Some Tidbits About Michael and Margaret (Moriarty) Dwyer

So let's see what we can find about Michael Dwyer. We know he married our Margaret Moriarty in 1889 so he must have arrived in Newport sometime before that. 

There were a lot of Michael Dwyers born about 1861 in the 1880 U.S. Census - I didn't find any in Rhode Island that pinpoint our Michael - we don't even know where he landed. He might have come through Canada or landed in any of several U.S. ports. He might have spent a few years somewhere other than Newport.

From the 1880 Census, I turned to Newport city directories. In the 1871 Newport Directory there were no Dwyers. The next online directory is 1879 - we learn that only one Dwyer resides in Newport - John, a laborer. 1881 has John and an Edward Dwyer. 

The 1882 Newport Directory finally shows one Michael Dwyer, a laborer, with a house on Collins Street at the corner of West Broadway. This is a possibility - our Michael would be about 22 or 23 in 1882.

In the 1883 Newport Directory below, there are listings for: 

Michael Dwyer, blacksmith, boarding at 37 Marsh Street.  

John Dwyer, boiler maker, is boarding there also. 

Another Michael Dwyer is a laborer with a house at 7 Davis Court where laborer Daniel Dwyer is boarding. 

Davis Court is a small street that runs off Marsh Street. So all these Dwyers are living very close together.

I remember, when I was reading that email information about the Dwyers, that Michael had a younger brother Patrick Martin Dwyer in Newport who was a blacksmith for the N.E. Steamship company. So when I see the blacksmith on 37 Marsh Street, it grabs my attention.

#37 is at the end of Marsh Street – today it is a dead end. 

Above and below are pictures of 37 Marsh Street where Michael Dwyer, blacksmith, lived in 1883.

37 Marsh Street is the last house on the street. The two cars are parked at the end of the street - this is the dead end. We are looking toward Washington Street which separates Marsh Street from the waterfront in the background. I suppose in the past you could drive all the way down Marsh Street and cross Washington Street. The houses now are only on one side of the street.

I want to think that this blacksmith is our man, but there is no proof. So I continued to search the directories. There are 2 Michael Dwyers living in Newport in 1884, 1885 and 1886. That blacksmith is still boarding at 37 Marsh Street. 

The 1885 Rhode Island State Census also lists a Michael Dwyer in District 202, Family 529 with 7 in the family- he is line 2. He is a 25 year old single boarder who was born in Ireland. He does not read or write; he is an alien.  His occupation is a blacksmith. So this must be the Michael Dwyer who was living at 37 Marsh Street although the address is not given.

Here is the page from the 1886 Newport directory. The other Michael Dwyer is still living with Daniel Dwyer - now at 18 White Street - both are laborers. Are they brothers?  
Are any of these are Dwyers from Derreenauliffe in Sneem?

There is no listing for a Michael Dwyer in the 1887 or 1888 directories. So was the blacksmith our Michael Dwyer? Where did he go? And if he was the laborer, the same question - where did he go?


We know from the Dwyer history that Margaret Moriarty married Michael Dwyer on 15 January 1889 in Newport, Rhode Island. www.familysearch.org has an index to the marriage. It lists Margaret’s parents as Michael Moriarty and Abby Sweeney. Michael’s parents are listed as Michael Dwyer and Mary Mahoney. Michael is 29; Margaret is 28. 
Batch number: I09532-0, system origin: Rhode Island-EASy; source film number: 2188896, page 88. 

So we know that this is our Michael and Margaret from the names of the parents. Unfortunately, no occupation is listed in the index for Michael, and no address for either of them. We need to get that marriage certificate.

I suppose they attended the Glenlough School together in Sneem - just a short walk from home for both of them. I wonder if they ever thought that they would end up married?


In the 1889 and 1890 Newport Directories, Michael Dwyer is a fireman for the O.C.S.B. Co. = Old Colony Steamboat Company. His house is at 56 Burnside Avenue. I presume this is our Michael from the Dwyer family information in the email. Below is the page from the 1890 Directory. 

