Helen's Family Trees - Gordon

Descendants of James GORDON

First Generation

1. James GORDON.

THANKS GO TO CORMAC GORDON FROM STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, A GREAT-GRANDSON OF JAMES, FOR SHARING HIS INFORMATION ON JAMES'S FAMILY.

I haven't been able to link James to our Gordon family but I feel sure he's connected in some way. For one thing, Cormac recalls hearing mention of the townlands of Kilgarriff (where our Gordons came from) and Sheepwalk in connection with his family. The recurrence of the name Cormac in James's line is also significant, Cormac being a traditional name in our Gordon family also.
Cormac also tells me there were other Gordon relatives of his in the New York City area, but it's not known exactly how they were connected. One of these relatives was a cousin, Rev. William Joseph Gordon O.S.A., who was ordained on 18 May 1954 at Trinity College Chapel, Washington D.C. and said his first mass on 21 May at Holy Cross Church, Church Avenue, Brooklyn. He died about 10 years later. Other relatives included several Sisters of Charity nuns who worked in the Harlem area of Manhattan up until the 1960s.

It's also known that a Gordon family with a son named Cormac was living in West Hempstead, Long Island, New York in the 1980s and '90s. The Cormac/Gordon name combination seems to be unique to our particular Gordon family so I'm wondering if this West Hempstead family is connected to us. The only other information I have on this family is that Cormac has siblings named Rory, Patrick, Tara, Shannon and Deirdre.

James married Catherine DUFFY on 5 Feb 1855 in Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon.

They had the following children:

2 M i

Patrick GORDON was born about 19 Feb 1856 in prob. Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon and was christened 19 Feb 1856 in Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon.

Could this be the Patrick Gordon listed as head of household in the 1901 census return for a Gordon household in Kilgarriff? His age is given as 45 which ties in with the age of Patrick, son of James Gordon and Catherine Duffy. Other members of the household on the night of the census were Patrick's wife, Catherine (aged 43), and children, Michael (20), Pat (15), Thomas (11), Catherine (9) and Jane (4).

And could the 15-year-old Pat above have been the Patrick Gordon who emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on 22 September 1909, aged 23? According to the ship manifest this Patrick was born in Kilgarriff and was joining his sister, Mary Gordon, in Brooklyn. His nearest relative in Ireland is given as Pat Gordon, Kilgarriff, Castlerea.

3 F ii

Winifred GORDON was born about 31 Jul 1857 in prob. Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon and was christened 31 Jul 1857 in Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon.

4 M iii

Thomas GORDON was born about 17 Apr 1859 in prob. Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon and was christened 17 Apr 1859 in Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon.

I came across a 1901 England census record for the household of Roscommon-born Thomas Gordon who lived at 6 Edward St. in Ladybarn, Withington in Lancashire. It's a possibility that this Thomas might be Thomas above given the Roscommon connection and the fact that a "Cormack" Gordon is listed in the same census return as a brother of Thomas (Thomas above had a brother named Cormac). Although the ages of Thomas and Cormack in the census (39 and 28 respectively) don't match exactly with the ages our Thomas and Cormac would have been in 1901 (42 and 31 respectively), they're a rough match and the age difference in both cases is 11 years. Obviously this is no proof that the Thomas and Cormack in the census are the same persons as Thomas above and his brother Cormac, but the census findings are worth noting. The occupation of Thomas from the census was given as "Farm Labourer (yard)" but this was crossed out and replaced with what looks like "Ag Horse". He was married to May, aged 32, who was born in Ladybarn, and thay had six children in 1901, all of them born in Ladybarn: Ann (11), William (9), Kate (9), Mary (5), James (3) and Sarah (3), so it looks like thay may have had two sets of twins. The fact that the oldest son listed is named William might indicate that the Thomas from the census is not our Thomas given the tradition at the time of Irish parents naming their first-born son after his paternal grandfather, which is our case would have been James. But Thomas from the census may not have followed tradition.

5 F iv

Honoria GORDON was born about 6 Oct 1861 in prob. Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon and was christened 6 Oct 1861 in Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon.

+ 6 M v William GORDON was born 24 Jun 1869 and died 1948.
7 M vi

Cormac GORDON was born 10 Apr 1870 in Frenchpark, Co . Roscommon.

Listed in the 1901 England census return for 6 Edward St. in Ladybarn, Withington in Lancashire is a "Cormack" Gordon, aged 28, who was born in Roscommon. It's a possibility that this Cormack might be Cormac above given the Roscommon connection and the fact that the Cormack from the census is listed as a member of the household of an older brother Thomas (Cormac above had an older brother named Thomas), but this is no proof that the Cormack and Thomas from the census are the same persons as Cormac above and his brother Thomas. The occupation of Cormack in the 1901 census was given as "Van Man Railway".

There was also a Cormack Gordon listed in Lancashire ten years earlier in the 1891 England census who may be the Cormack from the 1901 census. The Cormack from 1891 was born in Ireland, was 20 years of age and was boarding at 52 Lugsdale Road in Widnes in Lancashire. He was an "alkali labourer".

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