“Along the Great Throughfares”

A CLOSE READER OF J. D. B. DEBOW'SStatistical View of the United States wrote “The Irish settle in the commercial towns, and along the great throughfares, chiefly on the Atlantic coast, in New England and the middle states. They become farmers, farm hands, laborers on railways, streets, canals . . . seldom merchants, except grocers.”1 This reader saw patterns and trends in numbers, and he arranged his observations by frequency and alphabetical order. These settlers, along the great throughfare of the Mississippi River and its tributaries became laborers on railways, farm laborers and for many, ultimately, farmers—that is farm owners. In The Irish in Illinois, Mathieu W. Billings and Sean Farrell noted the lack of research on these people.2 This study is of the heavily promoted but less used emigration route of Liverpool to New Orleans. From 1844 to 1859, about 132,000 Irish entered the United States through New Orleans, destined, however, for the states near and above St. Louis, the major transshipment port for the upper Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Missouri Rivers.3 The broad settlement of the Irish into the Midwest was noted by David Noel Doyle: The chief dispersal of the Irish took place within the vast and expanding economy of the hinterland of the Middle West. In this pattern one can include the upstate New York and west Pennsylvania towns and cities, their economies based upon the Great Lakes and Mississippi river system network. The Irish spread throughout the entire region as this network was opened and further amplified by canal and rail; they then stayed through its gradual industrial transformation, and many stayed to farm. Initially, in the 1850s, before the Civil War crisis, the Irish treated the entire basin as one field of opportunity.4Mary Motherway O'Neil was one of these immigrants. Her story is typical of the experience of tens of thousands. In 1851, she brought her seven children and two Motherway cousins from the townland Ballybraher in East Cork to the United States. Her husband Daniel died from fever—likely typhus—and left her with the lease of a dairy farm served by a two-story stone house with an attached barn. Because she was a woman, she was unable to renew the lease but could sell the lease and use the proceeds to fund her family's emigration. Mrs. O'Neil decided to leave Ireland, buy land in the states, and emigrate with the entire family, including two Motherway cousins. In 1850, they purchased their tickets to New Orleans, likely at the G. O'Neill Emigrant Passenger Office in Cork (city). They traveled from Cork to Liverpool on a steam packet described by the Illustrated London News as “crowded to suffocation, owing, perhaps, as much to the cheapness of the fares, caused by the steam-boat opposition for some time back, as to a previous knowledge among the emigrants that they will be better provided for in the way of a ship in Liverpool, the ‘great port of embarkation,’ than they are likely to be in Irish vessels.”5After three weeks in Liverpool, they sailed in mid-December on the Balmoral to New Orleans, landing in mid-February 1851, which was considered safe in order to avoid the seasonal yellow fever outbreak. Old friends, who resided in New Orleans, told Mrs. O'Neil that the city was neither healthy nor prosperous. So, the next day they took passage on a riverboat and steamed to St. Louis on an ice-laden river.6 Somewhere along the way from Cork to St. Louis, they had been convinced to invest in a fictional or failed land colony, an investment that ruined them. So, from St. Louis, the three oldest sons, Phillip, Daniel, and William sought work and found it as laborers. Daniel cut timber to be used for ties for the construction of the Illinois Central railroad.7 William found work on the Illinois Central Railroad construction gangs. While at that job, there is some chance he found himself laying iron railroad rails that had been part of the cargo of the Balmoral—the same ship on which he came to the US.8 After a few years of working in and around Bloomington, Illinois, the rest of the family left St. Louis to join the two brothers. They almost did not make it. Mrs. O'Neil and members of her family had tickets on the riverboat Kate Kearney, which steamed the Illinois River from St. Louis to Peoria, Illinois. When it was time to embark, Phillip could not be found—he was off drinking—and they missed their boat. That was fortunate, for it blew up and sank near Alton, Illinois, killing most passengers on board.9 Mrs. O'Neil and family took the next packet, landed at Peoria, and traveled by stagecoach to the booming railroad town of Bloomington.10The experiences of the O'Neils involved brokered cross-Atlantic travel, hopes for land, threats of disease and violent death on riverboats, hard manual labor, and finally settlement. Both New Orleans and St. Louis served them as entry ports and way stations, but the choice of a place to settle was determined after three years in the country. They avoided the outbreaks of yellow fever and cholera that killed thousands of the New Orleans immigrants, and their luck held when they avoided the destruction of the Kate Kearney. Steamboat explosions killed at least 1,500 people in this period, and drownings countless more.11 In 1851, St. Louis-based priest John O'Hanlon asserted that more immigrants died traveling upriver than crossing the Atlantic.12 This study will explore these factors in the settlement of Irish immigrants in the upper Midwest. Those entering though New Orleans were a substantial part