Honora Wright Weaver's Posts - The Wild Geese2024-03-28T18:52:50ZHonora Wright Weaverhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/HonoraWrightWeaverhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/68534558?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blog/feed?user=1r35ni9r26oog&xn_auth=noIreland Is Calling And I Must Gotag:thewildgeese.irish,2018-02-23:6442157:BlogPost:2293152018-02-23T01:00:00.000ZHonora Wright Weaverhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/HonoraWrightWeaver
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723191?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723191?profile=RESIZE_480x480" style="padding: 2px;" width="330"></img></a></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I</span>reland has been calling to me for many years</strong> and last month I finally answered. My sister, Gloria, our life long friend, Valerie and my newphew Chris and his girlfriend, Morgan, spent nine days (not nearly enough time) visiting Dublin and Northern Ireland and we even made a day trip to Glasgow and Edingburgh,…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723191?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="330" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723191?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="330" class="align-left" style="padding: 2px;"/></a></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I</span>reland has been calling to me for many years</strong> and last month I finally answered. My sister, Gloria, our life long friend, Valerie and my newphew Chris and his girlfriend, Morgan, spent nine days (not nearly enough time) visiting Dublin and Northern Ireland and we even made a day trip to Glasgow and Edingburgh, Scotland.</p>
<p>We arrived at 7:00am and the sun would not be up for another hour so my first glimpse of the island was scattered lights in the darkness. We had spent nearly twenty hours travelling and we were exhausted so thankfully we got through customs quickly and was on a bus headed to our AirBnB apartment in historic Smithfield Square in about an hour. As the bus made it's way from the airport I recognized many of the sites I had been learning about: the River Liffey, the statue of Daniel O'Connell, the replica of the Jeanie Johnston famine ship, Trinity College and Christchurch Cathedral. We got off the bus on the south side of the Liffey and walked the couple blocks to our apartment. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723191?profile=original" target="_self">Our view of the Liffey as we crossed it the first morning</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">We stayed in an apartment overlooking the old Jameson Whisky Distillery. Even though it was a month past Christmas the tree was still up. From the upstairs bedroom you could see the village of Howth in the distance.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723248?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723248?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>The old Jameson Whisky Distillery</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723356?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723356?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Gloria and I on the Grattan Bridge</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723411?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723411?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723411?profile=original" target="_self">Souvenir shopping and hanging out with James Joyce</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723487?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723487?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/><span> "In Dublin's fair city where the girls are so pretty I first set my eyes on Molly Malone. She wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow crying cockles and mussels alive, alive, oh!"</span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I also wanted to take a picture with the statue of Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square but by the time we got there the gates in the park had been locked for the night. We walked for nearly nine hours the first day and saw the Famine Memorial, O'Connell St, The General Post Office, Trinity College, Grafton St, St Stephen's Green and Merrion Square. Being tourists we decided to have a drink at the Temple Bar before we called it a day.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723500?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723500?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Me, Gloria, Morgan and Chris at Temple Bar</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723396?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723396?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">We made it back to the apartment before it started snowing. The wind was also howling unbelievably loud. </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723602?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723602?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">We decided to fly over to Scotland for a day trip. We were going to stay in Glasgow all day but the Irishman who took our picture suggested we take the train to Edinburgh. We walked around the Royal Mile and toured Edinburgh Castle. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723606?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723606?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Our "rock band" picture at Edingburgh Castle</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723511?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723511?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Gloria, Valerie and me at the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">My favorite experience was going to The Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield to hear live, tradtional music. Besides the musicians there were a few <em>sean nos</em> singers and I really enjoyed listening to them. I would suggest it to anyone visiting Dublin.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723610?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723610?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>The talented musicians at The Cobblestone</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">What is Dublin without a pub crawl? We visited a few pubs: The Swan, O'Donoghue's, Searson's, The Brazen Head and Peadar Kearney's to name a few.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br/> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723575?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723575?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Watching rugby at Searson's on Baggot St</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723522?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723522?