Apparently my great great grandmother lost her husband aboard ship on the way over here from Ireland. They ended up in Canada and she and her children and her brother had to walk down to Boston. They didn't have much money and little means of support so she and her brother opened up a brothel so she could take care of her children. This was sometime around and after the potato famine in Ireland. I don't know what her first name was nor do I know her brother's name. All I know about her is that she had one son named John Kirby who was born July 1841 in Ireland.(probably County Mayo) I plan on examining censuses of Boston for 1850 and 1860 to see if I can find family who looks like my Kirbys.... However I imagine it will be a hard task. One question: Which one of the wards in Boston during the 1850s give or take a few years is a prime cadidate for a district that might have a brothel. Notes on the descendents of the woman. My father thought it was a hoot. My uncle was so embarrassed about the fact that he refused to discuss it. Apparently mentioning such things hanging from the family tree is embarrassing to people who have finally made it. Apparently she was able to help some of her children get to college. Where there's a will there's a way. And if this story rings a bell with any of you let me know.

I found a few John Kirby's in the Ancestry.com indexes that just might help you out. The info is as follows: 1850 KIRBY JOHN Middlesex County MA 410 St.Ow Federal Population Schedule MA 1850 Federal Census Index 1850 KIRBY JOHN* Suffolk County MA 190 Boston 9th Ward Federal Population Schedule MA 1850 Federal Census Index 1850 KIRBY JOHN Worcester County MA 380 Oakham Federal Population Schedule MA 1850 Federal Census Index 1860 KIRBY JOHN Suffolk County MA 400 10 W. Boston Federal Population Schedule MA 1860 Federal Census Index 1860 KIRBY JOHN Norfolk County MA 646 5 W. Roxbury Federal Population Schedule MA 1860 Federal Census Index There are also 12 John Kirby's listed in the 1890 Boston Directory that also came from Ancestry, I know this is a little later than you wanted, but I thought anything might help John Kirby hostler 22 Benton Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer 15 Piedmont Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer 267 D Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer 11 Oxford place Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer 241 Paris Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer 27 Fabin Boston MA 1890 John Kirby laborer boards 27 Fabin Boston MA 1890 John Kirby teamster 3 Chadwick place Boston MA 1890 John B. Kirby foreman 65 Maywood Boston MA 1890 John E. Kirby liquors 10 Charles River avenue 85 Washington, Charlestown Hope some of this helps Helene ---------- WE HAVE OLD CITY DIRECTORIES ON CD http://www.oldcitydirectory.com Mike and Helene Carson OR Check out our auctions at Ebay at: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mikenhelene/ ----- Original Message ----- From: <Gemcolleen@aol.com> To: <BOSTON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 3:39 PM Subject: [BOSTON] Boston Brothels in the 1800s > Apparently my great great grandmother lost her husband aboard ship on the > way over here from Ireland. They ended up in Canada and she and her children > and her brother had to walk down to Boston. They didn't have much money and > little means of support so she and her brother opened up a brothel so she > could take care of her children. This was sometime around and after the > potato famine in Ireland. > I don't know what her first name was nor do I know her brother's name. > All I know about her is that she had one son named John Kirby who was born > July 1841 in Ireland.(probably County Mayo) > I plan on examining censuses of Boston for 1850 and 1860 to see if I can find > family who looks like my Kirbys.... However I imagine it will be a hard task. > One question: Which one of the wards in Boston during the 1850s give or take > a few years is a prime cadidate for a district that might have a brothel. > Notes on the descendents of the woman. My father thought it was a hoot. My > uncle was so embarrassed about the fact that he refused to discuss it. > Apparently mentioning such things hanging from the family tree is > embarrassing to people who have finally made it. > Apparently she was able to help some of her children get to college. Where > there's a will there's a way. > And if this story rings a bell with any of you let me know. > > > ==== BOSTON Mailing List ==== > Visiting Boston? > http://www.bostonusa.com/ > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.310 / Virus Database: 171 - Release Date: 12/19/01