Cantwell memorial inscriptions: Templeudigan

Continuing with Brian J. Cantwell's "Memorials to the Dead", this time in Templeudigan, County Wexford.
We have visited Templeudigan before in this blog and here's where it is on the map - as you can see, not far from Ballyanne and Palace (Pallas), and indeed Palace (Pallace) gets another mention in this particular grave stone, so maybe this is the extended family of the Fitzhenrys of Ballyanne.

The inscription comes from what is described as an "altar tomb" (a flat stone covering a graved raised up so it resembles an altar) for the Doyle family. The line breaks are as given in Cantwell's transcription.

Here lies the body of Philip Doyle late of
Pallace who departed this life the 8th of
June 1849 aged 84 years
Also his wife
Catherine Doyle who departed this life
5th Septr 1854 aged 81 yrs
beneath are deposited the remains of the
late Thomas Doyle Esqr of Templeudigan
who departed this life October 20th
1865 aged 51 years
May Jesus receive his soul Amen
By whom this tomb was erected
also his grandson
Nicholas Fitzhenry who died
Nov 21st 1904 aged 31 years
also Nicholas Fitzhenry who died
Jan 24th 1909 aged 62 years
also Eliza Fitzhenry died Feb 19th 1935
aged 56 years also
Catherine Fitzhenry died
May 17th 1956 aged 89 years also Bernard
Fitzhenry died Dec 10th 1935 aged 66 yrs
also Catherine Fitzhenry who died 14th April 1944 aged 72 years.

Ann Futardo had previously sent me this marriage information which is undoubtably the same family:

Wexford marriages from county records office
13 November 1867
Nicholas Fitzhenry m Catherine Doyle
Father of groom Bryan Fitzhenry, deceased gentleman farmer of Gobbinstown
Father of bride Thomas Doyle, deceased gentleman farmer of Templeudigan.
Witness Kate Sweetman

... And here they are in the 1901 census of Ireland living in Templeudigan (all Roman Catholic, all born Wexford, all could read and write)

Fitzhenry Nicholas 60 Male Head of Family Farmer
Fitzhenry Catherine 56 Female Wife
Fitzhenry Bernard 31 Male Son Farmers Son Not Married
Fitzhenry Catherine 29 Female Daughter Farmers Daughter Not Married
Fitzhenry Nicholas 27 Male Son Farmers Son Not Married
Fitzhenry Mary 25 Female Daughter Farmers Daughter Not Married
Fitzhenry Elizabeth 23 Female Daughter Farmers Daughter Not Married
Fitzhenry Thomas 21 Male Son Farmers Son Not Married
Fitzhenry Margaret 18 Female Daughter Farmers Daughter Not Married
Power James 28 Male Servant Labourer Not Married

... and again in the 1911 census of Ireland
Fitzhenry Bernard 41 Male Head of Family Farmer Single
Fitzhenry Kate 64 Female Mother Widow
Fitzhenry Kate 39 Female Sister Single
Fitzhenry Mary 35 Female Sister Single
Fitzhenry Lizzie 32 Female Sister Single
Fitzhenry Thomas 31 Male Brother Farm Labourer Single
Fitzhenry Meyler 29 Male Brother Farm Labourer Single

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

London Road Trip - the Ballyanne cemetery inscriptions

The title may seem a bit strange, what with Ballyanne being in Wexford, but I've been having a great couple of days firstly at the Latter Day Saints London Family History Centre, and then at the National Archives at Kew.

So we will start the London Road trip in South Kensington at the London FHC.
The most heart-in-mouth event was finding the transcriptions of the gravestones at Ballyanne Wexford from Brian J Cantwell's collection "Memorials of the Dead". Brian Cantwell made a methodical study of all the graveyards in six Irish counties between 1970 and 1990, preserving their fading inscriptions for posterity. Luckily for us, he did Wexford. At the LFHC, these transcriptions are on-line and fully searchable.

Ballyanne is on the western side of County Wexford, near the border with Kilkenny and north of New Ross.

