A year or so ago I went looking for a cousin who I could tell knew a lot about our McLaughlin's and had articles online about the Irish Settlement. What I did not fully understand at the time was how he knew about my ancestor, James Maxwell. As it turned out, he is also both a McLaughlin and a Maxwell.
My own great great grandfather was Thomas Michael McLaughlin of Newport, Herkimer County, New York. His parents were James McLaughlin and Mary Ellen Gartlan. Both James and Mary Ellen had immigrated at young ages from Ireland to the Irish Settlement in Newport around the late 1820s. Their oldest child, Thomas Michael McLaughlin, married Ellen Maxwell in 1869. After they were married, they moved west to Austin, Nevada and then onto Napa, California.
Ellen Maxwell was the daughter of Joseph Patrick Maxwell and Judith (Julia) Shaffrey of County Meath, Ireland who immigrated to the Irish Settlement in Newport, New York around 1853. Ellen's oldest brother was Dennis Maxwell. He had a daughter, Mary Ellen Maxwell, who married Maurice McLaughlin. Maurice was the youngest brother of Thomas Michael McLaughlin (their parents were James McLaughlin and Mary Ellen Gartlan).
There are many people who descend from these McLaughlin's and Maxwell's. There are number of us who descend from both lines. With two marriages between these families, you would expect to find some people researching the family. I must admit to having found quite the group of people researching these lines including a person who has authorized me to divulge his name in this blog.
Paul T. McLaughlin makes it no secret that he is well versed on the history of the Village of Ilion, New York. I would say that he is the expert. I am breaking with my privacy rule and revealing this living relative because he does have so much information available online, has provided me directly with so much information, and has agreed that he would like to be indicated on my blog.
The following is the clickable link to his website:
The Village of Ilion
As I review his website (and have looked at it previously), I begin to realize how much information I do have my finger tips about the McLaughlin's of Herkimer County. It is amazing the quantity and quality of the information available on this website. If you or a relative was ever from Ilion, this site is your bible to the history of the village. It also contains specific family tree research information including obituaries for a few of Paul's family lines.
To be continued..................
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