Good morning, listers, I continue my over forty-year odyssey to try to document whether my husband's great-grandfather Patrick Skiffington actually came from Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, and who his parents and siblings might have been. I can't find a paper trail, and what compounds the problem is that I fear Patrick was most likely illiterate. Our short visit to the canon's office of the local R.C. church in Donaghmore, contacts with two genealogy sources, for which a payment was required (!), and much input from many kind people on the different lists, have resulted in nothing tangible. The closest I've come to is the possibility of a Pat. Skiffington, Ireland (no other information), listed as a passenger on the Jane Walker 1834, but this is all prior to 1840 when we have confirmation of Patrick Skiffington's marriage to Bridget Kelly (Ireland) in 1840 in the The Basilica of the Blessed Assumption, Baltimore, Maryland. I seem not to have the Midas touch because I have received no reply from the Diocese of Armagh, which was suggested to me as the repository of Catholic records, or a church in Baltimore which should have the records of the baptismal records of the children of Patrick and Bridget Kelly Skiffington, presumably. We have nothing pre Patrick Skiffington's life in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, except for some bits and dabs of information about the movements of him and Bridget Kelly Skiffington in and around Baltimore after his marriage in this country. We have copies of Bridget's application for a widow's U.S. Civil War army pension, which took three years to resolve. Patrick Skiffington had sustained injuries when he fell on his bayonet during a retreat from either Antietam or Williamsport in 1863 and died six months later in his home in Baltimore. We have a list of their children, one of whom, Edward, also served in the Civil War. After Patrick died, he and Bridget (Patrick's widow) bounced around a few addresses in Baltimore, and then I believe they moved to New York perhaps to be near one of her daughters. Searches of cemeteries for Bridget's burial place were futile, but Edward's remains were returned from N.Y., to be interred in New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, but not in the same lair as his father Patrick Skiffington. Nothing to grab on to there either. Those who tried to help me in my search agree that it's like flogging a dead horse and maybe I just have to reconcile myself to the fact that I am lucky to have details of Patrick Skiffington's marriage in 1840 (the marriage certificate is short and sweet, birthplace Ireland, no parents listed, and no indication of whether the witnesses might have been related, etc.). In addition, we do have the Civil War widow's pension papers, but again, Patrick Skiffington's birthplace is listed as Ireland, with no other details. There is a physical description, but nothing that would help us to "find" him in Ireland. As you can imagine, I have been uphill and down dale, and am submitting this "anecdote" again, in the hope that perhaps someone can suggest a resource I have not yet tapped into to confirm that Patrick Skiffington was born in Donaghmore, and beyond that who his parents might have been and any siblings. In appreciation, Maisie

Hello Maisie, if you have a male Skiffington, you might want to have genealogical Y-DNA test. I checked FTDNA's site and one Skiffington has completed a test. You can access their site at: http://www.familytreedna.com. This test might assist in your research and confirm with other testers as their DNA is added to FTDNA's data base. Denis On Feb 3, 2009, at 2:25 PM, Maisie Egger wrote: > Good morning, listers, > > I continue my over forty-year odyssey to try to document whether my > husband's great-grandfather Patrick Skiffington actually came from > Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, and who his parents and siblings might have > been. I can't find a paper trail, and what compounds the problem > is that I fear Patrick was most likely illiterate. > > Our short visit to the canon's office of the local R.C. church in > Donaghmore, contacts with two genealogy sources, for which a > payment was required (!), and much input from many kind people on > the different lists, have resulted in nothing tangible. > > The closest I've come to is the possibility of a Pat. Skiffington, > Ireland (no other information), listed as a passenger on the Jane > Walker 1834, but this is all prior to 1840 when we have > confirmation of Patrick Skiffington's marriage to Bridget Kelly > (Ireland) in 1840 in the The Basilica of the Blessed Assumption, > Baltimore, Maryland. > > I seem not to have the Midas touch because I have received no reply > from the Diocese of Armagh, which was suggested to me as the > repository of Catholic records, or a church in Baltimore which > should have the records of the baptismal records of the children of > Patrick and Bridget Kelly Skiffington, presumably. > > We have nothing pre Patrick Skiffington's life in Baltimore, > Maryland, USA, except for some bits and dabs of information about > the movements of him and Bridget Kelly Skiffington in and around > Baltimore after his marriage in this country. > > We have copies of Bridget's application for a widow's U.S. Civil > War army pension, which took three years to resolve. Patrick > Skiffington had sustained injuries when he fell on his bayonet > during a retreat from either Antietam or Williamsport in 1863 and > died six months later in his home in Baltimore. > > We have a list of their children, one of whom, Edward, also served > in