MacDonnell Family

MacDonnell
Dr Daniel MacDonnell was born in 1808 in Bellacastle per his obituary. Bellacastle, or Ballycastle, is in county Antrim in Ireland. He at some point (probably around 1830-1835) received a medical degree which was the standard method for doctors at that time in Ireland and Scotland. I have not been able to determine where, though I think Kenny eliminated Edinburgh University. Possibly he attended Glasgow University or Queens in Belfast.
Around 1840 he married Mary, the presumed widow of Mr ? McAleese (see McAleese section), based on the age of their daughter Annie. Their daughter Annie was born around 1842 based on census and ship passenger records.
The first primary source document I have is the 1851 census for New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Dr Daniel M Donnell, Surgeon & General Practioner, lived at 70 High St with wife Mary, step-daughters Mary and Isabella McAlees, granddaughter Mary Ann McIver (probably Mary’s), cousin Mary McKinlay, servant, (not sure who’s cousin) and medical student John Mulvany and apprentice surgeon John McCormick.
Wife Mary died shortly after (she was twelve years older than Daniel) and he married Mary Isabella McDonald (see McDonald section) on January 17, 1853 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was 45 and she was 27. Their eldest child, a daughter Mary, was born in November 1854 (based on census records). Scotland started recorded birth records in 1854, so I have the birth records for the rest of the children. Daniel was the attending physician for several of the births.
Donald was born July 25 1856 in New Monkland.
Elizabeth was born March 30 1858 in New Monkland and died January 28 1867.
Isabella Cecilia (our gr-grandmother Belle) was born October 14 1860 in New Monkland.
Jane Stewart was born May 3 1863 in New Monkland and died November 6 1868.
Margaret J (Maggie) was born August 10 1865 in New Monkland.
Randal Patrick was born March 16 1868 in New Monkland.
In 1869 they boarded the ship Caledonia out of Glasgow and sailed to New York City. There were several other McDonnell’s on the ship passenger list, but I haven’t found any connection.
In the 1870 census Dr Daniel MacDonnell, physician, is living in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania with wife Mary, son Donald, daughter Bella, and son Randal. Maggie appears in the next household, the John Meloy family.
In the 1880 census Dr Daniel is still living in Mahanoy City, but the rest of his family is in West Union, Steuben, New York. Mary’s sister, Ann, is living with them. Daniel is age 72, a medical doctor, and living with A.R. McDonald (I think he might be Angus, Mary’s brother) and a servant, Mary Evans.
He died November 17 1883 in Greenwood, Steuben, New York at the farm of his daughter, Mary according to his obituary in the Canesto Times.
MacDonnell children:
• Annie was born about 1842, probably in Scotland. Interestingly, she does not appear in the census records with her family. You’ll see the same thing happening with Mary. The McLachlan family sent many of their daughters to board at convent schools, so perhaps that is where the MacDonnell girls were.
She married John McLachlan in Nov 1862 in Edinburgh. John was half-brother of Henry McLachlan who married Annie’s half-sister, Mary McAleese.
They had:
John Joseph was born July 25 1863 in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Daniel Leo (Neil) was born April 28 1865 in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Mary Frances was born Feb 13 1867 in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Henry Ignatius (Harry) was born July 10 1868 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
George Augustus was born October 1 1879 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Isabella and Annie were also daughters
John McLachlan was a musician, secretary to the Duke of Argyll, and an alcoholic. By August of 1882 Annie and her children had left him and sailed on the Circassia to join her father in the United States. They lived in Mahanoy City until (our family legend) Charles Jones, Belle’s husband, brought them to Danbury to work in the hat shops. Harry and George McLachlan eventually owned their own hat factories, Mary Frances married David Wright, the Danbury town jailer, and Neil was an interior designer in NYC. The father John followed the family and died in NYC playing piano in a saloon. Annie died April 12 1895 in Danbury and is buried in St Peter’s Cemetery in Danbury.
• Mary was born Nov 1854 in Scotland. Like her sister Annie there is no early record of her in the census and she did not come in the Caledonia with the rest of her family to the United States. Records indicate that she emigrated in 1871 and she married Joseph O’Hargan about 1878, a farmer in Greenwood, Steuben, New York. The O’Hargan’s had come from county Antrim early in the 1800’s and had a large family in Steuben county. It is unknown how Mary met and married Joseph. They had:
Daniel was born around 1879.
Cornelius Joseph was born January 3 1881 in Greenwood, Steuben, New York
Clark Francis was born August 10 1882 in Greenwood, Steuben, New York
Elena Marie was born October 1887
Helene MacDonald was born October 23 1889 in West Union, Steuben, New York
Rose was born August 1890
Mary Belle was born May 30 1893
As far as I can tell none of the children married. Clark was a steward on cruise lines and eventuallyhe and his sisters and mother moved to Stonington, New London, Connecticut (near Mary’s youngest sister¸ Maggie) and inherited most of Maggie’s property. They dropped the O’ from their name and became Hargan (Aunt Charlotte thought they were trying not to sound Irish).
Mary MacDonnell O’Hargan November 6 1928 in Stonington.
• Donald was born July 25 1856 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He appears in the 1861, 1870 and 1880 with his family and emigrated from Scotland with them. In the 1880 census he is listed as a medical student and suffered from nurulgia. He died before his father in 1883.
• Isabella Cecilia was born October 14 1860 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She appears in the 1861, 1870 and 1880 census with her family and emigrated from Scotland with them. At the time of her father’s death she was living in Danbury, working in the hat shops with her sister, Maggie. Her maternal grandmother was a McLean and my theory is that the McLean’s in Danbury found her a job; they were here before the Revolution. Later they hired Harry McLachlan to work in McLean’s store.
After her father’s death the rest of the family came to Danbury. Belle met Charles Jones in the hat factories and they married December 1 1885 in St James Episcopal Church, Danbury. The MacDonnell’s were Catholic, but Belle married outside the church and again, family story, she was excommunicated.
They had:
Henry Wellington was born July 1886 in Danbury
Charles D was born February 1 1888 in Danbury and died young
Elizabeth Mary (our grandmother) was born January 4 1889 in Danbury
Ellen Jone was born April 7 1891 in Danbury and died young
Grace Byron was born November 8 1891 in Danbury
Leroy Francis was born October 5 1893 in Danbury
Belle died April 23 1895 in Danbury and was buried in the McLachlan plot in St Peter’s Cemetery in Danbury. In 1901 she was exhumed and moved to another section of the cemetery to make room for other members of the McLachlan family. She is buried with her daughter Grace and grandson Robert Neil Williams.
• Margaret J (Maggie) was born August 10 1865 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She appears in the 1870 and 1880 censuses with her family and emigrated with them. Before 1900 she married Peter Collins, a Canadian who worked for the railroads. They had a son Peter who died young. She lived in Mystic, New London, Connecticut.
• Randal Patrick was born March 16 1868 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He appears in the 1870 and 1880 censuses with his family and emigrated with them. After they moved to Danbury he went to Waterbury to study pharmacy. He had his own store in Danbury for a while, but eventually sold and moved to Stamford, Mystic (with Maggie) and died in Ashford, Connecticut, a lifelong bachelor.