Don't Forget Your Shillelagh, in Which a Man is Assaulted With Sticks on His Head and a Traffic Light Turns Upside Down

 

     Ryan Whips.  That vaguely sinister sounding phrase appeared in my blog a few weeks ago.  I’ve found no relationship between that family, (for that is what the Ryan Whips were), and mine but they did reside in the same area of Tipperary as my Ryans and O’Dwyers.  Often written as "Ryan (Whip)" when speaking of one of them, it makes perfect sense that in a place where every second person was named Ryan, (the rest were Dwyers), a way to differentiate between them was needed.  I first encountered the Ryan Whips in an essay written by an Irish schoolchild in the 1930's describing that family as having a banshee.  That sounded right, I've heard all the old Irish families have one that laments their deaths.  Not much else turned up about this family in Google searches, but now that I had access to Irish newspapers for a short time, I thought I may as well run a search for them.

     It would be difficult to form a valid opinion of the Ryan Whips from just a few news articles, so let’s just say they seem like a fractious lot.  I wouldn’t want to anger them, but some of my ancestors apparently did.  The following article published in 1866 gave the circumstances:

     Andrew Dwyer/O'Dwyer, born in about 1780, was my fourth-great-grandfather, this clearly wasn't him but he did have a son named Andrew born about 1816, and a grandson of the same name born in 1838, at Churchfield in Tipperary.  I would think it was the son or grandson involved in this fracas.  A look at the map shows Rathnaveene, site of the attack, lies about halfway between Tipperary Town and Churchfield, anyone traveling between those two places would indeed pass through Rathnaveene.  Although Andrew was one of the less common forenames in the area, I still couldn't be positive this was one of my relatives.

     Since I was researching my O'Dwyers, I decided to check my old notes on them.  Some of those files haven't been opened in nearly a year and I like to skim them every once in a while to see if earlier finds fit in with more recent ones, and in this case they certainly did!  I opened a screenshot I had taken of a page in the Tipperary Petty Sessions Order Book and saw this:

     

     Andrew Dwyer of Churchfield, Parish Donohill Complainant.   Defendants, Philip Ryan and James Ryan (both Whip)!  When I first found this record I couldn't quite figure out what the word after Ryan was. Now, being older and wiser, I recognize the word as Whip.

                     

     The space containing a description of the charge gives the place of the assault as Rathnaveene and the date as the 9th; this was the prosecution of the crime detailed in the newspaper article above!  Unlike the news article, this document gave Andrew Dwyer's address, Churchfield.  This really was a member of my family!  Philip and James Ryan tried to counter charge Andrew, but the judge dismissed their attempt and sentenced them both,"To be imprisoned in Clonmel goal for two months and be kept to hard labor".

     Looking through the old newspapers it soon became evident, Tipperary in the mid 19th century was a rather violent place.  The Ryan Whips were often in court, not to mention goal, but they were far from the only ones.  There are numerous accounts of  physical altercations and arrests.  One article described a group of Dwyers from Donohill, bordering Churchfield, as fighting and throwing stones at the Ryans.  I've read that the phrase "Tipperary Stone Throwers" is a very old one, which reminds me of a tale from here in New York.

     On Syracuse's westside, about an hour from my home, lies the neighborhood of Tipperary Hill.  As one might guess, this section was home to numerous Irish immigrants, many of them from Tipperary.  Even today, Tipp Hill is a sea of green shutters, green doors, green roofs, and Irish flags.  The story begins almost 100 years ago, in 1925, when the city of Syracuse installed an electric traffic light there at the intersection of Tompkins and Milton.  That light, like every other traffic light in the USA and most other countries, had a red light on top, yellow in the middle, and green on the bottom.  That did not sit well on Tipp Hill.  To make their point, some youthful locals began a stone throwing campaign, regularly smashing the light until the city gave in and turned it upside down, placing the green on top as it should be.  And so it remains today. 

     In 1997 the community raised money to fund a small memorial park and erect a statue in honor of the stone throwers; a family dressed in 1920's clothing, the father gesturing towards the light where the green still proudly beams from the top.  

     We take our heritage very seriously in upstate New York...

