Did My Great-Great Uncle Thomas Mullen Come To America? Clearing up conflicting information

I began researching my Irish roots around the year 2000. I ordered microfilms of Irish records from the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City to view church records and census records at my local Family History Center. Now many of these records can be found online at several websites.

My Great-Great-Uncle Thomas Mullen appeared on the 1901 Census in his parents Patrick and Mary Mullen's household. In 1911 he wasn't listed in that household and I couldn't spot him in another household. 

 

That made me suspicious early on that he may have come to America. Michael Mullen being the eldest son meant he would have been the heir to the family land in Pollaturick, Co. Galway, Ireland. Thomas would have had to make his own way in Ireland or migrate to another country with more opportunities. 

I searched the US passenger lists for a Thomas coming from the same area and around the same age as our Thomas. Pollaturick was the townland in Co. Galway my family came from. That being a very small, and difficult to spell, place name those who migrated from there instead gave the name of the nearest town as the place where they came from. Milltown was the nearest town to Pollaturick . 

Here we find a Thomas listed on the Ellis Island passenger lists from Milltown. This Thomas arrived in America in 1910 before the 1911 Census for Ireland.  He was also headed to Chicago where my Great-Grandmother Helen Mullen-Mason lived.  

Instead of listing his sister Helen , my Great-Grandmother, as the sister he is going to join he names Delia Mullen of Wells Street in Chicago. Delia is a nickname for Bridget. I knew my Great-Grandmother's sister Bridget came to America where she became a BVM Nun. 

The problem with this is Thomas said his father's name was Michael not Patrick. Thomas did have an Uncle named Michael who lived on the same plot of land as his parents. The land was inherited by his Uncle and Father.

I noticed a James Mullen from Milltown came on the same ship with Thomas. James was also coming from Milltown and headed for Chicago. This James also said his father's name was Michael, but he was coming to join his brother Patrick, not his sister Delia, at the same address as Thomas 421 Wells St, Chicago Illinois. This address appears to have been the location of a bar where family members seemed to have stayed until they married or found work. Apparently Patrick and Michael Mullen had a sister who married a Jennings. Members of the Jennings family ran a bar in Chicago where family members rejoin family after migrating. 

All of this information is helpful but doesn't prove anything. Mistakes were often made on documents. I needed to verify that Michael Mullen had children named Delia and Thomas. We know that Patrick and Mary had a daughter named Bridget and a son named Thomas from civil registration records and census records. 

Did Michael and Mary Mullen have children named Delia and Thomas? I wasn't able to find children by these names for this couple. It does appear, looking at the censuses, they did have a son James who isn't listed in Pollaturick in 1911, so that seems to support the fact he was the James on the passenger list with Thomas in 1910. Patrick, who was also on the 1901 census, is also missing from the 1911 census suggesting he was the brother James said he was going to join in Chicago. 

The fact that I had not been able to find a Thomas and Delia doesn't prove that was he actually was the son of Patrick and Mary Mullen but does suggest he was more than likely their son.  A mistake was likely made on the 1910 passenger list. 

My research on Thomas stood there until recently. My Uncle Ted and cousin Judy shared some photos with me, one of which included Helen Mullen-Mason and her sister Bridget aka Delia, aka Sister Mary Kathleen, and an unknown man.

 

I wondered if the unknown man could have been Thomas their brother?

I decided to try to confirm that Thomas came to this country and search for any photos of him posted online. 

I found a WWI Draft Card for him at Ancestry.com which also suggested that Thomas had indeed come to America and settled in Chicago. He gave the name and address of my Great-Grandmother Helen Mullen-Mason, Mrs. Fred Mason, which was the strongest proof yet of a link to my family. I felt confident that Thomas came to this country after seeing this but wanted a document stating who his parents were and an identified photo of him to compare with. 

The draft card provided a physical description of Thomas Mullen. He is described as tall with black hair, and gray eyes. The 1910 Passenger list for Thomas Mullen said he was 5'10 and had brown eyes and black hair. I found that eye color can be interpreted in many ways especially if someone had hazel eyes the color description can vary from document to document. In 1918 I would say he would have been considered tall. The man in the photo also is taller than his sisters who were about 5'4 to 5'6 . 

I was also able to locate a naturalization index record online for Thomas. The witnesses on this card are Mark Jennings and Fredrick Bennett. The date of birth is the same as the draft card but he was living at a different address in Chicago in 1915. Mark Jennings would have been a cousin of Thomas. 

I have the civil registration birth record for Thomas but not a church record because many pages are missing from the church register. The civil registration records for most of the Mullen children are wrong because the family tended to register their children late. In order to avoid a fine they gave a later birth date for their children. Here we see Patrick and Mary register the birth of a Thomas in June of 1884 instead of May. My Great-Grandmother's birth was registered very late and apparently the family was fined. With birth dates that don't match I needed to continue searching. 

I had a great deal of trouble tracking Thomas after he appeared on the draft card. I couldn't find him in Chicago on the 1920, 1930, or 1940 Census for Chicago? I figured I would need to search country wide. The only Thomas Mullen matching what we know about his age and place of birth was in Arizona according to US Census records. He was never listed with family, but instead seemed to be working away from his family. He is said to have been married according to the Census records. I wasn't able to find a marriage record in Arizona or Illinois for him? 

In 1930 a Thomas P Mullen is listed on the US Census in Ajo, Pima County, Arizona. He is 46 years old and born in Ireland. Census day was April 1st when Thomas would have been 45. Since ages on the census can be wrong this slight discrepancy doesn't mean he isn't our Thomas. Also his age was initially given as 44 then crossed out and corrected. He is listed as a rigger in a copper mine.  

