Bio: Hendy, Patrick 1812 - 1870
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Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives
Tipperary Index
Copyright
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File contributed by: Steve Horn sh12353@aol.com June 16,
2013, 9:22 am
HENDY, PATRICK 1812 - 1870
Ballyhenry in County Tipperary Ireland is my Irish 'home
town.' It is here in this small town land just south of
Roscrea that I have discovered the earliest records of the
Hendy family in Ireland. Located in the Civil Parish of
Bourney and the Roman Catholic Parish of Couraganeen,
Ballyhenry is a typical rural town in northern Tipperary .
Ballyhenry is mostly agricultural with the rolling green
pastures that Ireland is known for and was once the home of
Patrick Hendy and his wife Eliza Magee. They are my
great-great-great grandparents and the generation that
brought the Hendy family to the United States.
The name Tipperary was originally Tiobraid Arann, Irish
for the Well of Ara. Located in Munster Province, Tipperary
is the sixth largest of Ireland's 32 counties. The region is
part of the central plain of Ireland, but the diversified
terrain contains several mountain ranges including the
Knockmealdown, the Galtee, the Arra Hills and the
Silvermine.
The Bourney Civil Parish Tithe Applotment Book of 1829 is
the earliest record I have been able to find for Patrick
Hendy. Below is a table from the Tithe Applotment Book
transcribed by me from records obtained from
familysearch.com.
Page Town land Landholder
22 Ballyhenry Daniel Hendy
Widow Hendy
Patrick Hendy
Stephen Hendy
Tho. Hendy
Although I cannot be sure, it is likely that some of the
Hendy's listed on this record are related to Patrick.
Daniel, Stephen, and Thomas from Ballyhenry are first names
that Patrick used when naming his own children and perhaps
these men were his brothers or cousins. Widow Hendy could
possibly be Patrick's mother.
The Composition Act of 1823 required tithes or taxes to
be paid by landholders to the established Church of Ireland.
Not surprisingly, tithes were fiercely resented by those who
were not members of the Church of Ireland, and all the more
because the tax was not payable on all land. Special
exemptions from paying the tithes were granted to the
wealthiest land owners. In Munster Province, where the
Hendy's lived, tithes were payable on potato patches, but
not on grassland. This resulted in the poorest landholders
paying the most. It is likely that Patrick also strongly
opposed the taxes, but according to the records, he complied
with the requirement and paid his share.
The fact that Patrick Hendy's name appeared in the Tithe
Applotment Books tells us that he was probably not a wealthy
farmer or landholder. He likely had a plot of land where he
grew potatoes and perhaps had a mud hut where he lived which
would be typical for small landholders during the early 19th
century in Ireland.
On 22 January 1835 Patrick married his sweetheart Eliza
Magee. The marriage took place in Dunkerrin Roman Catholic
Parish in nearby County Offaly. Sponsors at the marriage
were James Magee, Eliza's oldest brother, and Patt Tobin who
was likely a friend of the family.
My research did not reveal the parents of Eliza, but I
was able to find information regarding her two brothers,
James and Daniel. Couraganeen Roman Catholic Church records
indicated that James married Catherine Flannery and they had
seven children. Judith was baptized in1820, Mary in 1823,
John in 1824, Catherine in 1827, Ellen in 1829, Mary in
1832, and Pat in 1835. Eliza's other brother Daniel married
Mary Dooley in Dunkerrin Roman Catholic Parish in County
Offaly on 10 February 1844. They had three children; James
baptized in 1845, Alice in 1846, and baby, name unknown, in
1848.
As Patrick and Eliza began their married life together in
the mid-1830's, Ireland's population was growing as it had
never grown before, but there were small plots of land for
peasant farmers like Patrick and the crops yielded enough to
sustain large families. The work was hard and the luxuries
were few in Ireland for the newlyweds. They had settled in
their home town of Ballyhenry and probably worked together
planting and harvesting their potato crop. Their family
would soon be growing.
