Dennis Donahue (1824-1912)

Dennis DONAHUE is is my great x 3 grandfather and the founder of my Donahue family line in America alongside his wife Julia Ryan. From census records I know that Dennis Donahue was born in January of 1824. I also have found the names of his parents whom came to America afterward: Michael & Eliza Donahue.

The Great Hunger and Irish Immigration

Dennis Donahue and his wife Julia started out somewhere in Ireland, although I am not certain if they knew one another or were together before they came to America. I am still searching to find records which show the two arriving at the port. The closest record that I have thus far is of a Dennis Donahue, aged 24, arriving in Massachusetts in 1847. (This comes from pg. 28 in List of Alien Passengers, Bonded from January 1, 1847, to January 1, 1851, for the Use of the Overseers of the Poor, in the Commonwealth by J.B. Monroe) This can be referenced against later U.S. census dates that list how long he has lived in America and when he arrived. The time of arrival coincides with the mass immigration of Irish citizens to America to escape starvation during The Great Hunger, or the Irish potato famine as we know it today. In October of 1845, a blight ruined 3/4 of the country’s crop and returned in 1846 when an estimated 350, 000 people died of famine and typhoid as a result of a weakened population. Because of this famine and coinciding social unrest, about 1/4 of the Irish population emigrated to the USA between 1846 and 1854. In fact, this year was known as “Black ’47” and was on record as one of the worst years of the Irish famine. The confluence of British colonial policies, evictions of poor tenant farmers, and a monoculture of potatoes brought so many Irish to America during this time. I can only assume that these pressures brought Dennis and Julia to America.

A marriage record from Massachusetts tells of the Denis “Donohoe’s” union with Julia Ryan in the new country on December 29, 1849 in Lowell, Middelsex County. It could be gathered that one or both of them worked in Lowell, which at the time was known for it’s cotton mills. I have tried to trace the couple in Massachusetts through censuses with great difficulty and the search goes on here.

In Massachusetts where they arrived from Ireland and married they also had their first 3 children: Elizabeth (1851), Margaret (1852) & Mary (1854). From census records I have gathered that they were born in Massachusetts, but not in which town. I do know from this information of their births, that they family would have lived in Massachusetts from at least 1849-1854 when the third child was born.  From there they moved westward, travelling at some point north of the Canadian border, where in 1856 their fourth child, Michael (named for his grandfather) was born. The offering of inexpensive farm land brought Dennis, Julia and their small family to Wisconsin where their remaining children, Julia (1858) & Dennis Edward (my great x 2 grandfather, born in 1859) were born.

The 1860 U.S. census for Ripon, Wisconsin shows the Donahue family as a whole (above). They have a low income as could be expected for poor immigrants. Their real estate value is $100 and their personal estate is worth but $25.  Dennis works as a day laborer to earn their income. Irish immigrants in Wisconsin at the time often worked on railroad and road construction to make a living, and Dennis likely followed suit.

Within 5 years, and maybe much less, The Donahue family moved from Wisconsin further West to Olmstead, Minnesota where they settled and started the family estate. My vision of the family is of a group of migrant laborers, working their way westward with calls for work and hoping for cheap land in the newly formed state (as of 1858) and enough funds to set up farm. It appears that Minnesota provided this as the 1865 Minnesota state census shows them living in Olmstead, only now with a farm.

In 1870’s federal census (above), the family is accompanied by Dennis‘ parents, Michael (88) and Eliza (88) who have moved in. Dennis is farming his land which is worth $1000. He has 40 acres of improved land where he produces 50 bushels of Irish potatoes, 20 tonnes of hay, 450 bushels of spring wheat and 200 lbs each of Indian corn and corn. He also owns equipment that is worth $150- and this likely included materials needed for churning the 300 lbs. of butter he put out annually from local cows on neighboring farms. The family had also acquired their own farm animals which would have been for personal use: 6 horses, 1 milk cow, 2 oxen, 3 cows, and 6 swine. All of these animals were worth $900. This farm was on a somewhat smaller scale compared with those in the area at the time, although it appears that the Donahue family fared far better than their days of migrant labor.

During the late 1800s industrialization was rapid in Minnesota farming practice and wheat farming became a major industry. Minneapolis became one of the world’s leading flour producing centers. It appears that during this time, Dennis Donahue and his family contributed to the industry with the growth of their spring wheat.

By 1880, the federal census of High Forest in Olmstead, Minnesota shows a change in family dynamics. Dennis and Julia are now both 56 years old and still farm along with their son Michael (24) and Dennis (20). Daughters Mary (26) and Julia (22) still live at home and likely help their mother with her chores, one of which was likely butter production. Eldest daughter Eliza Higgins lives on a farm just two doors down from the Donahue family with her husband John Higgins whom she married in about 1875 (see my blog about this family). They now have three young children, two of whom are named after her parents: Julia (3), Thomas (2) and Dennis (2 months).

The grandparents, Michael and Eliza, are no longer living with the family and may have passed on. Julia (Ryan) Donahue soon followed as she died in 1884, just four year later at age 60. I haven’t yet found her death record or headstone. Her eldest daughter Eliza died within the same decade, in 1887, during the birth of her 6th child, Michael. She was only 36 years old and is buried in St. Bridget’s cemetery in Rochester alongside her husband. This must have been a difficult few years for the Donahue family as they would have experienced a great loss in their small community.

The other children of Dennis and Julia moved on sometime within this decade as well.  Michael married a woman called Mary A. (surname ?) and began working as a stone mason for half of the year. In 1877 Julia jr. married John McElgunn from a neighboring farm (see my blog about this family). In the census of 1900, the only person left living with Dennis is his daughter Mary who is now 40 and is single. She keeps the home while he farms, although at age 76 he must have had difficulty keeping his farm. The two stayed on this farm for at least another 5 years (according to th 1905 state census), but eventually made a small move into the town of Stewartville nearby when it became too much of a challenge for elderly Dennis to continue working.

In 1910, Dennis (86) and Mary (56) live off of Dennis’ “own income” which likely means that he sold his farm for a profit and they own the house (234 Broklyn Ave.) that they live in without a mortgage. Mary works as a servant to a private family for a continuous income. So, in the end, although Dennis was a poor, illiterate Irish immigrant, he was able to do much better for himself.

According to the Minnesota Death Index, Dennis Donahue died on April 13, 1912. He was 88 years old.

I haven’t traced Mary after her father’s death, although Michael and his wife lived with their 6 children in Rochester where Michael worked. Julia, her husband John McElgunn and their 10 children continued to live in Minnesota until 1910 when they decided to move north of the border to Canada. They first lived in Moose Jaw, Sask. (1911) and then moved to Gull Lake, Sask. (1916), eventually becoming Canadian citizens. They are the first of the Donahue family to move north of the border and likely inspired my great grandfather, Edward Donahue, to do the same. Julia died at age 92 on October 18, 1950 and is buried in New Westminster BC.