http://www.ancestry.netscape.com/magazine/articles/fact.htm Most of us inherit one or two family stories, but how do you know if they’re fact or blarney? One such story, presumably written in the early twentieth century, survives today in three distinct descendant lines from John Doherty of County Tipperary, Ireland. The actual chronicler of the story is unknown, but the seanchai in this case was Mary Ann Conklin, daughter of James Conklin and Margaret Doherty. Making the effort to prove or disprove a story may lead to new ancestors and a greater understanding of your family. The Doherty story is nearly proven, with minor corrections of details, as discussed below. Italicized items in the discussion are quotes from the story and are not in sequence, but are listed in logical research progression. Charles Doherty, soon after coming to America, settled in Detroit. He married Mary Pickett. Their children: John, Mary, Frank, Richard and James. My husband is the great-grandson of Frank Doherty, son of Charles. Therefore I began with some inherited family documents — a will, an undated and unnamed newspaper obituary clipping, and some photos. Frank’s name was actually Charles Francis Doherty, but he alternated between using "Charles" and "Frank" at various stages of his life. His will was written about 1932 and did not mention his wife; the obituary states that she had predeceased him. The obituary also names his living children and the date he married Margaret A. Sim. These items also lead to the conclusion that he and his family should be included in the available federal censuses from 1920 and earlier. In fact, using the Soundex, Charles Francis Doherty, with wife Margaret and children were found on the 1900, 1910, and 1920 federal censuses for Detroit. The father Charles Doherty was not in the Soundex for any of these years, but his widow Mary was enumerated in the 1900 census in Detroit living at 12 National Avenue. Because the Soundex for the 1880 census only contains listings for households with children ages ten or younger, this Doherty family did not appear there. Using the 1900 address for Mary Doherty, the widow was found with four of her five children living with her. Continuing back in time, using addresses found in the Detroit City Directories, Charles Doherty and family were found on both the 1860 and 1870 Detroit censuses in the 9th ward. Detroit city directories were also searched for years between censuses because they often contain genealogical clues that may be hard to find elsewhere. The 1862 directory revealed that Charles Doherty was a soldier in the U.S. Army, which led to military records. A wealth of information was found in the pension record for Charles Doherty that documents the health problems he experienced after he was wounded with a shell in his lung at the Battle of Utoy Creek, Georgia, in August 1864. However, because no surface scar remained at the time of his application, he was denied the pension. Rejected pension records are frequently rich with genealogical information and this record was no different. After Charles died, Mary applied for a widow’s pension, which she eventually received. In order to prove her claim, she submitted a copy of baptismal records for her two under-aged children, Richard and James, and the couple’s civil marriage record from Detroit, dated 16 September 1850 in which the bride is listed as Mary Ellen Pickett. In one of several depositions, she lists the dates of birth of her five children, and the death date of her eldest, John, who died in 1873. In another, she gives enlightening information about Charles’ family: I saw my husband’s father he lived to be about 90 years old was very stout for that age. I understand his mother died at child birth when my husband was born and one sister died age 64 years was only sick about three days took a severe cold and he has a brother living in Oakland Co. near 82 years old and I understand he has two brothers living in Ireland but I don’t know them. The sister who died at age sixty-four was Margaret. Margaret Doherty married James Conklin of Deerfield, Livingston County, in 1844. Once again, a census search was conducted, only this time in Livingston County, Michigan. James and Margaret Conklin were found in Deerfield Township, Livingston County in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, and Margaret was found as head of the household in the 1870 census. She was not found in the 1880 census. During a visit to the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., a book of cemetery records for Livingston County listed Margaret Conklin with a number of other Conklins buried in Saint Augustine Catholic Church Cemetery. Margaret died 1 March 1879 at age sixty-two. The person listed above her in the book is John Doherty, who died in 1854 aged ninety-four years — an added bonus as the family story doesn’t mention that John immigrated! A later visit to the cemetery was even more enriching as both John and Margaret’s tombstones list their place of origin as County Tipperary, Ireland. This information was not included in the transcribed Livingston County cemetery records. To prove the marriage of James Conklin and Margaret Doherty, a search of available records in the Family History Library catalog was conducted at the local Family History Center. One source stood out as a possibility — Father Patrick O’Kelly’s baptismal registers from Livingston and Oakland counties. The marriage record for this couple was found in the publication, with a marriage date of 17 April 1845. Nicholas, Edmund and James