| Notes |
- Owen is the one who brought our branch of the Bradley family to the America. We have some of the names and vital statistics of family members who lived and died in Co.Meath, Ireland dating back to about the 1720's. Some of the dates are estimated, however, the full dates are from Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church in Oldcastle, Dioceses of Meath, Co. Meath, Ireland. The records are not complete and many are faded, which makes reading very difficult. Much information is lacking because births, marriages and deaths were not compulsorily registered until 1863. Ten-year censuses began in 1821 but are not considered reliable until the 1841 census.
The following is a brief history of conditions existing in Ireland at the time Owne and his family left. These conditions were probably the causes and reasons they decided to come to America.
In the 1840's Catholics were considered and treated as less-then-humans by the English government, State and Protestant churchs. If you were catholic, you had no rights. You could not hold public office, send you children to school, teach them to read or write, you had no political voice or vote and practiced of the Catholic Faith was forbiden. Under this political climate is when the Irish learned to bend the truth so effectively, even the clergy and why Irishmen are considered such notorious liers today. The potato famine of the 1840's was one of the worst disasters in world history. In only five years one million people died of starvation and emigrats by the hundreds of thousands sailed to America and Canada.The Duke of Wellington, a native of Co.
Meath said,"There never was a country in which poverty existed to the extent it exists in Ireland." Housing conditions were wretcherd beyond words. Three-fifths of the population lived in one room, windowless, mud cabins with grass roofs. Furniture was a luxury. Animals slept with their owners, manure heaps choked doors, sometimes even stood inside.
The evicted and unemployed put roofs over ditches, burrowed into banks, existed in bog holes. We can blame this terrible tragedy on the then unknown disease which destroyed the potato, on which the vast majority of the Irish depended almost exclusively for existance, greedy Protestant Landlords and the total lack of compassion and comprehension of the British government. Ireland had first been invaded in 1169. At the beginning of 1845 she was, as she had been for nearly seven hundred years, a source of grave anxiety to England. Yet, she had been neither assimilated nor subdued. The country had been conqured not once but several times, the land confiscated and redistributed over and over again. The population had been brought to the verge of extinction - after Cromwell's conquest and settlement only half a million Irish survived-yet an Irish nation still existed. This is truly a heartbraking history of suffering, insensitivity and blundering stupidity, but it is also a story of courage, dignity and against all odds, a hardly supportable tale of great optimism. All who claim this Owen Bradley as an ancestor have much to thank him for and a debt that can never be repaid !
Owen came from a long line of strong Roman, Catholic, Irishmen who lived in and around Meat, County, Ireland. He was a Joiner by trade. (A joiner is a carpenter who does interior finish work.) On census records, immigration and naturalization papers he was a carpenter, wheelwright and bootmaker. On his "Declaration and Intention"(to become a citizen of the US), dated 17 Dec 1852 we see he first entered the US on 3 July 1848, thru New York. We have not been able to find proof of this entry, yet (Mar.1993). On his "Petition for Citizenshup", dated 15 October 1856, he was a wheelwright, born in Co. Meath,Ireland on or about 16 Aud 1800 and he entered the US on 3 Oct 1849 thru Boston. We think on his first trip, he came to look for work and lodgings. He returned to Ireland to bring the family to America in 1849.
The family had to walk, ride horses or ride in wagons from Co. Meath to Dublin with all of their possesions, which was a hard physical journey in those days. Once in Dublin they had to wait for passage to Liverpool, where they would have to wait for their ship to America. Passage from Dublin to Liverpool was 10 shillings. The ships were small steamboats which took from 16 to 20 hours depending on the weather coditions.