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Taste testing Jameson whisky at The Brazen Head</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I think we all decided, in our non-whisky drinker opinion, that Irish whisky was better than Scotch (Glenfidditch). </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723624?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723624?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>At Peadar Kearney's</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">We also spent a day touring Northern Ireland. We got to to see The Giant's Causeway, The Dark Hedges, the Carrick-a-Reede Rope Bridge and Dunluce Castle. The weather was cold and miserable: it was snowing, raining and the ground was icy. Our tour bus got stuck in the ice for over an hour in a parking lot and I slipped and fell walking on the ice. Luckily, I only hurt my pride. Weather aside, I thought Northern Ireland was beautiful and we had a great time.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723543?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723543?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Me, Gloria and Valerie at The Carrick-a-Reede Rope Bridge,</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723543?profile=original" target="_self">that we didn't get to cross</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723726?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723726?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Gloria at the Giant's Causeway</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">So, was it science or giants that built the causeway? I say it was giants. We were supposed to have some time to walk around Belfast at the end of the tour but due to the bus getting stuck in the ice we didn't get back to Belfast before it got dark and we didn't have time. I really wanted to see the peace murals so that was very disappointing. We did get to see the Albert Memorial Clock, the Europa Hotel (the most bombed hotel in Europe) and Belfast City Hall while driving by in the bus.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">On our last full day in Ireland we took the DART to Howth. We walked around the pier, had dessert at The Dog House Blues and Tea Room, lunch at The Oar House and walked around the grounds of Howth Castle. The same family has lived in Howth Castle for 900 years. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723985?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84723985?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Leaving Howth Castle</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84724095?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84724095?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>The round tower at Howth Castle</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">We all had an amazing time and the Irish people we met were so friendly. From the taxi drivers who shared the history of Dublin and gave us commentary on the sites around town, and who were patient with my attempts to speak the few Irish words I know, to the farmer from Roscommon I sat next to on the plane back from Scotland, to the musicians at The Cobblestone who welcomed us to sit in their area so we could hear the music over the large crowd of people talking. The only places we didn't get to visit in Dublin that I really wanted to see was Kilmainham Gaol, Glasnevin Cemetery and Arbor Hill Cemetery. On the day we left I had about an hour to walk over to The National Museum at Collins Barracks but I didn't have time to walk around to Arbor Hill Cemetery, which is just behind it. We also planned to go to Galway and Cliffs of Moher, but we just didn't have enough time. We packed a lot in to nine days (we walked 52 miles!) and I'm already planning my next trip. Next time, I will visit the west of Ireland.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84724164?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84724164?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-center"/>Part of a display at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><em>Slan go foill, Ireland. </em></p>My Genealogy Journeytag:thewildgeese.irish,2017-07-11:6442157:BlogPost:2198112017-07-11T22:30:00.000ZHonora Wright Weaverhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/HonoraWrightWeaver
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721193?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721193?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="680"></img></a></span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">I</span> began researching my family tree a little over three years ago,</strong> and two years ago I shared some of my journey in this post:…</p>
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<p><strong><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721193?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="680" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721193?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="680" class="align-center"/></a></span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">I</span> began researching my family tree a little over three years ago,</strong> and two years ago I shared some of my journey in this post:</p>
<p><a href="http://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blogs/the-wild-west-of-ireland-2?xg_source=activity">http://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blogs/the-wild-west-of-ireland-2?xg_source=activity</a>. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago I took another step in my journey and travelled to Louisville, Kentucky, where my 3rd great-grandparents, William Potter and Honora Casey, settled after immigrating from Ireland. I met quite a few cousins and visited the cemetery where William, Honora and their son, my 2nd great-grandfather, Arthur, are buried. Many of my mother's first cousins still live there and we had a reunion with four generations of descendants from William and Honora's grandaughter, my great-grandmother, Honora Potter Waterman. </p>
<p>The Potter family plot at St Louis Cemetery is William and Honora with son William, Jr and grandaughter Loretta on one side and son Arthur and daughters Mollie and Bess on the back side. This is me with my daughter, Jordan and cousin, Mike Potter. I did get a little emotional paying my respects. I meant to bring shamrocks to place at the grave but I got so busy I completely forgot. </p>
