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. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun; Limerick

Randy Seaver's SNGF challenge this week is:

1) Make up a limerick about genealogy - it should be A-A-B-B-A in rhyme (don't worry about iambic pentameter and all that). 

Ah, well, he was born in County Armaugh, not Count Limerick, but he'll do.

My great-great-grandpa John Kain

Did not leave the old sod in vain.

Mary Fox was his wife

And they spent their life

On an Iowa farm growing grain.

May God bless and keep all my Irish ancestors until I can find them,

Kevin

Surname Saturday: My Irish Lines

For St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd recap my Irish lines of Kain, Kennedy, Fox and Collins.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS (b. 9 Mar 1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE, m. 18 Feb 1914 at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creighton, Knox Co., NE, d. 8 Nov 1957 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)
 (b. 19 May 1896 in Knox Co., NE, d. 29 Apr 1979 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)

10. Francis Joseph "Frank" KAIN (b. 14 Oct 1861 in Clinton Co., IA, m. 14 Feb 1888 at St. Iraneaus Catholic Church in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA, d. 12 Dec 1930 in Yankton, Yankton Co., SD)
11. Margaret H. "Maggie" KENNEDY (b. 9 Sep 1864 in Clinton Co., IA, d. 8 Dec 1831 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

20. John KAIN (b. 11 Jun 1819 in Armagh, County Armagh, Ireland, UK, 2 Jul 1848 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in St. Louis, St. Louis Co., MO, d. 16 Nov 1893 in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA)
21. Mary FOX (b. 29 Sep 1823 in County Leitrim, Ireland, UK, d. 12 May 1890 in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA)

22. John KENNEDY (b. 2 Jun 1826? in King's County, Ireland, m. 10 Nov 1854 in ?, d. 6 Nov 1913 in Clinton, Clinton Co., IA)
23. Hanora COLLINS (b. 25 Mar 1830 in Glenbrohane, County Limerick, Ireland, d. 24 Nov 1888 in Clinton, Cinton Co., IA)

44. Michael KENNEDY (b. ? in Ireland, m. ? in ?, d. ? in ?)
45. Unknown NOLAURD? (b. ? in Ireland, d. ? in ?)

Future research plans include getting Iowa death records for all four of my Irish great-greats. I also need to look for the will for John Kennedy at the Clinton Co. Historical Society. I want to do more research on Mary Fox's brothers: Thomas, who died young in Clinton Co. and Patrick, who I believe was a teamster in St. Louis.  I also need to reconcile John Kennedy's account of his early years in the US with that of his probable sister, Mary (Kennedy) Lawler Kennedy. I also need to find out more info on Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy's early years in the US with her first husband. Naturalization records for John Kain and John Kennedy are also on my to do list. Once all that is done, I can begin the search back in the Old Country.

Fr. James Duggan

"St. Louis State of Missouri On the 2nd day of July 1848 the undersigned Catholic Priest united in matrimony John Kain and Mary Fox J. Duggan
Filed October 24th 1848"

John and Mary KAIN were my great-great-grandparents, my paternal grandmother's paternal grand parents. They came to this country from Ireland separately in the late 1840s.

Mary FOX arrived in the New Orleans, LA in May 1847 with her brother Patrick on the Radius. They joined their brother Thomas and his family in St. Louis.

I have no information yet on when and how John KAIN arrived in the U.S. and how he ended up in St. Louis.

John and Mary were married by Father James DUGGAN at St Patrick's in St. Louis. He was born May 2, 1825 in Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was ordained a priest at St. Vincent's, Cape Girardeau, MO in 1847 and was assigned to St. Patrick's parish in St. Louis.

In 1859, after having served as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of St. Louis, he became the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. He served in that position until he was committed to the Sisters of Charity Asylum in St. Louis in 1869. He died there thirty years later on March 27, 1899 at the age of 74.

St. Patrick's church stood at 6th and Biddle until it was torn down in the 1970s.