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KEARNEN BURKE – 1818 - 1911

My G-G-Grandfather was Kearnen Burke, born in County Offaly, Ireland in 1818.

His mother’s name was Mary Flannagan (also from Co. Offaly) & his father’s name is unknown to me & is not listed on Kearnen’s death certificate.

He emigrated to the U.S. in 1850 according to U.S. Census records.

On official U.S. records Kearnen’s first name is spelled various ways: Kearnan, Kernan, Kiernan, Keirnan & Kieran. When he became a U.S. citizen on September 15, 1856, the Hamilton county clerk spelled his name phonetically as “Carin Burk”.  His certificate of exemption from military service during the civil war, dated March 27, 1863, gives his name as “Kiernan Burke”.  The Miami Township records for 1870 list his name as “Kernan Burke”.  Both his official death certificate & burial certificate spell his given name as KEARNEN, although his grandson's name was JOSEPH KEARNON BURKE as it was spelled on his draft registration (his own signature), so Kearnon is also possible. Another grandson, named after him, was recorded in the family bible with the spelling “Kearnan Burke”.

The 1850 passenger list for the ship Nathaniel Kimball (Liverpool to New York) shows the name "Kiernan Burke".  Other Burkes on that same ship were Mary age 50, Kiernan age 24, Johanna age 16, and Pat age 26. If this IS my G-G-Grandfather, his age is different from what appears on his death certificate. He would have been 32 in 1850, not 24 as appears on this passenger list. I am not 100% certain that my G-G-Grandfather landed in New York. Census records do not say, and family lore had him landing in New Orleans although I can find no record of any Burke with a similar given name on any New Orleans passenger list.

What I DO know:

His wife was named Anna (1837-1907) – maiden name unknown. They had 3 sons & 1 daughter:

Daniel B. Burke 1853-1914

Patrick E. Burke 1855-1912

Kearnon Burke 1859-1898

Anna Burke 1860-1888

They settled in the vicinity of Cincinnati Ohio (North Bend Village & Miami Township).

According to family lore, he and Anna settled in North Bend village, where Kearnen worked as a farm laborer on the property of the John Scott Harrison, son of William Henry Harrison (9th President of the U.S.), and Father of Benjamin Harrison (23rd President of the U.S.).

He later got a job with the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad (later B&O Railroad) and lived mostly in Miami Township just outside of Cincinnati.  He died at his son’s home in Lawrenceburg Indiana on 17 June, 1911.

 

Monday 24th Sep 2012, 09:39PM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Tim,

    I've forwarded your request to a volunteer in the area who may be of assistance to you.

    All the best.

    Genealogy support

     

    Tuesday 25th Sep 2012, 09:20AM
  • Hi Tim - there is an excellent geneaology centre for Offaly and Laois - based in Tullamore.  You can email them at info@offalyhistory.com.

    Amanda Pedlow

    Offaly Heritage Officer

    Tuesday 25th Sep 2012, 01:57PM
  • Amanda, how strange your name is so similar to mine...the Pedlow bit obviously..... I had ancestors in Roscrea, and Leap Castle.... I have birth dates, but it seems there are so many Peilow s, I am trying to work out who is who.... you say there is an excellent centre in Tullamore...maybe I should go. Do they have parish records there?

    My e-mail is a Uk one, as I am over quite a bit, but feel free to e-mail  me if you have anything on the Peilow s. My e-mail is: noel@peilow.fsnet.co.uk Thanks

    Regards

    Noel

    Thursday 27th Sep 2012, 10:42PM
  • Thanks Amanda, I'll give them a try.

     

    Tim Burke

     

    Friday 28th Sep 2012, 01:46AM
  • Tim: I'm new to this site, and read your post with enthusiam! We may be related! New to geneology in my 60s, I recently began researching the Burke side of my family. Running backwards, my maternal grandmother was Mary Agnes Burke Donahue (1887-1980), daughter of Kearnen (most often spelled in New Albany, Indiana, as Curan, Curran, and so on), and Antonette (Nettie) Marie Webster Burke, all of Cincinatti. My grandmother was born 1887, her mother Nettie 1862, and no dates are known for Kearnen or Curran. All that is known is after coming to New Albany to work for the Airline Railroad Co., he was killed in a train accident in January 1898, and was buried in Cincinnati. Family first names of my grandmother's siblings included Anna, Daniel, Edward, and Joseph. Obviously, all those children were born in the late 1800s, and now rest with the Lord. So, write when you have the chance, and please feel free to email (mddon423@yahoo.com) with any information or famiy photos you may wish to share. Thanks, and take care. Appreciatively, Mike Donahue (and that's an Irish name if there ever were one!).  

     

     

     

     

     

    Mike

    Wednesday 29th Mar 2017, 01:32AM

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