We've already talked about his brothers and sisters so now let's take a look at my grandfather John Keohane.
John Keohane was born 16 December 1889 somewhere in Dunderrow, County Cork. His birth registration line 137 lists Patrick Keohane from Dunderrow as his father; his mother was Hannah Keohane whose maiden name was Kiely - Hannah Kiely Keohane. His father was a laborer. The informant, who is the one who registers the birth, was Mary Griffin - she was present at John's birth. She lived in Ballinard/Ballinward - I can't quite make it out. The birth was registered 27 December 1889 in the Registration District of Ballymartle in the Superintendant's District of Kinsale. Aunt Nellie had told me that this Mary Griffin was Hannah Kiely's sister - so she was Mary Kiely Griffen.
But according to his Baptismal record which I obtained for our 2006 family reunion, John Keohane was born 8 December 1889 - 8 days earlier than his birth certificate! He was baptized on 10 December 1889 at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Kinsale by the Reverend L. Cummins. His parents were again given as Patrick Keohane and Hannah Kiely. The Sponsors (or Godparents) were Charles Price and Mary Griffin. We know that Mary Griffin is John Keohane's aunt. I wonder if Charles Price is a misprint, and it is really Charles Pierce who would be Patrick's grandfather? The original record is not available online. The penmanship in the original records can be difficult to make out. John's mother was Mary Pierce - and her father was Charles Pierce - or maybe she even had a brother Charles Pierce.
We have seen this discrepancy in birth and baptismal dates before. The baptismal record is normally more accurate because babies were baptized right away since infant mortality was high - if the child is not baptized, s/he cannot be buried in consecrated ground which would be the Catholic cemetery. Remember that the belief was that if you are not baptized, then you do not go to heaven - you go to limbo. Parents would not want their baby in limbo so every effort was made to have the child baptized. The mother was recuperating from giving birth so was usually not at the baptism. There was a killeen in Derrah near our home in Sneem where unbaptized babies were buried. I have seen killeens on the older Ordnance Survey maps or maps from the Valuation Office - Irish law prohibits building on these sites.
I read somewhere that civil registration in Ireland began more by chance than by design. A spate of bigamy cases went before the courts in the 1830s, then an 1842 case made it all the way to the House of Lords in London. There, the government invalidated all marriages of Protestant Dissenters (mostly Presbyterians) in Ireland. Couples in Ulster, where most Dissenters lived, were outraged at the suggestion that so many had been living in sin and that their children were, by extension, illegitimate.
Whether that was true or not, the Marriages (Ireland) Act of 1844 took effect April 1, 1845, creating a centralized civil registration system for marriages. It was meant to embrace all Christian and Jewish denominations, but the Catholic Church, concerned that civil registration would detract from the religious nature of the marriage ceremony, resisted what it saw as interference. For this reason, Irish marriage registrations from 1845 to 1863 recorded only non-Catholic marriages.
http://groireland.ie/en/downloads/GRO-History.pdf reports:
"Over time, demand grew for a general registration system of births, deaths and marriages. The lack of a comprehensive system in Ireland was having repercussions in Britain where many Irish emigrants had gone or were going.
The growing number of laws regulating factory employment, public health conditions and the rights of inheritance were creating circumstances in which it was necessary for the ordinary citizen to prove such things as his age and legitimacy. This was causing various problems. For instance, in 1854, the Inspector of Factories for Scotland reported great difficulty in the operation of the Factory Acts because of the large number of young Irish emigrants presenting themselves for employment with fictitious "birth certificates". The inspector for the Eastern and Metropolitan areas of England reported similar difficulties. By hiring young Irish labourers, factory owners were getting around the legal ban on employing young persons under 18 years for the task of looking after machinery required to be kept in motion during the night. In Ireland a variety of interests also pressed for the registration of births and deaths. Members of the Presbyterian community complained that the absence of this facility made it very difficult to establish rights of inheritance and noted that those of its members seeking commissions in the Indian service could not show proof of their age or origins. The Irish Poor Law Commissioners were finding it very difficult to impose compulsory vaccination against smallpox because of the absence of information about births and deaths and both the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland also argued persistently in favour of a registration system. Eventually, in 1861, two private Members Bills were put before the House of Commons. One proposed the establishment of a registration system based on the Royal Irish Constabulary and the other proposed the use of dispensary doctors as registrars. Both proposals were referred to a Select Committee of Parliament which concluded that the dispensary doctors were the most appropriate persons to act as local registrars. For Catholic marriages, it also recommended an arrangement whereby Catholic clergymen would forward to the Registrar General details of all marriages solemnised in their churches.
