My Old Ohio Home

So far in this series, we have discussed some young men who left Killowen for Cleveland, but this time we will consider a young woman, Rose Sloan, from the same area.

SS Campania

Rose Sloan was born about 1872, possibly in Ballincurry, the daughter of Daniel Sloan. I didn't find a baptism record for Rose, or for any child of Daniel from 1868 to 1874, or else I would know Rose's mother's name. Her death record said her parents were "Donald Sloan" and "unknown." Her civil marriage record only recorded her father's name.

There is a Daniel Sloan on the Valuation Revision Books of Ballincurry from 1865 to 1892. He is renting parcel 9a, consisting only of a house and garden, from Hugh Brennan. In 1893 the parcel passed into the hands of Daniel's representatives, so that might be the approximate year of his death. There were no out-buildings. I wonder of Daniel was a tradesman. His occupation was not on his daughter's marriage record since he had died by that time.

Richard Farrell's marriage information said he was living in Ballinadoalty at the time and was the son of William Farrell, a butcher. There is a listing at ancestry.com for a Richard Farrell born 19 Apr 1875 in County Down, son of William Farrell and Margaret George. That might be this Richard's birth date. I don't remember seeing too many Farrells in the Killowen area, so Richard's family may have been from somewhere else. If that is his birth in April 1875, then the civil birth record should list the place he was from. There was no William Farrell in Ballinadoalty on the first Valuation Revision Book.

Richard and Rose Farrell were married 2 Jan 1896 in the Catholic chapel of Our Lady, in Rostrevor. That might be St. Mary Star of the Sea, but that is the way it was recorded on the civil marriage record. Their witnesses were William Fleming and Ellen Majan.

Richard and Rose (Sloan) Farrell were on the SS Campania when it arrived June 9, 1900, in New York from Liverpool. Between them they had $50, but were not holding tickets to their final destination, which they said was Albany, New York. They were travelling with James O'Rourke, James Murney, and Matthew Sloan. All five of them said that their last residence in Ireland was Newry.¹ However the three young men with the Farrells were from Killowen, Rose said she was living in Ballincurry when she was married, and Richard said he was of Ballinadoalty at the time of his marriage.

Could it be that Richard Farrell was originally from Newry, they were living there after their marriage, and the three other men joined them first in Newry before leaving for America? I don't know.

Rose was 28 and Richard was 24 when they emigrated. They said they were going to the home of Mary Pearl, Richard's sister in law, at 115 Jefferson Street, Albany¹. There was a Mary Pearl in Albany who had been born in Ireland about 1830. She was the widow of John Pearl, and had sons Thomas (born in New York in July 1852) and John (born in Ohio about 1860). She was living at 8 Jefferson, Albany, in 1898 and 1899, but she died on March 27, 1899. ² I have not determined her maiden name or county of origin in Ireland. I think the Farrells actually went straight through to Cleveland with the others.

What we do know is that in the 1902 Cleveland City Directory Richard Farrell was listed at 2059 Cannon, which corresponds to about 9200 Cannon in the current numbering. In fact he might be in the 1901 Directory as the Richard Farrell at about 8000 Burke, according to the modern numbering. Both of these streets are in the Newburgh section of Cleveland. The city directories reflect the previous year's information, so that could put the Farrells in Cleveland in 1900.³

Having arrived in Newburgh, the Farrells didn't go far. They were at various addresses on Cannon until at least 1935. Richard worked in a "wire mill" and a "steel mill", which sounds a lot like American Steel and Wire. In 1910 Rose said that she had been married 14 years and had given birth to one child, but it was no longer living. I didn't find a record of this child's birth in Cleveland. Richard and Rose had no other children.^3,4

Updated March 12, 2019

There is a death recorded of a Peter Farrell, age 2, in Kilkeel, in the fourth quarter of 1899,⁵ and of a "female" Farrell, age 0, in Newry, in the second quarter of 1897.⁶ Either of them could be Rose's child, or neither. I would lean toward the second if I had to guess, because when the Farrells emigrated they said they were from Newry.

Neither of those two children were Rose (Sloan) and Richard Farrell's daughter. The images of the civil records are now on line, and I have eliminated the following:

Not female Farrell, d June 6, 1897. She was the daughter of John Farrell, a farmer of Carrickbroad.

Not Elizabeth Farrell, d May 8, 1899, daughter of Catherine, a farmer's wife, of Carrickbroad.

Not Peter Farrell, d December 14, 1899, son of Mary Ellen Farrell, a laborer's wife, of Rostrevor.

Not John Francis Farrell, d July 25, 1900, son of John, a laborer of Rostrevor.

Conclusion

Rose died at home, at 9220 Cannon Ave, Cleveland, on Nov 24, 1935, of complications from chronic myocarditis, which had affected her for six months.⁷ Richard died on July 16, 1937, at 4055 East 91st, of the same condition. He was working at Allyne-Ryan Foundry when he died.⁸ They were both buried in Calvary Cemetery from Donlon's Funeral Home on Miles Ave.

I have a feeling there is a bit more to their story. Rose was four years older than Richard. They were married when Richard was only 20, which seems very young for a man in that area to be marrying. How was he planning to support his family? They said they were from Newry—and might have been—but they were travelling with three men from Ballintur and Ballincurry. They said their destination was Richard's sister in law, but Mary Pearl was about forty years older than Rose.

Were Rose and Richard run out of Killowen because of some "indiscretion"? Did they move to Newry where Richard could find some sort of work? Or was he originally from Newry, and was working in Killowen? Was her child actually taken from her and adopted, not "dead" as she said in 1910? Something is missing here. If you know what it is, please let me know.

Footnotes:

1. Manifest of the SS Campania in the Ellis Island records

2. "United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8JN-ZZ5; "New York, State Census, 1892," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X366-GX1; 1898-1900 Albany City Directories at ancestry.com; and 1900 Census of Ward 16, Albany, Series T623, Roll 1005, page 252, at HeritageQuestOnline.com

3. Cleveland City Directories at ancestry.com.

4. "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/ML8G-VLT and "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDRT-NFC

5. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTDD-7PX : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Peter Farrell, 1899; citing vol. 1, p. 449, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101600.

6. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FT8B-YZK : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Female Farrell, 1897; citing vol. 1, p. 579, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101599.

7. "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8HT-ZLF : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell in entry for Rose Farrell, 1935.

8. "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZXR-661 : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1937.

9. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCJ-KNP : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258; and "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.

10. "Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.

11. Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanKW.htm

12. Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanAJ.htm

Credits:

Photo of the SS Campania is from Wikipedia.