Hi, Helen, To respond to your interest in why the Irish went to Rutland -- A lot of Irish landed in Quebec after 1830. The Atlantic crossing to Quebec was less expensive: ships loaded with timber would cross the Atlantic to England and maybe elsewhere and, rather than return empty, would carry Irish back to Canada. Many Irish who landed in southern Canada, I've read, would then walk across the border to the U.S. Rutland, comparatively, is not a great distance from Quebec. Rutland also was not that far from the ports of arrival at Boston and New York City. There were jobs building railroads available in Central Vermont in the 1840s and by 1852, roughly, Rutland had become a rail hub. Approximately 8 railroads went through Rutland then. Once they were established, the marble business at Rutland and West Rutland boomed and many Irish who built the railroads moved into the marble quarries and jobs running the railroads. By 1860 and even earlier, there were hundreds of Irish marble workers there. A sizable number of Roscommon immigrants went to Rutland. I have examined naturalization records and found more than 200 Roscommoners. Many of them, in particular, came from Kilglass Parish and the area around Strokestown, beginning in the mid-1830s or earlier. There was a known further movement of immigrants from Rutland to Illinois, probably along the Erie Canal across New York. (Farmland in Rutland was relatively expensive.) At least a few of them, I've found, later moved again, to Minnesota. I hope this helps. FYI, Rootsweb has an active Rutland list. Mary Lee Dunn

Hi, Mary Lee! I enjoyed reading this posting of yours very much, as I do all of your postings. With each I learn something interesting. Thank you, and keep up the good work. Fran Weeks ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 5:10 PM Subject: Re: [ROSCOMMON] RE: Rutland drawing the Irish > Hi, Helen, > To respond to your interest in why the Irish went to Rutland -- > A lot of Irish landed in Quebec after 1830. The Atlantic crossing to > Quebec was less expensive: ships loaded with timber would cross the Atlantic to > England and maybe elsewhere and, rather than return empty, would carry Irish > back to Canada. Many Irish who landed in southern Canada, I've read, would then > walk across the border to the U.S. Rutland, comparatively, is not a great > distance from Quebec. Rutland also was not that far from the ports of arrival at > Boston and New York City. > There were jobs building railroads available in Central Vermont in the > 1840s and by 1852, roughly, Rutland had become a rail hub. Approximately 8 > railroads went through Rutland then. Once they were established, the marble > business at Rutland and West Rutland boomed and many Irish who built the railroads > moved into the marble quarries and jobs running the railroads. By 1860 and even > earlier, there were hundreds of Irish marble workers there. > A sizable number of Roscommon immigrants went to Rutland. I have examined > naturalization records and found more than 200 Roscommoners. Many of them, in > particular, came from Kilglass Parish and the area around Strokestown, > beginning in the mid-1830s or earlier. > There was a known further movement of immigrants from Rutland to > Illinois, probably along the Erie Canal across New York. (Farmland in Rutland was > relatively expensive.) At least a few of them, I've found, later moved again, to > Minnesota. > I hope this helps. FYI, Rootsweb has an active Rutland list. > Mary Lee Dunn > > > > > ==== ROSCOMMON Mailing List ==== > Were your Irish ancestors victimized by British Robber Baron Cromwell? > Find their names at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlros/certificate.htm > Contact List Admin: [email protected] >