My 4th great-grandparents, on my mother’s father’s side, were 100% Irish. I am referring to the POWELL > FALLON line, specifically these people:
Beginning on the left in the diagram above is my maternal grandfather, Gale Powell.
To his right is his father, Alva Powell.
Alva’s mother was Margaret Lucy Fallon.
Her parents were James Jacob Fallon and Mary Rusk.
James’ parents were John Fallon and Ann Fadden. John & Ann are my 4th great-grandparents.
In the 1880 federal population census, John & Ann Fallon, ages 70 and 72 respectively, were listed with their grandchildren:
- Margaret (age 15)
- Sarah (age 13)
- James (age 11)
- Samuel (age 9)
- Mary (age 7)
- William (age 2)
In the image below, you can see John & Ann with 3 of their grandkids on this page:
1880 federal census
Liberty, Union County, Indiana; p.3/p.53, family 22, dwelling 21,
lines 46-50 and 1-3 next page; June 1, 1880;
National Archives Microfilm No. IN-9, Roll 0316, ED50.
On the next census page, the remaining 3 grandkids are listed.
To see these census pages in full on Ancestry, follow this link.
John was a Day Laborer in Liberty, Indiana. Liberty was a small town in Union County, Indiana. About 1,000 people lived there in 1880. A Day Laborer “worked on the road or at odd jobs in the village or town.” John’s wife, Ann, was “keeping house.” According to the census, neither could read or write. Both were from Ireland, but we don’t know which part of Ireland.
All of the children were born in Indiana, but this record doesn’t state where in Indiana. Their parents — while not listed specifically in this record, are referenced in this census — were born in Ireland, but again, it doesn’t state which part.
Why were the grandchildren living with their grandparents and not their parents? What had happened to the parents, James and Mary Fallon? I think I found the answer in a newspaper article from 1879: A Terrible Death, A Terrible Life.