Did Christopher Columbus Need a Green Card?

[Published August 8, 2010]

Another recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune caught my attention.  On the front page of the August 6^th, 2010 edition was a story about St. Paul hosting The National Poetry Slam.  Think raucous wrestling-crowd behavior combined with rhyming in a competitive environment and you begin to get an idea.  This is a big deal to those involved and attracts spoken-word artists from across the country.  This weekend’s competition is the Super-Bowl event of the field.

While a national slam poetry contest is interesting in and of itself, it’s part of a poem recited by a New York man that caught my attention.  The Tribune article quotes Jamaal St. John, a New Yorker, giving a reading of a poem on immigrants and U.S. History, saying in part,

“Then ask them what their life would’ve been like if the Indians had had tighter immigration policies.” 

This line hit me hard.  I think he has a point. What would our world be like if the Native Americans had insisted that the first Europeans climb back upon their ships and sail back home?  Would there even had been an “us” to have this discussion if this had happened? 

When we debate immigration policy in America, we need to remember that our ancestors came to this land without an invitation and the first peoples of America did not ask us to see a “green card.”  

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Update on the Story of

Thomas Dukelow’s Immigration to the United States

[Published March 14, 2010] [Updated March 20, 2010]

 

Background:

Our ancestral grandfather Thomas Dukelow / Ducklow left Durrus Ireland and came to America in about the 1841 via Canada. He was 29 years old and acted as the father-figure escorting his then widowed stepmother Nancy Ann Dukelow, along with her eight young children, to a new land.  After traveling by ship for two or so months, Nancy, Thomas and the eight children arrived at Port Hope, Ontario by way of the St. Lawrence River.  After a short stay in there, the group crossed Lake Erie and initially settled near Rochester, New York.  It was in Rochester that Thomas married Elizabeth Nicholson and there they started a family.  This sketch of Thomas’ immigration story has been described in pervious posts and has solid source documentation.

 

A Richer Understanding:

Recently shared information from fellow Dukelow family researchers have shed more light on what might have been Thomas and his stepmother’s motivation to emigrate from Ireland. They were part of a much larger exodus of the Dukelow clan [footnote 1] to Canada and America. Scores of inter-related cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents left Ireland in the late 1830s and early 1840s. [footnote 2] The Dukelow clan immigration may have occurred from a “perfect storm” of events: (1) the collapse of home-based textile industry, (2) receipt of compelling letters from young pioneering cousins describing opportunities in America and (3) the advent of affordable fares on sailing ships crossing the Atlantic. Let me expand on each of these elements in some detail:

 

Collapse of Textile Cottage Industry

In reviewing the history of emigration of families around Durrus in the early 19^th century, one can infer that some members of the Dukelow clan made their living, at least in part, from home-based manufacturing of textiles [footnote 3]. Prior to the late 1700s, nearly all textiles were made by cottage-industry businesses using manually powered looms and other manual equipment.  But by the early 1800s textile manufacturing became highly industrialized with the introduction of steam- and water-powered looms— and part of a broad technology change called the "industrial revolution."  Factory-based manufacturing became highly efficient and eventually caused the collapse of home-based textile businesses.  As more and more factories opened in the 1800s, small manual labor-based makers could no longer compete.  This economic transition no doubt caused real hardship on some, if not many, members of the Dukelow clan.

 

Letters Home

Two clan members who were effected by the  poor economy of the 1830s were John and William Connell (brothers). In a biographical sketch of her grandfather William Connell, Elsie McFarland wrote that the brothers became “frustrated with lack opportunities” in Ireland [see footnote 4].  So in 1837 John and William, at ages 29 and 23, left Western County Cork and eventually arrived in New York State.  Upon arriving the brothers had success finding work helping build the Erie Canal.  And by 1839 William had saved enough money to travel to Wisconsin to purchase government homestead land in what later became Washington County.  William and John both sent letters back home describing their freedoms, land purchases and work available for industrious men. From Elsie's biography on William, "no tyranny, no oppression from landlords and no taxes" [footnote 4].