     

A New Source. In Which a Seduction is Revealed and a Connolly is Cornered

  

     Last week I purchased a one-month subscription to a site featuring Irish newspapers.  I've came across several articles that mention family members so I can say I've found the small investment well worth it.

     One such member is Ellen Crotty, a perennial sticking point here at Ellie's Ancestors.  I'm not sure what to make of the clues I've discovered about her, though I have a pretty good idea.  I've written before about Ellen here and this blog will make more sense if you skim that blog, but here's the synopsis; Ellen was born around 1848 at Cullen Castle in County Waterford to Bridget O'Brien and David Crotty, the brother of my third-great-grandmother Honora Crotty Power.  Their townland is part of the Catholic Parish of Tramore.  Unfortunately, Tramore has a large block of missing records, from November 1831 to January 1857.  Given that loss, it's important to find any available scraps of information about even distant family members in the hope something may turn up relating to those closer.

     After sifting through conflicting, contradictory evidence concerning Ellen, I came to the conclusion she was, how do I put this?  A fallen woman?  It appears all three of her children were born out of wedlock, and though illegitimacy in Ireland was not as rare as I'd been led to believe, I would think three such births would make the neighbors sit up and take notice.  Especially since Ellen's children were born in the second half of the nineteenth century, after the devotional revolution, when the number of births outside marriage was declining.*

     The article I found in The Waterford Standard, 6 April 1867 edition, doesn't specifically mention Ellen, but her father David Crotty is named, and his residence is given as being within two miles of Tramore.  That fits, as Cullen Castle is indeed about two miles north of the town --

     

          

     It's interesting that in April of the previous year, Ellen gave birth to a son she named Patrick.  His baptism does not mention a father's name.  One might think the above-mentioned Patrick Connolly may be a good candidate.  It's a shame the Standard was so prudish, I would have liked to read the unfit particulars.

     Ellen gave birth again in 1876, to a son whom she named David.  This time a father's name is recorded in the church baptism register, it's David Connolly.  The forename could be a mistake by the priest or the transcriptionist; only transcriptions are available online for Tramore during this time period.  The following year Ellen delivered a baby girl, Bridget, whose father's name is absent from her baptism record altogether.  None of the births are recorded in civil records.  Later, the deaths of the two youngest children appear in civil records, but under the surname Crotty, not Connolly.  The oldest, Patrick, immigrated to America so he doesn't appear in the civil records.  However, the common tombstone erected by, "Nellie Crotty", uses Connolly for all three of her children.  The stone notes that Patrick died in America.  Likewise, the 1901 census shows Ellen Crotty and her son David Crotty living in a 3rd class house in Summerhill in Tramore.  Bridget had died of consumption two years earlier, and David would perish from the same disease in five more.

     The ten years between the births of Patrick and his two younger siblings makes me wonder if Patrick Connolly was the father of Patrick, and David Connolly fathered the two younger children?  I may never figure that out, but who can say?  I never thought I'd find an article like the one above either.

       

* This source-- Illegitimacy and Pre-Nuptial Pregnancy in Ireland before 1864: The Evidence of Some Catholic Parish Registers, can be read for free by registering at the JSTOR site.

     

That Old Black Magic

      

     In the spirit of the season, I return to the matriarch of my family "witches", Mary Williams King Hale.  Mary was born in England around the year 1606, as her deposition taken in a Boston deed transfer in 1656 states, she was "aged about 50 yeares".  In that deposition "Mary Hayle" at least three times referred to Hugh Williams as her brother.  Mary may have been born in or near London; in another Boston deed her brother Hugh Williams, (called a feltmaker in this deed and a hatter in another), sold property in Boston to his brother, John Williams, also a feltmaker, of Barnaby Street in London, England.  Nathaniel Williams of Boston may have been another brother of Mary's, but that has yet to be proven.  

     Further evidence of Hugh Williams being Mary's brother comes from two sources; one was a 1654 meeting of Boston's selectmen during which they agreed to allow Mary, widowed by this time, to reside there on security provided by Hugh Williams. The other is Hugh's will made on 1 October 1674 and probated on 12 October 1674 in which he left two thirds of his estate to his "sister Haile and her children".  The other third was left to his "brother Hilton's children at Charlestown".  During probate, "Mary Hale of Boston", was appointed co-executor of Hugh's will by the court.  I've found no records for a Hilton Williams. 