Here are the transciptions as Mr Cantwell wrote them. I think "Pallas" is the village of Palace to the east of Ballyanne, and Rathgoogue has already been corrected to Rathgarogue in the text by Mr Cantwell.

FITZHENRY
Ledger, fractured (A ledger stone is a flat grave covering with inscriptions on its upper side)

Erected by Richard Fitzhenry in memory of his father Laurence Fitzhenry
late of Rathgoogue (recte. Rathgarogue?)
who departed this life May 14th 1845 aged 71 years.


FORTUNE
3 headstones in a row from a) right to c) left
a)
Erected by Patrick Fortune of Pallas
in memory of his son
Laurence Fortune
depd this life Octr 18th 1802 aged 14 years
also Margaret Bardon alias Fortune
died July 17th 1836 aged 22 years
Margaret Fortune alias Fitzhenry
died July 17th 1837 aged 60 years

b)
Erected by Laurence Fitzhenry
in memory of his father
Richard Fitzhenry
who depd this life March 27th 1795 aged 60 yrs
also
Laurence Fitzhenry
who depd this life March 20th 1804 aged 92 yrs
also
Nicholas Fitzhenry
who depd this life June 15th 1814 aged 93 years

c)
Erected by Nicholas Fitzhenry
in memory of his father
James Fitzhenry
who departed this life April the 7th 1817
aged 42 years
also his mother
Mary Fitzhenry
who died January the 8th 1847
aged 76 years.

What do you think?
Is this the Fitzhenry / Fortune link that we have been looking for in Enoch's tree?

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Enoch series part 5: "The Exile of Erin"

This is "the poem to Armagh" mentioned in the first post of this series. It is reprinted here in it's entirety - it maybe a world exclusive!
The author of this poem was Enoch W Fitzhenry and is dated April 18, 1825, Knox County, Ohio.
The poem was copied by Josephine Fitzhenry Hodge from a typed copy. The location of original is unknown, Mrs Hodge assumes that possibly a descendant of Edward FitzHenry has the original. Enoch Henry’s is recorded in Knox County Court Session of Oct 1824 (he often went under the name of name of Enoch F. Henry as we have seen in the other postings in this series).

The poem is a poignant ballad of a man who longs for the natural beauty of his homeland and the family he has left. This is in contrast to Enoch's lack of correspondence with his Irish Fitzhenry family. Only one line hints at violence: this may have been the personal efforts of his brothers to save him, or it may be a nod to the general Irish brotherhood of the Irish uprising and the political upheaval that was to come in Ireland when Enoch left, and was more than 20 years in the past when this poem was penned
("Ah, never again shall my brothers embrace me;
They died to defend me, or live to deplore!").

Erin (or the Gaelic spelling, Eirinn) was a general term for Ireland (rather than just Armagh) and was used by the Irish Nationalists as a female personification of their homeland. "Erin go Bragh" is an Anglicised version of the Gaelic and translates as "Erin forever", and was a slogan of the Irish uprising of 1798. The last line translates as “Erin my love_____ Erin forever”

THE EXILE OF ERIN

There came to the beach a poor Exile of Erin,
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill,
For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing
To wander alone by the wind beaten hill; ____
But the day star attracted his eyes sad devotion;
For it rose on his own native Isle of the ocean,
Where once in the flow of his youthful emotion,
He sung the bold Anthem of “Erin go bragh!”

Oh, sad is my fate! (said the heart broken stranger)
The wild deer and wolf to a covert can flee;
But I have no refuge from famine and danger; _____
A home and a country remain not to me!
Ah, never again in the green sunny bowers,
Where my fore-fathers lived shall I spend the sweet hours,
Or cover my harp with the wild woven flowers _____
That strike to the numbers of “Erin go bragh!”

Erin, my country, though sad and forsaken,
In dreams I revisit thy sea beaten shore;
But, alone in a far foreign land I awaken,
and sigh for the friends, who can meet me no more;
O, cruel fate! wilt thou never replace me,
In a mansion of peace, where no perils can chase me?
Ah, never again shall my brothers embrace me;
They died to defend me, or live to deplore!