of pre-1860 Irish settlement of the states of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota—the upper Mississippi Valley.Liverpool and the are to the of Irish emigration was a part of this system as David determined that the Irish and is as the of to Liverpool and Irish to New New Orleans, and a few a New York of emigration of the 1850s, he states that emigrants were with less as they did not to be The ship and had one the cargo with passengers who as a of This the for for the was a and in a passage the of to the great of the port of entry for The much of the of of the These two in of and They were they as a and that a of the 1850, Liverpool was more than a from the United that three and United States of the for to a the New York New Orleans became the ports of entry for Irish immigrants. The cross-Atlantic for the immigrants. New Orleans was the the of and there New York in as it became a place to through the from ports to New which its to include a Liverpool and New York in a This was not for New Orleans, as the from there was much In of Irish New York became the port of entry for of these From 1844 to one landed in New York and landed in New the for New York as a place to the United immigrants, the to New The for landing there was the promoted of on the Mississippi River to the in the West. New Orleans was not the for land was promoted though of and River from New Orleans was and on a river system that the to the perhaps, the the of passage to New Orleans, which is a much than landing on the East to to New York could to The was based on seasonal of and of the was to the was in the the from New York to was and to it was In the same period, a on a riverboat to St. Louis was and and to it was and there was on for O'Hanlon passage can be from New Orleans to the states or west of the Mississippi, and on the for the as as than from a New Orleans in The of his and is to and brought from part of and to this at the in and on the The by river and its the in make New Orleans a for the is to settle in the of the as they can be to their more and less to than from of the in to of about to for New Orleans, St. Louis, and along the of the Mississippi, to the above of which been to the emigration to that region of the United settlement in the West. was on “The of to to United States of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and In of these states and are on observations the in the by the Illinois Central Railroad and to construction The Illinois Central for its to was by two in Illinois, as as by in Wisconsin, saw its Irish in the from to riverboat system the ship system in three the passage from Liverpool to New Orleans, river was a and which was the for the were to the passengers for they were a for the spread of and In these were to explosions and as as to people The was that for passengers on were and who was a St. Louis when he wrote his been that more by or of in the United and more are than in crossing the Because traveling on the riverboat were or is not The of his will that he was likely disease is to “The the most of the had up to that the of the involved and the great to be it not be that there be much and . . . the is it is to the of death as and was the of Irish immigrants. This is in the of yellow and in the two great Orleans and St. most of landing had few of This was at the of and emigrants from are landed upon in a and . . . is among this that make great in New Orleans, Irish immigrants died in a yellow fever their death to to their into a with the of of and fever is a seasonal disease with the was a disease which through in a of was that was spread along the Mississippi The to the of the there is of the three or which place upon the river New Orleans and in the seven to or to or it to it is not that few emigrants when one the in which they are and the of a in a some by a of can them the of the a city St. Louis, cholera was In died there a cholera “The the family for landing in New Orleans after a of They then came up the Mississippi, but before landing at the two of her children on the Illinois the who had died from or fever came from the and the The New Orleans of a of Irish and to the and the of the died from the Irish were not O'Hanlon St. Louis was at least from New Orleans, were up the and with in a of and children died on the and their were in the along the or to the and broad of the riverboat to that on the Irish and were found on these the of three to to to St. Louis and it was The was on the to and the The was the passengers their with the at among and The in the of some in which some of emigrants were the and with and the for and upon by the is a to the of emigrants to and it is a to of them and were not in “The passengers are and the on by and of which more than a on Passenger had passengers could of the and could on the but a that could be a that the and a their from they was to passengers could a of as a and a of from river was explosions and from explosions were to the of the passengers and the these explosions to study that and people were killed on the by The were and were are on the death who was one of the that the was with and the was with and that he could a place to the of passengers at one and and that of at were he “The with of passengers on her about . . . was the of from the and the of The then took and to the is that about were and there are some or who are or and were and more drownings and less death by steam and of people off the and was not the the of to a of could a off the that in one passengers and been not to who for it was that the them in and killed In a of it was hard to a death as had been for on Atlantic of the passengers on are from of the or perhaps, from the are to their friends, and When are the of a their and their numbers, are of were to the of of St. Louis, Missouri, and of to these was an in though They an in immigrants with to this work into the of the Irish in the were In was the of the was that were few and a few in the entire was that many in were not of his A who is this of who his a he for the of the and for it to to the St. Louis the in in to the and St. that was at as a to his was to of the of priest to a emigration to had of work to the of a which include and a the emigration of of and to on three to New Orleans and then upriver to The Irish took of the and noted that a of of and some were These emigrants left with The three landed at New Orleans weeks ship was the to least of the immigrants off with their which did not include them were many of the people with They upriver to St. Louis and from three who stayed with took a riverboat up the River to to be to the death of the priest who they were their was for or had been for them. himself had been in and he to the of the immigrants to with in The immigrants were in the for and who had were into their These . . . in a few to on to and the New They did and they are at a stone at In the had who served a town New one one and one In resided in the The did not but the farm and Irish working as in the on land in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and were at to the and these had been to people who were from them by the United States These states were the of the Peoria, and of St. Louis was in and was of St. Louis, Missouri, in St. Louis was the river port for on the upper Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Illinois of the city and to river to to Iowa, much of Illinois, Wisconsin, and most Irish immigrants who landed in New Orleans came through St. did not to they by the thousands. 1850, Irish were the were in the St. Louis was the most in the West. In three landed at the they cargo and seven of of this was with by and The cargo was and of the cargo and of the river were and Irish immigrants. The of St. Louis as an way not be of who were there to be In the of the Irish who landed at the in of Irish in this was by in St. Louis in of disease and were used by to a Irish Irish Irish and people were some by his to into the to and to the and of Irish and of St. Louis along the Mississippi, Missouri, and 1850, had in the seven of the had there years is to who these Irish were or they with The of or as an in the and place for of Irish is in the was much more and than it The at as in and in of St. with and were there in the by an 1850, there were Irish in and in These people were of farm and hands, and their were served by is likely these were served at by traveling or A was in about of in an that was by the it The failed in the in of in the Irish “The of the will from place to on or on as the Irish did in the and of to and a knowledge of Irish and they of this work was a for the of as The was one of this This was by the who wrote in to that the of the Irish are attached to the as of is a of and of the of who it been A the of an or priest is almost They an Irish for their in their that it was their in their John a of the of St. Louis with “The for was and Irish were their work involved who that these could be then more of the could be into the The of the Irish was The of immigrants in the the Irish of St. Louis, for many of the who were and from the pattern of riverboat to the states was at one time a of St. of these immigrants were is They found work and in many served as in the of the middle of the in the timber as to the or as and as on the or on the as These were and They involved of and a great of O'Hanlon did them to and to their hard of for more city or better . . . to become in of a farm in the the work in the had not a for in the of Missouri did not These immigrants and 1851, the Railroad west of St. Louis along the Missouri and in work on the St. to be the Missouri was not a the iron and to the the had upriver to St. “The Irish laborers on the were the of in this the Irish his people they The people however, were by the of work found along the of John experience was After landing at New Orleans, he found on railroad construction which brought to Missouri to work on the St. of the he in and as a railroad This provided for to buy a as as a house in In in Missouri, of which in St. were working as and there were working as laborers. Missouri was to farm and farm Missouri was a Missouri, to immigrants. The for this was a priest who was of in at a time when a took up in in and that Irish had near were to to that years of that with a New York emigration to the of In in to Irish in St. Louis one of their to to and land for settlement. land along the River in and for the of In a in the that his for The part of as a for Irish or is the River which is about and two The river is on and the land is are three and A great for is in and many are working at it. The is in an towns up on the of the river and in the within or The after which is at the of the on the Mississippi, is which and purchased two town and a and are to a this A that part of the and but it will in a a were in New and St. in that it was with St. Louis and the states of the upper Mississippi as a through New Orleans or New to his of traveling to the and a few Irish had in order to buy land for a experiences in Missouri, it took more than was in to buy it. brought with them and came to after landing in New Orleans, as laborers