My Old Ohio Home

Anna & Ned Rodgers, 1915

As mentioned earlier, the Rodgers descendants believed that Ned fled Ireland for England and then went back to get his wife. We know that Anna was in Kilkeel until their son Hugh was christened in January 1868, but had Ned left before then?

Whatever the case, they were in Liverpool by August 12, 1869. That was the day their son Hugh died at 48 Stanhope Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool. And at least Anna was in 11 Court, Stanhope Street, on July 29, 1870, when their son William was born.

Well to be completely accurate, there is no proof that Ned Rodgers was anywhere. On Hugh's death record, he is listed as a laborer, but it is Anna, "of 48 Stanhope Street", who provided the information. And on Will's birth record, Ned is working as a fireman on a steamer, but it doesn't actually give his residence. But 48 Stanhope Street was near the docks, so I think we can assume that both Rodgers parents were living there.

When did they leave for the United States?

We find the following information for Anna in the New York Passengers List at ancestry.com¹:

Arrival: 15 Apr 1872
Port of Departure: Liverpool, England and Queenstown, Ireland
Port of Arrival: New York
Ship Name: City of New York

Place of Origin: Ireland
Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: Irish

65. Ann Rogers, 28, female, wife, Origin: Ireland
66. Mary  "   ,  5, child, youngster
67. William " ,  1, child, youngster

Note that Ann is listed as "wife" but there is no Edward on the manifest. I have not yet found him on any passenger lists, so I don't know when he emigrated. Was he keeping a low profile until he arrived in America?

Still it is likely that they arrived together or shortly after one another. According to their granddaughter Ellen (O'Rourke) Guarnieri, when Ned and Ann were riding the train from New York to Ohio, Ned wanted to get off in Scranton, Pennsylvania, because the other immigrants on the train were talking about how easy it was to get work in the mines. Ann said, 'I didn't come all this way to have you spend your life underground. We're staying on this train untill it gets to Ohio.' This seems to imply that they arrived together, or that one waited in New York for the other to make the voyage.

For this complete series of articles, see:

Part one: Edward "Ned" Rodgers of Kilkeel and Cleveland

Part two: Edward and Anna Rodgers: the Outbound Journey

Part three: Edward and Anna Rodgers: the Cleveland Years

Part four: Ned Rodgers and the Blind Pig

Part five: Anna (Cunningham) Rodgers, of Kilkeel and Cleveland

Footnotes

1. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, at ancestry.com. Microfilm roll: M237_355; Line: 25; List number: 288, with thanks to Steve Morse at http://stevemorse.org/index.php.