Those in my cabbin-door, fast by the wildwood!
Sisters and Sire have you wept for its fall?
Where is the Mother that looked on my childhood?
And where is the bosom friend dearer than all?
Ah, my sad day! long abandoned to pleasure,
When will it doat on a fast fading treasure?
Tears like the rain drop, fall without measure _____


But yet, all its fond Recollections suppressing,
One dying wish my lone bosom shall draw; ____
Erin, an Exile bequesthes thee his blessing!
Land of my forefathers “Erin go bragh!”
Buried and cold, when my heart stills its motion,
Green be thy fields, sweetest isle of the ocean!
And the harp-stringing bards sing aloud with devotion,
“Erin my voreen”_____ “Erin go bragh!”


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Enoch series part 4: Enoch Fitzhenry and his appearance in official records

Mrs Josephine Hodge writes:

Enoch's pension application and depositions file reveals that he was living in Franklin County, Ohio as of 25 Sept. 1835, was born in Ireland in 1752 and came to America in 1765.

He was in Westchester County, New York in 1775 until 4 years after the Revolutionary War.

He lived in Vermont, New York State (again), Pennsylvania in 1810, and Coshocton County, Ohio by 1815. He is not found in the 1830 census of Franklin County, so it is believed that he came soon after the census was taken for that year.

We are told that he married in Danby Township, Rutland County, Vermont so perhaps he had met and courted Abigail Hartt while living in that county.

He was enumerated in Chittington County for the 1790 United States (US) census which was taken in 1791 in Vermont.

He is enumerated in Jerico, Chittigton County as Enoch F. Henry. There was one free white male aged 16 and above in the household (Enoch), one free white male aged under 16 (Sawtell) and two white females (Abigail and Mary)
Source Citation: Year: 1790; Census Place: Jerico, Chittenden, Vermont; Roll: M637_12; Page: 148; Image: 128; Family History Library Film: 0568152.

Then an Enoch F. Henry family of 12 was enumerated in the 1800 US census of --- --- Point, Essex County, New York.
There were 3 adult males and 2 adult females plus the 4 male children. The male children would have been Sawtell born 1790, Enoch in 1791, Mathew 1794 and George Washington in 1800. The 4 female children, would have been Mary born 1788, Susanna 1792, Elizabeth 1796 and Abigail in 1798. Could the elder female be Susanna Hartt, Enoch's mother-in-law? This female was between 26 years of age and 45. Susanna is said to have died at the age of 102.

However, the enumerator uses the " (ditto sign) instead of a zero.
So this gives
2 males aged under 10 years (Enoch jr and Matthew)
1 male aged 10-16 years (Sawtell)
1 male aged over 45 years (Enoch)
3 females aged unger 10 years (Susannah, Abigail jr. and Elizabeth)
1 female aged 10-16 years (Mary)
1 females aged 26-45 years (Abigail nee Hartt)
This accounts for all the members of this household with the known dates of birth of Enoch's children.
Source Citation: Year: 1800; Census Place: Willsboro, Essex, New York; Roll: 22; Page: 1010; Image: 396; Family History Library Film: 193710.

There is an Enoch HENRY enumerated in Montgomery Township, Franklin County, Ohio in 1830 but in tracing this family it becomes apparent that this Enoch HENRY is much younger than Enoch FITZ HENRY and came to Ohio from Virginia, whereas Enoch FITZ HENRY came to Ohio via Westchester County, New York; Vermont, Essex County, New York; and Pennsylvania.

In an indenture (contract) between Sawtel F. Henry, son of Enoch F. Henry and John Hoff---? of the town of Willsborough, County of Essex, New York Sawtell paid 75 cents for 1/2 acre of Lot #6 containing 3 acres, in 1801. Diana Clynn wrote in a letter in 1983 that Enoch had bought some land at auction in the county on 6 Oct. 1808.