 In 1940 a Thomas P, Mullen is working in a Cotton Mill in Phoenix, Arizona. He is 55 years old on census day which was April 1st 1940. He was born in Ireland also. This matches with our Thomas would have turned 56 in May of that year. 

I was not able to find a good match for Thomas anywhere else in the country so I figured these census entries were likely for him or maybe he went back to Ireland? 

Concentrating on Arizona I finally had a breakthrough. I found an obituary for our Thomas Mullen from 1966 confirming Bridget "Delia" or Sister Mary Kathleen was indeed his sister. It also states Edwin Mason was his nephew. Edwin was the son of Helen Mullen-Mason my Great-Grandmother. My Great-Grandmother died in 1960, which is likely why her name isn't included. I'm not sure why other nieces and nephews weren't mentioned? My Grandmother Dorothy Mason-Kapple wasn't mention nor her siblings Mary or Frank? Edwin was the only child of Helen named. 

Oddly the obituary states Thomas migrated from Chicago to Phoenix in 1945? The US Census for  1930 and 1940 Arizona does have a Thomas P. Mullen matching the man in the obituaries full name. The obituary states he worked for 15 years for a Chicago Transportation service.  I still think however it's likely to be the same man. So why doesn't the description of Thomas in the obituary match with these men? It could be he spent part of the year when the weather was bad working in Arizona. His work in Chicago might have been seasonal? 

The photo of my Great-Grandmother with her sister and an unknown man looks like it may have been taken in the 1950's somewhere in the west I would guess? My Great-Grandmother was in California in the 1950's so it may have been taken there or if Thomas is in the photo the siblings could have had a reunion in Arizona? I'm still trying to find a marked photo of Thomas. It appears if he did have a wife or children he may have been estranged from them or he married and had no children? It's also possible he never married?

I'm happy with everything I've found even though I haven't confirmed who is in the photo. I feel like I have at least confirmed our Thomas Mullen came to the United States and remained here until his death. 

If anyone has any additional information please contact me at annettekapple@gmail.com. 

Searching Irish Election Rolls/ Plus Irish 2019 Election In My Family Area

Electoral Registers Ireland

Electoral registers were first introduced in 1832 with the Great Reform Act. The 1850 Reform Act entitled men owning or leasing property valued at £10 to vote. In order to vote in Parliamentary elections those holding leases had to have property valued at £12 a year. Women holding property could vote in local elections, but could not vote in Parliamentary elections. Most Irish men rented property from year to year and didn't meet earlier requirements which required a life lease on property to vote. The Reform Act of 1884 lowered requirements and renters who paid £10 in annual rent, and owners with property valued at £10 could vote. Although the 1884 act expanded the electorate 40% of adult males still couldn't vote. 

The 1885-1886 registers are the most inclusive ones available online at Findmypast.ie. Registers for the areas of Dublin 1908-1915, and Clare for earlier years are available online at Findmypast.ie. 

The Co. Clare register for 1860 included the information in the image below. 

The coverage of the 1885-1886 registers are listed as follows at Findmypast.ie (they are the ones held by the British Library). 

I found one ancestor on these voting registers. Thomas Huane of Fallakeeran, Co. Mayo, Ireland was on the rolls for 1885-1886. He was listed as a lessor on a house and garden on Griffith's Valuation in 1856. He was also listed as a renter of a house and land in 1856. It's nice to know the Huanes weren't destitute, and met the qualifications to vote in 1884. Unfortunately there are no rolls for Galway online so I could not find my Mullen family.   

The sons of Thomas Huane/Huvane didn't pay the Poor Rate on their property in Fallakeeran in 1909 when they appeared in petty sessions court in Ballindine. In order to vote rates had to be paid; so Thomas Jr. and Stephen likely were barred from voting. 

As the years passed the electorate kept expanding until it included all adult men and women. 

2019 Visit During Election

I visited Ireland in 2019 when they were having an important election which also addressed divorce laws along with electing officials.

When I travel I love observing the local cultures and traditions. In Ireland campaign ads are banned from TV. This seems to create more traditional style campaigns where those running meet with voters. This style of voting is outline by Hugh Linehan in an NPR interview. He is a host of the Irish Times Inside Politics podcast. "LINEHAN: You're quite right. It is a small country of about 4.8 million people, so it's about the population of Alabama. And it's a very kind of a gregarious, you know, intimate kind of a country. We don't have six degrees of separation. You'd be lucky to get two degrees of separation. You know, a very common opening line in a conversation is, oh, I used to know your mother, you know? So everybody knows their politicians very often. You know, I've met all my local politicians and not just because I'm a journalist. Everybody's kind of had a personal contact with people. So the doorstep - showing up on the doorstep and saying hello to people is important. Every day this week when I'm cooking the dinner, my doorbell has rung and there's been a politician on the doorstep asking for my vote." 

Here we see some of the political campaigners sitting on the trunk of a car outside a voting location in my ancestral area of Tuam in 2019. Election day seems to have a jovial celebratory feel in Ireland. You can sit outside the polling place and have a few drinks after the hard fought election is over. 

How do you get voters' attention without TV ads? You can use loudspeakers mounted on cars and signs on cars. 

Signs are important too. Signs are mounted on poles, fences, and lawns everywhere during elections. 

As in the United States polling places are often in schools as this one was in 2019 Tuam. 

There is one main highway in Tuam which meant there was a traffic jam on election day 2019. 

The winners of races in Ireland put thank you signs on their signs after winning the election. 

Dublin signs are often placed high on poles; likely for visibility and to avoid sign theft. 

The old electoral rolls can add to our knowledge of our ancestors. I learned that my ancestor Thomas Huane met the qualifications to vote and therefore was in a better financial position than 40% of the male population over 21. With so many records lost any additional information is appreciated including the electoral registers. 

(PS: The divorce laws were loosened as a result of the 2019 election).