The following website -
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/2016-family-history/modules-courses/civil -
explains:
The geographical areas used to collect civil registrations were (and still are) based on the old Poor Law Unions. Each Union was a district with a workhouse at its centre, usually situated in a large market town - like Kinsale. From 1838 on, these workhouses were responsible for providing the barest of minimal support to the most destitute in their Union. When the registration system started in 1864, it used the already-existing framework of the Poor Law Unions to subdivide Ireland into Superintendent Registrar's Districts, identical to the Unions like Kinsale. Each SRD was headed by a Superintendent Registrar - each SRD was subdivided in turn into a number of local districts, run by a registrar who was answerable to the Superintendent - like Ballymartle.
The local registrars collected birth, marriage and death registrations in pre-printed volumes, just adding each event chronologically as it was registered. When a volume was full, they passed it to the Superintendent. He then had a copy made, sent that copy to his head office, the General Register Office in Dublin, and held on to the local registrar's copy.
From a Guide to the General Register Office of Ireland:
The civil law was that births must be registered within a certain period of time or a fine would be imposed for late registration. Transportation was not that accessible so it might be difficult for a parent or relative to register a birth – yes, it was the parent or relative who had to register the birth – babies were born at home, and the family, not the doctor or midwife if one was present, was responsible to register the child. Also calendars were not common so sometimes birth dates were remembered as associated with a local event - such as the date of a fair, of a neighbor buying an animal, or some event out of the ordinary. Births were registered the next time a family member was going to the town or city where the registration office was located. So it seems that Mary Griffin was the one who made the trip to register the birth. She went almost 3 weeks afterwards. Why would she give the wrong date? Was it past the time limit to register John Keohane's birth? Was she trying to avoid the fine?
Ballymartle is located 4 miles northeast from Kinsale. It derives its name from the ancient family of Martel to whom it formerly belonged. It is situated on the old road from Cork to Kinsale. There is a constabulary police station, a Church of Ireland, and a petty sessions court. The Catholic Church or chapel near the village is a plain modern edifice.
Patrick Keohane is a laborer. Patrick and his family live on the lands of the farmers for whom Patrick works. The farmers provide the cottages, but do the laborers still have to pay rent? And what kind of cabins are they? I wonder if they looked like this thatched cottage?
I think we saw in another chapter that in volume 12 of The Journal of the Kinsale & District Local History Society, there is an article by Fergal Browne about the Devon Commission's visit to Kinsale. This was a committee set up by the British Government to look into how Irish land was occupied. I'm going to include part of it here again to remind us of what it was like to be a laborer.
On 12 September 1844 landlord William R. Meade of Ballymartle House testified: "I am afraid that labourers under the ordinary class of farmers are not improving. There is an anxiety among the gentry (note: William Meade was considered one of the gentry) to have their labourers more comfortable, but it is not extended yet to farmers. Their houses are very wretched indeed, in the northern part of the district. The laborers hold nothing under the farmers but their cabins. It is hard to say exactly what they usually pay for their cabins. The usual agreement between the farmer and the labourer is not a money matter: they get so much for their yearly labour; they get a house and so much potato ground, manure, barrels of coal, and some other things. They do not get any money and they make fresh agreement every year. Scarcely any of the better class of farmers give any money to their labourers. The quantity of ground that they have from the farmers depends largely on the quality of the ground. They would rather have one acre of good potato land than have two bad ones. They are very anxious to get good potato ground. It varies from one acre to two. When men are hired by the day by the farmers, which is not often done, they are paid 8 pence a day or 5 pence and their diet. No man will take a labourer on the 25th day of March unless he ascertains that he (the laborer) has potatoes enough to sustain him till his potatoes come in; and then he has only to depend on casual employment, which is rare and then they are reduced to very great distress. There have been no agrarian outrages in my recollection. This has always been, I believe, a particularly quiet district."