came to America in 1834. After considerable investigation, they settled in White Lake Township, Oakland County, Michigan. The young men had quite a nice little sum of money when they left Ireland, but they took up a section of land from the government, and spent the money with such a lavish hand that they soon found themselves in straitened circumstances. The passenger list for Nicholas, Edmund, and James has been found, but it was not straightforward. The available microfilm index was not helpful because, as it turns out, the enumerator’s handwriting was unreadable so the indexer guessed incorrectly at the names. Another family story, discovered at the Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society, opened up the search possibilities. The author is unknown, but the story was in the same file with other manuscripts by descendants of Nicholas Doherty. The story begins: Nicholas Doherty left Tipperary, Ireland, in March 1834, and arrived at New York City the first day of May, where he found the fruit trees all in bloom. He had intended to go to Ann Arbor, Michigan, but missed the road, and brought up in Oakland County instead. Another item found at the same society was The Sesquicentennial of St. Patrick Chapel and Cemetery, 1840-1990. It contains sketches of pioneers including the Dohertys and neighbors, James Crotty and William Gorman. The accounts indicate that the Doherty brothers traveled from Ireland with several Tipperary neighbors, Crotty and Gorman. With those names, the index was revisited and the passenger list was found for the SS Victoria. It arrived in New York harbor 3 May 1834 from Liverpool. Enumerated on the list were Edmond, Nicholas (whose name could easily have been mistaken for "Mrs." as it is listed in the index), and James Doherty, James Crotty, and William Gorman and family. The exact route that the travelers used to arrive at their destination in Michigan is unknown, but an account from someone who participated in a similar journey describes one possibility: In the Spring of the year 1834 my father moved from the State of New York to the Territory of Michigan. Although but five years of age, the memory of those days is painfully stamped on my mind... I can well remember our journey up the Erie Canal, and Lake Erie, and soon on to Detroit. Detroit was then a very insignificant looking place to what it is at the present time. Father employed a teamster in Detroit to move us to Milford. When the traveling party arrived in Oakland County, Michigan was still a territory and land was readily available for sale through General Land Offices. Within twenty days of arriving in New York, Edmond, Nicholas and James Doherty had secured two land patents in sections 25 and 26 of township 3 North, Oakland County, for a total of 280 acres. In August 1836, James sold his portion of the land for $600 to his brothers and bought another eighty acres in section nine from the General Land Office. James turned around and sold that land to Patrick Farrell and Michael Forrey in November 1837. James enlisted in the Army and went to the Black Hawk War. He was never heard from again. The Black Hawk War took place between April and September 1832, making James’ participation impossible. His last known land transaction was in November 1837, so the US Army enlistment register was searched from that period forward. The registers list soldiers by first letter of the surname only, so each entry had to be viewed to find James. He enlisted at Detroit on 25 April 1838 by Capt. Jamison. His enlistment record states he was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, was 21, and was a Shoemaker by occupation. He had grey eyes, black hair, dark complexion, and was 5 feet 9 1/4 inches tall. This James is the only James Doherty (any spelling) to enlist from Detroit between 1837 and October 1850, the likely range of dates for his enlistment. A search of the muster rolls for his unit (Company H, 5th Infantry), showed that James Doherty died at Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin Territory, 5 June 1838, less than two months after he enlisted. No cause of death is listed. With the statement in the family story that "he was never heard from again," it is possible that James’ brothers never knew he died so soon after enlisting. Captain John Doherty, Regiment 38, British Army, was at one time stationed in Galway. Until 1871, those who aspired to be officers in the British military had to purchase their commissions. Many of the nineteenth-century British military records survive and are available for research at the British Public Record Office at Kew; a large portion of these same records have been filmed by the LDS Church and are available for loan through Family History Centers. John Doherty purchased a commission as an ensign in the 49th Regiment of Foot, British Army, on 8 October 1801. Less than a year later he purchased a commission as a lieutenant in the same unit. At the end of 1803, Lieutenant Doherty requested a transfer, as a lieutenant, from the 49th to the 38th Regiment of Foot, the unit described in the family story. The 49th Regiment was in Canada from about 1803-09, which may be why John Doherty requested a transfer to the 38th Regiment, which was concurrently in Ireland reforming following several overseas campaigns. According to muster books, he served in Captain Thomas Evans’ Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Regiment in various locations within Ireland, including Birr (Co. Tipperary), Fermoy (Co. Cork), and Galway (Co. Galway). That battalion left Cork