Lieutenant James FitzHenry of Detroit, Michigan, told this writer that his grandmother said that there were five unrelated FitzHenry families of Ireland and that two or three remained in Ireland and the others came to America.

Our Fitz(-)henry DNA study shows that there are at least 3 genetically distinct Fitzhenry families emanating from Ireland.

Kathryn also wrote in the previous reference that Enoch made a trip to Canada to see his cousin, William FORTUNE. A letter from William Fortune who was (or had been) a Colonel with the British military in Canada was sent to Enoch F. Henry in Elizabethtown, New York. He was in New York City en route to Charleston where he had lived before the Revolution. He mentioned the birth of Enoch's son, William, who had been named in memory of him.

Kathryn wrote in a letter to the compiler, Josephine F. Hodge, that "Enoch's cousin William Fortune lived in Canada when Enoch was fighting in the Revolutionary War"

"Commencing with March 7th, 1814, a complete record is kept by Enoch F. Henry (Licking) Township Clerk (Muskingum County, Ohio) which is highly creditable to him for neatness and good penmanship". His son, James C., was not born until October of 1814 in Pennsylvania. Of his 12 living children it is known that at least 9 settled in Ohio. His eldest son, Sawtell remained in Pennsylvania and is found in Iowa in 1850.
No trace has been found of Mary, the first born, who married David Morrison, nor of Elizabeth who married firstly Mr. B. F. HILLIAR in January 1813 (perhaps before Enoch left the family to go to Ohio).
Elizabeth's second marriage was in 1826 and because it is recorded in Enoch's bible she may have come to Ohio at the same time as the others or joined them later.

The Enoch enumerated in the 1820 Muskingum County (under the name of Fitsbury) appears to be the subject of this family history.
There are four males age 10 and under (three of these would be Hart, Hiram and James)
two aged 10 to 16 (Edward and Azor)
one between 16 and 18 (Johnson )
two males 16 to 26 (one of which is William).
Abigail is listed, plus one female 10 and under and another aged 16 to 26.
There are two unknown males and at least one unknown female.
The male and female 16 to 26 could be Susanna (FitzHenry) and Rufus WILSON and their first born

Source Citation: 1820 U S Census: Licking, Muskingum, Ohio, Page: 141; NARA Roll: M33_92; Image: 175.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Enoch series part 3: The immediate family of Enoch Fitzhenry

This list of names and dates has been complied by Mrs Hodge and others from contemporaneous sources and the Bibles mentioned in the second post.
Some of the names and dates are different to those previously published in other forums.
As before Mrs Hodges' text is in purple and mine is in italics

First generation

ENOCH FITZHENRY
Birth: 19 May, 1752, Ireland
Death: 10 October, 1835, Dublin, Franklin County, Ohio

Marriage: 10 Feb. 1787, Denby Township, Rutland County, Vermont
Spouse: ABIGAIL HARTT
Birth: 1 June 1772, New York
Death: 18 Oct. 1865, Graham Township, Jefferson County, Indiana
Burial: ?, Graham Township, Jefferson County, Indiana
Religion: ?

Father: Unknown HARTT
Mother: Susanna SAWTELL
(Misc. Notes: "Abigail was a Tory, the Judge (Louis FitzHenry) told me", writes Kathryn. Other family records state this also.)

This is an interesting statement as Tory is very much an Irish word, meaning cow-thief or highwayman. It was (and still is) used as a shorthand for the Conservative party of Britain. The British Tories in the 19th century tended to be monarchist, Protestant, supporting the landed gentry and opposing home rule for Ireland. The American meaning of Tory at the time of the War of Independence meant much the same thing - a supporter of British rule and loyal to the Crown. But Enoch had fought against the British in the War of Independence, so Abigail was sticking her neck out to hold such views.

