This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: dsmothe1 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.farrelly/6.8.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Lois, I haven't gone back and looked at all the old messages on this thread, so some of what I'll say here might be redundant with them and some might be inconsistent. James arrived in New York in 1845 from Liverpool. Apparently, many Irish left from there. He then made his way to the Danish West Indies where in 1846 he was registered as an unmarried overseer a Estate Work & Rest on St. Croix. He soon left the D. W. I. for Farmington where he married Eliza Lawrence 8 May 1848. The Lawrences too were from Belturbet. Except for a few references to living in Hartford and serving in the Civil War, he lived in Farmington for the rest of his life (1906). He typically described himself as a gardener throughout all this time. The only certain connections with Miss Porters are (1) he lived across the street and (2) he named a daughter born in 1857 Sarah Porter. I wrote to the school years ago asking if they had any record of him. Some very nice person there spent a lot of time looking i! nto the archives of both the school and a farm associated with the school but did not find him. She noted too that the records are spotty. There also are indications that James was very much involved in the political life of Farmington which makes me think that if he actually did work for Miss Porters he would have shown up on some of their records. But then again, he was a gardener living across the street and the school certainly would have had a need for someone like him. Dan Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.