My great grandfather, Thomas William Moran, was born in Saugerties NY in 1855. His parents, Michael Moran and Elizabeth Cunningham, immigrated from Ireland with their 3 oldest children Michael, James, and Mary about 1852. Their son Patrick was born in NY in 1853, followed by Thomas. All seven were recorded together in the 1855 and 1860 Saugerties census. In 1870 only Patrick and Thomas were with their parents; their sister Mary was listed in the next household with her Irish husband John Bennett, a brickyard worker like the Morans. The two older sons have not been found.
In 1880 the two youngest sons were still with their parents as were two Bennett grandsons (assumed to be the children of Mary whose whereabouts was unknown). Both William and Elizabeth died in the early 1880s. It is unknown if the 2 grandsons were reunited with their parents or not as Mary and John Bennett have not been found. What happened to them?
I have had mixed success in tracking the two older sons, Michael Jr and James. Sadly, James was fatally assaulted in 1879 by tenants in a rent dispute. His widow Bridget raised their 5 children. But Michael is a mystery. The oldest of the children, Michael Jr, was born in 1844 and has not been found since the 1860 census. The truly confusing issue is that I found a January 1883 NY probate record that seems to be showing his brother Patrick petitioning for guardianship of 5 children: Michael, John, Mary, Nellie, Lizzie. Were they Michael’s children? I cannot find them in the 1880 census. Where might they have lived? What happened to Michael and who was his wife?
That leaves us with Patrick Henry Moran, who was named his father’s sole executor in the summer of 1882 (does that indicate that the first born son Michael was not in the area, not in good health, not in his father’s good graces?). Patrick is documented in Saugerties working as a stone cutter and then at the brickyard. In May 1881 he married Mary Coyle there at St Mary of the Snow Church. I have not found any record of them since.
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