Second generation

1. Mary FITZHENRY
Birth: 27 Nov. 1788, Vermont
Spouse: David MORRISON
Marriage: ca. 1806, Essex Co.?, NY?

2. Sawtell/Sartle FITZHENRY
Birth: 19 Feb. 1790, Jericho Township?, Chittenden County?, Vermont
Death: 1889/1890, Dubuque County, Iowa
Spouse: Nancy GRAY
Marriage: ca 1812, PA?
Spouse: Jane or Janette (FITZHENRY)

3. Enoch FITZHENRY
Birth: 18 Sept. 1791, Chittenden County, Vermont
Death: 26 Jan. 1811, Essex County, New York

4. Susanna FITZHENRY
Birth: 20 Jan. 1793, Vermont probably
Death: 22 Jan. 1874, Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., OH
Spouse: Rufus F. WILLSON
Marriage: 19 Feb. 1821, Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., OH

5. Matthew FITZHENRY
Birth: 10 Oct. 1794, Vermont or New York
Death: 25 Oct. 1802, Vermont or New York

6. Abigail FITZHENRY
Birth: 4 Sep. 1796, Champlain, Chittenden County, Vermont
Death: 22 Mar. 1892, Clermont County, OH
Spouse: Wright LANE
Marriage: 4 Feb. 1813

7. Elizabeth "Betsy" FITZHENRY
Birth: 6 Apr. 1798, Vermont or New York
First spouse: B.F. HILLIER
Marriage: 4 Jan, 1813, PA?

Second spouse: John SWEET
Marriage: 28 Apr. 1827

8. George Washington FITZHENRY
Birth: 20 Jan 1800, Essex County or New York
Death: 20 Jun. 1800, Essex County, New York, probably

9. William FITZHENRY
Birth: 5 Jun 1801, Willsboro?, Essex County, New York
Death: 27 Sep. 1866, Jefferson County, Indiana
Spouse: Delilah Ann(e) PIERCE
Marriage: 12 Jun. 1827, Cuyahoga Co., OH

10. Johns(t)on FITZHENRY
Birth: 12 May 1803, Essex County, New York perhaps
Death: unknown
Spouse: Sally HAY(E)S
Marriage: 24 Mar. 1824, Franklin Co., OH

11. Jane Ann(e/a) FITZHENRY
Birth: 14 Jul. 1805, Essex County, New York
Death: 4 Jul. 1807, Essex County, New York

12. Azor FITZHENRY
Birth: 22 May 1807, Essex County, New York
Death: 27 Oct. 1832, Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana
Spouse: Unknown female (FITZ HENRY)
Marriage: ca 1830, Ohio

13. Edward FITZHENRY
Birth: 20 Jan. 1809, Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York
Death: 21 Aug. 1895, Columbus, Franklin, County, Ohio
Spouse: Sarah BROWN
Marriage: 6 Jun. 1833, Franklin, Co., OH

14. Hartt FITZHENRY
Birth: 8 Feb. 1811, Pennsylvania
Death: 27 Jul. 1851, Delaware County, Ohio
Spouse: Clarinda MARSH
Marriage: ? Oct. 1831, Franklin County, Ohio

15. Hiram FITZHENRY
Birth: 23 Sep. 1812, Allegheny, Huntingdon, County, Pennsylvania
Death: 3 Oct. 1827, Brooklyn (Township?), Cuyahoga County, Ohio

16. James Calder FITZHENRY
Birth: 8 Oct. 1814, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania
Death: 1856, Peck League Branch, near Victoria/Lavaca County, Texas
Spouse: Sarah Ann BAILEY
Marriage: 12 Jul. 1842, Jefferson Co., IN

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Enoch Series part 2: The Bibles

This post continues Mrs Hodge's history of Enoch Fitzhenry and his descendants. She writes about the sources that the family researchers used to construct the history:

There are at present 5 known handwritten or typed family records from Enoch's Bible:

• a xerox copy of Enoch FitzHenry's Bible family records (parts unreadable) and copy of the Bible flyleaf
• a photostat copy, handwritten, said to be from the Bible of son, Edward, and a typed copy from same which Anna (FitzHenry) Van Petten made
• a handwritten record found loose in the bible of Wm Jasper Henry of Jefferson County, Indiana
• a family record typed by Ms Hill of the Jefferson County, Indiana Historical society in 1954 using Enoch's bible.

