Sweeney Ancestor research

[Toblerone1]

Hi all,
You all very kindly helped with me a previous enquiry for my partners ancestor but now I'm looking in to my own tree more and looks like my GG granduncle fought in the civil war - is there any way to get more information on him from these 2 documents?
He was from Leitrim in Ireland and came home and died here but we know nothing of his time in USA

Thanks in advance

Try

 

[RedRover]

Hi all,
You all very kindly helped with me a previous enquiry for my partners ancestor but now I'm looking in to my own tree more and looks like my GG granduncle fought in the civil war - is there any way to get more information on him from these 2 documents?
He was from Leitrim in Ireland and came home and died here but we know nothing of his time in USA

Thanks in advance

Here's the history of the 1st Regiment of Connecticut Heavy Artillery by the veterans. Denis Sweeney is given in the roster for Company C, as noted in the documents you linked.

The First Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865

www.google.com

 

[BCS1973]

Is this him? Company C of the 1st Connecticut heavy artillery? If so, gopher records can retrieve his service records for you. see link below.

Better Soldiers & Sailors - brought to you by Gopher Records

bettersoldiersandsailors.com

 

[Nathan Stuart]

From all the above partial information shown, compiled the following chronological summary of what's known about him, which may be useful.

Re Dennis Sweeney

Born (apparently) in Leitrim, Ireland.

Was a resident of Naugatuck, CT, at time of enlistment.

Enlisted and mustered in as 'Private' in Co. C, 1st CT Volunteer Heavy Artillery, on Dec 10, 1863.

Mustered out as 'Private' of Co. C, 1st CT Volunteer Heavy Artillery, on Sep. 25, 1865.

Applied for invalid pension on Mar. 31, 1900.

Died on Jan. 30, 1908.

 

[lupaglupa]

Dennis shows up in the draft registration in June of 1863. He's living in Naugatuck, born in Ireland, age 33, occupation "rubber" which is a new one to me. He's noted as being married. Did you know he had a spouse in the US? Unlike the men listed above and below him, Dennis did not claim to be an alien to skip the draft. It looks like he was naturalized as a US citizen in 1856.

In the 1870 Census Dennis is still in Naugatuck, working in a rubber mill (which explains the occupation in the draft record). His wife is there. Her name is Annie, she's ten years younger and also born in Ireland. Dennis is listed as having a 'personal estate' of $2,000 which is not at all shabby for a laborer. City directories from the 1880s list Dennis as an employee of the Goodyear India Rubber Glove Company.

I don't find any other records I can link to the Dennis who lived in Naugatuck.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

occupation "rubber"

A quick on line search turns up a number of instances where this refers to a man in the 1800s who worked in the manufacturing of rubber or rubber coated products (such as gum blankets used by soldiers). This is a new one for me as well!

 

[DorwinBlack]

The 1870 census lists him as living back in Naugatuck working in a rubber mill, and his wife's name is Annie.

Do you know when he moved back to Ireland? The Connecticut Death Index lists a Dennis Sweeney who died in Naugatuk CT on 6 Dec 1903, so this might be a different man.

 

[Toblerone1]

Dennis shows up in the draft registration in June of 1863. He's living in Naugatuck, born in Ireland, age 33, occupation "rubber" which is a new one to me. He's noted as being married. Did you know he had a spouse in the US? Unlike the men listed above and below him, Dennis did not claim to be an alien to skip the draft. It looks like he was naturalized as a US citizen in 1856.

In the 1870 Census Dennis is still in Naugatuck, working in a rubber mill (which explains the occupation in the draft record). His wife is there. Her name is Annie, she's ten years younger and also born in Ireland. Dennis is listed as having a 'personal estate' of $2,000 which is not at all shabby for a laborer. City directories from the 1880s list Dennis as an employee of the Goodyear India Rubber Glove Company.

I don't find any other records I can link to the Dennis who lived in Naugatuck.

Thank you for the info - i don't know when he moved back but he's in the Irish 1901 census living with his nephew and he's down as not being married but on his death record in 1908 it says widower so i wasn't sure about a wife or where she might be. im wondering now did his wife die and he decided to come home to Ireland - apparently he had bought the land here in Ireland so he must have been sending money home to do that - I need to do more digging now

 

[lupaglupa]

Moving back after his wife died is certainly likely. With no kids here he may have wanted to be close to family in his old age.

 

[DorwinBlack]

A few related documents from Family Search.

Denis was briefly admitted to the invalid hospital in New Haven in June 1889 [3rd entry from the bottom]:

Around the same time, his wife Ann was declared legally incompetent [mental illness?], and her estate was settled in probate;

It appears in the probate records that Denis transferred his share of the property to her estate, and apparently returned to Ireland shortly thereafter.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Am I correct to interpret this as Denis, as co-owner, agreed to the sale of all property and then took his part of the proceeds and returned to Ireland to live with family? I don't think that means he gave up all the money - or did he? Perhaps for the care of his wife….

 

[Fairfield]

With a name this common it is easy to come up with a confused picture. I believe that this is the time to wend one's way through newspapers; there is a pretty good newspaper in Waterbury, CT (a nearby town).

@Nathan Stuart is right: he filed for an invalid pension from Ireland in 1900 (he says that he was in Company D but there was only 1 "Denis Sweeney" in 1 CT HA). To find out how he wound up, it might be necessary to do research in Irish records--not nearly as difficult as has been said. If he came from Leitrim he may have returned there--but Leitrim wasn't far from the border with Northern Ireland so conditions there may have been unsettled.

Another suggestion is his local (CT) GAR post. If the post isn't active any longer, the SUV website can tell you were the records are. Also, there may be a published history of his unit; if so--and it is is like such books in Maine--it will list its members and say what happened to them (or, at least, give contact information).

 

[Fairfield]

Your Leitrim Ancestors: a site that I'm unfamiliar with):https://www.yourleitrimancestors.ie/g0/p732.htm. Says the he died in Lismacniff, Drumna, Cloone Civil Parish, Co Leitrim (sorry--I "cut and pasted" and cannot get rid of this text color). Apparently he was on Ireland's 1901 census and the source of information was his nephew. There is some family information.

If there is an obituary in a local Irish newspaper, it may give details on his life in America.

 

[Toblerone1]

A few related documents from Family Search.

Denis was briefly admitted to the invalid hospital in New Haven in June 1889 [3rd entry from the bottom]:

View attachment 581308

Around the same time, his wife Ann was declared legally incompetent [mental illness?], and her estate was settled in probate;

View attachment 581309

It appears in the probate records that Denis transferred his share of the property to her estate, and apparently returned to Ireland shortly thereafter.

Oh wow this is great! I applied for his records and it does seem to be the same person who worked in the Rubber company. It says on it that his wife was Ann Cannon but that he had no record of the marriage. I was hoping to come across something that might state his parents names and get me back another generation but will keep looking - will try newspapers now. Thank you very much!