So according to Mr. Meade, big farmers are not as generous to their laborers as are the gentry - I wonder if that was true? From the big farmers, the laborers get a cabin, one or two acres to grow potatoes which is their sole source of food - and even then the land could be bad! - some manure to use as fertilizer, some coal for the fire place which heats the cabin, and some other things. No money changes hands. And then, no big farmer will hire a laborer in March unless the laborer has enough potatoes to sustain him and his family until his new potatoes come in. The laborers depend on potatoes for their diet. If the laborer has no potatoes, the farmer might have to feed him and his family - and this extra expense would never do. If the laborer is not hired by a big farmer, then only casual work, meaning an occasional day's work, is all that is left. Mr. Meade says there is not much casual work so the laborer has no work, no place to live, no potatoes. And don't forget his family. No wonder they are reduced to very great distress! And the farmers only hire them on a year to year basis. Agrarian outrages are a violent response by some Irish to the unfair situations that exist. And can we blame them?
Abandoned Ireland had this picture of the ruins of Ballymartle House where this William Meade resided.
Please take note that the testimony by Mr. Meade of Ballymartle House is taken in 1844 - this is shortly before the famine. If life is this bad in good times, imagine how difficult it must be during the famine. No wonder so many Irish starve or emigrate. Also do you remember that Mary Kiely Griffin, John Keohane's Godmother, was from Ballymartle where this Mr. Meade is the principal landlord - maybe he is her landlord?
John Keohane grows up in Dunderrow and is a laborer himself. Sometime before he leaves for America, John Keohane somehow saves enough money to buy the house in Ballythomas in Dunderrow for his family so they have a permanent home. I wonder for whom he worked? The same person his father worked for? Someone else in the Kinsale area?
Patrick Breen's father, Jim Jer Breen of Sneem, had told me about hiring fairs in Limerick that he and his brothers would go to. All the young laborers would line up - I think he said on a platform - and the farmers would pick the men they wanted and take them back to their farms. The rest of the men would wait for another fair or try to get casual work. Maybe John Keohane was hired this way and saved his money to buy the house in Ballythomas.
The Cove of Cork was a small fishing village until it began to expand after the American Revolution when trade increased. It is a large natural harbor, and it developed into a major transatlantic seaport, naval station, and emigration port. From 1848-1950 over 6 million Irish people emigrated from Ireland - 2.3 million of them emigrated to North America from the Cove of Cork.
I have a personal interest and connection to the Cove of Cork. My father's mother, Catherine Donlan, worked for the Forbes family in Milton. During the Famine/Great Hunger in 1847, a Forbes ancestor, Captain Robert Bennet Forbes, commanded the USS Jamestown and delivered "over 8, 000 barrels of bread, beans, pork, peas, corn, flour, rice, beef, potatoes, and other supplies" to the Cove of Cork for the starving Irish according to the Clan Forbes Society website - https://www.clan-forbes.org/post/captain-ben-forbes-the-errand-of-mercy.
USS Jamestown from https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/bostonians-respond-to-irish-famine/submoment/uss-jamestown-departs-for-ireland.html
Forbes saw for himself the true destitution of the majority of the populace. He wrote:
"I went with Father Mathew, only a few steps out of one of the principal streets of Cork, into a lane; the valley of the shadow of death was it? Alas, no, it was the valley of death and pestilence itself! I saw enough in five minutes, to horrify me - hovels crowded with the sick and dying, without floors, without furniture, and with patches of dirty straw covered with still dirtier shreds and patches of humanity; some called for water to Father Mathew, and others for a dying blessing. From this very small sample of the prevailing destitution we proceeded to a public soup kitchen, under a shed, guarded by police officers, here a large boiler containing rice, meal, &c., was at work, while hundreds of spectres stood without begging for some of this soup, which I can readily conceive would be refused by well bred pigs in this country. I do not say this with the least disrespect to the benevolent who provide the means and who order the ingredients ; the demand, for immediate relief, is so great at Cork, that if the starving can be kept alive, it is all that can be expected ; the energies of the poor are so cramped and deadened by want and suffering of every type, that they care only for sustenance, and they are unable to earn it; crowds flock in, from the country to the west and south-west and south-east of Cork, the hospitals and poor houses and jails, are full to overflowing, though numbers die daily to make room for the dying…"
"Over the next few years, over 120 ships would bring food and funds to the people of Ireland and Scotland, which was also affected by the famine."
