THE ELUSIVE CANNON PROBLEM
I am searching for information about Maria Cannon and Peter Cannon,
sister and brother, who emigrated to Paterson, NJ, USA about 1880. I am
also looking for any other Cannons in Ireland who might be related to
them.
Parents of both Maria and Peter are Michael Cannon and Mary Cumming(s)
(spelled both ways in documents I have.) To the best of my knowledge,
Michael and Mary never emigrated to the US.
Maria Cannon born August 1, 1850 in Ireland; died March 15, 1932 in
Paterson NJ. Maria Cannon never married and always lived in the home of
her brother. I have a copy of her death certificate.
Peter Cannon born November 9, 1860 in Ireland; died April 13, 1944 in
Paterson NJ. I have a copy of his death certificate and his marriage
certificate. Peter Cannon was a member and later president of the
BrickLayers, Masons, and Plasterers Union, Paterson NJ local at least
since 1881. I have a newspaper article from a 1921 paper quoting him to
this effect. Peter Cannon married Mary C. Haffer in Paterson, NJ in
1893, and they had three children, one of whom was my father. Peter's
wife died shortly after the birth of the third child. One of the
children also died in infancy. Maria Cannon raised the other two
children.
1. Exactly where were they born in Ireland?
2. When exactly did they emigrate?
3. Did they have any siblings who also emigrated?
From the Cannon Family History site I quote the following:
"The name Cannon is distributed throughout most of Ireland's counties
but is most apparent in the counties of Donegal, Leitrim and Mayo. Ui
Canannain was the ancestral name of the Cannons and TirConnel (all of
Co. Donegal and part of County Derry) was the "Land of the Cannons". By
the early 1600's the name of Ui Canannain had been anglicized to
O'Cannon. Further Anglicization took place during the Penal Laws in the
late 1700's and early 1800's and the name in Co. Donegal became Cannon.
However in the east of the county and in the neighboring counties of
Derry and Tyrone the name, being spelt phonetically, became Canning.
O'Cannon, Cannon, Cannan, Canon, Canning are anglicized versions of the
name Ui Canannain."
Family folklore (which has proved to be remarkably inaccurate) says that
Peter and Maria were born in Sligo town, Sligo County and that the
father Michael Cannon was a butcher. I have been unable so far to
verify this information.
Searches of Griffiths valuations for 1858 show many Cannons in Co.
Donegal, and a few in Co. Sligo.
There are 4 entries for the name Cannon in Co. Sligo - with just one
Michael Cannon in the civil parish of Kilmacallan.
There is just one Comming, but 4 Cummins and 29 Commons listed in the
county - none in the same parish as above.
Both these surnames survive in Co. Sligo today.
With a 10 year gap in their ages, there is a good likelihood that they
had siblings . A possible emigration date could fall around the period
1878-81 when there was a great fuel shortage and economic hardship in
the Sligo area due to a succession of disastrously bad seasons and
competition between American and British producers. Generally speaking,
the pattern was for either a whole family to emigrate, or for one person
to go to be followed later by other siblings."
In 1858, there was exactly one Michael Cannon in Sligo that would be an
adult, and therefore meeting some of your criteria. He was living in
Kilmacallan civil parish, in the townland of Annaghcor. Unfortunately,
this is about 20 miles south of Sligo town, so doesn't fit family
folklore in that respect.
I am trying to find somebody to look at the Catholic parish records for
Kilmacallan however, since they date back to the time of 1803. If this
Michael is mine, one should see his marriage, and the baptisms of his
children.
Overall, however, one does not find a lot of Cannons in Sligo in that
1858 time period. I only see about 10 entries for the surname. Of
those, only one, Thomas, is found anywhere near Sligo town, and he was
actually in the town itself. Unfortunately, Sligo town is part of the
Sligo Catholic parish, which has no records prior to 1858 itself.
However, in this case, Church of Ireland (Anglican) records that date
back to 1801.
Query: To whom do I address an inquiry to find out if the Michael
Cannon in Kilmacallan is my great-grandfather?
With respect to siblings, an obituary of Maria Cannon from March 16,
1932 lists five nieces and nephews. Michael Knapp (a grandson of
Peter's daughter and a genealogist) and I can identify only two of
them. This also suggests missing siblings who emigrated to the US.
Based on sketchy information, I believe that the missing sibling is
female, and married a man whose surname is McKenna in Paterson, NJ.
Michael's web page is
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/k/n/a/Michael-C-Knapp/index.html.
The information he has about Peter Cannon and a Thomas Cannon on the
index page is incorrect.
A search of FTM CD 354 (ship manifests) did not find the names of Peter
or Maria on any ship manifests listing immigrants. I have personally
reviewed over 100 manifests from the relevant time periods, and cannot
find either Peter or Maria. I am sure that they did not walk across the
big pond, but I would like to know exactly how and when they did arrive.
Miscellaneous notes.
The Cannon Family History Society site:
www.otsearch.com/canfhs/findex.htm
The Irish Ancestral Research Association site:
http://world.std.com/~ahern/TIARA.html
Jim Cannon. jjcannon(a)sover.net
Searching CANNON MCINERNEY FIELDS LYONS