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Simon Cadwell's Kansas tombstone says he was born in County Meath, about 1839.  He was Roman Catholic.  His parents were Patrick (Caddell, Caddel, Caddle, Cadle, etc) and Bridget Clarke (shortened to Clark in America).  Bridget had brothers John (born c 1806) and Charles (born c 1810).  Patrick and Bridget had children Richard (c 1836), Simon (c 1839) Ann (c1843) and Margaret c(1844) all born Ireland, presumably all born County Meath.  Patrick, Bridget and family emigrated Liverpool to New York 1847; Charles Clark emigrated to Canada c 1846 where a child was born and then continued to New York; John Clark emigrated to New York c 1850.  All three families (Patrick and Bridget, Charles and wife Margaret and 5 surviving children, and John and wife Margaret and 7 surviving children) ended up in St. James R.C. church, Cazenovia, New York (their farms were located in nearby Pompey and Oran).  Patrick's tombstone says he was born in county Dublin, but we have no clue about his parents or siblings).  So far we have not found these families or descendants or relatives except for descendants of Simon Cadwell, none of whom can add any more information to the 19th c Irish genealogy.

There is an 1821 census which shows a James Clark, 36, his wife Mary Monaghan, 35, living in the house of her father Bryan Monaghan, 58, with children  (?) Charles Clarke, 11 and John Clarke, 7.  In that same household is a listing for a Bridget Clarke, 27.  Charles and John are called "nephews" and Bridget "niece" but Bridget is too old to be the daughter of Mary Monaghan.  However this could be a census error, in which case we believe we have the Clarke parents identified.  This census is in townland and parish of Ardsalla, Barony of Lower Navan.

Saturday 24th May 2014, 09:23AM

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  • Bob and Elsa:

    You may want to try Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie They have Navan RC records back to 1790. There is a Charles Clarke 1811 baptism in the Navan records. There are also three Bridget Clarke baptism records in Navan from 1808-1814. Roots is  apay site to review the transcription of the church record.

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Saturday 24th May 2014, 01:54PM
  • Thank you, Roger,

    Yes, we have that baptism of Charles Clarke, son of James Clarke and Mary Monaghan, and it seems to be the same family.  There's a better than average probability that this Charles is indeed the one that emigrated to New York State.

    Do you think there will be any groups of current Clarkes and Monaghans living in Ireland who would be descendants of these Clarkes and Monaghans of Ardsallagh Parish?  How would one get in touch with them?  Would there be Clarke surname associations or Monaghan surname associations in County Meath?

    Sincerely,

    Bob and Elsa Pendleton

    Sunday 25th May 2014, 10:13AM
  • Bob and Elsa:

    I will defer to Pat ( St. Marys Meath) since he or she is local and I live in the States. Good luck!

    Roger

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Sunday 25th May 2014, 03:21PM
  • Dear Pat,

    Our problem with the Caddell line is that we have no further information about Patrick's family - no idea of siblings or parents, other than that his tombstone says he was born in County Dublin.  Since Wicklow is adjacent to County Dublin to the South, this is certainly possible.  We have seen Patrick's surname spelled as Caddle, Cadle, and Codale / Coddle (difficult to make out the handwriting).  All his children changed the spelling to Cadwell, but that seems to be an Anglicization.  Even if we were led to the birth of a Patrick Caddell we wouldn't be able to decide if he was our ancestor.

    So our hope has been to find the marriage record between Patrick and Bridget Clark(e).  This would have been 1836 or earlier - our best guess for their births is 1810-1814, and their oldest child, Richard, was born about 1836.  The closest marriage we have found is Patrick Carroll and Bridget Clarke, in Athboy, on 26 Feb 1838.  We would either have to have errors in the birthdates of the children, or else there would have to be children born out of wedlock, both of which are possible but not probable.

    We are in Dublin (arrived 3 weeks ago), and have worked a little bit at the NLI and the Archives and the Dublin P.L.; we have subscribed to rootsireland and findmypast and joined the Genealogical Society of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.

    It would be helpful to know what percentage of the Roman Catholic church registers for the period in question exist and have been transcribed.

    Our more positive chances definitely seem to be associated with the Clarke line; the surname is quite heavy in Meath and Westmeath.  We found 408 Clarkes on the Griffiths for Meath, and have transcribed them all, but aside from the family about which we posted haven't got too far.  Bridget's brothers Charles and John also came to New York with their families, but none of the three siblings came at the same time.  

    John Clarke was born around 1806, married a Margaret Havey (?) in Ireland, had children Simon (1841), Mary (1846), Ann (1848), and Margaret (1850) born in Ireland, and were in Onondaga County, NY to have Rosana (1852).  Finding this family in Ireland would clearly be a win.  John and his family emigrated after Bridget and Patrick Caddell.

    Charles Clarke was born around 1809, married a Margaret Donard / Leonard (?) in Ireland, had children Charles (Canada, 1846), Michael (1852, Onondaga County NY).  So evidently Charles and his wife were first to emigrate, but came to Canada first and (presumably) walked across the border into New York.  So finding a marriage of Charles in Ireland would also be very helpful.

    What we are most hoping to find is possible Clarke or Caddell, etc., descendants living in Ireland who may have further family stories about these families.  Were there other siblings besides Bridget, John, and Charles?  That would be most helpful.  We do intend to post our query to Navan as well.  We made one bus trip to Trim, but that is not a research site open to the public.  So we persevere.

    Thanks very much for your detailed reply and all your suggestions.

    Sincerely,

    Bob and Elsa Pendleton
    bobandelsa@gmail.com
    www.bobandelsa.com

    Monday 26th May 2014, 07:47AM

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