Captain Forbes wasn't the only one to visit Queenstown.
The future King William IV, son of British King George III, the American Revolutionary War King, and Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, was born at Buckingham House on 21st August, 1765 and christened William Henry. He enjoyed a life in the Navy attaining the rank of Admiral.
George III created William - Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews and Earl of Munster in 1789. He retired from active service in 1790, settled down at Bushey Park and took as his mistress the celebrated actress Dorothy Jordan, by whom he had 10 illegitimate children, known as the Fitzclarences.
This Dorothy Jordan is a link to Sneem, Co. Kerry. She was born Dorothy Bland near Waterford City - her father was Francis Bland. He was one of the Blands, the landlords in Sneem.
Dorothy and William led a happy life together for 20 years until he was forced to find a suitable wife to provide an heir to the British throne when his brother George IV's one child, Charlotte, died in childbirth. Dorothy Jordan died penniless in France because of debts wracked up by her daughter and son-in-law.
William and his wife Princess Adelaide unfortunately had no children who survived infancy. William was 69 when he became king. He and his wife were fond of his niece Victoria who became Queen upon William's death in 1837.
"For those who stayed in Ireland throughout the Famine, either by force or circumstance or by personal good fortune, the most significant event of 1849 was the visit of the British monarch, Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a great welcome despite Anglo-Irish hostilities. Cheering crowds turned out in August to greet the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert, son of the German Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The royal couple visited Dublin and Cove, the magnificent harbour town 13 miles to the east of Cork. Though Ireland's political leaders were opposed to the royal visit, the Queen was aware of Ireland's suffering and was intent on judging the situation for herself. It is, of course, doubtful that she was able to witness the full horrors of the Famine, the starving beggars and overcrowded workhouses. Instead, she was honoured with lively and expensive festivities. At Cove, the royal yacht was greeted by rockets launched from her naval ships stationed in port; and local residents lit huge bonfires. The servants of one country house were so enthusiastic with their firework display that they set fire to 14 acres of woodland. The next day, at the official welcoming ceremony, the Queen surprisingly announced, 'I have much pleasure in giving my sanction to the change of name which has been sought by the inhabitants and direct that this town shall in future be called Queenstown.' The port had been known as the Cove of Cork, or Cove for short, but it retained its royal name until 1922 when Ireland achieved her independence, and Queenstown was re-named Cobh, which is the Gaelic for cove."
Albert Quay in Queenstown was named in honor of Prince Albert. This was later renamed McSweeney Quay in honor of Terence McSweeney, former Lord Mayor of Cork, who died after a prolonged hunger strike in Brixton Prison in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence. Queenstown was renamed Cobh in 1922.
7 second class passengers, 113 third class passengers, and 194 sacks of mail joined the voyage on that day - 11 April 1912. There were 1308 passengers and 898 crew members – 2206 people on board. At 1:30 in the afternoon a piper in 3rd class played …. “A Nation One Again” as the Titanic left Queenstown and headed toward open sea. She passed the Old Head of Kinsale as she steamed toward the Atlantic.
But on the same day that the Titanic would hit the iceberg, John Keohane did board a tender from the Cunard pier in Queenstown on 14 April 1912 to board the SS Laconia. His father Patrick Keohane accompanied him on the tender.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36928008@N08/3959039804/in/photostream/
Re the above reference to the Luisitania: when The Great War broke out in Europe in 1914, the United States declared itself neutral apparently due to strong isolationist feelings in the country. Germany meanwhile in 1915 declared unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around the British Isles in an effort to quarantine Britain.
The website - https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/lusitania - tells us that:
"In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German Embassy in Washington, D.C,. that
Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. The announcement was placed on the same page as an advertisement of the imminent sailing of the Lusitania liner from New York back to Liverpool. The sinkings of merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action, such as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel’s course."