Below is 56 Burnside Avenue on 6 June 2012. The original house, and the one beside it, have been torn down. The old houses are built very close together on this street – there were no driveways needed when they were built. This is on the opposite end of Newport from Ward 5 where I took the walking tour. But, the Irish here were still on the outskirts of the town. There is a driveway now at #56, and it looks like the house next door was demolished to make room for it.

Below are two pictures of Burnside Avenue showing how close together the houses are and how close to the street.

Unfortunately, there is no U. S. Census for 1890. But Michael remains here on Burnside Avenue through 1892 - he is listed as a water tender in the directories for 1891 and 1892.


There are Michael Dwyers listed in Newport through 1899, but I don't know if any of them belong to us.

I do know our family is listed in the 1900 U.S. Census for Newport - they are near the bottom. 
The Dwyers are renting a room or rooms at 42 Elm Street. Michael is 38 years old and was born in September 1861. Margaret is 42 and may have been born in August 1857 – I can’t quite make it out. 
Although they have been married for 11 years, Margaret has never been pregnant. Both they and their parents were born in Ireland. 

Margaret immigrated first in 1877 - 23 years ago. Michael came to this country in 1882 and has been in the United States for 18 years.  if you look back, 1882 was the first year a Michael Dwyer was listed in Newport - a laborer. In 1900 Michael is a naturalized citizen, but I haven't been able to find his naturalization papers. Margaret was probably naturalized with Michael if they were married when he was granted citizenship. That would narrow the time to look for the naturalization between 1899 and 1900. Both Michael and Margaret can read and write - thank you Glenlough School!! But the 1885 Rhode Island Census said that Michael could NOT read or write - does that mean the blacksmith is NOT our Michael Dwyer? I'm not ruling him out yet!

In 1900 Michael is working as an oiler on a boat and has been working steadily. They rent a room from Christopher and Mary (?) Thomas who own the house and have a mortgage on it. Interesting that they both come from Germany.  55 year old Christopher immigrated 25 years ago in 1875; he is a naturalized citizen. Mary immigrated in 1877. He is a caretaker and watchman; he has been unemployed for 6 months. 

Above and below are pictures of 42 Elm Street – it runs parallel to Burnside Avenue and also would have been on the outskirts of Newport. This is a good size house as you can see. This is also a narrow street with many older homes. Big house to have a mortgage and be out of work!

42 Elm Street is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The bottom plaque states: 

“Captain Phillips House

      Built circa 1730

Bought by Samuel Phillips         

Mariner in 1830

Moved to Present Site ca1880

Restored 1946”

So this house had already  been moved when Margaet and Michael Dwyer were living here in 1900!

I Took a Walking Tour of One of Newport's Old Irish Neighborhoods

When I went on a walking tour of Newport’s Ward 5 on 6 June 2012, someone on the tour said that Newport was an island and everything had to be delivered there by ship in the 1800s – food, clothing, building materials, everything. She also said that no one would go to Newport without a reason – it was not easy to get there – so a person would probably need a contact telling him or her to come. So who was the contact for Margaret/Maggie Moriarty and her neighbor Michael Dwyer?

Fort Adams was built to defend Newport’s harbor. During the Revolutionary War British ships were able to sail into Newport Harbor and occupy the city. There seems to have been several starts and stops in enlarging the defenses through the 1850s due to problems with funding, but the work continued.  And who performed this pick and axe labor? Remember this was before machines were available to do the heavy work. So the Irish broke their backs with this strenuous labor for small wages and dangerous working conditions. The massive fort was built of local shale and Maine granite. There were other fortifications built in this area also – this provided more work. When funds periodically dried up, the laborers looked for other work. 

From colonial times Newport was one of the busiest seaports in the United States. Wealthy Newport merchants were participants in the slave trade. Whaling was also an enterprise. With all the ships and wharves, you would think work would be plentiful. There was discrimination against the Irish in Newport just like there was in Boston – despite the fact that Rhode Island was founded on the principle of religious freedom. The Irish were taking work from the locals and from the free blacks – the Irish would work in terrible conditions for less money. This was especially true during and after the famine when thousands of Irish – many sick and destitute – arrived on American shores. There were four mills in Newport – at least two were cotton mills – Irish women and children were employed here. It was probably like the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts – a new girl or operative would be hired, and the girl on the looms beside her would show her how to work the looms. 14 hour days were not uncommon for these women and children. 