<p>Since I did my initial blog I have found that William Potter was from Donaghpatrick Parrish in County Galway. He arrived in New York City on May 18, 1857, after a 45 day journey from Liverpool, aboard the <em>Ocean Monarch</em>, the largest packet ship at that time. I cried when I realized he hadn't come over on a "coffin ship". The arrival of the <em>Ocean</em> <em>Monarch</em> was covered in the New York Times on the day it arrived, second from the bottom.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721416?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721416?profile=original" width="546" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p> I haven't yet found the ship that brought Honora, her mother Cecilia and sister Mary, to America but I'm still researching and I'm confident I will find it. </p>
<p>Mike Potter sent me this picture of Arthur Potter, William and Honora's first son, and my second great-grandfather. He was a police officer for the Louisville Police Department. I was even able to get a copy of his personnel record. It's amazing the details about him I learned from that record. He was tall, 6'2", with black hair and blue eyes and had beautiful penmanship. He went to parochial school and was running a saloon at the time he applied to the police department. A Catholic running a saloon? "Yes," I was told "he's Irish first!". Arthur married a German immigrant, Helena Dumstorff, and they had nine children, the first was my great-grandmother, Honora. <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721420?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721420?profile=original" width="357" class="align-center"/></a>I'm not sure how many Potter cousins are out there, but here are four generations that got together a few weeks ago.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721433?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721433?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="600" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>Ireland has been calling to me since I was about 14 and I'm excited that the next step in my genealogy journey will take me there for ten days next January. I won't get to see all of the island, but I will make sure to go to Donaghpatrick Parrish. Maybe I'll even find some more cousins. </p>
<p>There was a large Irish community in Louisville in the 1800's, they even had an area called "Irish Hill" and their own newspaper, The Kentucky Irish American. I visited the Celtic Store in Irish Hill and got some goodies. I'm now addicted to Taytos. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721343?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84721343?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="600" class="align-center"/></a></p>The Wild West of Irelandtag:thewildgeese.irish,2015-05-21:6442157:BlogPost:1581102015-05-21T11:00:00.000ZHonora Wright Weaverhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/HonoraWrightWeaver
<p>What's in a name? For me it meant finding a deep connection to my Irish roots. I have an uncommon name, Honora, which elicits questions such as what kind of name it is, how to pronounce it and where does it come from. My mother named me for her mother, who was also named for her mother. Although Honora is Latin for "honor" the "H" is not silent. It rhymes with Lenora. Last year my mother's sister asked me to research our family tree and I found that my name went back even further than…</p>
<p>What's in a name? For me it meant finding a deep connection to my Irish roots. I have an uncommon name, Honora, which elicits questions such as what kind of name it is, how to pronounce it and where does it come from. My mother named me for her mother, who was also named for her mother. Although Honora is Latin for "honor" the "H" is not silent. It rhymes with Lenora. Last year my mother's sister asked me to research our family tree and I found that my name went back even further than my great-grandmother and came from a country I had no idea was in my ancestry. I found my great-grandmother Honora's father, Arthur John Potter, born in 1874 in Louisville, Kentucky. Then I found his parents: William Potter and Honora Casey, both born in Ireland. William in 1840 and Honora in 1845. My sister and I both did the DNA test from ancestry.com and found our DNA markers were 35% Irish, which was backed up by finding more ancestors, also born in Ireland, on both sides of my family. Growing up my mother told us we had Italian and German ancestry on her side. She had no idea about the Irish.</p>
<p>When I first began my family tree I was more concerned with filling in the blanks with names and dates of birth and death but I kept coming back to "the first Honora", as I began calling her, and I wanted to find out everything I could about the woman who would pass down her name to me. The search, over the phone and the internet, took me to Louisville, Kentucky. I called the Louisville Diocese, the Louisville Free Public Library, Catholic Cemeteries, Louisville Archives and Records and other business' in my quest to learn about my ancestors. I read books on Irish history like "The Graves are Walking" and "Under the Hawthorne Tree" to try to understand the time they lived. During my research I learned that genealogy is more than names and dates, it's the history of who you are and where you come from. I have always been a history buff and now I am learning my own history. I have found Honora and William on every census from 1870 - 1920, their marriage bond, death certificates, the naturalization record for William and obituaries. I have found so much information on them I feel I know everything about them but what they looked like. </p>
<p>Honora was born May 2, 1845 just months before the potato blight hit Ireland. Her parents were Cecelia Thornton and John Casey. On the 1900 census Honora lists 1854 as the year she immigrated to America, when she was only 9 years old. William was born September 9, 1840 to Nora Concannon and Arthur Potter. On the same census he lists 1860 as the year he immigrated. After they immigrated the first record I find of them is their marriage bond, dated the day before their marriage, May 9, 1863. </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712032?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712032?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a> I requested a copy from the Louisville Archives and Records and was surprised to find a copy of a handwritten note attached to the record. It appears to have been written by the court clerk for Honora's mother, Cecelia, giving permission for William Potter to marry her daughter. It is signed with an "x" with "her mark" written next to it and someone signed her name. It is witnessed by Michael Walsh and Tom O'Brien, both names next to an "x" with "his mark" and someone signed their names. On the 1920 census Honora answered she could speak English, but not write it and that hers and her parent's native tongue was Irish. I believe that it is possible that in the note Cecelia, Michael and Tom were not illiterate but that they were native Irish speakers/writers.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712143?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712143?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></p>
