Thomas Carey : Short Biography

I found out that James Carey our GG Grandfather had a brother  by the name of   Thomas Carey  who lived on court st Brooklyn. I do know he is related based on some information I found in Brooklyn. .  Tom Carey’s wife was  Honora Anne Murphy and she had a plot in Holy Cross Cemetery  in Brooklyn.  James Carey  died in Feb 1876 and is buried in that plot.    Another indication of being related was , Daughter Rebecca married a Thomas Dunlay and she was a sponsor for James Carey (brother Jerome)  baptism as Rebecca Dunleavey. Also Rebecca‘s  son Thomas Dunlay was a sponsor for  Brother Jerome’s brother Thomas as Thomas Dunlee. The families must have interacted with each other at  one time even though Dunlay is  a name that neither I or anybody else had ever heard of.  

I found a record in Ireland for a Thomas Carey marrying a Hanora Murphy July 30th 1848 in the RC parish of Newport County Tipperary. Their daughter Rebecca was baptized Jun 12th 1849 in the Townland of Toorabrien Newport County Tipp. This is on the County Tipperary and Limerick border about 5 miles from Newport Village and next to the Townland of Forkeala in County Limerick. During this time period,  Tom Carey and his family were  living at the Townland of Forkeala on the farm that his father Martin had.

I also found a record of a Thomas Carey who was born May 27th 1824 in the RC parish of Murroe and  Boher in County Limerick. His parents were Martin Carey and Rebecca Blackwell. I found several articles about the family in the local newspapers on line , on find my past .com which is how I confirmed I had the right Thomas Carey .  Thomas was involved with his brother and cousins in a “Whiteboyism” scandal which involved attacking cows at night at his father Martin’s  former property.  This happened in July 1851 and he was sentenced in March 1852 to 10 years in prison. The paper said they were to be transported which meant going to Australia but that never happened as they spent their time in Irish prisons. 

The background of this was , Tom’s father Martin had a 1000 acre farm at Forkeala County Limerick he was renting off of Irish Landlord  Lord Cloncurry.  Forkeala is near Newport and Toorabrien  on the County Tipp and Limerick border. Martin is in Griffiths valuation of 1850 (valuation of all private property in Ireland for tax purposes) as the occupier of 1090 acres and Lord Cloncurry is the lessor . Martin is the only person listed and the property takes up the whole Townland. (The townland was partly Mountains and only about 100 acres was suitable for farming) . The value of Martin’s house is 2 lbs and 5 shillings  . Based on the valuation of the house it was  probably built out of stone or brick and had a Dormer level and a thatched roof. This is on the lower end of the scale for housing but not the lowest. The lowest was houses worth less than one pound and they were one and two room mud cabins with a thatch or Turf roof.  This is the type of Housing that the  Carey’s from  the Townland of Moher lived in. Martin Carey seemed to be a little bit better off than the rest of the family. 

Martin fell behind on the rent and was evicted off the farm in Dec 1850.  New owners were brought in . I believe that Martin lived at Forkeala but he also had family living in the Newport area  in County Tipp about 5 miles away near  Killoscully .  This is where he lived after he was evicted.  After 6 months of losing the land  the Carey family   decided to take revenge on the new owners. A group went out at night and attacked the Cows . The paper said  some of the cows were killed or injured. They also killed a horse. They also cut the tails off of the neighbors Cows.

There was 7  of them involved and they were arrested and went to trial . They spent 10 years in the several prisons across Ireland . The last prison they were in was in Dublin and that’s where they got released in 1859. The prison records are on line. The records have detail information  about the family that you couldn’t find anywhere else.  It says the following about Thomas Carey  “ Thomas Carey  was born in the Parish of Abington Co Limerick .” ( Abington is the Civil parish name for the RC parish of Murroe and Boher) .  “He lived in Newport before conviction and was a Farmer. His friends reside there and he wants to go back there when he gets out. Thomas Carey got out on June 2nd 1859. He went back to Killoscully Newport Co Tipp to be with his father and friends  before immigrating to Brooklyn NY . His wife is already there. Constabulary notified the prisoners intention of immigrating to America June 11th 1859.” 

So we now know that Thomas came over by himself as his wife and daughter were already here. There is a Thomas Carey who came over on July 20th 1859 on the sailing Ship William Stetson. This is probably him as it did sometimes take a while to get to America on sailing ships. From 4 to 6 weeks.   He is by himself .The list has his ancestry as American but this is probably a mistake as everyone else on the ship is Irish.

After some digging I did find his wife Honora and daughter Rebecca coming over on Sept 15th 1852 aboard the ship the Southhampton. She is listed as Ann Murphy age 20  and her daughter Rebecca age 2 is listed as Rebecca Humphries. Murphy was Ann’s maiden name and Humphries was Ann’s mothers name. This I believe is the right people. They may have put down a different name because of the trouble her husband had in Ireland. The date would also make sense as Tom was sentenced in March of 1852 and they left a few months after that.       

Thomas Carey and Ann Murphy Carey appear in the 1860 census for Brooklyn in the 12th Ward on Court st. This is in the Red Hook section . The house they lived in was a Shanty at the foot  of Court st and Grinnell (now Creamer st)  near the East River. At the time the Shanty may have overlooked the  River but today the address is several blocks in as it has been filled in. This is not too far from 477 13th st where the James Carey family lived.  Thomas is 41 born in Ireland and Anne is 32 also born in Ireland. Daughter Rebecca is 10 years old. 