 

No doubt their letters also expressed their sadness over missing family.  Elsie's biography expressed as, “… his heart was heavy and he longed to see the dear ones.  He would like to have his family have the chance he was having so he sent glowing letters home about this wonderful country.  These letters were eagerly read not only by his own family but by the aunts and uncles and cousins.”   William and John’s letters were apparently compelling as many in the clan chose to leave the ever more difficult economic environment in County Cork and join them in America. Again from Elsie’s biography, “A large group decided to come based on these letters.  No doubt that the group was not just William’s family, but [Martha] Elizabeth’s too.”

 

In August of 1842 William Connell married our ancestral grandfather’s half-sister, Martha Elizabeth Dukelow in Rochester, New York. After they wed, they moved to William’s homesteaded land and are reported to have been one of the first 16 pioneer families to establish themselves in Washington County, Wisconsin [footnote 4].

 

Affordable Fares

One would expect the cost of having many family members and belongings transported across the Atlantic to be prohibitively expensive.   But starting the early 1820s it became affordable due in large-part to Ireland’s need for timber [footnote 3 and footnote 7].  Ireland’s domestic supply of timber was becoming scarce and demand high and rising. In the 1800s wood was not only used for building homes and shelters, but also an energy source for heating and cooking, and the raw material for making tools and furniture.  And as factory technology developed, wood demand rose even further as a supplement to coal as fuel for steam-powered machinery. To meet the demand, trees were harvested and shipped from Canada, which like Ireland, belonged to the British Empire.  Timber cut in the forests of Quebec and Ontario came to Ireland via sailing ships that traveled the St. Lawrence River and then across the Atlantic Ocean.  Owners of the vessels made good money on the delivery their timber cargo but made little or nothing on nearly empty return trips to Canada. So, with encouragement by the British government in supporting  landlords wanting to rid themselves of impoverished  tenants, ship owners offered affordable fares [see footnote 7].  This strategy was successful filling ships holds with many emigrates.  It became so successful that ship owners began making more money sending emigrates west than they did in bringing timber east [see footnote 6].

It seems possible that our ancestral grandfather Thomas, and his stepfamily made their voyage to Ontario on such a timber ship.  One vessel in particular is noted as carrying Dukelows to Canada. The ‘Dealy Brig’, a ship built in 1839, sailed from Bantry in West Cork, near Durrus [footnote 3].  Thomas’ arrival in the United States was in about 1841 matching well with the operations of this particular timber ship, although the typical North American destination of this ship was apparently St. Johns, New Brunswick [see footnote 5].  It would be great to locate records showing Thomas and family on a specific voyage.  The quest continues.

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Footnotes:

(1) Various family surnames names associated with the Dukelow clan include Clark Attridges, Bakers, Skues, Swantons, Sweetnam, Capithorn, Connell, Kingstons, Vickeries, Roycrofts, Shannons and Salters; all members of the protestant Church of Ireland.

 

(2) Notably, the Dukelow clan’s exodus in the late 1830s and early 1840s was prior to the potato famine years of 1845 to 1852 when an estimated one million Irish to America in what were called "Famine Ships" to avoid starvation.

 

(3) Either inferred or quoted from Pat Crowley’s “History of Durrus District, Barony of West Carbery, Western Division.”  Mr. Crowley lives in Dublin, Ireland and has become an expert historian of the Durrus area.  He has shared the text of this self-published work.

 

(4) Elsie Barbara Kingston McFarlane wrote an eight-page biography of William and Elizabeth (Martha) Connell in 1948 when she was 67 years old.  Elsie’ biography is based upon her early memories of her grandparents.  She was eleven years old when her grandfather William passed away in 1892 and 27 years old when her grandmother Elizabeth (Martha) passed away in 1908. Elizabeth was the oldest of John and Nancy's children, and was a half-sister to ancestral grandfather Thomas. The biography is not dated. But the date can be inferred from a reference she makes in the biography that the Bank of Chilton (founded by William Connell) was in business for 57 years.  The bank was founded in 1891 and so the date of 1948 can be determined.  