English passenger laws provided for better protection of the pigs and cattle then passengers. Animals had to be between decks and shealded from the outside. Passengers had to stay outside and because so many were allowed on deck, most had to stand. In bad weather tarpawlings were passed out to cover passengers. It kept the blast of the storm off some of them, but it was impossible to cover all. An Irish Reporter made one of these trips and reported, "he thought the way the emigrants were convayed was disgracefull, dangerous, and inhuman. They were as wet as if they had been dipped into the sea." He said, "they crowded round the funnel for warmth. Most of them were not use to the sea and were seasick and became helpless and covered with each other's vomit. Many were drenched, stiff and cold. Those who made the vorge without getting sick were prostrated and scarcely able to walk. No body cared about the emigrants. A girl about 20 was so bad that she was unconscious for 12 hours." Once in Liverpool they were at the mercy of the hucksters trying to get all they could from the helpless emigrants.
Finally, their ship for America was ready and they boarded. The family did not all come over on the same ship. We think this was done in case something happened to one ship the entire family would not be lost.
We have not found a record of the date the ship sailed from Liverpool. We do know it took two and one half months to three mnths for such sailing ships to cross the Atlantic, depending on currents and weather.
We estimate the first ship left Linerpool in July 1849 and arrived in Boston on 2 Oct. 1849. The name of the ship was EPAMINONDAS. She was built in 1844 at Portsmouth, England. She had one deck, 3 masts, a draft of 17 feet and was built of Oak. Her tonnage was 545 tons. She was owned by Mr. C. Hill & Co. in 1849 and the Master on this voyage was Captain J.D. White. Family members who came on this ship were Owen and Mary Ann, John, Patrick, James, Margaret and Mary. According to the passenger list there were 228 passengers. One passenger died and was burrird at sea on 7 Sep 1849. This was probably another trying journey, especially for the women, as there were no cabins below deck or private facilities. Passengers had to furnish their own food and bedding.
Another bit of interesting information has come to light. On the passenger list of the Epaminondas, page #1, Owen, Mary Ann, John, Patrick and James were listed in that order and assigned passenger numbers 12 thru 16. On page #2, Margaret (age 14) is listed as passenger No. 84 and on page #3 Mary (age 12) is listed as passenger No. 85 and Catherine Bradley, age 23, is passenger No.86. At the time we noticed this we did not think it was significant. The girls were probable seperated from the family in the disembarkation. We know Owen and Mary Ann had no child by the name of Catherine. Owen, however, had a first cousin named Catherine, about age 20-23. Cathernie's father, Nicholas and Owen's father, Peter, were brothers. Later, while researcking the book, "List of Alien Passengers, Bonded from January 1, 1847, to January 1, 1851, for the use of the Overseers Of The Poor, in the Commonwealth, prepared under direction of the Auditor of Accounts, by J.B. Munroe, Superintendent of alien passengers for the Port of Boston", we found some very interesting information. -BACKGROUND INFO- At that time, a "BONDED PASSENGER", was a passenger convicted of various crimes. In Ireland at the time, being Catholic was a crime. With conditions of starvation and privation that existed then, almost anyone could be convicted of anything that didn't please the local English authorities. At the same time we find, INDENTURED SERVANTS [also bonded servants] were people who sold themselves to a master for a period of time (4 to 7 years) in order to pay for passage to another country. The contracts were transferable, salable, and were passed on to heirs if the master died. - We found a Margaret Bradley, age 14 and a Catherine Bradley, age 23, both from Ireland, both entered Boston on 30 September 1849 from the same ship, EPAMINONDAS. While Mary, age 12 was not on the bonded passagengers list we think she was missed or was on a contract with Margaret or Catherine. We do not know if these girls were convicted of crimes or indentured servents. On the passenger list the are all listed as SERVENTS. We therefore make the assumption that they were indentured servents. If further information is found later this note will be amended.
We estimate the 2nd ship left Liverpool in November 1849 and arrived in Boston on 12 Feb. 1850. The name of this ship was SUNBEAM. This was an unusual time of the year to cross the Atlantic. Maritime history tells us, voyages between October and April, were avoided because of the severe weather in the Atlantic during those months. She was built in 1845 by P.
Curtis in Medford ,England. She had two decks, 3 masts, a19 foot draft and was built of oak. Her tonnage was 844 tons. She was owned by Mr. A. Hemenway and Master of this voyage was Captain G.W. Putman. This was a much larger ship then the Epaminondas and may be why they sailed so late in the season. Family members on this ship were Mickeal, Ann and Peter. The passenger list for this trip showes only 66 passengers and two stored ways found after the ship left Liverpool. This ship was almost empty compared to the Epaminondas.