in or on the to to buy land at the of an 1850, Irish were The of a river the of the of In were in to the Mississippi or In 1850, there were in the and its on the Mississippi was the for the were in the among the of were of these the farm they and is a the of and Irish settlement. in St. Louis, Irish to Irish the Irish to these were working as and farm of the was to Irish from and states further up the Mississippi from New Orleans and had into states had Illinois had much and in Illinois, of railroad were and in the for tens of thousands of laborers for railroad the Irish from in to in In 1850, before railroad the for Illinois were the Mississippi and Illinois as as the Illinois and work had to the Irish as construction and the years of its and laborers were at on the These and their and some They were the many to to work as and in the in the canal working as farmers, for many in of from the of canal Irish who came up through New Orleans to Illinois and in towns and the great the O'Neil not who were to Illinois up working as railroad laborers. Railroad which in was along their of except in the The family story is they landed at New Orleans in 1851, traveled to St. Louis, there for a took passage on an Illinois riverboat to Illinois, the of and a who resided there After a the family of land and the of it into a and on the Illinois River had about in had the of who had landed at New Orleans and came upriver to settle in these river the seven up and one as a was of one of the to settle was in Ireland, in and is a of and of In left the to Liverpool, and took passage on a for New Orleans. From there he came up to in the part of then for one by the and in a to his and to this country. working by the for about three some land in the and on the of was to of John and This was with a of the of these and the they were the of which it on the and their stone In the and of used in the of a is a of the a to their priest and to the they were the substantial of the canal and system on travel, Irish by near they had been for the most by the Irish that were along the the and and that were served by a of the were or were two stone construction and two in in was In the river there were seven stone in use or construction as as seven in use or The were or The found in the river were and 1850, and the had Irish who had through the canal and least of the New immigrants in the river of were in the a and at this landed in as are the found them in in countless numbers, and had been by one of the to an Irish a a from the and of and determined opposition to been on the of a off the on the way up from St. Louis by with the of the and on a with left the city and was the of a Illinois was the of Irish farm Irish working as and Irish laborers. was a the of and as a was the of the entire Midwest. Missouri and farm were served by that into the Illinois to had St. Louis as a and New Orleans as a provided a for to and sell more than they was The Irish on the found a and for their settlement in the and into the 1850s, Illinois, was more by than river from to the River settlement was in the three of Wisconsin, and were that thousands of as the this of that were and used for by the a few Irish had found their way into the and had in the to the and of In a found Irish in the of to the upper Mississippi, was better and were brought and was wrote that immigrants could to the region though an Atlantic route or New Orleans, the Emigrant in the and to to New Orleans in the is and almost death to The on from New Orleans to St. Louis is the time is or seven the from St. Louis to or of the is three time is about three The in of about three and to was a with a to the two a had he could work for a a day for he and his A and he to for a a an of the three and in the of towns, as Irish New Irish and These and In 1850, there were in Iowa, and were and were of the likely their with from of the towns had as St. in Irish settlement of after the of In 1850, the that were along the Mississippi served as in two were laborers in three towns, and a were there were in of in the river of to the from the port of for immigrants, patterns are typical in the Irish settlement of and his family are a They landed at New Orleans in and he to to work railroad construction The family in traveled to St. Louis, there for a and then to After they in and many, used a and to a land route to The of immigrants is in the to St. for most of these came through In 1850, there were and in the of there were The river then described from to St. “The emigration to the this and . . . is not to these seven or passengers at one settlement an by a and is most for to a with in to land he had been for his that the was he to Irish who to farm to with to The settlement was on in and by had on and in was who in landed in New Orleans in in for a and as a and in Illinois. from that work his was with his landed in New Orleans in They traveled upriver to and a few years a farm in on to at the time of the of and the of for settlement in War there by in there were farm the Irish in were of through New Orleans is a in the settlement of Irish in the Mississippi River states. to the port and then to upriver was than landing in New of Irish were about immigrants in port in and a was some opposition to settlement by of New which was or by and They saw with work and the of of of land, which was by the of for Irish immigrants. to the railroad construction and in the could be to were were farmers, but much of the west was a of a and economy that the of who came to farm these

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