52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1 "I'd Like to Meet"

For 2023, as a way to get back into blogging, I'm going to try to take part in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge. This week's topic is "I'd Like to Meet."

I don't have any one ancestor I'd like to meet. My focus this year is on my four great-great-grandparents who came from Ireland in the mid-1800's and settled on adjacent farms in Hampshire Township, Clinton County, Iowa. These are the only 2xgreat-granparents that I have not been able to take back to the next generation. I would love to meet any one of them as they might be able to tell me not only about themselves, but also their spouse and their neighbors.

John Kain (1819-1892) and Mary Fox (1823-1890) were married in St. Louis, Missouri in 1848. They came to Clinton County in 1852. According to their grave marker they came from County Armagh and County Leitrim, respectively.

John Kennedy (1826-1913) and Hanora Collins (1830-1898) were married in Chicago, Illinois in 1854. They went to Clinton County that same year. According to the information on their grave marker, Hanora came from County Limerick. John's birthplace of King's Count (now County Offaly) comes from his obit in the Clinton newspaper. 

I have no idea how accurate the information on the grave markers is. For example, John Kennedy's age varies quite a bit in the records as he got older, so it is hard to pin down his birth year. 1826 is my best guess, but that is not what is on his marker. One of the items on my research list is to see if I can track down who had these markers erected and see if that might lead to the source of the info.

It would save me so much time and effort if I could talk to one of these Irish ancestors. It would be like a ladder over these backwalls and back to specific spots in Ireland.