     Mary was twice married but the identities of her husbands remain elusive.  As she was using the name Hale by 1654, it can reasonably be assumed she was the widow of a man by that name.  Her first husband's surname can be inferred from the name of her daughter Winifred King, the notorious Witch of Wallingford.  From reading Hugh's will we know Mary had at least one more child in addition to Winifred.

     The relationship between Mary Hale and Winifred King is established by Winifred's deposition given in the same case her mother Mary Hale was deposed for.  In it, Winifred calls Hugh Williams her uncle.  The connection between Mary and Winifred is further strengthened by surviving depositions from a witchcraft case against Mary Hale in 1680, that mention her "granddaughter" Joanna Benham, who was the child of Winifred King and Joseph Benham.

     Mary Hale was not a reserved sort of woman who hesitated to speak her mind, a trait that landed her in hot water even before 1680.  A neighbor sued her twice in 1677, once for assaulting his wife and again for defaming both him and his wife; she lost on both counts.  Mary operated a boarding house in Boston and was learned in herbal medicine, indeed, she often took in sick people to care for them.  Here we have a quarrelsome, elderly widow with a knowledge of herbs, all the ingredients for suspicions of witchcraft; so when a young mariner named Michael Smith fell ill Mary became the prime suspect.

     Michael Smith boarded at Mary's establishment and the widow took a liking to him, so much so that she encouraged a match between him and her granddaughter Joanna Benham.  Although Michael was willing, Joanna refused to consider the match and eventually Michael found a new love interest, Margaret Ellis, and left Mary's roof.  Reportedly, Mary Hale was not pleased the romance had ended.  Witnesses reported her stalking Michael and slandering Margaret Ellis.

     Not long after, Michael stopped by Mary's house to see two friends lodging there, during that visit he consumed a drink made by Mary.  Before long, Michael was taken violently ill and insisted Mary Hale had poisoned him.  Though he recovered, he blamed Mary for his illness.  Before long, Michael was ill again, more seriously than the first time.  Joanna Benham visited him, bringing along a warm drink Mary Hale had prepared for him but Michael dared not drink it.   That evening however, Margaret Ellis brought Michael the drink claiming she had made it for him.  Within hours Michael was on his deathbed.

     To those gathered around him he again accused Mary Hale and wove a fantastic tale of being transported by her to a house in a nearby town where he saw a coven of twenty witches drinking wine. He called for authorities to arrest Mary and bring her blood to him, believing it would cure his bewitchment.  Raving and railing against her, Michael Smith died.

     Mary was brought up on charges of witchcraft following Michael's death and a number of witnesses testified against her.  One who spoke on her behalf was Joanna Benham who provided a deposition to the court that gave her relationship to Mary Hale as granddaughter, to wit, "Margaret Ellis told me that I and my grandmother Hale was the cause of his death and she hoped in the Lord to see my Grandmother Hale burned before she went out of the country".  That did not happen, Mary was acquitted and faded from the pages of Boston records.  Nothing more is presently known of Mary's life after her trial, she was in her mid-seventies at that time and probably did not live many years longer.  We do know history repeated itself when in 1692 her daughter Winifred Benham was charged with witchcraft for the first time.  In 1693 she was again investigated for witchcraft, and in 1697 Winifred and her daughter Winifred Jr. were both charged.  The elder Winifred was searched for incriminating marks and underwent the water test, eventually being released along with her daughter.  After this ordeal they left Connecticut, fleeing to Staten Island in New York State where Winifred had a married daughter residing.

     Hugh William's will can be found at Ancestry.com.  The land transaction and depositions, along with many other records from early Massachusetts, are available at the UMassAmherst website--  https://guides.library.umass.edu/c.php?g=672399&p=4737789    

     Never stop research with just the sources on Ancestry, there are many, many records online that are not available there.  County and state sites, Google Books, library sites, and Family Search are some of my favorites.