Common Irish Name - matching family stories with facts

Question

I just returned from my first trip to Ireland and have fallen in love with researching my Irish roots. I have always been intrigued by my paternal grandfather's story about his paternal grand mother.

According to notes he hand wrote some time in the 1970s, his grandfather's mother was named Harriet Collins from Cork, Ireland. Her parents died in the Civil War bombing of Charleston, SC so she married Charles Herschenroder when she was 12 years old - and had his grandfather Julius Herschenroder when she was 15 years old!  

I found a Harriot Banks Collins on the 1850 census in Charleston, SC. She's listed as 10 years old with a birth place in New York. Her father James N. Collins lists his birthplace as Ireland. In the 1860 census, Harriet's mother and two of her sisters on living together. James, Harriet and another sister are missing and the mother lists her occupation as milliner. Where did Harriet and James go?

I can't find any marriage record for Harriet and Charles Herschenroder. No birth certificate for their son Julius. A James Collins is listed among the Confederate dead at a battle on James Island in Charleston in 1862 so theoretically that could be him and match up with the family story.

I would love to know more about James so that I can trace him back to his native village in Ireland - I see several possible matches age-wise on passenger lists but I have very little detail and his name is incredibly common.

Comments

Hi, I see your not logged in; You must be entering from your phone. Have you check our sources at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sources-Ireland-Province-County#Cork

Also we have a County Cork Project at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:County_Cork

Answer 1

Hi,I started working on my Irish families story about 3 months ago.I had only been able to go back 2 generations.Now 3 months later & as of last night I am up to 6 generations.My grandmother fibbed on her birth year [ her obit says 1882 but her birth records say 1875 ] & changed her first name from Hannah to Anna.She had always said she was from Limerick junction but it was actually Milltown co. Tipperary.She went with the closest town people would have heard of.What I am trying to say is preconceived history passed down can be wrong or a bit off.Have an open mind.Also famlies tend to recycle the same first names alot.

 

There are alot of free Irish sites that will give you answers.I use a site that deals with County Tipperary.See if Cork has its own site.Good luck! It is a fascinating journey !

Comments

This is great to hear and gives me hope for my own search! How in the world did you figure out how to find your grandmother despite the name change? Those are some impressive research skills.

Answer 2

Hi Gypson, I think this may be a mystery where DNA comes in handy.

You may find that you start to get matches from people with matching surnames and links to a specific part of Ireland.  This has happened to me - in some cases, I was lucky that I had a clue as to the town name, and a cluster of DNA matches in the same locality have supported this, even though no common ancestor has been found yet.

Have you tried newspaper searches and obituaries?