Apparently the RMS Luisitania did not follow this advice and was torpedoed May 7, 1915 off the coast of Ireland on its return voyage from New York to Liverpool. (When the Luisitania made its maiden voyage in 1907, it was the largest ship in the world.) After being hit by 2 torpedoes, the Luisitania sunk in 20 minutes - over 1100 died including 120 Americans. Survivors and recovered bodies were taken to Queenstown.
But let's get back to John Keohane. The Steamship Laconia belonged to the Cunard Steamship Line and was based in Liverpool. The Laconia was “launched” on 27 July 1911 and completed 10 December 1911. Her maiden voyage began 20 January 1912 – so she was pretty new when John Keohane went on board in April of that year - she sailed from Liverpool to New York. Then she was assigned to the Liverpool-Boston service. She was older and smaller than the Titanic. The Laconia could hold 300 first class passengers, 350 second class passengers, and 2200 third class/steerage passengers. Her gross tonnage was 18, 099 tons. She was 600.3 feet x 71.3 feet. She had 2 large funnels and 2 masts. The Laconia and her sister ship the Franconia were built to replace the Ivernia and the Saxonia on the Liverpool to Boston service and to cover for the Luistania and the Mauretania if these ships were being refitted. They were also intended to ship emigrants from the Mediterranean to New York. Emigrants were a profitable business for the steamship lines.
In October 1914 the Laconia was transformed into an armed merchant cruiser in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. In July 1916 she was returned to the Cunard Line and on 9 September 1916 she resumed the Liverpool to New York service. But then on 25 February 1917 - just 5 months later - the Laconia was torpedoed by the German submarine U-50. She sunk 160 nautical miles northwest of Fastnet Light. 12 crew members and passemgers were lost including 3 American citizens, which added to anti-isolationist feeling in the United States.
Franconia on top - Laconia on bottom.
An act of the United States Congress was passed 20 February 1907 which requires that a list or manifest of alien passengers be kept by the commanding officer of any vessels having such passengers on board. This manifest is to be delivered to the United States Immigration Officer when the vessel arrives in a port in the United States.
The following passenger list shows John Keohane's entry on the SS Laconia.
John Keohane is number 24 on page 3190. He is listed as a 22 year old male laborer who can read and write. His nationality is Irish as is his race. His last permanent residence is Kinsale, Ireland. His nearest relative in Ireland is his father Patrick Keohane of Dunderrow, Kinsale. His final destination is Boston but that is crossed out and replaced with Lowell, Massachusetts.
Page 2 of the manifest shows that the Laconia docked in Boston on 25 April 1912. John Keohane has a ticket to his final destination paid by his cousin. I presume this means that his passage is paid as far as Lowell. He has $15 but that is crossed out and replaced by $12. He has never been in the United States before. He is going to join his cousin Denis Crowley of 123 Andrew Street in Lowell, Massachsetts. He is not a polygamist, nor an anarchist. He is in good health mentally and physically. He is not deformed or crippled. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall with a dark complexion. He has dark hair and blue eyes. He has no marks of identification. He was born in Kinsale.
My mother, Ellen Keohane Manning, had always said that her father came out with neighbor Jerry O'Brien and went to his step-mother's brother.
As we have seen, John Keohane tells the ship's officer that he is going to his cousin. The names Keohane and Crowley are closely related - sometimes Keohane was changed to Crowley when a person emigrated. It is certainly easier to pronounce!!
Working backwards, I found a John Cohaine living at 66 1/2 Summer Street and working as a coachman in Haverhill's 1900 U.S. Census. He was born in March 1865. He immigrated in 1885 and is naturalized. John's 30 year old wife Mary is also from Ireland - she was born January 1870. They have been married for 12 years - Mary has had 3 children, and the 3 are alive. She immigrated in 1884 so has been in the country for 16 years. She and John both read, write and speak English.
