Dohertys

     I was recently at a "Cousins' Brunch" where the Doherty side of the relationship was getting short shrift. To be fair, the whole affair was started by Jim Kennedy who was a Coleman on his mother's side. Most of the Colemans at this event are Doherty descendants as well.

    The Dohertys from whom we all descend are Hugh Doherty and his wife Sarah Evans.  According to ship list records, they are from near Castlederg, County Tyrone. Hugh, Richard and the daughter Sarah came to the USA first on the Ship North Star on 12 Aug 1846.  They landed in Philadelphia. 

Ship's Passenger List:  North Star landed at the Port of Philadelphia 12 Aug 1846

     One assumption is that Hugh and the 2 children came to the USA to get established before the rest of the family came to American on the 28th of April 1847.

Ship List from the Superior as transcribed by Dessie Baker.

   The family lived in Manayunk, which was later annexed into the city of Philadelphia. During the 10 year period they lived there, one child was born:  Francis; one child died: John; and one daughter married.  The baptismal records for the Church of St. John no longer exist for the year that Frank was born.  It is an assumption that John died, but I have no record.  He does not appear in the Minnesota Census of 1860, and he was too young to be living independently.
     There is a brief notation of "Mrs. Ferrell, who remained in the East" in a newspaper article about the Dohertys. St. John the Baptist records have an Ann Doughtery marrying Martin Farrell on 6 October 1859. The Farrells had 6 children:  Thomas, Mary Regina, Joseph, Ann, John and Catherine. I am still researching this family.
     By 1860, the Dohertys were living in Tyrone Township, Le Sueur County.  In the 1857 Minnesota Territorial Census, 3 Doherty brothers were living in Stillwater.  From the census, it appears they were working at a lumber camp.  

1857 Minnesota Territorial Cenus, Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota Territory, October 1857

     The family minus Richard appears in the 1860 Minnesota Census in Tyrone, Le Sueur County.  No matter how I spell Doherty, I can't find Richard in the 1860 census. The next record for him is in Tennessee (and wouldn't I love to know the story behind this member of the family!!!)
     Hugh Doherty was educated--meaning he could read and write.  This is not usual for many Famine era immigrants.  He was active in both township and county government.  He served as a supervisor in Tyrone and was instrumental in naming the township. He was also one of the first Le Sueur County commissioners and served several terms.
     Hugh and his wife remained in Tyrone, Le Sueur for the rest of their lives.

DEATH OF HUGH DOHERTY

In the death of Hugh Doherty which occurred at noon on Thursday last, at the residence of his son James, in Tyrone Township, another old settler has been taken to rest. Mr. Doherty was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in September 1802, and was therefore in his 83d year when he died. He came to America in 1846-just escaping the terrible hard times of 1847 in his native country-and located in Manyunk, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1856, when he came to Minnesota, and took a government claim of 160 acres in Tyrone, where he had lived ever since and where he died. His family came the following year. The deceased was chairman of the first board of supervisors of Tyrone township and named the town after his native county in Ireland. (The other two members were Louis Winterfeld and David Jones, the first named of whom is living yet.) He was also one of the earliest members of the board of county commissioners in the county. During the earlier years in Tyrone he also taught school a number of terms. In his public as in his private life, Mr. Doherty was a model of conscientious and honest citizen, and no kinder hearted, upright or agreeable neighbor ever lived. He was a christian in the highest and truest sense-and one who carried his notion of christian duty into all walks of life and when Death came at last, he was shorn of his terror for the venerable and venerated man of faith and works, who welcomed his departure from earth as one who had done the best he could and was ready to lay down the burden of life. The world is better that such men have lived. The deceased leaves a wife, aged 80 years, in feeble health, four sons, James, Samuel, (in Stevens County,) Patrick and Hugh and one daughter, the wife of Patrick Cantwell. The funeral took place at St. Thomas on Saturday and was one of the largest ever known in the county.

Le Sueur Sentinel, Nov. 27, 1884