Immediately after arrival, Owen took the family to Johson city, Lamoille Co. Vermont. Why here, we do not know? The City has no record of them being there. The reason we know they were there is they are on the US 1850 Census of Johnson, Vermont. Owen and John may have been hired as carpenters to build houses or do some woodwork in the mines in the area. They did not stay there long because Owen and John are listed in the 1856 City Dircetory of Milford, MA. Owen is listed as a wheelwright, residing on North St. John is listed as a Carriage Maker and residing on Central St. Peter is listed but no occupation, residing in Lawrenceville. The only reason we can think of, that brought them to Milford was work or relatives and friends from Ireland. We have found other Bradley families in Milford but have made no genealogical conections. The 1860 US Census showes Owen and John to be bootmakers and the other male sons as working in the boot factory in various capacities. Patrick was a boot clicker( a merchant's servant who stands at the door and invites customers into the store; or a foreman in ashoemaker's shop) on the 1860 Census. The girls all worked in the straw factory making baskets , hats and other straw items. They were weavers or stitchers. The Catholic Church they attended in Milford is St. Mary Of The Assumption, St. mary's for short. Owen and some of the others are buried in St, Mary's Cemetery. Most of their children were married in the Church and the grandchildren baptised there.
As we stated above Owen filed a Declaration of Intentin 1852. This was done at a session of the Police Court of the City of Worcester on 17 Dec 1852 stating he renounced all allegiance and fidelityto Queen Victoria of the U.K. and G.B. He filed his Petition for Citizenship with the Judge of the Circuit Courtof the U.S. in Boston on 15 )ct 1856. Witnesses to the Petition were John Really and C. Thomas Kennedy. They sowre Owen had been a resident of Mildord and a good citizen for the past five years (1851-1856). He appeared abfore the U.S. District Court on 31 October 1856 and was officially made a citizen of this Nation.
We know of 9 children that Owen and Marry Ann had but we think there were others of which we have not found records.
Owen died on 6 May 1874 at the age of 74 (almost 75). According to his death certificate he died of old age and was buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Milford,MA. We do not know who the Informant was but we do not agree with the information on the death certificate concerning his father and his age. The Certificate shows his father as also being Owen and that he was 73 years,11 months and 24 days of age. For some reason He stated in several official documents he was born 16 Aug 1800. We are sure this where the Informant got his age. We do not know for a fact what day he was born. We do have a copy of his baptismal record showing he was baptized on 19 Aug 1799. This record gives his parents names and his father is Peter. Owen was his grandfather. [We have records to prove this fact. See the Bradley pedegree.] We know his actual death date.
Applying the 8870 formula and the years+1,months,days as recorded in Milford we can calculate his birth date. 1874 05 06-(73+1) 11 24- 88 70 = 1799 05 12 or 12 May 1799. This would be consistant with his baptismal date of 19 Aug 1799. A Nun friend of our's who was born, raised and educated in Ireland says the Irish do not celebrate birth days or keep tract of them. They do, however, celebrate baptismal dates. So, this why we think Owen was born 12 May 1799.
His will was written 5 May 1874, the day befor he died. He named his oldest son John Francis as exectutor of his estate. He left $50 to his widow Mary Ann and $5 to each of his living chldren. The balance of his estate, personal, real and mixed property, he left to his daughter-in law Mary, wife John F.
We located the Bradley Family Plot, in The Catholic Cemetery, when we found burial information about the oldest son, John. The Location is, Lot #10, Section B, Division D. Ellen Bradley was the last recorded owner of the plot and she died 15 Mar. 1934. She lived at 19 Spring St., Milford, MA.
We wrote to a John Bradley in Milford. We are not related, that we know of, but he gave us the following data about the Irish and thier activities during the 1850's and 1860's, in Milford.
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1799 - 1874 (74 years)