Mathew Conlan: Death by Gravel?

March 1, 2018

La Grande Famine, Illustrated in London News by Smyth, 1847.

May they feel the warmth of a tear!
May they hear the piper’s lament,
May they know we, the survivors, keep vigil.


irish tenant farmers

Mathew Conlan was born in 1795 in the North Connaught region of Ireland to John and Anna Conlan, poor farmers near the town of Sligo. Similar to the Husmann in Norway, Irish tenant farmers rented land from wealthy landowners, primarily English and Scottish supporters of Elizabeth I, an anti-Irish and anti-Roman Catholic monarch. The Irish farmers were “tenants at will” and could be displaced by the whim of the landowner. Tenants didn’t dare improve their property for fear that rent would be raised and they would be evicted without compensation for the work they had done if the rent fell behind.

Sometime before 1824 Mathew married Catharine Hoban and settled into farming. By 1834 the couple had at least three sons. Between 1845 and 1849 disaster struck when a potato blight wiped out their primary food source. 

The Irish potato famine (the great famine)
The Great Famine Memorial Statue in Sligo, Ireland.
More than 2/3 of the Irish population relied on the inexpensive potato crop for survival. During the famine years, more than a million people died of malnutrition and disease, a million more emigrated from Ireland. Over 30,000 people left Sligo for new lives abroad, including Mathew and Catherine’s family. A statue in Sligo memorializes this watershed moment in the history of Ireland. The plaque beside the statue reads:
Reilig an Ghorta Mhóir. You are entering a long abandoned Famine Graveyard. Here ends ‘Casan na Marbh’, Pathway of Death, so named because unnumbered thousands perished following its grim passage from rotted fields to odious workhouse to ignominious burial.
May they feel the warmth of a tear!
May they hear the piper’s lament,
May they know we, the survivors, keep vigil.
sailing for America

The migration of the Conlan family included sons John, Patrick, and James. John is believed to have sailed for America before the famine began. Patrick followed, sailing out of the port of Liverpool, England on the ship “Chusan,” in 1846. Manifest records show that Mathew, Catharine, and son James (James Sr.) sailed out of the port of Sligo on the brig “Mary,” on June 7, 1849.  Their ship arrived in New York on July 21, 1849. 

Passenger manifest for the Brig Mary, showing Mathew, Catherine, and James Conlan as passengers.

The Conlan’s migrated to Cincinnati and eventually bought a home in the town of Ironton, Ohio. It was here that son, James, learned the technology of boiler making. In 1855 Matthew, John, and James received naturalization papers and the spelling of the last name was changed from Conlan to Conlin. In December of 1855, James married Ann Conboy in the St. Lawrence O’Toole Catholic Church in Ironton, Ohio and their son James Jr (father of George James Conlin) was born in 1858. 

settling in Minnesota

In June 1857, the Conlins took advantage of Minnesota homestead land grants and moved to Carver County, Minnesota. Mathew then sold their home in Ironton for $300.00. The town of Hancock was established in Carver County in 1868 and son Patrick was elected town Chairman. 

death by gravel?

Mathew’s wife Catharine passed away in January of 1870 at the age of 73 of a heart condition. Mathew followed three years later at the age of 79. The story is told that the elder Conlin enjoyed sipping a bit of the pint. One evening whilst he was throwing back a pint or two at the local pub a storm developed. Upon leaving the pub late that evening, he turned the controls over to his horse to find the way home. The trusty steed managed to pass under a half-fallen tree but Mathew did not, falling from the horse to his death. The county death record listed “gravel” as the cause of his demise. 

Gravel was listed as the cause of death for Mathew Conlin.

 

NOTE: If you are a descendant of this Conlan/Conlin family a private Facebook group was recently started to connect with distant cousins and share photos and family information. Join the group and say hello here.

 

Find sources and additional information about Mathew Conlan by following the link above to his profile in our Ancestry tree.
Additional sources

A Web of English History

Sligo Heritage

The Great Famine

 

More about Michelle

4 Comments
    1. Hi Michelle. Loved the photos of the memorial and hearing the story again. We keep the vigil.

      My Scottish ancestors left from Glasgow, on the very same date above: June 7, 1849.

      1. Thanks, Doug! I can’t even imagine living during the famine and trying to decide if your family’s best chance of survival is to pack up and start over or stick it out. What a coincidence that they left the same time!

      1. Haha, thank you, John. I didn’t know. So now I really wonder about the family story. 🙂

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *