Person:Susan McMenaman (1)

Early life, marriage and children

Susan McMenaman was born about 1795-1803 in Ireland, probably in County Donegal or County Tyrone. The name McMenamin originated in County Donegal in the 13th century^S8. Like many Irish names, McMenamin is spelled a variety of ways on different records, including McMenaman, McManame, McManamon, and McManis. Susan has not yet been connected to any other McMenamins (inc. spelling variations) living in Vermont (see McMenamins in Vermont for a list of possible relatives).

Susan married William McDevitt, probably in County Tyrone around 1823-1825 - their first confirmed child was born in 1828. All of William and Susan's children would likely have been born around County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. This is where their daughter Anna was born (as per her death certificate). Susan's married name is spelled a variety of ways on different records, including McDavid, McDevitt, McDeavitt, McDevit, McDeed, Dade, or McDade. The original Irish name was probably Mac Daibhéid^S10.

One researcher (Teresa Gallagher?) compiled a family tree based on oral history and included two sons of William and Susan named Patrick and Charles^S5. Charles McDevitt is listed as having a son, and a daughter who married a Toohey. Patrick McDevitt is listed as having daughters Susan who married a McManus, and Lizzie who married a Daughtery. A Patrick McDevitt, born 1834 and residing in Philadelphia, was naturalised at Rutland County Court on 11 Sep 1860. This may be the same Patrick McDevitt who married Caroline Rushton and lived in Philadelphia. Autosomal testing of a great-grandson of Patrick McDevitt, with a 2nd great-granddaughter of John McDevitt and a 3rd great-granddaughter of Mary McDevitt has proved inconclusive and it's hoped that future autosomal testing with other family members, or yDNA testing can determine whether Patrick was the son of William and Susan.

Birth dates often vary on different records, but the order of births is most likely Mary born 1828 in Ireland, followed by Anna born about 1832 in County Tyrone, John born 1833 in Northern Ireland, Jane born about 1838 and Susan born 1 May 1840 in Ireland.

No direct evidence has yet been found for Jane McDevitt being the daughter of William and Susan but there is circumstantial evidence in that Jane's children were born in West Rutland, Rutland, and Dorset at the same time as proven members of the McDevitt family. Future autosomal testing may be able to prove the link.

Family migration to the United States

Many people from County Tyrone emigrated to the Dorset and Rutland areas of Vermont in the 1840s-1860s. The Great Famine in Ireland was 1845-1852, but life had been tough for some time before that with high unemployment and appalling housing and living conditions. "Their decision to go to America was less a choice than an imperative. Stay and starve, or leave and survive. They were more refugee than immigrant."^S7

It's not known whether William McDevitt went to Vermont, or whether he died in Ireland before his wife and children emigrated.

The dates of the McDevitt family's immigration to the United States vary slightly depending on the record, but it seems that daughter Anna emigrated in 1845-1846 when she would have been 13-14, and Susan Jr. also emigrated as a child aged 4-7 in 1844 or 1847. Perhaps Anna and Susan emigrated with their parents in the late 1840s. John's records indicate he emigrated in 1851, when he would have been about 18, but perhaps he emigrated at the same time as his sisters. It is of course possible they all emigrated at different times but this seems less likely.

William and Susan's eldest daughter Mary was probably already married when her siblings and mother emigrated. She married James McBride and had her first children William and Susan in Ireland before emigrating with her husband and young children in 1853 via New York. Just because Mary immigrated through New York doesn't mean that the rest of her family arrived via that route - they could have come through another port such as Boston or crossed the border from Canada.

It would be interesting to know who the first people were to emigrate from Ardstraw parish to the Dorset/Rutland area of Vermont. They must have sent word back home that there were more opportunities for work in Vermont, particularly in the slate and marble mines, and constructing the railroads that enabled the expansion of the mining industry. The Irish in Dorset settled mainly on the east side of the mountain where the land was cheaper, many living part way up the mountains near the marble quarries. William and Susan's children mainly settled in Dorset.

By 1860 Susan was living in Dorset, Vermont, with her youngest daughter Susan, and Susan's husband Daniel Daley and two youngest children. She was still living with the Daley family during the 1870 census, which recorded the value of her real estate as $300 (around US$5000 in 2016). By 1870 Susan Jr. and Daniel Daley had 5 children. Daniel Daley joined the multitude of Irish workers cutting marble from Dorset's mountain.

The McDevitt's were Catholic and would likely have attended St. Jerome's church in East Dorset after it was founded in 1868.

Susan died in Dorset in May 1880 from consumption. She was in her late 70s or early 80s.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1913), John McDevitt.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Bennington, Vermont, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   M593, roll M593_1615, Dorset, p. 21, dwelling 179, family 175.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Bennington, Vermont, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   M653, roll M653_1316, Dorset, p. 35, dwelling 275, family 281.
4. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate 10 (1920), Susan McDevitt Daley.
5. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1913), Ann McPhilomy.
6. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1911), Mary McBride.
7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 Bennington, Vermont, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   Mortality schedule, Dorset, enumeration district (ED) 27, p. 32, family 1, Susan McDevit; digital images (www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1.
8.   Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMenamin.
9.   Irish-Catholic immigrants in Dorset, Vermont
   http://www.borntoexplore.org/familyhistory/McDevitt%20B1%20descendents.pdf.
10.   Surname Database
    Http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/McDaid.
11.   Feeney, Vincent E. Finnegans, Slaters and Stonepeggers : a history of the Irish in Vermont. (Bennington, Bennington, Vermont, United States: Images from the Past, Inc.).