 

(5) “What Happened to the Good Ship Dealy?,” http://www.dalyclan.org/Brig/brig.htm

(6)  "The Famine Ships," by Edward Laxton, page 7

(7) Steerage fares are reported to have been £3 and 10 shillings in the 1850s.  An estimated equivalent value in 2010 US dollars is roughly $250 (based on 3% inflation over 160 years). While not cheap, it seems it was not an impossible price to pay.

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History Back Drop: Huguenots and Religious Persecution

Huguenots was the name used by the French for refering to Protestants who were members of the Protestant Reformed Church. This was the church originally established in 1550 by John Calvin. French Catholics openly persecuted Huguenots from the mid 1500s into the 1700s for their differing Christian practices and threat to Catholic power. This persecution came with support from the Pope in Rome. At times Protestants were slaughtered by the hundreds. In one particularly nasty event, hundreds of guests were invited to a rare, Catholic – Protestant wedding. Upon their arrival, the Protestants were all slain.

During the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715) a policy of “one faith, one law, one king” was adopted in 1685. This new policy replaced a long standing “Edict of Nantes” which had brought relative peace between the faith groups. In the period from 1685 to 1700 at least 250,000 Huguenots fled France to countries such as England, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, America, the Netherlands, Poland and South Africa. These were countries that either accepted or tolerated their faith views, or where Protestantism was the embraced by the reigning government. During the same period of 1685 to 1700, another 250,000 Huguenots did not escape and were executed. -

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!

History Back Drop: Bias Against the Irish

Many Irish immigrants, especially those that arrived in the port cities of New York and Boston, were regarded with contempt and treated terribly by Americans. During the peak immigration years of 1840-1860, an estimated one million Irish arrived in the United States. This mass influx of people overloaded the economy, housing, and social support systems.

The Irish fled Ireland in large numbers due to famine and encouragement of the governing British crown. When they arrived in America many were taken advantage of. Most were illiterate, few could even sign their name. Many fell victim to unscrupulous landlords who sub-divided dwellings into cheap housing. Immigrant families were over-charged to live in a single nine-by-eleven foot room with no water, sanitation, ventilation or daylight. Irish men wanting of work were offered enticing jobs at fair wages digging canals in upstate New York (e.g., Erie Canal). But once they arrived, they were told the wages were half, or less. For lack of options, most had no choice to accept the work.

Historical Back Drop: Potatoes and Immigration

During the early 1800s the everyday diet of the people of Ireland depended largely on their potato crop. Potatoes could be readily cultivated in the marginal soils available to most farmers. When successfully grown, they provided an abundant food source for large families owning or renting small plots of land. Tragically, a water-borne fungus known as the “potato blight” made the crop’s annual yield unpredictable. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, in particular the 1820s through the 1840s, various regions of Ireland suffered full or partial loss of their crop due to this fungus. The large crop losses caused great hardship and famine conditions, as potatoes were Ireland’s primary food staple.

In 1839 the potato crop failure occurred throughout Ireland causing many starvation deaths. The scope of crisis became a full-blown calamity, called the Great Irish Potato Famine, during the period of 1845 – 1852. These were years of successive and total crop failure across the whole of Ireland. The combination of blight and inadequate humanitarian policies of the governing British Empire caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. Some historians have written that over one million died from hunger or from the consequences of hunger during the famine years. Between 20 and 25 percent of Ireland’s population died.

The famine caused many families to make the difficult decision to leave Ireland and start new lives in new lands. Perhaps up to a million and a half Irish immigrated to Australia, Canada, and the United States during the 1800s.