Contrary to family tradition and online databases, Dennis Buggy
was baptized 6 June 1829 (not 1830) in Freshford Parish, County Kilkenny,
Ireland. His mother was Mary
Brannagan (not Mary Butler). These
assertions rest on sound research and careful evaluation of evidence. The last piece of supporting research focuses
on Dennis’ siblings.
Showing that Dennis’ siblings in the U. S. are the same as the
Buggy-Brannagan family of Freshford supports Dennis Buggy’s identity, too, and confirms
the authority of his Freshford baptism record. Correlating U. S. records with information from the Phelan
family book and the Freshford parish registers will accomplish this.
Here’s a summary of the evidence:
- Naugatuck, New Haven County, Connecticut, is the
hub of the Buggy family in at least the early decades after immigration. They are represented in the 1860 Naugatuck
census.
- Eliza (Buggy) Neary lived in Naugatuck the
remainder of her life.
- Patrick lived in nearby New Haven, New Haven
County.
- All the Buggy brothers but Michael naturalized
in New Haven County in either 1856 or 1860. All claimed Naugatuck as their place of residence.
- Youngest brothers Michael and Richard lived in
1860 with their older brother Dennis.
Afterward they both migrated to Allamakee County, Iowa.
Here are the details of the evidence, presented in the order of
the Freshford parish baptisms:
Eliza (Buggy) Neary appears in Naugatuck, New Haven County,
Connecticut, in 1870 and 1880.
Her death is memorialized in St.
Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck:
eliza
buggy,
wife
of
thomas
neary.
born
feb. 3, 1830,
died
jan. 25, 1882.
Eliza’s birth year is inconsistent across her census and
gravestone records. This may be
because she was about seven years older than her husband, and she preferred to
appear to be about the same age as he.
Her birth date, 3 February, is consistent with baptism on 7 February in
Freshford.
John Buggy Two records place a John Buggy in Connecticut at the
correct time to be the eldest Buggy brother.
- A John Buggy was naturalized in New Haven District Court in 1856. He gave as his residence Naugatuck
where other members of the Buggy family resided. His age, 22, would place his birth in 1834, some seven years
after John Buggy of Freshford.
- In 1860 a John Buggy was head of household in the Brookline, Massachusetts,
suburb of Boston, along present-day Highway 84 from New Haven, Connecticut. His age, 26, also places his birth
about 1834. His sons bear the same
names, John and Richard, as the sons identified in the Phelan family book. They were born in Connecticut, while
their younger sister was born in Massachusetts, suggesting a recent move to
that state from Connecticut.
No further record positively identifies this John
Buggy. He appears to be too young
to be Dennis Buggy’s elder brother, but his sons’ names and his presence in Naugatuck
at the correct time suggest he may be the right man.
Dennis Buggy Dennis’ census records have been discussed, but one stands out in supporting this family
identity. In 1860 he resided in
Naugatuck, and his household included Michael Buggy, twenty, and Richard Buggy,
nineteen.
Freshford baptism records would place
Michael’s age about twenty-three and Richard’s about twenty.
Despite the age discrepancies, these
were probably younger brothers living with Dennis and Catherine before setting
out on their own.
An index card shows Dennis’ naturalization in the same court
as John’s, only about six months earlier in 1856. He, too, claimed to be of Naugatuck.
Patrick Buggy
Patrick appears in U. S. censuses for Connecticut in 1860 (Naugatuck),
1870, and 1880 (New Haven), the same general area as older siblings Dennis (in
1860) and Eliza. His household in
1870 included wife Phebe [
sic] and
son Richard, but by 1880 he had wife Mary and daughter Mary E. Possibly his first wife and son died
after the 1870 census. Patrick’s
name, age, and occupation (carriage blacksmith) identify him as the same man
across the censuses.
His daughter Mary E. is consistent with
the Phelan family book’s one child for him, Mayme, a nickname for Mary.
Patrick naturalized in 1860 in New Haven Superior
Court. Like Dennis and John, he
claimed Naugatuck as his residence.
Michael Buggy and Richard Buggy The two youngest Buggy brothers lived with older brother
Dennis in Naugatuck in 1860.
By 1870 they had migrated to Allamakee County, Iowa, living
and raising families near each other. Both were blacksmiths like their brother Patrick (above).
Michael and Richard lived in Allamakee
County the rest of their lives.
Before moving the Iowa, Richard naturalized in New Haven Superior Court, the same day as his older brother Patrick. He, too, gave Naugatuck as his
residence.
