Research help: Where should I begin?

6/19/2023 at 10:07 AM

I've got the thinnest of leads on my great, great, great, great grandfather: James O'Brien, who was born on the Isle of Man, according to the 1860 and 1870 Census. I think I've traced him back to the 1830s and Illinois, and he must have arrived around that time. Are there emmigration records from the Isle of Man that I could cross check against? Or local church books or something? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Jeremy Austin Kaplan

7/14/2023 at 2:12 PM

Anyone here have any experience researching records from the Isle of Man? This isn't too far back, there should be some docs....please help!

Private User

7/16/2023 at 11:54 PM

No O'Brien/O'Bryan/ found at https://imuseum.im/search//people/search?tab=people&view=&term=o%27...

There are a number of James O'Brien US naturalisation records but all born in Ireland.- see this doc fits date - https://media.geni.com/p14/90/00/ec/79/53444863a627e100/james_o_brien_1810_naturalisation_original.jpg?hash=d556a5dd505ebf6f9fccd7360c23c9d5c5cb82663ed4cbb8fe58bb1dd73d65f4.1745132399

Could it be that he was born in Ireland?

Found
Pennsylvania, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1798-1962

Name James O Brien
Gender Male
Arrival Age 25
Birth Date 1810
Departure Place Londonderry, Ireland
Arrival Date 25 Jul 1835
Arrival Place Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Ship Earl Kellie

The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Record Group Title: Records of the United States Customs Service, 1745-1997; Record Group Number: 36; Series: M425; Roll: 50

Also - could he have gone as a child?

U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

Name James O'Brian
Age 12
Birth Year abt 1815
Arrival Year 1827
Arrival Place New York, New York
Primary Immigrant O'Brian, James
Source Publication Code 503.10.91
Annotation Date and port of arrival. Gender, occupation, country of origin, name of ship, and final destination may also be provided. Extracted from Customs passenger lists which are among the holdings of the National Archives. When family relationships were unclear, editor arranged passengers and dependents in alphabetic sequence by given name.
Source Bibliography BENTLEY, ELIZABETH P. Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1820-1829. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999, pp. 655-1373 (Ju-Z).

Jeremy Austin Kaplan

7/21/2023 at 1:00 PM

Thank you so much, Private User! I hadn't heard of the iMuseum site so that's exactly what I was hoping for!

I'm fairly certain James O'Brien was from Isle of Man. The 1860 & 1870 Census both list this as his place of birth, and it's not the sort of thing you'd mishear I think. And a weird affectation for him to have assumed if he WAS from Ireland, no? "Hullo, I'm from some weird place you've never heard of, decidedly NOT England or Ireland."

That said, there's two 1850 census records and both say "England" as place of birth -- which is how I would answer when I say "Isle of Man" and the census taker says "where the heck is that?"

Research help: Where should I begin?

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