Hanley, Thomas - Macoupin County Illinois
©1996-2009 Tom Hanley
Descendants of Thomas HANLEY
submitted by Tom Hanley
The history of
the Hanley Family in Macoupin County, IL, prior to their move to New
Albany,IN,is based on the following information from the 1860 census of
Macoupin County, IL, transcribed by Littleton P. Bradley and referred
to as the Bradley Book. This information was stored on the Macoupin
County ILGenWeb website, http//www.macoupinctygenealogy.org/1860census.
I must say that the Irish seemed to have had lots of kids but little
imagination when it came to names.
C14
104 7 7 8 HANLEY Edward
17 M W x x
x MA H64
H64 C14 104 7 7 8 HANLEY
John 43 M W
**2 800 1000 VT H64
C14
104 7 7 8 HANLEY John C.
2 M W x
x x IL H64
B229 1654
7 8 3T HANLEY Mary 24 F
W x x
x #2 H65
C14
104 7 7 8 HANLEY
Mary 3 F W
x x
x IL H64
H65 B229 1654 7 8 3T HANLEY
Thomas 26 M W
**4 x 100
#2 H65
B229 1654
7 8 3T HANLEY William 1 M W
x x
x IL H65
It looks like there were two Hanley families in Bunker Hill in 1860.
One was headed by John Hanley, a 43 year old, and the other headed by
Thomas Hanley, a 26 year old. Thomas is my great-grandfather. John’s
family was enumerated by W.M. Snow and Thomas’ was enumerated by
Randolph J. Haley. John used the Dorchester post office in Dorchester
township (T7N – R7W); Thomas used the Bunker Hill Post Office in Bunker
Hill Township (T7N – R8W). John had property and an estate and may have
been in agriculture. Thomas may have been a laborer and lived in town.
John (45 years old) had several people living with him in his house. In
order of descending age they were Charlotte (25 years), Edward (17
years), Mary (3 years) and John C. (2 years). Thomas (26 years) had two
people in his house: Mary, his wife (24 years old) and William, a son
(1 year). From the Hanley Family Bible info, this Mary almost certainly
is Mary Ann Buckley from Limerick, who was Thomas’ wife. John was born
in Vermont, Edward in Massachusetts, Mary in Illinois and John C. in
Illinois. Thomas and Mary (Ann Buckley) were both born in Ireland and
their son William was born in Illinois. I have a note from Julie Noel,
Parish Secretary of SS Peter and Paul Church in Alton noting a Baptism
record for a second son, Thomas, born February 13, 1863 and Baptized
March 2, 1863 which correlates with the family Bible account. The
Baptism was sponsored by Hugo and Anna Conley.
As an aside, Ms. Noel also mentioned a Baptism of Brigitt Hanley on
April 18, 1858, daughter of Patrick Hanley and Catherine Snevens. I
know nothing of these Hanleys. Maybe they are connected, maybe not. I
need to check Madison Co.
From the family Bible, written in Mary Buckley’s own hand, she and
Thomas Hanley had 5 children: William (b. 1858), mentioned in the
Bunker Hill 1860 census, Michael Timothy (b. 1860), Cornelius (b.
1861), Thomas J. (b. 1863), and Johnny (b. 1865). All of these were
born in Bunker Hill. She had no other children. Her husband died and
was buried in New Albany in 1867. Because Johnny was born in Bunker
Hill in 1865 and buried in New Albany in 1866, I assume they moved
there in late in 1865 or early in 1866. Mary Ann died in New Albany in
1895. Note on the Hanley Family Bible: I have a typed transcription of
Mary Ann Buckley Hanley’s entries in the Bible. I do not have access to
the Bible itself.
Speculation
There are no “Hanleys” listed in the 1850 Macoupin Co. census. We know
Thomas’ family migrated to New Albany, IN, shortly after 1860. I wonder
what happened to John’s. It cannot be an accident that both Hanley
families were the only Hanleys living in Macoupin County for the 1860
census. It seems to me that they must be related. Maybe Thomas is
John’s cousin come to join him in America. As John Hanley is “Handley”
this speculation might be baseless.
Since John was pretty successful, maybe there are tax records or land
ownership records related to his tenure in Macoupin County. What
happened to the mother(s?) of his children?
Did Mary Ann Buckley come to America to join Thomas? Or is there some
other connection that brought her to Macoupin Co. Her tombstone in New
Albany definitely says that she was born in Limerick in 1833 and her
written record says she immigrated to the US through New Orleans when
she was 16 which seems young to be just headed off, though she was
educated. She was not alone as she traveled with a friend and neighbor
from back home.
I need to check Vermont and Massachusetts 1840 and 1850 census records
for info on John and Edward.
I
need to check land and tax records in Macoupin Co. for info on John.
Edward would have been old enough to serve in the Civil War.
Written by Tom Hanley, August 7, 2008
Aug. 11, 2008. Since writing this, Debbi Geer has provided me with
additional information, the most important of which might be that John
Hanley should have been spelled “Handley” by the enumerator. This might
indicate that he and my GGF, Thomas, were not related. Also, John
Handley and his wife Charlotte moved to Staunton between 1860 and 1870
and John Handley died before the 1870 census.
Family Index
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