There are errors in all, most due to difficulty in deciphering Enoch's writing.

James C. Fitzhenry's middle name is Calder, not Calvin as written in Wm. Jasper's copy.

Once James' marriage record was located, the faded writing of his wife's name in two of these records could be guessed - "Ann Sarah Bayley".
It was written "Sarah Ann Bailey" on the marriage record.

Anna Page Cherry used Anna Van Pettens' copy when she wrote the sketch on Edward FitzHenry for Judge Louis FitzHenry of Bloomington, Illinois.
Another record put together for a Mrs. Bankhardts, maybe using Anna Cherrys' records, was compiled by a daughter, Mrs. Irvin G. Knabel, Jr.

NONE of these family records are identical and the copy of the front page and family record I received in about 2000 came out very dark and a narrow edge of the right side was off the copy machine massing some dates, etc. Most of the children's names are legible, the births, some deaths and marriages are also and can be compared with previous interpretations.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

More about Enoch Fitzhenry (c. 1752-1835)

Mrs Josephine Hodge (nee Fitzhenry) sent me the cumulative results of her sixty years of research about Enoch Fitzhenry and his immediate family, and that research which she has received from others (acknowledged in the text). We are very honoured to have been given permission to publish it here on the blog.

Previous postings about Enoch are here, here and here.

Mrs Hodge is a direct descendant of Enoch via his youngest son James Calder Fitzhenry (1814-1856) who migrated from Pennsylvania and settled in Texas.

Her brother, Mr Oscar C Fitzhenry, is the fifth participant in the Fitzhenry DNA study and we are eagerly awaiting his results. Mrs Hodge says that back in the 1970s, she and other researchers of her branch were seriously considering whether Fitzhenry was Enoch's assumed surname after he arrived in America. The DNA connection to the Oulartwick (Wexford) Fitzhenrys shows that Enoch was indeed a Fitzhenry.

Here is the first part of the document which she has sent to me.
It covers the journey that Enoch made to America and how they spelt the Fitzhenry family name.
The text of the research is in purple and my comments are in italics.

A grandson of Enochs' son, Edward, wrote "....Enoch was about 13 when caught by a press gang on his way to school and was put on an English merchant ship sailing to the West Indies. Many of the crew died of yellow fever there. (Since Enoch had had some schooling he was appointed to fill in) as acting clerk. The ship sailed on to other ports. When the ship dropped anchor in New York harbor, crew members were allowed ashore. He did not return to the ship."

Edward Fitzhenry (1809-1894) was the thirteenth of Enoch's sixteen children by his wife Abigail Hartt. Given that Enoch was said to have been born in 1752, he was already in his mid thirties when he married the 16 year old Abigail and his last child was born when he was in his early sixties.

In 1968 another descendant of Edward wrote: "My father told me that he (Enoch) had left the ship at New York having been given shore leave and struck out up the country to Vermont. Although he had been shanghaied and our story was that he was on his way to Dublin to school from Armagh, he was a felon in the eyes of the British Law and could have been punished if caught....... "An elderly relative was said to say that Enoch had changed his name due to the felony charge. We understood the name was FitzHenry but the first name was something else. He must have lived there, Armagh, because he even wrote a poem to Armagh."

There will be more about this poem in the final posting of this series.

A researcher of the Abigail FitzHenry Lane line wrote: "Enoch is said to have been kidnapped by the British in Ireland, forced aboard ship and made to fight in the Revolutionary War....."The following is from a brief history of the Enoch and his son, Edward's family, by a Mrs. Cherry, with the assistance of Watts Davis FitzHenry for Judge Louis FitzHenry, 1870-1935 of Bloomington, IL:

"Enoch was born in the city of Armagh, County Armagh, Ireland. While he was walking to school with classmates he was caught by an English press gang and carried aboard an English merchant vessel sailing to the West Indies. Yellow fever raged (through) the ship killing many of the crew. Enoch survived and was appointed ship's clerk. The crew was allowed leave; he did not return to the ship. He had arrived in the colony in 1765. He was fourteen years old when stolen from Ireland, and had obtained a fine education and no doubt his family were people of wealth and education, or he would not have received such advantages at so early an age...."

