Jean- I never found *my* Charles McConnell on any ship list...or should I say I never found him with his family on any ship list. Therefore, I can't say which of the many Charles McConnells is mine. I've also not found him in the Index of Alien Declarations in Salem County. I DO know that my McConnells settled in Salem County in Southern New Jersey when they arrived in America. I know that the first US census they appear on is 1860 in which they indicate that all children born prior to daughter Anna/Annie born in 1859 were born in Ireland but Anna was born in NJ. I've scoured the 1855 NJ State census for Salem County but many entries for the townships in which they most likely were living at the time are illegible and faded. The 1860 census record can be backed up with the fact that while NJ had reliable birth records from 1848 on up there are no NJ birth records for Mary McConnell born 28 Feb. 1842 (which there wouldn't be) or Catharine "Kate" born in 1851 (which there SHOULD be if she was born in NJ). Lizzie born 1863 and Emma born in 1865 were born in NJ and have birth records. I've scoured ship lists and the closest I can find that I suspect might be parts of my McConnells in is the ship list for JJ Cooke ship Superior Second Trip 1852 from Londonderry to Philadelphia (which would make perfect sense as the destination since it is the closest port to Salem County, NJ). The ship list includes: Catherine McConnell of Moville Daniel McConnell, age 4 Moville Kate McConnell, age 1 Moville Also on the ship but listed separately are: Rebecca McConnell Strabane Mary Ann McConnell Strabane My best guess is that Charles may have come to America first (alone) and worked to afford to bring his family over. He couldn't have come too much earlier since daughter Kate was born in 1851. I never knew of a son Daniel in my McConnell family but if they did have a son he most likely would have been named Daniel after Charles' father (Irish naming patterns). So it is quite possible that these are my McConnells and that Daniel died at some point before the family appears on any US census listing. I don't know who the Rebecca McConnell is either but she could be a relative and Mary Ann living with Rebecca could be the oldest child of the family my great-grandmother Mary A. McConnell. It wouldn't all that unusual for her to have been living apart from the family by age 10 (possibly with a relative)--at age 17 on the 1860 census she's living on a farm working as a maid and not with the rest of her family either. At least this is the closest I can come to finding anything resembling my McConnells on a ship list. For whatever reason, after the 1860 census, the McConnell daughters all began claiming they were born in NJ on later census records and even Mary's obituary in 1915 states that she was born 28 Feb. 1842 near Mannington, Salem County, NJ (which where she was living at the time of the 1860 census). Three of the five girls died at a young age. Emma McConnell died 20 Oct. 1886 and her obit. says she was a member of the Elmer (Salem County) M.E. Church. Anna McConnell died 17 Dec. 1886. Lizzie marred on 10 Jan. 1883 to Oliver Hughes, had one child who survived childhood, and died before 24 Jan. 1889 when Oliver Hughes remarried to Olive Baldwin. All three of them -- Emma, Lizzie, and Anna died of "arthritis pulminalis" which I'm told is most likely a complication of having previously had TB. Mary McConnell married Job Kiger (a 4th generation American of Alsatian/German/Swedish descent) in 1861 and Kate married Martin Schnetzler (a Swiss immigrant). I have tried searching any and all records available for Strabane and Moville and surrounding areas but never located a family matching my McConnells. So the hunt continues. By the way, Moville is in County Donegal and Strabane is in County Tyrone -- right on the border with County Donegal. So reading your message--County Tyrone enters the picture for both of us as does the Methodist religion and family identity as Scotch-Irish. Joan ----------------------------- Joan, My McConnell was born in Glasgow, (per obituary) but married a Kerr from County Tyrone Ireland, so they too must of traveled back and forth at sometime. And they attended a Methodist Episcopal Church when they arrived in Ellsworth Kansas in about 1880. And they too called themselves Scotch-Irish. When did your Charles McConnell immigrate? Jean **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001)