By the mid 1850s, wealthy Americans – including southern plantation owners - had begun to build summer mansions in Newport. After slavery was abolished and the Civil War ended, there was a decline in the local economy. But the wealthy eventually rediscovered Newport as a resort or vacation destination. In the 1880s mansions and hotels were springing up. And who expanded the roads, built the mansions and grounds, worked for the wealthy, provided the services such as police, firefighters, garbage collectors, public works employees? The Irish of course!

When I went on the walking tour of Ward 5, we walked up and down very narrow streets running between Thames and Spring Streets. The houses were built close to each other with the front doors opening right onto the brick sidewalks. The Irish lived on the outskirts of Newport – far away from the native Americans and close to the sights, sounds, and smells of the wharves and harbors. Above Spring Street was farmland – the mansions would be built there starting in the 1850s. 

A man named Charles Russell bought up 100 acres of land below Spring street further past the outskirts of Newport in the 1850s. He developed it into lots – established wider streets – and sold the lots in the 1880s to … the Irish, who built houses set back further on the larger lots – most with porches. I was imagining the families sitting on the porches at night after supper in nice weather – talking across the street to each other or walking up and down the street stopping here and there to talk about the day’s events, news from the old country, national happenings. 

So did someone from Sneem come to Newport in the early or mid 1800s and send word home that there were jobs here? Was that why Michael Dwyer and Margaret Moriarty ended up here?

Myles Moriarty had a sister Margaret?

So let's recap what we know. 

There were 2 Moriarty families in the Caherdaniel/Castlecove area that are related to us. I'm including a very rough sketch of the family tree to help visualize it.

Michael Moriarty of Coad married Gubby Sweeney of Coad in 1850. They had a daughter Mary who was born in Reen in 1852. They then had several more children: Myles (my great grandfather,) Margaret, James the Schoolmaster, Cornelius, Michael, and Helen.

Apparently, our Michael Moriarty had a brother (we don't know his name) who had at least 3 children: Michael Moriarty (Fr. Edward's grandfather,) James Moriarty the gold miner, and Mrs. Sullivan.

We've heard about our Caherdaniel cousins so let's get back to our Loughane family. We know a little bit about Mary Moriarty mentioned above who married locally and more about James Moriarty, the schoolmaster.

I didn't know about Margaret Moriarty until I received an email from Jane Dowling. She was someone who had a Moriarty relative from Loughane – Abbey Moriarty - who MAY be the sister of our Michael Moriarty of Loughane. Jane and I had emailed back and forth - this is an email that she forwarded to me:

"Begin forwarded message:

From: "Michael Dwyer" <Mfdwyer@adelphia.net>
Date: January 21, 2006 6:43:35 PM EST
To: "Jane Dowling" <keto1@earthlink.net>
Subject: Dreenauliff Dwyers

Jane,
Attached is a summary of the Dreenauliff Dwyers. As you may know, this townland is about six miles from Sneem. Patrick, my great-grandfather, came to Newport where he married Katie Dwyer from Caherdaniel.
You may recognize some familiar names.
Michael

# 3 ii above lists Michael Dwyer - born 24 Sep 1859 in Derreenauliffe, Kerry, Ireland; married MARGARET MORIARTY, on 15 Jan 1889 in Newport, Newport County, Rhode 

Island; died on 5 Oct 1927 Cranston, RI.

That entry caught my eye so I read on to the 3rd generation - #3 Michael Dwyer.

Michael Dwyer worked for the New England Steamship Company as a marine engineer.  
It goes on to say that Margaret Moriarty (daughter of Michael Moriarty and Abbie Sweeney) was born about 1858 in Sneem, Kerry, Ireland!! She died 25 Jan 1917 in Newport, Rhode Island.

When I reviewed the Dwyer family chart from Michael Dwyer of the above email, I was quite excited with the information about Margaret! Then I saw that a Michael Moriarty was a sponsor for Margaret Dwyer in 1861. And then there is a John Moriarty who is a sponsor for Julia Dwyer in 1871. Are they all our relatives? Is Michael Moriarty our relative from Loughane? What about John Moriarty? Derrenauliffe is close to Loughane - down the Gleesk Pier road for those familiar with the area. The Dwyers were neighbors of the Moriartys.