Although I was unable to find birth or baptismal
records, I believe Patrick and Eliza's first child, a
daughter named Sarah, was born to them in late 1835 or early
1836. Sarah's name appears on the passenger list when the
family departed for the US in 1847. It is possible that
Sarah was a niece or another relative, but I believe that is
unlikely since no other adults traveled with the family when
they came to the U.S.
In late April 1837 another child was born to Patrick and
Eliza. The baptism of James, my great-great grandfather,
occurred in Couraganeen Roman Catholic Church on 1 May 1837.
James was probably born a day or two before that. Civil
birth records were not kept in Ireland in the early and
mid-1800's, but Catholic parishes usually kept records of
baptisms and marriages. James' sponsors were Pat Bray and
Judy Magee, probably the niece of Patrick and Eliza and
daughter of James and Catherine Magee. The records indicated
that the family home at the time was Clonakenny Tipperary
Ireland. Clonakenny is a small town land near Ballyhenry
and perhaps the family was there to find work prior to the
harvest of the potato crop. Chapter two of this book is
dedicated to life of James Hendy and his family.
On 30 March 1839 the baptism of Patrick and Eliza's second
son Daniel took place in Roscrea Roman Catholic Parish in
Tipperary. The sponsors were James Magee, likely the brother
of Eliza, and Mary Towers. The family residence at the time
was Limerick Street in Roscrea. Daniel was found on
passenger arrival list when family arrived in US and is
found in the 1850 and 1860 census. I have been unable to
find additional information about him. I reviewed land
records, court records, civil war records, etc., but found
nothing more about Daniel.
On 18 May 1841 the baptism of John, Patrick and Eliza's
fourth child took place. Couraganeen Roman Catholic Parish
was the site of the baptism and the sponsors were Nicholas
Hendy and Betty Crampton. The family residence was listed
as Ballyhenry Tipperary. Like his brother Daniel, John is
found on the passenger arrival list when family arrived in
US and is found in the 1850 and 1860 census. I have been
unable to find additional information about the life of
John.
On Christmas Eve 1843 Thomas Hendy was baptized in
Couraganeen Roman Catholic Parish. Thomas was the family's
fifth child. His sponsors were Patrick Carroll and Mary
Doyle. The family residence was listed as Ballyhenry
Tipperary and this is the only record I have found regarding
Thomas. The final child born in Ireland to Patrick and Eliza
was baptized on 8 January 1845. Patrick was his name and he
was baptized in Couraganeen Roman Catholic Parish. The
sponsors were John Crampton and Eliza Magee. The family
residence at the time was Ballyhenry.
It is likely that Patrick and Eliza had settled in to
their life in Ballyhenry raising their young family on a
small plot of land growing potatoes as the year 1846 began.
Perhaps they also had a pig that they would give their
landlord as rent payment when the potatoes were harvested as
so many other Irish peasants did. Little did they know what
the future held for them and for Ireland. The events that
would unfold in the fall of 1846 and early 1847 would shape
Ireland, the Hendy's of Tipperary, and the world for that
matter for generations to come.
When the autumn of 1846 arrived in Ireland, its poor had
become almost totally dependent upon the potato as a food
source. The dependence on the potato had evolved over many
years in Ireland and for a variety of reasons. Traditionally
Ireland had been a pastoral country with cattle roaming the
Irish countryside. As the population of Ireland continued to
grow, cultivation of the land became more and more important
and the potato became a mainstay for the Irish poor.
Potatoes are a highly nutritious food source. Sufficient
amounts of carbohydrates and proteins can be derived from
the potato and the Irish only needed a small amount of fats
and vitamin A from buttermilk combined with potatoes to have
a balanced diet. More importantly, large quantities of
potatoes could be grown on small plots of land which was
ideal for the Irish peasant trying to raise a family with
little resources. Patrick Hendy was likely one of those
peasants counting on the potato crop to feed his family as
the harvest of 1846 approached.
