Connolly family of Parish Clonas, County Monaghan, Ireland
My John Connolly was born ca 1782 in Ireland and in Parish Clonas, County Monaghan, I believe.He applied in 1813 for a temporary permit to remain in Philadelphia, PA for one month...and stayed in the US.Well educated and I have considerable correspondence between him and his brother, Michael. Michael was a leather worker and was for a few years in NY City.Other family members mentioned in their letters are mother, Margaret, and sister, Ellen, and younger brother, Billy.John was an employee of the American Fur Company in Davenport, Iowa, by early 1820s and a sub-agent at Fort Armstrong on the Mississippi River.In March, 1924, John was a Justice of the Peace in Galena, IL. and married to a Sac Indian.He wrote numerous letters to the US Sec. Of War attempting to prevent the Black Hawk War.He died in St Louis, MO. in 1833, leaving two children: one unnamed daughter and son, Thomas Jefferson Connolly.Thomas Jefferson Connolly became Tribal Interpreter for the Sac & Fox Tribe and remained with the tribe when it was removed to Kansas.
John's brother, Michael, probably married, joined the family in Galena, IL. and likely had one son named Thompson.Thompson was born ca 1831 in either Iowa or Missouri butsettled in St Paul, MN.Thompson donated all his John-Michael correspondence and other documents to the MN. Historical Society.
John Connolly's widowed Indian wife quickly remarried, but drowned in an wintertime attempted crossing of the ice covered Mississippi River near Rock Island, IL.
Brother Michael posted a newspaper want ad seeking information on their missing brother Patrick, missing from Parish Clonas, County Monaghan, Ireland.Patrick is believed to have been a ship's captain.
John and Michael mentioned their unnamed father as being the Secretary of U.S. political Irish organization in Philadelphia and the father is presumed to have died prior to the mid 1820s.
Would love to swap stories about this Irish/American Connolly family.