the Civil War. After Patrick died, he and Bridget (Patrick's > widow) bounced around a few addresses in Baltimore, and then I > believe they moved to New York perhaps to be near one of her > daughters. Searches of cemeteries for Bridget's burial place were > futile, but Edward's remains were returned from N.Y., to be > interred in New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, but not in the same > lair as his father Patrick Skiffington. Nothing to grab on to there > either. > > Those who tried to help me in my search agree that it's like > flogging a dead horse and maybe I just have to reconcile myself to > the fact that I am lucky to have details of Patrick Skiffington's > marriage in 1840 (the marriage certificate is short and sweet, > birthplace Ireland, no parents listed, and no indication of whether > the witnesses might have been related, etc.). In addition, we do > have the Civil War widow's pension papers, but again, Patrick > Skiffington's birthplace is listed as Ireland, with no other > details. There is a physical description, but nothing that would > help us to "find" him in Ireland. > > As you can imagine, I have been uphill and down dale, and am > submitting this "anecdote" again, in the hope that perhaps someone > can suggest a resource I have not yet tapped into to confirm that > Patrick Skiffington was born in Donaghmore, and beyond that who his > parents might have been and any siblings. > > In appreciation, > > Maisie > > ------------- > Our community web-site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > ~cotyroneireland > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > COTYRONEIRELAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

He didn't need to read or write to have records! "the Diocese of Armagh" = Waste of time!! Baltimore is your better bet! Maisie Egger wrote: > Good morning, listers, > > I continue my over forty-year odyssey to try to document whether my husband's great-grandfather Patrick Skiffington actually came from Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, and who his parents and siblings might have been. I can't find a paper trail, and what compounds _*the problem is that I fear Patrick was most likely illiterate.*_ > > Our short visit to the canon's office of the local R.C. church in Donaghmore, contacts with two genealogy sources, for which a payment was required (!), and much input from many kind people on the different lists, have resulted in nothing tangible. > > The closest I've come to is the possibility of a Pat. Skiffington, Ireland (no other information), listed as a passenger on the Jane Walker 1834, but this is all prior to 1840 when we have confirmation of Patrick Skiffington's marriage to Bridget Kelly (Ireland) in 1840 in the The Basilica of the Blessed Assumption, Baltimore, Maryland. > > I seem not to have the Midas touch because I have received no reply from the Diocese of Armagh, which was suggested to me as the repository of Catholic records, or a church in Baltimore which should have the records of the baptismal records of the children of Patrick and Bridget Kelly Skiffington, presumably. > > We have nothing pre Patrick Skiffington's life in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, except for some bits and dabs of information about the movements of him and Bridget Kelly Skiffington in and around Baltimore after his marriage in this country. > > We have copies of Bridget's application for a widow's U.S. Civil War army pension, which took three years to resolve. Patrick Skiffington had sustained injuries when he fell on his bayonet during a retreat from either Antietam or Williamsport in 1863 and died six months later in his home in Baltimore. > > We have a list of their children, one of whom, Edward, also served in the Civil War. After Patrick died, he and Bridget (Patrick's widow) bounced around a few addresses in Baltimore, and then I believe they moved to New York perhaps to be near one of her daughters. Searches of cemeteries for Bridget's burial place were futile, but Edward's remains were returned from N.Y., to be interred in New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, but not in the same lair as his father Patrick Skiffington. Nothing to grab on to there either. > > Those who tried to help me in my search agree that it's like flogging a dead horse and maybe I just have to reconcile myself to the fact that I am lucky to have details of Patrick Skiffington's marriage in 1840 (the marriage certificate is short and sweet, birthplace Ireland, no parents listed, and no indication of whether the witnesses might have been related, etc.). In addition, we do have the Civil War widow's pension papers, but again, Patrick Skiffington's birthplace is listed as Ireland, with no other details. There is a physical description, but nothing that would help us to "find" him in Ireland. > > As you can imagine, I have been uphill and down dale, and am submitting this "anecdote" again, in the hope that perhaps someone can suggest a resource I have not yet tapped into to confirm that Patrick Skiffington was born in Donaghmore, and beyond that who his parents might have been and any siblings. > > In appreciation, > > Maisie > > ------------- > Our community web-site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cotyroneireland > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to COTYRONEIRELAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > --- > avast! Antivirus: Inbound message clean. > Virus Database (VPS): 090203-0, 03/02/2009 > Tested on: 03/02/2009 19:28:40 > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. > http://www.avast.com > > > > >