The Forward, written by Ian Gibson in John Percival's
'The Great Famine', attempts to capture the magnitude of the
situation faced by the poor in Ireland when the crop failed
in 1846. Gibson says,
"The disease first struck, unevenly, in the autumn of
1845, as if testing its strength. It returned, as a
devastation the following summer. Overnight whole fields
turned totally rotten, the stink of pestilential tubers
fouling the air. Completely dependent on the potato, one of
nature's most versatile foods, the Irish peasantry began to
starve."
I can only imagine how Patrick and Eliza must have felt
as they began to realize what the loss of the potato crop
meant to them and their young family. The weeks that
followed must have been unimaginable. It is estimated that
nearly one million Irish died from starvation or disease in
the years between 1845 and 1851. Patrick and Eliza and their
young family found themselves in the middle of the worst
disaster to face Ireland in its history and were dealing
with it first-hand.
To make matters worse, the winter of 1846-1847 was one of
the most severe in living memory. The ice and snow, not
common in Ireland, made the roads impassable. Not only did
the Hendy's have to deal with hunger and possible illness as
a result of the famine, they now faced bitter cold as well
as the ultimate decision of how the family would survive.
At some time either in late 1846 or early in 1847,
Patrick and Eliza made the decision to leave Ireland.
Records I have been able to obtain from the National
Archives indicate that on 23 February 1847 the Hendy's
departed from Liverpool England for the US. I have no idea
how they were able to secure the funds for their travel.
Most likely by foot and with little more than the clothes on
their backs they braved the cold weather with their young
family and found their way to an Irish port. From there they
crossed the Irish Sea to Liverpool.
Liverpool England faced an onslaught of poor Irish
attempting to flee hunger and disease in their home country.
In the last weeks of 1846 and the early weeks of 1847
thousands of immigrants flooded into the port. The Hendy's
of Tipperary were some of those poor souls searching for
food and shelter during one of the most desperate times in
Irish history.
23 February 1847 was probably a day of mixed emotion for
Patrick and Eliza. The Rappahannock, an American-built
passenger ship set sail from Liverpool for the United States
with the Hendy's aboard. The Rappahannock was 1,133 tons, 19
ft. draft, built in 1841and Captain William Drummond was in
charge of the ship and crew. America, the land of
opportunity lay ahead.
The manifest list of passengers received on board the
Rappahannock and obtained from the National Archives listed
the following Hendy family members:
Name Age Sex
Patt Hendy 25 Male
Eliza Hendy 25 Female
Sarah Hendy 9 Female
James Hendy 7 Male
Dan Hendy 4 Male
John Hendy 3 Male
Patt Hendy 6 months Male
The manifest list made no mention of wee Thomas. I have
not been able to determine from my research the fate of
Thomas Hendy. He would have been four years old at the time
the family departed England. Thomas may have died before the
famine began and received a proper burial or perhaps he was
one of the many victims of disease or even starvation as a
result of the famine. What is known is that there is no
mention of him on any of the passenger records I have
researched. Little Thomas did not make the trip to America.
Much has been written about the ships that brought the
Irish to the United States and Canada during the famine.
They have been often referred to as coffin ships based on
the high mortality rate. On many of the ships there was a
shortage of food and water and living conditions were
deplorable. Disease like dysentery and typhus spread as a
result of the cramped living quarters and many of the Irish
who were frail and weak when the voyage began, died along
the way.
Patrick, the youngest child of Patrick and Eliza was one
of the casualties aboard the Rappahannock. The manifest
list of passengers that boarded the ship also recorded those
that died in route. Patrick was one of the 33 passengers
that died during the voyage.
A second child in less than five years was taken from
Patrick and Eliza. I can only imagine how they must have
felt. Their youngest had survived the trip across the Irish
Sea to England and made it on board the ship that would take
him to America. Now he was gone. How hard it must have been
to give up yet another child. A burial at sea had to be
heart breaking for the parents and the young siblings. When
would it end they must have thought.
