
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Unknown Relative

Monday, January 14, 2008
The Duhigg's Passage to North America

John Timothy Duhigg was born at the beginning of the great Irish Famine, on November 11, 1845 in the village of Bruff, County Limerick, Ireland. He was the first child of Timothy Duhigg and Margaret Halloran and when he was three years old they emigrated to North America. His uncle, David Duhigg, was already living in Vermont and the situation in Ireland was dire. (Image above is an illustration from the London Punch, published July 15, 1948. It portrays a poor family in Ireland and a prosperous family living abroad. The caption reads "Here and There; or, Emigration a Remedy.")
Luckily, Bruff was near the city of Limerick which was a major source of emigration into Canada due to the Timber Trade from Canada to Limerick. So outward journeys were advertised by the local timber merchant Francis Spaight & Sons - the the cost of passage was about 3 to 4 pounds. With regular wages for an Irish rural laborer at that time being 7 shillings a week, it took awhile to save up the fare, and then they had to raise the money for "Landing Fees" (a head tax on arrival) and land transportation from the port of arrival to their destination.
By the time they were ready to leave in May 1848, Timothy and Margaret had three children. They brought the oldest (John T., three years old) and the youngest (Patrick, only six weeks old) but they left their two year old daughter, Hannah with other family members.
The voyage took about 45 days and passengers had to bring their own food, water, and bedding. Berths were simple spaces consisting of wooden platforms, usually six foot square and built into the ship’s timbers on either side of the hold, with a gangway down the middle. Each adult was usually allotted one quarter of a bunk, or 18x72 inches of bed space. There was no bedding, which is why passengers were advised to get a mattress before going on board. Passengers had to do their own cooking on deck. Food was often either half-cooked or not cooked at all, since when the weather was bad they were not allowed on deck.

In November, Timothy returned to collect his family and they caught the last boat out before the freeze. Timothy had found work on the rebuilding of the Holyoke Dam and he took his wife and boys to Northamptom, Massachusetts to live. They changed their names to Dewey in Northampton. Timothy's oldest son, John T. Dewey, was born in Bruff, but he grew up a quintessential American. More on his story in a future post.
A photo of the workers on the Holyoke Dam - created to bring the Industrial Revolution to rural Massachusetts:

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Anna and Joan in the Adirondacks

with her daughter, Joan Barbara, aged 9.
Joan Barbara Keeler Lusk died on March 9th, 1975 (aged 43, in Bassett Hospital, Cooperstown, New York.) Her husband, James Thelbert Lusk and her youngest son, Roy Todd Lusk scattered her ashes at a remote spot in the Adirondaks.
Thirty-two years later, when Joan's mother, Anna Rita Dewey Keeler, passed away (aged 98, in Ilion, New York) Roy guided his uncle, Lee William Keeler, Jr. (Joan's brother and Anna's son) to the same spot, where they scattered Anna's ashes.


Saturday, January 12, 2008
Dewey / Duhigg Name Origins
The Duhiggs of Bruff, Ireland changed their names to Dewey when they got to Northampton, Massachusetts in the late 1800s.
Duhigg is an English variant of the Gaelic name O'Dubhthaigh.
O means grandson.
Dubht means black, or swarthy.
Haigh means one who lives near a hedge.
Duhigg is an English variant of the Gaelic name O'Dubhthaigh.
O means grandson.
Dubht means black, or swarthy.
Haigh means one who lives near a hedge.
The Duhiggs of Bruff, Limerick to the Deweys of Northampton, Massachusetts.


On June 4, 1801 John Duhigg passed his lease on (approximately 30 acres on the farm of Ballinlee) to his son Bartholomew. The family legend is that Bartholomew was a hedgerow teacher, one who secretly taught Irish history and Gaelic behind the hedges of the countryside after the English had outlawed it. The hedgerow teachers were also ideally situated to note the troop movements of the British and pass along the information to the resistance. This was not a safe profession - whatever happened to Bartholomew, he didn't apparently pass along the tenant's lease to his sons.
Bartholomew was married to Honora Rierdon and they had a daughter, Catherine and two sons, David and Timothy.
Bartholomew's older son, David Duhigg, was born about 1811 in Bruff. David married Elinor Riordan and came to Vermont in 1842, with their infant son, Dennis. Dennis was on his way to a career in the Law, as a student at Dartmouth College, when the Civil War began and President Lincoln called for Volunteers. He raised a company of men from his home state of Vermont, and was killed at the Battle of Opequon/Winchester, VA in 1864.

The rest of the story, about the Deweys in Northampton, continues in future posts.
(Image below is Main Street in Bruff, about 1900, from Bruff History blog.)

Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)