"The only relative Enoch ever saw or heard of after he was stolen from Ireland was a cousin named William Fortune who was a Colonel in the English Army and was stationed in Canada....... There is every evidence that Enoch was a fine scholar. He taught school for forty years and in every place he lived he filled some place of trust that none but educated of that time could fill."

Abigail Fitzhenry (1796-1892) married Wright Lane.

Watts Davis Fitzhenry (1853-1936) was a grandson of Enoch by his son Edward.

Louis Fitzhenry (1870-1935) was a judge and US congressman who commissioned research on the Fitzhenrys. He was also descended from Enoch via his son Edward.

We have already written about William Fortune here and here.

Enoch FitzHenry signed his name "Enoch F. Henry" on nearly all of the various records searched in Vermont, Essex County, New York, and Ohio, as well on the forms and letter of his Application for a Revolution War Pension. On the Bible's Fly page he wrote ".... Enoch & Abygail F. Henry".... and only 3 entries on the Bible's family Record page, are spelled "FitzHenry".

Katheryn Cameron wrote this in her letter: "I did ask the Judge about that (spelling of the surname) for in our town Gibson City, IL there was another family, 2 married brothers, who spelled their name with a small 'h'.
The Judge said there were 2 (FitzHenry) families in Ireland, one capital 'H' & one small 'h'. No relation at all.
The small 'h' lived in the southern most part while the capital 'H' lived near Dublin where Enoch was taken captive. I have a map..... about 20 or 30 years old with the names of the Irish families of note. It does show the families as the Judge told me years ago. (The map I have has both of the 2 FitzHenry names written "Fitzhenry")

".......The Judge said because Enoch had to go into hiding to escape the British, he could not keep in contact (with his family in Ireland?) but that he made a trip to Canada to see his cousin William Fortune Fitz Henry."

Because he "jumped ship" when he was given shore leave in New York it is believe that he altered his name for fear of being imprisoned if he were caught. If so, that would account for the lack of success descendants have had in trying to find his family in County Armagh, Ireland.
His son, William of Jefferson County, Indiana and his known descendants dropped the "Fitz". Hart seems to have dropped it after he married, and eldest son Sawtell did not use the prefix apparently.

As far as the British War Office records show, Colonel William Fortune did not use the name Fitzhenry, although one of Enoch's children was named William Fortune Fitzhenry (1801-1866).

As I have found in my research, the spelling of Fitz(-)henry is variable, and the hyphen may come and go even in the same person over the course of their lifetime. Generally the trend has been to drop the hyphen over the years, and as in the cases of Hart and Sawtell, to lose the Fitz altogether.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

More about Jeremiah Fitzhenry

We are very grateful to Nicholas Dunne-Lynch who has sent us this description of the Irish soldier Jeremiah Fitzhenry. It comes from the French Military Archives, dated 1803.

Fitzhenry, Jeremiah, son of William and Catherine Hegarty. Born 15 October 1774 at Ballymakesy, County Wexford. Height 1 metre 804 millimetres; hair and eyebrows brown; eyes blue, nose long, mouth ordinary; chin […], face oval. Arrived in France in March 1802. Has not served in France. Nominated captain the 15 Frimaire year 12. (7 December 1803). This officer is of a respectable family in County Wexford, where he took an active part in the rebellion, in the country and elsewhere.'

Apart from the wonderful description it gives of Jeremiah the man, two things are notable in this text.
The first is the use of the Republican calendar established in 1792 and which lasted for 13 years until Napoleon 1 abolished it in 1805. More about it here. Frimiare is the frosty month, succeeding Brumiare the foggy month.

The second is the use of the metric system of measurement, again introduced after the French revolution. Here the writer has used metres and millimetres, rather than metres and centimetres more commonly used today.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.