On 19 April 1847 the Hendy's of Tipperary touched
American soil for the first time in the port of New Orleans
Louisiana. Their 55 day voyage was over. My ancestors,
those brave souls from Ireland, had made it to the land of
opportunity. Certainly thoughts of wee Thomas and wee
Patrick must have been with them as they gathered what
little belongings they had and prepared to disembark.
Patrick, Eliza, Sarah, James, Daniel, and John Hendy stepped
off the Rappahannock to face a new world.
Much has been written regarding the difficulties the
Irish faced when they came to the US. The largely
Anglo-Saxon Protestant majority in America did not accept
the poor Irish Catholics. It is likely that Patrick saw
signs on the loading docks and in the store fronts of New
Orleans that read, Irish Need Not Apply. Unlike other
European immigrants who were attracted to the farmland of
the mid-west, the Irish headed for the big cities and ports.
They possessed few skills and were often desperately poor.
I am not sure how the family made its way to Ohio, but
they appear in the 1850 US census living in New Richmond
Ohio. The date the information was gathered was 25 October
1850. The chart below is transcribed by me from the census
data.
Name Age Sex Occupation Place of Birth
Patrick Handy 40 M Cooper Ireland
Elizabeth Handy 32 F Ireland
James Handy 12 M Ireland
Daniel Handy 10 M Ireland
John Handy 9 M Ireland
Patrick Handy 3/12 M Ohio
The name was recorded as 'Handy' in the census by the
census taker. It is likely that the Irish brogue was
difficult to understand and I am certain that neither
Patrick nor Eliza could read or write. Ironically the name
was recorded as Handy on each subsequent census in Ohio.
However, James kept the name Hendy when he came to Alton and
the church records I obtained from New Richmond Ohio the
name was listed as Hendy.
The census also indicates that James, Daniel, and John
had each attended school within the last year. There were
also other changes in the family structure since they
arrived in New Orleans in 1847. Sarah is not listed as
living with the family. Although I have found no information
regarding the death of Sarah in church records of St.
Peter's Catholic Church in New Richmond, it is likely that
Patrick and Eliza had to endure the loss of yet another
child.
There is also the addition of another son, Patrick. The
census records indicate he was 3/12 years old when the
census was taken in October. This meant he was born in about
July 1850. I was unable to find any church or civil records
regarding the birth of Patrick. However, I did learn about
his life through other data. Patrick Joseph Hendy was born
in July 1850 and was the first child of Patrick and Eliza
born in the US. The research I conducted regarding Patrick's
life revealed that he is found in the Federal census in
1850, 1860, and 1870.
I was also able to obtain a copy of his marriage license.
Patrick was married to Katherine McCann on 13 July, 1873. I
have been able to find information regarding one child born
to them. A daughter, Laura was born 11 March, 1874 in New
Richmond. I was unable to find any information regarding
Patrick's death.
I am not sure why the Hendy's selected New Richmond Ohio
as their home. It certainly had little of the
characteristics of their home in Ireland. Perhaps it was the
first town where Patrick was able to find work. Although
there are a few Irish surnames in the census data for New
Richmond, it does not appear that there was a strong Irish
presence in the community. New Richmond Ohio is a river town
on the Ohio River just east of Cincinnati. With the
introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811
and the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal, the city of
Cincinnati had grown to 115,000 by 1850. Small towns near
Cincinnati like New Richmond were benefiting from the growth
and jobs were available.
Patrick had learned a new trade according to the census
information of 1850. His occupation is listed as a cooper. A
cooper is a tradesman that makes wooden staved vessels,
bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads.
Some examples include casks, barrels, buckets, tubs, butter
churns, hogsheads, firkins, tierces, rundlets, puncheons,
pipes, tuns, butts, pins and breakers. The need for barrels
and buckets was likely great on the docks of a river town
like New Richmond and the census data indicated that there
were several other coopers living in close proximity to the
Hendy's. The land of opportunity had afforded Patrick and
Eliza with the means to raise their family without depending
on the potato. More than likely this was the first
non-agricultural job for a Hendy in many generations,
perhaps ever.
