Arrival

I was doing a bit of research and was trying to see if I could locate the arrival to the U.S. for John O'Donnell. I did find a John O'Donnell who arrived in New York on May 23, 1849 from Liverpool, England on the ship Unicorn. I am not sure if that is my great grandfather or not.

I tried to research the Poor Law Union in Ireland, but I did not have much success. I think that will require more investigation on my part. I did find a site, however, that would research families in Ireland. If I did that, which would I research first, the O'Donnell or Kelly clan? You do end up with a book, but I am skeptical about how much is just general information and how much is specific information. More thought and deliberation needs to be done here.

Compared to the famine that was occurring in Ireland at the time, I am sure that the frontier of the western U.S. must not have seemed like a hardship. This is a quote from the year 1847: "Nicholas Cummins, the magistrate of Cork, visited the hard-hit coastal district of Skibbereen. "I entered some of the hovels," he wrote, "and the scenes which presented themselves were such as no tongue or pen can convey the slightest idea of. In the first, six famished and ghastly skeletons, to all appearances dead, were huddled in a corner on some filthy straw, their sole covering what seemed a ragged horsecloth, their wretched legs hanging about, naked above the knees. I approached with horror, and found by a low moaning they were alive -- they were in fever, four children, a woman and what had once been a man. It is impossible to go through the detail. Suffice it to say, that in a few minutes I was surrounded by at least 200 such phantoms, such frightful spectres as no words can describe, [suffering] either from famine or from fever. Their demoniac yells are still ringing in my ears, and their horrible images are fixed upon my brain." [http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/hunger.htm] John O'Donnell was one of the lucky ones who lived through the famine and was able to get to another country.

I am guessing that he must have been educated because of a few reasons: the ranger at Fort Davis said the fact that he was promoted so early in his army career indicates he was educated. Also, I am thinking the fact that he opened the saloon in New York after his first enlistment must indicated some where-with-all.

School begins next week for me with my first meetings and some workshops. This adventure has been fun and I hope that I will get to continue it, but I am sure it will be hit and miss.

New Information

Today, in my email, I found a nice surprise. It was an email from Donna Smith, the park ranger with whom I had a nice visit at Fort Davis.

If you remember, John O'Donnell was not listed on the rolls of Fort Davis, but his discharge papers clearly said Fort Davis. This was a bit of a mystery to me. She cleared this mystery up in her email:

"Our retired park historian stopped by the park recently, and I showed her your records. Even though the 8th U.S. Infantry was stationed at Fort Davis from 1854 to 1861, she said to tell you that JOHN O'DONNELL was never stationed at Fort Davis. She explained that the Regimental Commander was at Fort Davis when he signed O'Donnell's promotion papers, but neither O'Donnell nor his troop (Troop B) was stationed at Fort Davis.

The historical records show that in July 1857, Troop B of the 8th Infantry was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. In February 1858, Troop B was at Fort Stanton, New Mexico. (She consulted both the Regimental Returns and the Post Returns to find this information.)

We will, however, keep the records & photo of JOHN O'DONNELL in our library files. We appreciate you sharing them with us."

I wrote her back and I am eager to continue on with my research. I did send an email to my cousin, Sally Donovan, and asked if she could put me in contact with J.P. Knudsen who wrote the History of the John O'Donnell Family. I am thankful to be on vacation from school so that I have a little bit of time left in my day to get things done.

Home!

I left Las Vegas around 5:30 AM and arrived home around 11:00. It was a nice drive and it feels so good to be home.

I am looking forward to reading some of the books that I purchased on each fort. I am certain that this will lead me to doing some additional research into John O'Donnell and his family.

Arriving home, seeing the clutter that comes with combining households, I really had to take a deep breath and get to work. Colleen has been more than helpful, she has been awesome. We focused on the kitchen yesterday. We cleaned and rearranged the kitchen. Yes, Katie, you would be proud of us! Today, I need to focus on my part of the coat closet, so that Colleen can make a trip to Goodwill and our living room and be straighted up.

I want to thank all of you who have been following my journey. It has been fun sharing what I have learned and reading your comments and emails. I will upload more photos today. I have my laptop back in working order once again. I will also blog as I learn more either about the period of time or the family.

Detour

This morning I went to water aerobics for my last morning in Pinedale. It is a very fun group of women. It is a good workout each morning. After coffee and a bowl of cereal, I was on the road.

As I was driving I decided since I had the time, I would stop by Ft. Bridger. It was well worth the drive. I will upload some pictures when I get to a working computer.

I went into the fort sutler's store which was manned by a retired baptist preacher. When I told him the story of my travels, he sent me across the street to the superintedent's office. They took copies of my paperwork on John O'Donnell. I am so impressed by all of the kindness of all the people I have met on this adventure of mine.

I miss joking with my cousin, Cork, and talking genealogy with his wife, Kate.

Wyoming

Today is my last full day here in Wyoming. I have had a wonderful visit with Cork and his wife, Kate. Tonight we will Skype with our cousin, Mary Ruth, in CT.

Yesterday we had some good rain right after Cork and I went to the Bureau of Land Management to pick up some free postcards and posters for my classroom. I have been sending my class postcards throughout my trip. They are supposed to be tracking me on their US
map.

Tomorrow morning I will have a leisurely drive to Provo. I could probably have pushed myself farther, but this gives Colleen a little extra time to finish her move before I arrive home.

A little tidbit regarding the O'Donnell's. Mrs. O'Donnell had a difficult time receiving her widow's pension. After all of those years supporting her husband and family on the frontier she had to gather up all of the documentation on her husband. He had been listed as a deserter of the civil war. Luckily,she was able to change the records.

Pinedale, Wyoming

I am in Pinedale, Wyoming visiting my cousin Cork and his wife. Cork is my first cousin on my mother's side of the family. It is always a treat for me to be able to visit them.

My computer is acting up again and I neglected to bring my restore CD. Thank God for my iPhone.

Some of you have asked for the completion of the saga of John O'Donnell. After the fall from the wagon, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. They bought some farmland there. I have the original paperwork for this land which is written in French. My pastor, who speaks French, helped me with the translation. Due to his injuries, John became unable to work and his sons and hired hands had to work the farm.

"On October 16,1886 he sold most of his land retaining only a small parcel with the house and buildings to live and sustain the family. In 1889 he applied for and received an $8.00 increase in his pension, making a total of $24.00 a month."

John O'Donnell died on July 14, 1894 at the age of 63.