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My Irish great-great-grandparents emigrated to the township of Sunnidale, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada around 1857. They had seven children, all sons. In May of 1881, they emigrated to the United States, settling in Aitkin, Minnesota. |
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William MAGHAN 1825? - 1885
Margaret TONER
Married January 25, 1856 |
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 Samuel (1856 - 1936) |
 James (1859 - 1930) |
 Robert J. (1861 - 1949) |
 George A. (1863 - 1947) |
 W. Thomas (1865 - 1903) |
 Frederick A. (1868? - 1940) |
 Alfred C. (1873 - 1896) |
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Here's a timeline of what we know so far about the Maghan family.
Sources: {B/R} = Birth Record; {M/R} = Marriage Record; {D/R} = Death Record
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In the fall of 2001, I happened across this book by Brian Mitchell, published in 1988:
Pages 135-136 have the passenger list for the Argentinus, of
the J. & J. Cooke Line, sailing in 1857 (no specific date given)
from Londonderry to Quebec.
(Transcription of this list at TheShipsList.Com).
Within this list are these two entries:
Passenger Name Age Last Place of Residence
Mahon, Margaret 22 District of Omagh, Tyrone
Samuel 6m
Although the surname is spelled Mahon instead of Maghan, this is definitely our Margaret and her first-born son. Samuel was born 22 Dec 1856, so this ship must have sailed in June of 1857 (the online transcription says sailed May 6 and arrived June 6). There is no William traveling with them - so this is the proof of the family legend that William came over first and sent for Margaret later. |
 Click here for MapQuest link |
In the map at the right, Omagh is in Drumragh and Newtownstewart is in Ardstraw. The Church at Crew Bridge is about on the edge of the map, due west of Newtownstewart.
Note the town of Gillygooley just west of Omagh.
An Isabella Maghan was married in Gillygooly on 15 Dec 1854, so that shows that there was a Maghan family in the area at the time. Here is the FamilySearch.Org entry for Isabella, showing her estimated birth and her marriage to James Graham.
She was born about 1836 (probably age of 18 assumed from the marriage record) and her birthplace was Kilmore (probably assumed from her current residence at the time of her marriage). Kilmore is a townland in Drumragh about a mile northwest of Gillygooly (i.e. between Omagh and Newtownstewart).
Her father's name is Samuel Maghan. So there was a Samuel Maghan family living near Gillygooley, only a mile from Omagh, which puts it in the district of Omagh.
Perhaps this Samuel is a younger brother of William's father, James, and would be William's uncle. My tantalizing theory is that after William left to go to Canada, perhaps in the summer of 1856, a pregnant Margaret could have been staying with this Maghan family. When her son was born that December, she gratefully named him after her generous host. And that would explain why the name Samuel was used before the name of William's own father, James, in the birth order of their children.
Like I say - this is speculative. No proof yet, whatsoever.
But I'll bet the Presbyterian Church in Gillygooley
(picture) has
Samuel's baptismal record, and possibly some other Maghan records as well.
The next 12 months' archives were searched for news of finding a body, but no luck. Since there is no Aitkin county record of his death, and no cemetery has a record of his burial, his body apparently was never recovered.
I have no idea where Duntroon (or Duntrune), Ireland is or was. A book listing all the placenames in the 1851 Ireland census does not have either Duntroon or Duntrune.
There is a Duntroon in Simcoe County, Ontario, in what was Nottawasaga Township, just west of what was Sunnidale Township (the two were later combined to form Clearview Township), but he would not be a native of this Duntroon.
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And finally, there is a Duntrune, near Dundee, Angus, Scotland.
This seems to be the best bet for the home town of William (or more likely, his parents). The map on the right shows its location near Dundee.
A Catharine Maghan was married in Dundee on 19 Aug 1833, so that shows
that there was a Maghan family in the area at the time. Here is the
FamilySearch.Org entry for this marriage.
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John Van Essen, Fridley, MN - - - - How to Contact Me - - - - Updated: April 26, 2008 |
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