In Search of Our "Roots" 1849 Cork to New York

by William Crowley

I was interested in locating some "Ancestors", and being a frugal Crowley, I searched the Internet for sources available without paying for access. To save a few pennies, I used one of my favorite search tools, Copernic Agent Professional, a client side (your PC) search program which queries a number of search engines at one "shot".

We all have a different branch of the family tree; hopefully, we have branches, or this would be a boring world. For this brief piece, I share the information I obtained from my search. The terms used: Ships New York Cork Ireland 1849. Hopefully, the information and suggestions will give you a few ideas on following up on those long lost "roots".

I searched using a request for "all words" as a search on the "exact terms" would have had no results (I tried it). The positioning of words is crucial. Copernic sorts and orders the results.  First cast a wide net with as few words as possible, then "drill down" by adding more key words. There are no guarantees that the data are on the Internet, or may be hidden within a "gateway", such as www.Ancestry.com. You have to pay after a free trial. The public library will serve you well too. A few references:

Different results could have been returned with the addition, deletion or rearrangement of words. Even misspelling Crowley may have added some knowledge. I extracted the name CROWLEY from several passenger lists placed on the Web, as of May 12, 2003. Here are a few of the "Crowley" listings; perhaps there are a few relatives in the list.

Passengers Crowley. National Archives Microfilm Publications (www.nara.gov), Section 237 Roll # 73, Name of Vessel: Ship Argyle, Port of Embarkation: Cork, Date of Arrival: June 17, 1848, Number of Passengers: 578, Ship's Master: T. Brockbauty (sp) (NOTE: Not all NARA records are on line, the following item is an extract on a Web Site.)

Crowley, Mary, age 20, spinster (I enjoy that quaint characterization, age 20 and a spinster)

Passengers on Ship SWAN from Cork to New York, 4 September 1849.

Pat Crowley Cork, Ireland to New York, 13 February 1849, Collector of the Customs for the District of New York - Port of New York.
Con Crowley, 45, M, Farmer
Ellen Crowley, 40,F
Jerry Crowley, 3,M
Ellen Crowley, infant,

Well, enough "Crowleys", related or not. I did hit a free trial list of online ship’s passengers. You might wish to locate a few "relatives" at: http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tousa_ny182549.shtml

Peter CrowleyNew York, 1849Comment