Thomas and Elizabeth’s Early Years in America

Less than 18 months after helping his stepmother Nancy Ann come to America, Thomas became engaged to Elizabeth Nicholson, who was also from Ireland. They married on April 12, 1842 at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York. Elizabeth was 21 years old and Thomas was 30.

They began a family immediately. Mary Ann, their first child, was born on Christmas Day, 1842. Fifteen months later their second child and second daughter, Francis, was born on March 31st, 1844. John T came next. He was their first son, born November 17, 1846. Then just ten months later their second son, Thomas, was born on September 18, 1847. These first four children were all born in New York State.

It was after the birth of daughter Francis that Thomas fully committed to making his life in America a permanent decision. On November 2, 1844 he rescinding his allegiance to the Queen of England [whose reign included Ireland] and swore an oath of alliance to the United States of America. The official papers recording this new allegiance are called the Declaration of Intent documents.

By the middle of the 1840s, many Irish families living around Rochester had decided to move to southern Wisconsin. There are likely several reasons for this: The middle of the 19th century was the time when Wisconsin was transitioning from being a U.S. territory with quasi-governmental ties to the Union to a fully recognized state. This change brought the hope and excitement of new opportunities and investment from Eastern businessmen.

Wisconsin was officially accepted into the Union on the 30th State in May of 1848. Many of the Irish families that helped and supported each other in Rochester saw the chance to homestead land in Wisconsin. By comparison, they saw that the highly desirable land for farming New York had already been claimed. The middle of 19th century was also a period in our Country’s history that Irish immigrants were treated cruelly. As a class they were viewed as dirty, lazy and stupid. They often were unfairly cited as the cause of economic problems and degradation of American society. This discrimination led many Irish to continue their migration in seeking a better life. So for these reasons, and perhaps others, Thomas and Elizabeth and their four children moved approximately 800 miles west to Dodge County in 1848.

Many immigrants who came to Wisconsin from New York in the 1800s traveled via the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then boarded a steam ship crossing Lake Erie, then transferring to another steam ship to across Lake Michigan. Ships docked at or near Milwaukee. Once in Wisconsin, previously established family or friends often met and helped move newcomers to the southern tier of counties with available government land. Thomas and Elizabeth homesteaded in Ashippun Township which forms the southeast corner of Dodge County and set upon a pioneer farm life in the largely unsettled wilderness of Wisconsin.

After moving to Wisconsin, Thomas and Elizabeth’s family continued to grow. Elizabeth delivered their fifth child, George, about September, 1949. Tragically, George died as an infant in October 1850. Thomas and Elizabeth's sixth child most curiously was also named George. He arrived August 10, 1851. Today it seems odd to have named two children from the same parents with the same name. But in the 1800s it was a common custom to name the next born of the same gender after the name of the child that died. It was a way to both honor and remember the child.

Besides infant George that died in 1850, there were one or two other babies that died at a young age. The three babies who died in infancy have been difficult to document. There are no specific birth dates for these children, nor grave markers, but there are two baptism dates: It appears that one of the infants was named Elizabeth, was baptized November 11, 1855, Maria Jane, baptized November 9, 1856.

The rest of the children born to Thomas and Elizabeth were: Charles was born April 3, 1853, Elizabeth in October 1857, William Thomas on October 21, 1858, James Richard on February 2, 1862, Peter Edward on May 21, 1863, and Lucinda Isabelle on December 6, 1865.

In all, Elizabeth gave birth to a total of fourteen babies. Of these, three died as infants or toddlers. The remaining eleven children lived into adulthood. From Mary Ann, her first, to Lucinda, her last, Elizabeth was delivering and raising babies over a 24-year period. Mary Ann was married and out of the house before Lucinda was even born!