Family lore has always been that my Furlong side of the family came from Ireland via Newfoundland where my grandfather was born. Then the Furlongs emigrated to Boston and then on to Brooklyn, New York where my mother was born in 1922.
Thus, I started my search in the RC Basilica in St. John's, Newfoundland where most all the records for Roman Catholic Irish Newfoundlanders of the 19th century are held.
My greatgrandfather, Joseph [T?] FURLONG appeared first in the records of St. John's Newfoundland when he married my greatgrandmother, Agness KAVANAGH on November 3, 1881 in the parish of St. John the Baptist. They had a son, Thomas John FURLONG [definitely the my grandfather] on July 2, 1882 just nine months later in the same parish. The certificate of Birth and Baptism that I ordered in 1998 from the parish indicates the year as 1881 which puts the marriage three months after the birth of their son but other genealogists who have have been to the Basilica have reported back to me that the year was 1882 in the original old records. A Reverend P. J. Delaney officiated at the marriage and Baptism.
Witnesses to the wedding were Peter FURLONG and
Mary Frances KAVANAGH. Since it was quite common in this time and place
for a relative from each family to act as a witness, I'm assuming they were brother and sister of my greatgrandparents.
My grandfather's sister, Mary Ellen [My mother's family called her Aunt Nell.], was born on April 7, 1884. Her Baptismal sponsors were Thomas MCGRATH [possible tie-in to Johanna McGrath who married a different Joseph Furlong in 1861.] and Mary Frances KAVANAGH [Who seems to be the same woman who witnessed the parent's wedding.]. Reverend W. Forristall officiated at Mary Ellen's Baptism.
I haven't found any clues about Thomas John's sponsors, James Cooke and Susanna Gallishaw.
There doesn't seem to be any other records of births to Joseph and Agness in the Basilica before 1892. My uncle has told me that his father told him that his parents emigrated to Boston when Thomas was about two years old. That was probably shortly after 'Nell' was born and before she would be heavy with the next child.
My Uncle Jimmy, now our family patriarch, has identified two more children of Joseph and Agness: Margaret Furlong Pinero and Lilian Furlong Rudiger. I suspect that all four children grew up in Boston My mother often referred to my Aunt Nell as Boston Irish - meaning some kind of 'quality Irish'. I just firmed up this information from my uncle a week or so ago so I haven't done any formal research on them, yet.
I do, however, have indexes to NARA records showing a Joseph Furlong was naturalized in 1892 but he was married to Johanna McGrath Furlong and had a daughter Margaret, all of whom I easily, thoroughly documented and thus eliminated him as my greatgrandfather.
Between family and census records, I believe all of Thomas John's children and their families have been identified but a few other questions do remain.
When and where did Joseph arrive in Boston? Thomas always claimed he was naturalized via his father's naturalization. My Uncle Jim says his grandparents stayed in Boston. When Thomas married Alma Kelly in Brooklyn in 1910 he listed St. John's NF as his home church. So when did he leave Boston? When and where did Joseph and Agness die? Thomas John was not buried with his wife and their son in her family's plot in St. Johns cemetery in Queens NY. My uncle says he was definitely buried in that cemetery. Where is he buried?
And, the biggest question of all, Where did Joseph and Agness come from?
| Include your Furlong story here by sending it to me: Judy Picard |
Planters are usually children of fishermen who have planted 'roots' in the community by buying land. It is not an agricultural designation.
Having more than one child with the same name occurs because if a child died, another baby was often given that name. It's also likely that a lot of the Furlongs with one or two children moved on to Canada or the USA. Bill Dawson
It seems that it was very common for runners to smuggle families from Canada to the Boston area where there are a "ton" of FURLONGs. Paul Furlong
All in the same area of downtown St. John's: Pilot's Hill, Garrison Hill, Cochrane Street and Furlong's Hill. Allen Rich
Memorial University
of Newfoundland Libraries has in their QEII collection Micro Fiche
CIHM 42575: Historical sketches of O'Connell ... [and] Thomas Furlong,
... with a glance at the future destiny of Ireland by McGee, Thomas D'Arcy,
1825-1868. The chapter relating to Thomas Furlong is on the poet
page. Also their PAB KEYWORD collection lists journal articles re FURLONGs
in the NF area but the actual articles cannot be viewed via the interrnet.
Someone with access to the Univ. in St. Johns would have to search for
these.