touched the lives of her family, and those that would follow her. In doing so, I will analyze both items that I have inherited, and information available to me in various locations in the Baltimore area.