Carey, John B. - Ireland/Canada/United States

               We (my brother Mike Carey and I) are looking for information on the Irish family and background of our Irish 2X great-grandfather, John B. Carey.

               Our knowledge about John B. Carey starts with an 1851 census from St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. We are looking for anything/everything we can find about him before he went to Canada. We don’t know where or exactly when he was born or baptized, his parents' and siblings' names, his immigration information, or the name or any information on his first wife and their marriage.

               The information we found has John B. living in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada with his second wife, Bridget (McGuire), and family. They then move to Boston, Massachusetts, then on to Scranton, Pennsylvania. John B. and family ended up in Chicago, Illinois, where he died in 1895.

               Again, the information we are lacking pertains to John B.’s family and his Irish background. We have searched all of the Irish websites that we are aware of, to no avail. We have a large family tree on Ancestry.com that we can make available, if need be.

               Thank you in advance for any help you can give us with this!  Here is what we know so far:

His Name

               The middle initial “B” appears in some documents, but we do not know what it stands for.  It could be from his mother’s maiden name, but we don’t know if that is so.

His Age

                An 1851 New Brunswick census says that John B. was born in 1823.  Two other census reports put his birth in 1830.  He died on 20 Mar 1895 in Chicago. His death certificate says that he was 70-80 years old.  Therefore, in sum, he was born between 1815 and 1830.

His Place of Birth

                John B’s son Michael confirms that his father was born in Ireland.  His granddaughter, Gertrude Connery Rafferty, says this was in County Waterford.  His son James’ 1929 cemetery record says that his father was born in County Kerry. Gertrude, who received this information as a young girl, might have confused Waterford for Waterville in County Kerry.  We have also found several DNA matches to us whose ancestors come from County Cork.

His Family

                Gertrude Connery Rafferty says that John B. had a sister named Jane, whose DOB is not known.  She is said to have moved to Canada, married a man whose name is also unknown, and settled there.  We don’t know when she died.

               If he followed the Irish naming pattern, the names of John B.’s children might give a clue as to his parents’ and siblings’ names. His children’s names (in birth order) were Michael J., Margaret Ann, James J., Bridget Elizabeth, Jane, Thomas, Sarah, John Patrick, Charles Henry, William F., and Joseph Edward.

              Of note, there is another John B. Carey, a black man, who was a farmer living in Inkerman, New Brunswick, Canada who is not our 2X great-grandfather, John B.

His Language

              On a 1920 census, John B.'s eldest son Michael claims that both of his parents were born in Ireland and that their native language was Irish (Gaelic).  It’s not clear if he meant his biological mother or his stepmother, Bridget McGuire, but it’s probably true of both.

His Religion

                We know that John B. and his second wife, Bridget, were married in a Catholic church in St. John, New Brunswick, and that they also had their children baptized as infants in the Catholic faith.

Arrival in St. John

                On the 1851 census, John B. says that he arrived in St. John in 1845.  Bridget McGuire, his second wife, and her brother Charles arrived in 1847.

His Marriages

                There is no record of the name of John B.’s first wife or of their marriage.  The child of this marriage, Michael J. Carey, was born in 1847.  His death certificate says that his mother’s name is “unable to be known”.  This wife must have died before 1851 when John B. married Bridget McGuire, his second wife.

His Trade

                Gertrude C. Rafferty says that John learned blacksmithing in New Brunswick while he ran a shipyard with his brother-in-law, James McGuire.  It’s therefore possible, though not certain, that John’s family had something to do with naval affairs, carpentry, or ship-building.  They would therefore have likely lived near the sea. There is also an 1869 City Directory from the Boston area, when John B. would have been there, for a John B. Carey who operated a chandlery shop, i.e., a store for candles and all other ships’ supplies.

               When living in Scranton, PA, he worked for the railroads and also did blacksmithing.

His Residences

                John B was born somewhere in Ireland.  He went to St. John, New Brunswick in 1845 and remained there until 1867.  In 1867 John and his family moved to the Boston area until 1870. They then moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania.  He remained there until early 1882 when he moved to Chicago.  He died in Chicago on 20 Mar 1895.