On 14 April 1912 as the Laconia headed for the open sea, Fastnet Lighthouse was the last thing that John Keohane saw. Fastnet Lighthouse was called the Teardrop of Ireland because it was the last sight of Ireland that emigrants sailing past for America would see. It was built after the American ship - SS Stephen Whitney - sank off of Crosshaven, County Cork with 92 lives lost. The Irish Lights Board decided to build a lighthouse on the Fastnet Rock because the existing lighthouse on Clear Island was too far inland. The light can be seen for 19 miles.
What was our John Keohane thinking as the ship passes Fastnet Light which is not that far west of the Old Head of Kinsale with Dunderrow further inland. Is he thinking about whether he would ever see his family again? Was there an "American Wake" the night before he left for "Amerikay?" This is when friends and neighbors come by the house on the night before an emigrant leaves. The women bring baked goods, there might be a barrel or bottles of porter, singing and dancing go on until the early morning hours. Travel and communication were much different in 1912 - almost 100 years ago. A ship's passage is expensive for the poor Irish - often relatives in America would send money or tickets for their brothers and sisters. As we said before, emigrants and their families do not know if they will ever see each other again. Letters are the way to communicate - there are no telephones, e-mails, or instant messaging. Perhaps the emigrant or his family could not read or write. Thus the American Wake.
In "Irish Emigrants," Pat Friend writes: "The Irish Catholic population was so emotionally tied to their families and communities that they did not leave in large numbers until the Potato Famine struck Ireland in the 1840s. Though there had been other regional famines none was as pervasive or dramatic as the one caused by the blight that hit the potato crop in 1845 and succeeding years. That famine became the impetus for the start of massive, continuous emigration.
Still, the emigrants did not go gladly. Realizing the departing family members would not likely be seen again, "American Wakes" were held to send off the emigrants, much as the dead were waked before their burials. In his book, Emigrants and Exiles, Kerby Miller explains the history of the movement and exposes the emotions. The vast majority of emigrants left largely not just because they were looking for a better life for themselves and their families, but because they did not see a way to build that better life in the Ireland that was effectively the first British colony. Even those who survived the Famine were discriminated against because of their native heritage and religion and restricted in their access to education and economic success so the massive emigration continued.
John Keohane had a 3rd class or steerage ticket for the voyage to Boston on the Laconia. Remember that steerage was in the bowels of the ship. Below is an example of a passenger ticket receipt from 1910 for a 3rd class passage on a Cunard ship - the passenger would hold onto this. A ticket can be used for a trip from Liverpool or Queenstown to New York or Boston - this one says it is leaving Liverpool and heading to New York - it cost $37.75. This is from https://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/ImmigrantTickets/PassageContracts-ThirdClass.html.
"Immigration Inspection Card issued in 1913 by the Cunard Line on board the RMS Laconia to a Norwegian Immigrant traveling in Steerage. The card provided important information including port and date of departure, name of ship, immigrant name, last residence, medical inspection stamps and evidence of immunization ..."
When I was looking for a brochure for the Laconia, I came across part of a brochure for the Franconia and Laconia. I think it is an interesting description of 3rd class accommodations. This was on:
https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/Brochures/CunardLine-1912-FranconiaAndLaconia.html
The Launch of the RMS Franconia - Taking the Water. GGA Image ID # 1183681ff2
"Though not so large in point of gross tonnage, nor built with the object of attaining the unrivalled speed of the Express Cunarders Lusitania and Mauretania, the Franconia and Laconia embody features—especially in regard to their passenger accommodation - that place them in the very front rank of modern liners.
The launching ceremony of the Laconia assumed quite an international character in that it was performed by Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, wife of the American Ambassador in London, while the word Laconia, in addition to its Grecian associations, is an old name for part of New Hampshire, U.S.A., in which State is also situated the town of Laconia ..."
"The Franconia and Laconia are equipped with the Marconi Wireless System and the Submarine Signalling Apparatus, while the body of each of the ships is divided into a number of watertight compartments. Their design, together with their bilge keels, ensures that steadiness and seaworthiness in all kinds of weather for which Cunard steamers are noted. In the case of the Laconia, Herr Frahm's anti-rolling tanks have also been fitted."
https://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/Steerage/ChangesToSteerageConditionsOnSteamships-1912.html goes on to describe the improvements in the steerage conditions.