<p>In the mid 1800's it was standard for fathers, or in his absence an older brother of the bride, to give permission for their daughters to marry. Since Honora's father, John Casey, does not appear on the marriage bond or note I believe he had either never immigrated to America or had died by the time Honora married. The only document I find his name is on Honora's death certificate. Cecelia was either 15 or 16 when Honora was born, making it likely Honora was the first born and does not have an older brother. I have not yet found any siblings for her. Michael Walsh and Tom O'Brien may be relatives or close friends to sign and witness such an important document. Over the next 21 years Honora and William had 10 children, seven daughters: Mary, Annie, Cecelia, Mollie, Katie, Rosa Agnes and Bessie and three sons: Arthur John, John and William Jr. On the census' and death certificate for William it lists his occupation as "grocer" or "grocer drummer" and the obituary for their daughter Cecelia in 1902 refers to William as "the well known salesman". Honora's occupation was always listed as "housewife".</p>
<p>Honora's mother Cecelia appears on the 1870 census in the household of her son-in-law and daughter. I have not found her on any other census. She died January 30, 1895 and is buried at St Johns Cemetery in Louisville. I have found her obituary and her mortuary report (prior to 1911 Kentucky didn't require a written record of death and a mortuary report was a handwritten entry in a log book), both listed her age at death as 66 which meant she was born in 1829, but I didn't have a full date of birth. I called the Catholic Cemeteries in Louisville and their records also only had her age as 66 years old. They did provide me with the name of the company who did her funeral service: Keenan and Dougherty. 115 years after Cecelia's death I was amazed to find they were still in business. I called and explained to the woman I was looking for any information they may have. She said she didn't know if they would still have the record but she'd look and call me back. A few days later she called and said they didn't have a birth date but there was a handwritten itemized list of the cost of her funeral and would I be interested in a copy of that? Of course! Between the obituary and the funeral record I know that Cecelia's service was at her daughter's house and a "five hack" carried her the few blocks to the cemetery. Her funeral cost: casket $75, hearse $5, five hack $15, candles $1, grave $5. I still have not found her date of birth.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712209?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712209?profile=original" width="500"/></a></p>
<p>During my research I found that the Louisville Archives and Records have naturalization records dating back to the 1800's and the records are listed alphabetically on their website. I found two entries for "Wm Potter". The naturalization records were handwritten entries in a log book at the courthouse and I received a copy of the microfiche of the record. The first record is the "intent to become a citizen" and states : </p>
<p><em>Thursday June 4 1874 Court _____ Present Hon MB Hoke Judge This day came Wm Potter a native of Ireland and produced and filed in court his petition praying to be admitted a citizen of the United States of America said petitioner would most respectfully state that he was born in Ireland that he immigrated to the United States of America in the year 1858 and landed at New York in the state of NY in the year 1858 that he is 34 years of age that he has resided in the City of Louisville KY about 12 years last past that it is and been for three years last past bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the United States of America and absolutely and entirely to renounce and adjure all allegiance and fidelity to any and every foreign Prince Potentate State or Sovereignty whatever and particularly to Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland to whom he now holds allegiance.</em></p>
<p><em><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712183?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712183?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></em></p>
<p>The second record granted him citizenship:</p>
<p><em>1877 This day came Wm Potter and produced and filed in Court his declaration to become a citizen of the United States in the city of Louisville on the 4th day of June 1874 and thereupon came Frank Roberts who made oath as required by law and thereupon Potter took the oath as required by General Statutes Whereupon he was admitted and declared to be a citizen of the United States of America. MB Hoke</em></p>
<p><em><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712195?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712195?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></em>Between the 1800's cursive, lack of punctuation and use of words like "potentate" I had a little difficulty the first time I read the naturalization records but I felt like I had found a treasure! My 3rd great-grandfather had survived The Great Hunger and a "coffin ship" and was now an American citizen and had conferred citizenship to his wife, Honora. Curiously, the naturalization record says he immigrated in 1858. The 1900 census said 1860. I don't know if William said 1858 in the naturalization record to speed up the process (to show he had been in America longer) or if in the years between his immigration and the 1900 census his memory became a little foggy.</p>
<p>The last two pieces of information I'm still searching for are the name of the ship and exact date of immigration for Honora and William and where in Ireland they are from. The National Archives and Records Administration in Washington DC have ship manifests dating back to 1820 on microfiche and hopefully I will find them on a manifest. I plan to make a trip to Louisville soon to do some research at the Louisville Free Public Library and I hope in their records, that have not yet been transcribed on-line, I will find their home in Ireland. William died February 10, 1914 and Honora died December 21, 1921. They outlived three of their 10 children and are buried together at St Louis Cemetery in Louisville. While I'm in Louisville I will visit their grave</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712200?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84712200?profile=original" width="420"/></a>I have always wanted to visit Ireland and now I understand why I have felt such a pull to a place I have never been. It's my ancestors whispering to me. It's in my blood. Today when someone asks me about my name I tell them "It came from Ireland, with my 3rd great-grandmother".</p>
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