Person:William McDevitt (5)

Early life

William McDevitt was probably born in County Tyrone in what is now Northern Ireland. This is where his daughter Anna was born (as per her death certificate). Other McDevitts that migrated to Vermont came from Ardstraw Parish (e.g. David McDevitt), and McDevitts are found in Ardstraw Parish on Griffith's 1859 valuation so William McDevitt may well have come from Ardstraw Parish.

William's wife Susan was born about 1795-1803 so it is reasonable to estimate he was born around 1800.

Family tradition tells that Patrick McDevitt, whose descendants also lived in the Vermont counties of Rutland and Bennington, was the brother of William. yDNA testing of male descendants of William and Patrick may be able to corroborate or disprove this.

Like many Irish names, McDevitt is spelled a variety of ways on different records, including McDavid, McDeavitt, McDevit, McDeed, Dade, or McDade. The original Irish name was probably Mac Daibhéid^S4. Information on other McDevitts can be found at McDevitts in Vermont

Marriage and children

William married Susan McMenaman, 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.

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 Ardstraw parish 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.

Death and burial

It is not yet known for sure whether William made the move to the United States with the rest of his family. In any case Susan is listed as a widow living in Dorset in 1860. William could be buried in Ireland or in Dorset.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1913), John McDevitt, accessed 30 May 2010.
2. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1913), Ann McPhilomy, accessed 31 May 2010.
3. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008. (Ancestry)
   death certificate (1911), Mary McBride, accessed 31 May 2010.
4.   Surname Database
   Http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/McDaid.
5.   Irish-Catholic immigrants in Dorset, Vermont
   http://www.borntoexplore.org/familyhistory/McDevitt%20B1%20descendents.pdf.
6.   Austin, Mike. Stories from Vermont's Marble Valley. (The History Press).
7.   Feeney, Vincent E. Finnegans, Slaters and Stonepeggers : a history of the Irish in Vermont. (Bennington, Bennington, Vermont, United States: Images from the Past, Inc.).
8.   "Dorset's Marble Mountain", prepared by the Board of Directors of the Dorset Historical Society, published June 1972.