"In the early 1880s every steamship had compartments for steerage passengers, in which hundreds of men were huddled together in berths which afforded bare room to lie down.
The berths were two deep, and each passenger paid a small sum for a mattress of straw made to fit the berth; he also provided himself with platter and cup, knife and fork, and spoon. which he had to keep clean and stow away for safe keeping.
There was no space provided to place hand baggage or small trunks save the berth. When the man got in, the baggage got out, so that during sleeping hours the small baggage occupied the pathways leading to the berths; if the vessel rocked hard during the night, the rattle of tins and crockery was great, and in the morning, it was no easy task to locate the grip or small trunk that had slipped away.
Towels and soap, comb and brush, were no where in sight, and the washroom and toilet accommodations were far from decent. The air in the compartment was foul at all times, and every passenger spent as little time there as possible.
None of the immigrants thought of undressing when they went to rest - they took off their shoes, removed their coats, and turned in, and with dawn, they were again on deck.
No dining room was provided, but the space between the two rows of berths served as one. Some smooth boards, resting on wooden horses, served as a table. In front of the tables were benches.
When the meal bell rang, a rush was made for these; then the stewards brought bread, meat, vegetables, etc., each passenger in turn being served as the waiters passed from one end of the table to the other. The bread was good; the meat, tough; the coffee, poor; and the tea - slop. All the passengers counted the days as they plowed the deep, and the one consoling thought was, "It won't last long."
Blessed were those who had provided some fruit and supplemental articles of diet; some passengers found their way to the cook's quarters and secured dainties at a price; others patronized the canteen and found cheer in strong 'drink.'"
According to the brochure about the Franconia and Laconia - https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/Brochures/CunardLine-1912-FranconiaAndLaconia.html, important changes have been made by 1912 - when John Keohane boarded the Laconia.
"The accommodations for third class passengers are spacious and airy and fitted with all those conveniences essential to the comfort and enjoyment of travelers and immigrants.
In the construction of the Franconia and Laconia the comfort of the Third Class passenger has not by any means been overlooked; in fact, special attention has been paid to this department of the ships. The Third Class accommodation no longer consists of what might be called large dormitories.
Third Class / Steerage Four-Berth Room. GGA Image ID # 118805de77
"Passengers are now allotted enclosed cabins with berths of modern type for two or four persons, while there are also a number of six-berthed rooms for the use of families. These cabins are all lighted by electricity, and the light can be switched on or off as required by the occupants. In addition to a washstand the rooms are also provided with a mirror, towels, and a plentiful supply of other toilet requisites."
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7330346537315015752/5147147080760762502 tells us that:
"Room is provided for small trunks or hand baggage, and there are hooks upon which to hang clothes. A stationary washstand with towels is furnished, and the button of an electric alarm is near each berth, so that the occupant may, in case of need, summon a steward. The occupants of these quarters secure a degree of privacy that enables them to remove their clothes before they retire. The lavatories are decent, and the conveniences provided are ample and always usable.
Third Class / Steerage Dining Room. GGA Image ID # 11885a46
The principal of the public rooms is the Dining Saloon, which is fitted with revolving chairs and situated amidships on "F" deck. This is an exceedingly spacious and well-lighted apartment, and extends the whole width of the ship.
There are also two smaller Dining Rooms on each ship adjoining the main Saloon. These rooms are conveniently situated near the Third Class kitchen, which is unusually large, and is probably the largest afloat for Third Class passengers.
"The utensils used are furnished by the company and kept clean by the stewards. The food is ample and of good quality, providing care has been exercised in its preparation.
On " D " Deck is the Social Hall, which is one of the new features introduced on the Franconia. It is a bright and cheerful room.
Third Class / Steerage Ladies' Room. GGA Image ID # 11887657af
The other public rooms on the steamers are the Smoking Room and Ladies' Room. Both these are situated on "E" Deck, and are comfortably furnished and well-lighted by several port holes.
Not the least of the Franconia and Laconia's attractions for Third Class passengers are the spacious Promenade Decks; indeed, the space allotted for passengers in this class is particularly liberal. There is an Open Promenade on "C" Deck and a large Covered Promenade situated on " D" Deck. Both Promenades are within easy access of the other portions of the Third Class accommodation.