So this email really set me off on the trail of Margaret Moriarty. I haven’t yet (30 January 1912) found a baptismal record for Margaret on www.irishgenealogy.ie or www.familysearch.org. Of course, I think this was the time when Fr. Michael Walsh was pastor in Sneem, and it is well known that he was a poor record keeper.

But Nuala Aylward (the Schoolmaster's daughter) found an old address in her father's diary - he was this Margaret Moriarty’s brother. The address for Margaret was c/o Maurice Murphy, Spruce Street, Newport, Rhode Island. 

We know that Margaret was born about 1858 in Loughane and was married in Newport in January 1889 according to research by the Dwyer family. So when did she arrive in Newport? 

I found several Margaret Moriartys emigrating from Queenstown in Cork to New York - ages 16 to 25 from 1878 to 1882. But these early passenger lists do not give enough information to determine if one of these was our Margaret. I've included the passenger list from the S.S. City of Richmond which departed from Queenstown and arrived in New York on 27 May 1882. This Margaret Moriarty - #450 - was 25 years old - her destination is simply listed as United States of America. Where was she going? Was anyone meeting her?

The S.S. City of Richmond was built in 1873 and was part of the Inman Line. The company's owners were Irish Quakers who provided better steerage conditions for their passengers. 

I didn’t find Margaret Moriarty in Newport in the 1880 U.S. Census, but I did find a 20 year old Margaret Moriarty working as a servant at 155 Mill Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She and her parents were born in Ireland. 
Also in the house is 68 year old widow Frances Patterson and
30 year old Mary Patterson - they were born in Massachusetts.
Cynthia Ingraham is 56 years old and was born in Rhode Island, but her parents were born in Massachusetts. 

I don't know if this is our Margaret Moriarty, but I did find Maurice (Morris) Murphy on Spruce Street in the 1880 U.S. Census of Newport. This was the old address that the schoolmaster had for his sister, but Margaret Moriarty was not listed with the family. No street number is listed. Morris Murphy is a 40 year old carpenter living with his wife Mary, who is 35, and his four sons and his daughter – John, Mortimer, Morris, John, and Nora - the children were all born in Rhode Island. Interesting that 16 year old John is not listed as going to school, nor is he working - and he and his father cannot write. 

So was this Maurice/Morris Murphy from Sneem or Caherdaniel? Was he a relative? I have more information about the Murphys but that is for another story.


I know from searching the Rhode Island Directories that there is no Margaret Moriarty listed – women really weren’t included in the directories – they were usually either wives and their husbands would be listed, or they were working as servants so their employers would be included. But I did find a Maggie Moriarty in the 1885 Rhode Island Census of Newport’s Ward 2. She is #3 on the page. I can’t quite make out the district number – is it 204 or 209? Family # is 202. Number in family is 5, but only Maggie is listed. Relation to head of family is servant – she is 26 or 28 years old. She was born in Ireland – parentage is Ireland. Occupation is a servant. Looks like she can read and write. This is an odd census – no address which is not that unusual – but no family is listed. I’m not sure how we can find out for whom she worked.

I’m not sure where else to look for Margaret – she is not in the Newport Directories, there is no 1890 U.S. Census, and she is married before the 1900 U.S. Census.

I did just find (9 June 2013) an index listing of Margaret's marriage to Michael Dwyer on 15 January 1889 in Newport, Rhode Island. Her birthdate is given as 1861 - she is 28 years old. Michael Moriarty and Abby Sweeney are listed as her parents. This was on the Mormon's www.familysearch.org:

Indexing Project (Batch) Number:	I09532-0
System Origin:	Rhode Island-EASy
GS Film number:	2188896
Reference ID:	p. 88

Maybe this is what the Dwyer family genealogist used for information. We could look it up at the Mormon Library or, better yet, write to Newport's City Clerk for a marriage certificate which might tell us where they were married and who the witnesses were. When I win the lottery, I will get all these baptismal, marriage, and death records.

So what about Michael Dwyer … maybe we can find him although we don’t know when or where he first arrived in the U.S. either. But if we can find him, we may learn more about Margaret Moriarty!