Hi Colleen- According to several published biographies of my g-grandfather about the time he was a State Senator, he "spent some time in New York before settling in St. Louis in 1849". My uncle thinks he came through Buffalo rather than NYC, but I have been unable to verify either of these through passengers lists, directories, or censuses. Unfortunately mu uncle was born 20 years after his death, so no personal contact to be had there. The other route that seems to have been popular is to Canada through Quebec or Montreal, then either through the Great Lakes to Toledo or Chicago, then by train or coach to St. Louis. I have found several mentions of people from Kildare going through Canada, as it was about 25% cheaper than through New York. I lived in New Orleans myself for 10 years, and there are several Kerwin families there that I don't think are related. One guy even had my same first name, and I got his summonses and nasty phone calls! He even got arrested for boating while intoxicated on a weekend I was out of town-all my sailing friends thought it was me! I've been perusing the records you have posted, but have not found anything so far. But the directories may be a help-they have been my best source for St. Louis. I have just recently found some Kerwins who worked on the river, and these may be a match to some in New Orleans. Wasn't the Jeannie Johnson a neat ship? I visited it when I was in Ireland summer before last. It really helps you get the experience of what immigration was like. Where y'at, dawlin'-Kevin Kerwin ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 4:33 AM Subject: [Irl-Kildare] Irish in St. Louis > Hi Kevin, > > It's me again. > > Regarding your relatives in St. Louis. Do you ahve evidence that your family > came through NY, or are you just guessing? From my experience, there is a > 95% chance they got to St Louis through the Port of New Orleans. This was by > far the easiest and most direct route to get there. Have you ever checked this > out? > > >From my in depth study of the New Orleans public hospital records, I have > found that 70% of the admissions were Irish, many just arriving in town. The > admission records give place of birth (even the name of the county), the age, > name, date of admission, occupation, date of death or discharge, how long in New > Orleans, where the person was beforehand, how long they were in town, their > marital status, what disease they had, and what time they were admitted. > Sometimes there is also a remark included. I have seen many entries indicating that > the person had been in St. Louis or had relatives in St. Louis or that seemed > to indicate they worked the river between NO and St. Louis. When I have > posted any of these records, there have been many repsonses telling me they were > surprised to find their relatives in this hospital. I have transcribed > Janurary 1851 through the beginning of Nov 1851 and they are posted on our site at: > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/la/orleans.htm > > Our site also has the ALL Louisiana State birth, marriage, and death indexes > for Orleans Parish (New Orleans) covering births (1796 - 1902, the last > available), marriages (1870 - 1915 about) and deaths (1804 - 1915 about). These are > the same as on Ancestry, but they are free. There are over 2M entries that > we have been posting over the last four years or so. We also have complete > city directories from several years, the latest being 1851. We are now working > on 1861. > > If you think your stayed long enough to be in the city directory, I have a > complete set through 1899 at my FHC and can do lookups. > > I also have the passenger list index from New Orleans, but it is good only > 1853 and later. However, I just found out that earlier records have been > indexed by the John F. Kennedy Trust. I was in Co. Wexford recently and was able to > visit the replica of the famine ship in New Ross where they allow you access > to their database of passenger arrives from the late 1840s and beyond. The > assistants told me that the database had been sold to a company in NY (will have > to find the name) and that maybe Ancestry had it now. Don't know but you > could find more info by search on JFK Trust. > > I will end for now, but if I can help you in any of this, let me know. > > Colleen > > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >