Our family has no collective memory of the first generation to live in the U.S., nor of where they lived in Ireland, nor of their voyage over. This section, therefore, is mostly background information.
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Thomas Stanton, the oldest brother of our group of Stantons, told a census worker in 1900 that he emigrated to the United States in 1846. Austin, the youngest brother, who was 3 in 1850, was supposedly born in Ireland. Neither statement is exactly correct. I spent a LOT of time looking at ship lists, and had despaired of every finding our people - most of the Stantons seem to have traveled alone or by twos. But OH the power of the Internet! I just (30 Sept 2010) found our family:
Viceroy - Liverpool to New Orleans - arrival date 4 Jan 1848:
Michael Stanton 44 born County Mayo laborer
Mary 36 wife / Thomas 13 / Mary 10 / Patrick 9 / John 4 / Michael 2 / Austin ?Sept? infant
Traveling singly instead of in family groups was common among the Irish emigrants. There
was a process known as "chain migration:" one member of the family would send back
money or a ticket so another one could come over. Often the one in America would
specify who it was s/he wanted to come over next. Sometimes an uncle or a neighbor
would be in charge of bringing over some of the younger children, so the groups that you do
find together on the ship lists (when you do find what looks like a family group) are not
necessarily nuclear families. So it is truly amazing to me to find our family traveling all together.
Not to waste all the searching I did, here is the list I have gathered so far, of other Stantons traveling from Ireland to America: Ship Lists Containing Stantons
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I have wondered how our family managed to scrape together the money for the fare(s), but they were not terribly expensive:
The price range for steerage passages varied surprisingly little during the century, though competition meant that in any one season fares to north America might range between two and six pounds, and those to Australia between ten and fifteen pounds. The passage price covered basic provisioning for the voyage.... The unsubsidized cost of one passage to America was thus roughly equivalent to the value of a heifer, or the rent of a typical Mayo farm at the end of the century. It also somewhat exceeded the likely annual savings of a girl lately arrived in the United States. (D. Fitzpatrick, Irish Emigration 1801-1921 ( N.p.: The Economic & Social History Society of Ireland, 1984), p. 22)
It was even cheaper if you traveled first to Liverpool and then to America, and it was particularly inexpensive to go between Liverpool and Canadian ports (which is one reason the landlords tended to dump their tenants in Canada instead of the U.S.).
The cheapness of travel between Ireland and Britain, and between Britain and America, encouraged "step-wise" migration during much of the century. Impecunious emigrants could walk and beg their way to a sea port, rough it across the Irish Sea, save a few pounds from causal labor in southern Scotland or northern England, and ultimately invest their savings in a transatlantic passage. Many migrants meandered rather than rushed towards the promised land. (Fitzpatrick, 23)
Conditions on even the best of the ships were pretty grim. The fare was supposed to include a certain amount of food and water, but there were often complaints that it was unfairly shared out - or withheld entirely - and if the voyage happened to run longer than expected, that was simply too bad for the passengers (and the crew as well).
A typical ticket for the voyage, from Londonderry to Philadelphia, purchased from either ship owner's office [William McCorkle & Company, or Messers J& J Cooke - their records have survived, so this information is available] , would state:
"We engage that the parties herein named . . . will be provided with a steerage passage with not less than 10 cubic feet for luggage for each adult . . . . Water and provision according to the annexed scale will be supplied by the ship as required by law, and also fires and suitable hearths for cooking. Bedding and utensils for eating and drinking must be provided by the passenger."
The hearths were nothing more than rudimentary boxes lined with bricks, a crude form of barbecue. When the weather was rough, no fires would be allowed, but there would often be a period of calm at the end of the day . . . when a few passengers would be allowed on deck to cook for their families and friends below . . . .
The water ration was supposed to be 6 pints per person per day, to drink, wash and cook. If the journey lasted beyond the estimated period, passengers and crew alike went thirsty and dirty. (Edward Laxton, The Famine Ships: the Irish Exodus to America (New York: Henry Holt, 1996), p. 29)
Emigrants were advised to take along their own stores where possible:
The laws of the United States require each passenger to be furnished with a weekly allowance of 6 lbs. of meal, 2 ½ lbs. Navy bread, 1 lb. wheat flour, 1 lb. salt pork, free from "bone," 3 quarts of water per day, 2 oz of tea, 8 oz. of sugar, 8 oz of molasses, and vinegar. Children also, under twelve years of age (not including infants) are to be furnished . . . with 7 pounds of bread stuffs per week, including 1 pound of salt pork, half allowance of tea, sugar and molasses, and full allowance of water and vinegar. [note: The law of 1847 . . . states that two children between one and eight years old are to be counted as one passenger . . . ] (Reverend John O'Hanlon's "The Irish Emigrant's Guide for the United States" a critical edition with Introduction and Commentary by Edward J. Maguire (New York: Arno Press,1976) (originally written in 1851), p. 23)
It must be remarked, that . . . the amount of provision enumerated above...will not perhaps suffice for the sufficient support of the passenger. Hence, he must in addition buy in a supply of food . . . . (O'Hanlon 30-31)
The stores most generally preferred on ship board are potatoes, oatmeal, wheat, flour, fine or shorts, bacon, eggs, butter, &c, in good preservation . . . . A supply of biscuit is in some degree requisite; since the accommodations necessary for kneading and baking bread are indifferent, or rather not furnished, unless by the ingenuity of the emigrant, who must use, for instance, the lid of one of his travelling chests for a kneading board. The same must serve for his table, sitting bench, and other purposes . . . . Knives, spoons, cups, plates, cooking utensils, must be furnished by the emigrants, unless he take passage in the First Cabin . . . . Bedding is also required, as the berths are unprovided with mattresses, or covering, and usually of such dimensions as will only allow two persons to each . . . . Washing buckets can be procured on board; soap must be furnished by the emigrant. (O'Hanlon 31-32)
Many of the ships were not originally intended to carry passengers, but the demand was so great they were hastily refitted. One such ship was the Perseverance, which sailed from Dublin on March 18, 1846.
The crew had cleared the holds, and ship's carpenter James Gray had fitted out bunks four tiers high and 6 feet square. The fare in steerage was L3 (around US $15). In the cramped conditions for 210 passengers, pots and pans to cook their meager rations were a priority, as were a tradesman's tools to earn a living in America . . . .
In reasonable weather groups of 20 or 30 passengers at a time would be allowed on deck to breathe fresh air for a change, wash their clothing and clean themselves, and to cook whatever rations were still intact and fit to eat. In bad weather they would be forced to remain below, in complete darkness if the seas were really rough. . . . Most of the time they stayed on their bunks; despite the lack of space, it was usually more comfortable there than on deck.
The caulking of the boards on the floor of the hold was often slack and the gaps between the planks, as they closed up with the movement of the ship, would catch the passenger's clothing, particularly the women's skirts. Sometimes they would be pinned in one position for hours on end, until the ship shifted in the wind on to a new course. Clothing would be released as the ship went over, although the smaller and weaker passengers might go with her, tossed to the other side of the hold, and become trapped again. (Laxton 12-13)
The Perseverance was not a terrible ship - although all the crew deserted when she arrived in New York - and 1846 was not a bad year as a whole. 1847 was the year of the infamous "coffin ships," such as those carrying the unfortunate (former) tenants of Lord Palmerston. The passengers, already weakened by starvation, some of them already infected by the various famine fevers, crowded into dark and unsanitary ships holds, died in the hundreds if not thousands.
Here is a brief synopsis of the voyages of some of the ships mentioned in Laxton's book. I don't know how representative a sample it is, but it gives a feeling for what the poor emigrants might expect.
Skip this bit, go on to next section (The Ones from Ireland - father Michael)
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Aberfoyle - Liverpool to New York - Dec 30, 1846- March 10, 1847 - master Thomas
Jones - 69 days - very hungry, bad weather (239-43)
Adeline Cann - Drogheda to New York - 1848 (114)
Adirondack - Cork to New York - 1846
Aeolus - arrived St John, New Brunswick, Nov 2 1847 - captain had to pay L1/head
bond to allow them to land. Chief surgeon at quarantine: "many are almost in a state of
nudity; 99% of the passengers on this ship must become a public charge immediately " One
of Lord Palmerston's ships. (76)
Agnes - Cork to St John, New Brunswick - 63 died on voyage. Of the 427 alive when
they first hit the St Lawrence, only 150 were alive when ship was cleared to enter port (47)
Alert - Cork to New York - 1846
Alhambra - Cork to New York - 1846
Amelia Mary - Donegal to New York - May 1847 - set out with too many passengers -"suddenly re-landed 17 passengers on the beach and then sailed" (41)
America - Liverpool to New York - left Jan 2 arr March 2, 1849 - particularly long
voyage (123).
Ann - Drogheda to New York - 1848.
Atlantic - Liverpool to New Orleans - Jan 1849 - 300+ Irish passengers - bad storm,
ripped sails to shreds, managed to get near mouth of Clyde, ran aground, ship abandoned.
Captain Rose (136).
Atlas - Oct? 1850 - Captain Osborne, 415 passengers. - bad treatment - no provisions
1st week - no pork except for sale. Black Star Line (200)
Bic - Cork - St John - 106 died at sea (1847?), unlisted by Lloyds (47, 101)
Blanche - Liverpool to New Orleans - Feb 1851 maiden voyage - 470 emigrants - 25
died at sea- master Thomas Duckitt, 1st, 2nd mate, 13 crew - sick - at New Orleans
another 140 passengers ill. Inspection - bread & biscuits moldy - 84 extra passengers,
cramped, lack of air, - testimonial by 50 passengers that food was good & fairly handed
out, & that he did all in his power - (208-15)
Boreas - ? to New York - arrived May 9, 1849 - 157 passengers landed - 8 died at sea
(150-1)
British Queen - first went to sea in 1785 - needed major repairs before she could carry
passengers on reg voyages from Liverpool to New York (8),
225 ton barque, at sea 66 years in 1851 - two decades of slave trade, 6 years of emigrant
trade, sailed from Dublin, Sligo, Belfast, Liverpool - bound for America and Canada.
Career ended Dec 1851 - aground Nantucket (snowstorm just in sight of land), but all
spectacularly rescued.
left Dublin Oct 22, 1851, Cap. Christopher Conway (224-32 )
Brothers - only boat to make voyage each of Famine years - 10 trips, from Newry,
County Down (18) first voyage early 1846 arrived Ap 23 NY with all passengers -
advertised as packet - actually converted cargo ship (23-4)
Caleb Grimshaw - Liverpool -New York - 1849 - 425 passengers - becalmed, drifted
19 days - Captain James Hoxie - fire - some passengers grabbed lifeboat, crashed it, 12
lost, rest returned to ship; another boat lowered by crew = ok; next morning another boat
with captain's wife, daughter, & some cabin passengers. Afternoon, captain abandoned
ship, leaving steerage passengers on - but he promised to stay with - crew built rafts - 1st
overloaded 30 ps, some cast themselves adrift, never seen again, 2nd one sailed ok. So 2
boats 2 rafts attached to burning ship. 4th day, Sarah (London-Halifax, Cap Cooke)
rescued passengers on boats & rafts, (they sank immediately so couldn't be used again).
storm, fire, 250 still on board - 5th day, half of remaining passengers taken onto Sarah - no
room for more, 10th day, sighted Azores, by then 40 passengers dead, Caleb sinks, Sarah
takes rest - another 4 days to make land. altogether 90 passengers lost (137-9)
Chasca - one of Father Hore's ships - Captain Wise - blown off course into the Caribbean
- arrived New Orleans Jan 11 (1851?) (177)
Charlotte - Dublin to New York 1846 (one of only 3 from Dublin 1846) (34)
Clarence - one of 2 ships from Galway 1846, in 1849 was 74 days at sea (34, 123)
Constitution - 1500 ton built Quebec 1846 - 160 passengers - left Belfast Nov 28, 1849
- Robert Martin Commander - went aground Southampton, Long Island, midnight Jan 9th,
1850 (157-61)
Creole - Londonderry - Philadelphia - Dec1848 - Cap. James Clarke - 456 ton barque -
struck by lightning, lost sails limped back to Cork Dec 7 1848 - all crew and 221
passengers safe (111), in 1850 - 28 days passage arr Phila (165)
Cushlamacree- Galway to New York - Jan 2, 1849- March 1, 1849 Galway - Ny - 119
passengers - very bad weather, cold (117-23 )
Dorcas - only ship from Limerick to New York 1846 (34 )
Dromahair - Sligo vessel - owned by master Peter Pyne - 353 ton barque - late fall 1848
made its first emigrant voyage - made 6 more voyages in next 3 years - averaged 150
passengers each time. - 6 crew deserted 1851 accused him of violence and cruel food
rationing, but magistrates took his word & men were found guilty of unlawful desertion
(108-9)
Dunbrody - arrived 4 May 1849 New York 4 - Cap John Williams - 176 passengers
(150-1)
Eliza Liddell - one of Palmerston's ships, first to arrive at St John - authorities enraged -
few men of employable age, mainly widows with young children and elderly men and
women who were unfit or too old to work, unlisted by Lloyd's (76, 101)
Elizabeth and Sarah - Killala, Co Mayo - Quebec - 1846 - had been at sea 83 years,
built 1763 - 276 passengers (supposed to carry no more than 155) - when arrived =
captain dead, 20 passengers dead, rest in bad shape - many of the hastily erected berths
had fallen down as soon as she sailed & there were only 32 to be shared by all in the hold -
the rest used the floor. Water was putrid, no food supplied by crew. (39)
Enterprise - Liverpool - New York left Jan 2 -arrived Mary 2, 1849 - particularly long
voyage (123)
Erin Go Bragh- Liverpool -New York - March 22, 1851 - 273 passangers Capt
Jeremiah Casey - 32 days (243-4 )
Erin's Queen - one of Mahon's ships (75)
Essex - 1850 - 50 girls from workhouse selected to go to Canada (if they refused, they
were discharged from workhouse at once), workhouse supplied clothes - left Dungarven
to Liverpool - boarded Colonist, but left instead on Essex July 15. 1 week later, sprung a
leak, 7 days to return to port - Cork - 43 decided to go home, returned to Dunvargen ->
ultimatum, most girls sent back clothes but refused to leave - 17 did return (169)
Fanny - Londonderry - New York - Aug 4- Aug 26 1848 - 408 ton barque - Cap John Quinn - could carry 158 passengers (112)
Hannah - tiny - crew of 6, measuring 59ft. sailed to New York 5 times, from Dublin,
Cork, & Limerick with 50-60 passengers crammed into a single hold (8)
- brig - 150-200 tons - 12 seamen under Mr Shaw, master, April 3 1849 - left Newry for
Quebec - hit iceberg - captain & 1st & 2nd mates abandoned ship, leaving passengers.
some scrambled onto ice, 15 hours - rescued by Nicaragua- Captain Marshall, carried 129
to Canada, (243-4)
(12 different ships called Hannah)
Harmony - busiest ship operating from Waterford 1848 - took passengers to NY
sometimes, more often to New Orleans & Boston (88-9)
India - Liverpool to New York date? - William Smith, English cotton worker, "A Voice
from the Steerage" - fever before 1 wk out of Liverpool - Cap died, 26 passengers died, 1
threw himself overboard, 3 became lunatics. 8 weeks at sea, 123 passengers quarantined
(56)
Industry - could accommodate 140-150 in steerage - not strictly speaking passenger ship
Sligo to New York - 26 Dec 1846 - 11 April 1847 - Cap Michael Kelly - 184 passengers
- storms - 2 crew, 15 passengers died of malnutrition - 106 days at sea. Next year ran
aground Dec 1847. Fixed Feb 1848 - - Cork to New York - May 1848 - Edward
Fawcett ; Dublin to New York - Sep 1848 (104-7)
Jamestown USS - took supplies TO Ireland (49-52)
Janet - Drogheda to New York - 1848 (114)
Jeanie Johnston - maiden voyage April 1849 Tralee-Canada. never lost a passenger at
sea. just over 100 ft long, space for 220 passengers. Canadian emigrant runs (153-4)
John Nunn - one of Mahon's ships, unlisted by Lloyd's (75, 101-2)
Kate - one of 2 ships from Galway 1846
Lady Milton - sailed from Liverpool- April 21, 1847 - damaged by storm April 30, sailed
again May 5, leaving more than ½ passengers, a total of 143, in port (42)
Larch - Sligo - St John 1847? - 440 aboard, 108 died at sea, 150 kept at Grosse Ile (47)
Liberty -one of 4 ships Cork to New York 1846
Linden - could accommodate 140-150 in steerage not strictly speaking passenger ship
(106)
Londonderry - sturdy little barque of under 200 tons, carried passengers. from
Londonderry to Quebec, Montreal, Savannah (111), another ship named Londonderry =
paddle steamer- 222 tons - crew of 26, sailed regularly between Sligo & Liverpool .
Winter 1848 - bad weather, passengers ordered to after cabin, too small to hold 174
people -- next morning - 31 women, 23 men 18 children dead. (113)
Loodianah - one of Father Hore's (3)ships arr New Orleans Dec 10, 1850? - captain
Dallimore (177)
Looshtauk - arrived June 1847, Canada - 7 week voyage - typhus recognized after a
week at sea, but also scarlet fever - killed all the small children. within17 days of leaving
Liverpool, almost all crew = sick, only Capt John Thain & 1st mate, with help of
passengers, to sail ship (44)
Lord Ashburton - arrived St John Oct 30 (1847?) - 107 died, 60 seriously ill - also crew
(passengers had to help) one of Lord Palmerston's ships, unlisted by Lloyd's (76, 101)
Louisa - only ship from Waterford to New York 1846
Macedonian USS - took supplies to Ireland (50-4)
Marchioness of Abercorn - huge 875-ton, at one time the largest in the Irish owned fleet.
Capt John Hegarty, she regularly carried upwards of 500 famine emigrants to Quebec
during the summer, and to New Orleans in the winter. She was fast, and registered a
round-trip to Canada of 44 days - 25 out and 19 home (112)
Maria - Limerick - Quebec - left 2 April 1849 - hit iceberg May 10 - 50 miles from
coast, sank rapidly - 9 passengers onto ice, 3 crew got boat, 109 died - master Hesligeau
(129-132)
Maria Brennan - Limerick - New York - April -June 1850 (188)
Mary Harrington - only ship Londonderry to New York 1846 (most Londonderry ships
went to Philadelphia) (34)
Naomi - Liverpool - Canada sailed June 15, 1847 - 331 passengers, 78 died at sea, 104
sick - filth & dirt- difficult to breathe, infamous coffin ship, one of Mahon' ships, unlisted by
Lloyd's (45-6, 70-1, 75, 101)
Naparima - to Quebec, 1847 - Sligo schoolteacher Gerald Keegan "Famine
Diary:Journey to a New World" - had lived on Lord Palmerston's land - barque Naparima
= ancient tub - legal allowance 33", Naparima allowed only half- arrived St Lawrence May
23 - because of dispute with crewman, Keegan was stranded on Grosse Ile & he & wife
both died (57-8)
Nicaragua - rescued passengers of Hannah after they hit iceberg (126)
Ocean Monarch - burned 1848 just 25 miles out of Liverpool - Cap James Murdoch- 332
emigrants, 32 cabin passengers - only 2 boats got off, people jumped overboard, including
captain, rescued by yacht Queen of the Ocean, Affonso, New World, burned 12 hours, to
waterline, sank - 170 bodies washed ashore, some missing, but 203 passengers, 13 crew
saved. huge triple-deck, 1300 tons (90-8, 145)
Odessa - Cork - Aug 19, 1851 142 ps- Henry Selly - triple masted, 99 ft long, 323 tons -
3 times Dub-across, 1 time Limerick (217-22.)
Pageant - arrived New York 1 March 1849 - Captain Dawkin, 61 passengers. long
voyage (123)
Perseverance - Dublin - New York - 18 March - May 18, 1846, cap William Scott 74
yrs old - 216 went ashore, all passengers plus entire crew deserted- more than 4 years
before ship made another emigrant journey, one of 3 ships Dublin to New York 1846
(11-17, 34)
Queen of the Ocean - a yacht, came to rescue of Ocean Monarch 1848 (93, 95)
Richard Watson - Sligo - St John - Aug 10 -Nov 8 one of Lord Palmerston's, unlisted by
Lloyd's (77, 101)
St Louis - arrived New York Dec 1850 - passengers described treatment as kind and
considerate, provisions & water ample - no deaths from dysentery among 350 passengers
(200)
Sarah - see Caleb Grimshaw
Sir Henry Pottinger - Cork - St John (1847?) - 399 steerage passengers- 98 died at sea,
100+ sick on arrival, unlisted by Lloyd's (47, 102)
Sophia - from Liverpool - forced by storm to dock at Belfast, found to have 50
passengers (her limit 30) (208)
Syria - Liverpool - Canada, arrived May 1847 - 241 sailed, 9 died at sea, 1 on arrival, 84
with typhus, later 118 more - first fever ship to arrive at Grosse Isle 1847, unlisted by
Lloyd's (44, 101)
Ticonderoga - one of Father Hore's (3) ships - arrived New Orleans Dec 3, 1850? after
only 40 days - English brig - Capt John Farran - 450 passengers - could carry 30 sails!,
crew of 28
Triumph - Limerick - New York April - June 1850, 75 feet long, built Ireland (Youghal,
co Cork) 1839
Unicorn - 360-ton brig (Londonderry) - fast - 15 days Quebec to London (112)
Virginius - Liverpool to Canada - left May 28, 1847 arrived Canada August - 158 died at sea, incl. 2 officers, 7 crew & Master & steward - 106 ill, incl 9 crew when they arrived -"the worst looking passengers I have ever seen; not more than 6 or 8 were really healthy & able to exert themselves", two of the ships which carried the majority of Major Mahon's former tenants to Canada were the infamous coffin ships the Virginius ans the Naomi . . . , not listed by Lloyd's (45, 70-1, 75, 101)
Wandsworth - Dublin - Canada arr May 1847 - 45 died at sea, not listed by Lloyds (44,
101)
Warrior - Drogheda to New York - 1848 (114)
Washington - Liverpool to New York - Oct 27, 1850 - infamous voyage - 900
passengers - Vere Foster Diary - Foster = rich philanthropist wanted to see how emigrants
were treated - passengers not given water (only 30/time - food not provided until Oct 31 -
he weighed his food & it was short - complaints led to abuse, physical & verbal-
passengers signed a complaint 12 Dec 1850 - commander A Pate treated passengers in a
brutal manner, they had not received ½ provisions...signed 34 women, 95 men [on her
previous voyage no provisions for 1st fortnight, no meat whole of voyage on William
Rathbone, another Black Star, treatment similar]- Black Star Line 200 ft .nothing
done.(190-201)
Washington Irving - arrived Boston 14 April 1849 - Patrick Kennedy came on this ship
Wave - Dublin to New York - 1846 (one of three from Dublin this year)
William Rathbone - another Black Star ship, treatment similar to that on the Washington
- no provisions for 1st fortnight, no meat whole of voyage (200)
Yorkshire - Liverpool to St John - 1847? - 392 passengers -> 45 died, 40 sick (47)
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Page last updated 30 Sept 2010