The ages of the Buggy siblings are never consistent in U.S. records. Varying wildly from one record to the next, they rarely correlate
with the baptism records. This
suggests that the Buggy siblings may not have known or cared exactly when
they were born. The index cards
for the four brothers’ naturalizations show them either twenty-two or
twenty-three at the time, while, according to their baptism records, they were twenty,
twenty-five, twenty-seven, and twenty-nine. Such inconsistencies show the value of looking at the family
as a whole and at the siblings’ interactions with each other to confirm their
individual identities.
To further strengthen these conclusions more research could be
conducted:
- Examining U. S. baptism records may reveal Buggy siblings as sponsors for nieces and nephews.
- Original naturalization records should verify
the index information.
- Comparing the siblings’ census records with the
Phelan family book’s lists of their children (as above, for Patrick) would
further verify their identity.
I wanted to be sure the Denis Buggy baptized in Freshford Parish,
County Kilkenny, Ireland, was the same man as Dennis Buggy of Naugatuck,
Connecticut, and Pilot Grove, Minnesota.
The research on his siblings, limited to
Ancestry.com,
FamilySearch.org,
and
AmericanAncestors.org, is not
exhaustive, but provides enough evidence to support identification of the Buggy
family as outlined in the Phelan family book as the Buggy-Brannagan family of
Freshford, County Kilkenny, Ireland.
Now I am confident that this is the correct Dennis Buggy and
can trust the Freshford Parish’s baptism date of 6 June 1829. Whew! That was a lot of detail, a lot of compilation, and well
worth the effort.
Next Time: A Needle in a Freshford Haystack—Where to Put the Map Tack?
1870 U. S. census, New Haven Co., Conn., population
schedule, Naugatuck, p. 3 (penned), dwelling/family 19, Thomas Neary household;
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M593,
roll 112. Also, 1880 U.S. census, New Haven Co., Conn., pop. sch.,
Naugatuck, enumeration district (ED) 48, p. 33 (penned), dwell. 230, fam. 301,
Thomas Neary household; NARA microfilm T9. All censuses in this post were accessed as digital images
from Ancestry.com 27 April 2013.
St. Francis Cemetery
(Naugatuck, New Haven County, Connecticut), Neary monument, Thomas Neary and
Eliza Buggy face; digital photograph, Find
A Grave (www.findagrave.com :
accessed 18 April 2013), search for Eliza Neary, U. S., Connecticut, New Haven
County; thanks to photographer C Greer for posting the image.
Catholic Church, Freshford
Parish (Kilkenny, Ireland), Parochial Registers, 1773-1881, Baptisms,
1825-1847, p. 1, Eliza Buggy baptism (1825); Family History Library (FHL)
microfilm 926,192, item 3.
1860 U. S. census, Norfolk Co., Mass., pop. sch.,
Brookline, p. 108 (penned), dwelling 539, family 642, John Buggy household;
from NARA microfilm M653, roll 514; Family History Library microfilm 803,514.
1860 U. S. census, New
Haven Co., Conn., pop. sch., Naugatuck, p. 18 (penned), dwelling 119, family
160, Denis Buggy household; from NARA microfilm M653, roll 84.
“United States, New England
Naturalization Index, 1791-1906,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VX52-71Y : accessed
27 April 2013), Patrick Buggy, 1860.
1880 U.S. census, Allamakee
Co., Iowa, pop. sch., Waukon, ED 13, p. 27 (penned), dwell. 235, fam. 258,
Michael Buggy hshld., and p. 4, dwell. 25, fam. 28, Richard Buggy hshld.; from
NA microfilm T9, roll 325. Also,
1900 U. S. census, Allamakee Co., Iowa, pop. sch., Makee, ED 11, sheet 19
(penned), dwell. 420, fam. 443, Michael Buggy hshld., and Jefferson Twp., ED 6,
sheet 10 (penned), dwell. 182, fam. 184, Richard Buggy hshld.; from NARA
microfilm T623, rolls 416 and 415, respectively. Also, 1910 U. S. census, Allamakee Co., Iowa, pop. sch.,
Waukon, ED 12, sheet 16 (penned), dwell. 372, fam. 394, Michael Buggy hshld.,
and Jefferson Twp., ED 6, sheet 7 (penned), dwell. 151, fam. 155, Richard Buggy
hshld.; from NARA microfilm T624, roll 390. Also, 1920 U. S. census, Allamakee Co., Iowa, pop. sch.,
Waukon, ED 13, sheet 22, dwell. 678 [second of two], fam. 762, Mikel Buggy
hshld., and Jefferson Twp., ED 6, sheet 8, dwell. 173, fam. 177, Richard Buggy
hshld.; from NARA microfilm T625, roll 476.