There is a 1865 NYS census on line  but trying hard as I might  I couldn’t find the Thomas Carey family. They should be in the 12th  ward living on Court street. I will keep checking. Tom  died August 23rd 1866.  I  received his death cert. ( Another one of those death cert that I am shocked to find that far back).  Per his death cert he was living at the foot of Court street in the 12th ward. He was living in the USA and Brooklyn for 8 years. He is buried in Flatbush.  I checked Holy Cross Cemetery and they don’t have a record. They said he is probably buried in a Church yard at the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church. The Church is still there today on the corner of Flatbush Ave and Church ave. I will check with them.

His wife Hanora Carey and family appear in the 1870 federal census in the 12th ward. Hanora  is 33(age off by 10 years)  and has a daughter Rebecca 18 born in Ireland and daughter Maggie 9 and son John 5 both born in NY. Also in the census is Ann’s mother Margaret Murphy age 60 born in Ireland and Margaret’s  son John age 35 born in Ireland who  works as a laborer. The family is also in the 1875 NYS census record. Margaret Murphy is 75, her son John Murphy is 50 , Rebecca Carey now Dunlay is 24  and her husband Thomas Dunlay is 25 .  I could not find the mother Anne Murphy Carey or her son John Carey or daughter Mary Carey but I believe they were living close by in the 12th ward.  

Rebecca Carey married a Thomas Dunlay April 16th  1874 in the  St Mary Star of Sea church on Court st. They had 3 children Thomas 1875, Mary 1876 and Anna 1877 all baptized in St Mary Star of Sea Church.  Thomas Dunlay and Rebecca  and her  family continued to live on  Court  street . 

The family is in the 1880 federal census. Thomas is 35 works as a laborer born in Ireland. Rebecca is 35 born in Ireland, children Thomas 5 , Mary  3 and Anna 2 . Living with the family is Rebecca’s mother Anna age 45 born in Ireland and her children Margaret 19 and John 15. Margaret died Feb 1881 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery  in her mother Anna’s plot. The father Thomas Dunlay died around this time ,  as Anna is listed as a widow in the 1884 Brooklyn Directory. I don’t know where he is buried.

The mother Anna Murphy Carey died Dec 8th 1888. She was 53 and born in Ireland and was a Housekeeper. She was in the US for 29 years which meant she came over around 1859. The place of death was listed as a Shanty on the corner of Court and Grinnell st.(now Creamer St)  in the 12th ward. It was a one family house and the floor she died on was B, which I assume meant basement.  She was buried in her plot at Holy Cross  Cemetery

John Murphy the son   of  Margaret Murphy and brother  of Anna Murphy Carey  died May 5th 1888. He was 46 years old and was born in Ireland.  He was living on the corner of Court and Grinnell st. It was a one family house (shanty) and the floor he was on was B which I assume was basement. John was in the Country and City for 30 years which means he came over in 1858.  He is buried in Holy Cross.

The Rebecca Dunlay family is in the 1892 NYS census on 583 Court st . Rebecca is listed as Bridget and is 40 born in Ireland. With her are her 3 children Thomas , Mary and Annie. Also with the family is a John Carey the son of  Thomas Carey and Honora Murphy Carey.  John Carey died in 1895 and is buried in Holy Cross in his mother Anne Carey’s plot. His death certificate listed his place of death as 583 court st in a 8 family tenement house. 

The Carey/Dunlay family from Court st and the  Carey family from 13th st must have been close as Rebecca Dunlay  was a witness to the baptism of  her  first cousin  Tom Carey’s son  James Carey (brother Jerome ) in 1893. She is listed as Rebecca Dunleavey. Her son Thomas Dunlay was also a  witness to the baptism  of  Brother Jerome’s brother  Thomas A Carey in 1896. He is listed as Thomas Dunlee.

After 1900 the Rebecca Carey Dunlay  family continued to live at 583 Court st . Rebecca and family are also in the 1905,10,15 and 1920 census living at 583 Court st.  Rebecca  died  Feb 1920 and is buried in St John’s Cemetery . I recently received her death cert . She died during the flu epedemic. Her death cert says she was born in Ireland and was 63. This is off as she was born in 1849 and would have been 71. Taking a few years off your age was a common practice years ago. Also it says she was in the US and City for 55 years. This is off as well as she came over around 1858 . Her parents are listed as  James Carey and Anne Murphy. This is off as Thomas Carey was her father. Her mother was Anne Murphy.

Rebecca ‘s  obit  says she was born in Ireland and her only surviving family member was her daughter Annie Best. Rebecca had 3 children who married but I don’t know much about them.   I sent away for the list of interment at St John’s Cem and just recently received it. Rebecca Carey Dunlay age 63 was interred 02 09 1920. Anna Dunlay Best her daughter the registered owner of the grave was  interred 10 13 1966 and was 89. The others interred in the plot are members of the Cogin family. A Daniel Cogin married a Margaret Lyons who was the daughter of  Anne Dunlay  Bests’s sister  Margaret Carey Lyons who was the daughter of Rebecca Carey Dunlay. The memorial for the plot has a Stone that says Mary Ellen Cogin and Daniel Cogin. They were the parents of Daniel Cogin jr.  

The three  children of Rebecca Carey and Thomas Dunlay ; Thomas, Mary Ann and Anna all married . Thomas jr married a Mary Johnson and they had 5 children . Thomas died in 1916. Mary Ann first married a Thomas Lyons and had two children and then married a Frank McKenna and had 3 children.  Mary Ann died in 1911.   Anna married a Frank Best  but I don’t believe had children. Anna died in 1966.  I don’t know anything about the children or what happened to them . I will do more research .