On July 25th, 1851 Patrick Hendy made a decision that
would shape all of the Hendy generations that followed. On
that day, Patrick traveled to nearby Cincinnati and made it
official; he renounced the Queen of England and declared his
intention to become a citizen of the United States of
America. The Hendy's of Tipperary, who had left their
native Ireland four years before and settled in a small Ohio
town in the heartland of America, were now citizens of the
most prosperous nation on earth and so would be every
generation to follow!
On 16 January 1854 Veronica was born to Patrick and
Eliza. She was the second child born in the US and was
baptized at St. Peter's Catholic Church in New Richmond on
29 January of that same year. The church records are very
difficult to read, but it appears that the god-parents were
Patrick Reav and Catherina Tomlin. Veronica is found in the
1860 census, but I have been unable to find any additional
information about her life.
The name that Patrick and Eliza chose for their first
daughter born in the US was very ironic. My mother, Veronica
Hendy, would be born to Patrick William Hendy and Eva Ruth
Douglas four generations later. I have found no other
Veronica's in any of the research I have done on the Hendy's
and my mother was not aware that the name was found in an
earlier generation until I shared my discovery.
Sometime in 1857, according to James Hendy's obituary, he
made a decision to leave New Richmond Ohio and move to Alton
Illinois. James is my great- great grandfather and little
did he know that his descendants would call Alton their home
town for five generations to follow. The next chapter is
dedicated to the life of James Hendy.
On 20 October 1858 Stephen, the ninth and final child was
born to Patrick and Eliza. On that same day, he was baptized
in St. Peter's Catholic Church in New Richmond. His
god-parents were Gerhard Heinrich Lemming and Hanora O'Ryly.
The priest performing the sacrament was Reverend Father
Boher. My research revealed little regarding the life of
Stephen. He appears in the 1860 and 1870 census still living
at home and I was unable to find out any more information
about his life.
When the 1860 census was taken, much had changed about
the family of Patrick Hendy. Patrick is not listed in the
census and James had moved to Alton in search of a life on
his own three years earlier. The details of the 1860 census
indicate Eliza is the head of the household and Daniel,
John, Patrick, Veronica, and Stephen are at the same
residence. At the time of this writing, I have been unable
to determine the details regarding the disappearance or
death of Patrick. His name appears on the baptismal record
for Stephen one year earlier, but it is the last trace of
Patrick I have been able to find.
On 12 April 1861 the civil war began. Ohio was not
impacted greatly by the war and only two minor battles took
place within its borders. However, Ohio raised nearly
320,000 soldiers and 7000 Ohio soldiers died in the war. The
Hendy's, living in Ohio at the time, did not appear to be
impacted by the war. My research was unable to determine if
Daniel Hendy or John Hendy fought in the war. James Hendy,
who lived in Illinois, did fight on the Union side and I
will discuss his involvement in the next chapter.
The 1870 US census revealed yet more changes within the
Hendy family and this was the last record I was able to find
for Eliza and Stephen Hendy. I have transcribed the chart
below from the census data. Daniel, John, and Veronica are
no longer living with the family in New Richmond. The census
data also indicated that the value of the real estate owned
by Eliza was $400 and that Stephen had attended school
within the last year.
Name Age Sex Occupation Place of Birth
Elizabeth Handy 51 F Keeping House Ireland
Patrick Handy 20 M Day Laboring Ohio
Stephen Handy 11 M Picking Berries Ohio
The 1870 census marks the end of the Patrick and Eliza
generation of the Hendy family. Although I have been unable
to acquire additional information about them, it appears
that they may have died before 1880. I had hoped that my
research would reveal the final resting place of Patrick and
Eliza so that I could visit their graves and pay my
respects. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine
where they were buried, but will continue my search. I am
forever thankful for the sacrifices made by these two brave
people. They overcame so much and will always have a warm
place in my heart.
Source: self-published
Author: Steve Horn