The Cunard Line Headquarters were located in Boston, Cunard Building on 126 State Street."
Boston Immigrant Landing Station - Recently Arrived Immigrants circa 1912. The New Immigration, 1912. GGA Image ID #147a2c2b8c.
Once the Laconia docked in Boston, John Keohane faced medical clearance. In Boston Immigration History from https://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/Boston/index.html we learn that around the time John Keohane immigrated:
"At present, every Boston transatlantic pier handling a passenger steamer has its own layout, where immigrants may be examined and admitted to the country. If rejected or detained for further examination, they are sent to the present inadequate detention station on the end of Long Wharf.
The United States Immigration Station in Boston is on Long Wharf at the foot of State Street. Here immigrants who fail to pass primary inspection on the docks, and who are held for observation of their physical or mental condition, are detained until their friends or relatives can be heard from, or until the Secretary of Labor has decided an appeal which has been taken from the decision of the local Commissioner of Immigration as to their eligibility for admission into the United States.
As far as we know, John Keohane had no problem with medical clearance. But we don't know if Denis Crowley met him at the pier or if he had to make his way alone to Lowell.
Years ago - 2012 - I wrote to Forgotten New England after Ryan W. Owen wrote an article on "The Men of the Boston, Lowell, and Nashua Line - Train Life In The 1870s" - https://forgottennewengland.com/2012/10/14/the-men-of-the-boston-lowell-and-nashua-line-train-life-in-the-1870s/
"The original Lowell terminal was at the south corner of Merrimack Street and Dutton Street."
"The Boston and Lowell was faced with a new problem; it had a reputation for speed which made it very popular and highly competitive with stagecoaches. Many people wanted to go not only from Lowell to Boston but to places in between. The Boston and Lowell ordered another locomotive and cars for local passenger rail in 1842, and had them make six stops along the route. Passenger rail proved to be almost as profitable as freight."
Union Station or Middlesex Street Station was opened in 1894. I believe it was located on Thorndike Street where the current transit center is now. This is close to South Lowell where Denis Crowley lived - perhaps this is where John Keohane got off the train.
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Hi Mary Ellen,
Most likely, yes. The current commuter rail line from Boston to Lowell continued further up into New Hampshire in those years, but, yes, that was the most common way to travel between Boston and Lowell.
Thanks very much. Love your articles."
The website - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_and_Lowell_Railroad - tells us about the railway to Lowell.The Boston Manufacturing Company developed Lowell into a profitable textile manufacturing city in the 1820s. They used the canals built by Irish workers or wagons to transport their goods to Boston. But the canals were closed in the winter, and the weather could make the roads impassable for the wagons. So the manufacturers "convinced the legislature that the canal was inherently incapable of providing what they needed: reliable, year-round freight transport. Investors in the Boston and Lowell Railroad received a charter on June 5, 1830 ... It was a favorable charter because in addition to the right to build and operate a railroad between Lowell and Boston, it gave a thirty-year monopoly on the right to have a railroad there. The people along the road and in terminal-end cities bought large amounts of stock, financing half the company.
"The road was begun from both ends at once ... Yankee and Irish laborers were hired to construct the railroad, which was made especially difficult because the Directors wanted to make the road using the best techniques then known. This, for them, meant laying imported British iron rails with a 4-foot-deep (1.2 m) wall of granite under each rail. They did this because it was commonly believed that the train would sink into the ground if the rails did not have strong support.
"The first track was completed in 1835, and freight service began immediately. On May 27, 1835, it made its maiden trip to Boston. The solid granite roadbed proved to be much too rigid, jolting the engine and cars nearly to pieces. Repairs on the locomotives (there were two at the time) would sometimes take most of the night, trying to get them ready for the next day's service. The much poorer Boston and Worcester (Railway) could not afford a granite bed and so was built with modern wooden ties. This turned out to be far superior, so the owners of the Boston and Lowell decided they would upgrade their entire roadbed to wood when they added a second track.
"The original Boston terminal was at the north corner of Causeway Street and Andover Street at the westernmost edge of the current North Station. The bridge over the Charles River to access it was the first movable railway bridge in the United States.