for the Cape of Good Hope on 31 July 1805, but according to the muster book that covers that period, John Doherty was sick. Later that year, he is listed on monthly returns as absent with a sick certificate from the 2nd Battalion, 38th Regiment, so he likely did not leave Ireland with his unit, but transferred to the other battalion. Here he married Mary Lynch, daughter of Barrister Lynch, and granddaughter of Judge Lynch. The identity of John’s wife was proven through the baptismal records of three of their children, as discussed below. Her name was actually Margaret Lynch, not Mary. A request for a marriage record sent to the Galway Family History Society West in Galway City yielded instead a copy of a Lynch pedigree that was published in the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society in 1918. The pedigree includes a Margaret Lynch, daughter of Martin Lynch and Margaret Burke, who married John Doherty of Cashel. Parish marriage records are not available for the early nineteenth century. There is no indication of occupations for Margaret’s father and grandfather on the pedigree; further research needs to be conducted to determine their occupations. After some years Captain Doherty sold his commission, and retired to his estate at Tipperary. "Outra" was the name of the estate. Captain Doherty had a brother, Nicholas Doherty. His estate was adjacent to Captain Doherty’s.…Captain John Doherty’s estate, being left entirely to the management of hired help, began to show signs of mismanagement. As late as 1 February 1806, John Doherty appears as a lieutenant on monthly returns for the 2nd Battalion, 38th Regiment. It is doubtful that he ever purchased a commission as a captain. His last appearance in the annual list of all Army officers was in 1806, as a lieutenant. The next record found for him was the baptism of his first son, Edmund, in Cashel Parish, 9 March 1807. The Tithe Applotment Book, dated 1 November 1825, and the Tithe Defaulters List, dated 1831, show John Doherty, Esquire, living in Outeragh, Outeragh Parish, County Tipperary, adjacent to Mrs. N. Doherty, apparently the widow of John’s brother Nicholas. Griffith’s Primary Valuation, published in August 1850, shows John Doherty, Esq., living in the Outeragh House, the manor house for the landlord, or overseer, of all the property owned by Colonel Palliser of County Kilkenny. At some point in the mid-1840s, John Doherty relocated from Outeragh to Cashel, where he is listed as a resident in the 1846 Directory of Ireland. According to a descendant, "He lost his estate in dickering in fast horses." The estate was not John’s to lose, however, so it is more likely that the Palliser land owners either lost confidence in him or wanted their land watched over by a younger landlord — John was in his eighties at that point. Richard J. Hayes’ Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation, is one of the most valuable indexes for finding potentially obscure manuscripts in Ireland. This source revealed a listing for the O’Docherty Pedigree, created in the mid-nineteenth century by the Chief Herald of Ireland, which documents the clan back to about 800 A.D. The same John Doherty, Esq., former soldier and resident of Cashel in 1846, is included on this pedigree as a son of John Doherty and brother of Nicholas and Edmund Doherty. Captain John Doherty had six children: Nicholas, Edmund, Charles, Matthew, James, and Margaret (1817). The mother died when the family was still young. Margaret spent 3 1/2 years in the Ursuline Convent in Thurles. Thus far, baptism records for three of the Doherty’s six children have been located through correspondence with two of the three heritage centers in County Tipperary: Edmund (discussed above); Margaret was baptized 9 November 1815 in the same parish; and Charles was baptized 3 April 1818 in Cahir Parish. All three are recorded as children of John and Margaret Doherty. As indicated above, the mother Margaret Doherty apparently died in childbirth with Charles. No records have yet surfaced to prove or disprove this element of the story. Margaret Doherty may have spent time at the Ursuline Convent in Thurles (a Tipperary town north of Outeragh), but proof is elusive as the records for that early period no longer exist. However, the convent opened a boarding school for girls in 1796, which was the first Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. After returning from the convent, Margaret spent 1 1/2 years with her aunt, Ann Lawler, whose husband was a barrister, and this young lady here had all the advantages of a home of wealth and culture….Charles Doherty decided to follow his brothers to America, and Margaret, who had received a present of 50 pounds sterling from her Aunt, Ann Lawler, decided to come with him. The identity of Margaret’s aunt Ann Lawler has yet to be determined, although some family documents point to her identity as one of the Lynch family. A letter written following a discussion with Margaret’s daughter Mary Ann Conklin gives the following account: Mary Ann's mother visited her mother's people a year before coming here — she was given 50 pounds by them for some purpose I forget and Charles induced her to come to this country. She made personal loans to her countrymen on the boat coming over and lost all the 50 pounds. Since it is known that they both immigrated, a search for the passenger list containing Charles and Margaret is still underway. Charles first shows up in Detroit city directories in 1853. Margaret’s first record in the United States is her marriage in 1845.