The Irish Settlement in Newport, New York was certainly a small community of Irish Catholic immigrants. It was their haven in the new world. They weren't the first immigrants to settle in this area but they certainly stayed and made a lasting impression on the community. I often wonder if you visit the Village of Newport today if you might bump into a McLaughlin descendant, or even a Maxwell. There are also a bunch of other Irish familes that were common place in this area.
As a community of Irish Catholics with a common culture and ambition to build a community with families, farms, and their Catholic religion, the various families were close. There are most definitly several marriages uniting various families together as family. I have two Gartland siblings marrying into the McLaughlin line in Newport. I also have at least two marriages between the McLaughlin's and Maxwell's.
My great-great grandparents were Thomas Michael McLaughlin and Ellen Maxwell. Thomas was born in the Irish Settlement in Newport, New York in 1840 to his Irish immigrant parents. Thomas and Ellen were considered part of the long lost McLaughlin/Maxwell family that went west. They were found by a McLaughlin researcher in New York some many years ago. I also know that Ellen Flanagan found the Irish Settlement in her quest to trace the McLaughlin/Maxwell line too in the 1970s.
Thomas Michael McLaughlin and Ellen Maxwell were married on January 5, 1869, in Newport, New York. They soon departed west for Lander County, Nevada, where they lived for many years (1870-1886). Then they eventually moved to Napa, California in 1886. Something may have happened to Thomas at some point around 1900-1904 because Kate Flanagan (their son-in-law's mother) mentions some sort of accident in a letter that she wrote to the Flanagan's in Ireland. I'm still not sure what happened.
The other marriage that I find between the families is for Maurice E. McLaughlin (pronounced Morris) and Mary Ellen Maxwell. They married on October 14, 1878, at St. John's in Newport, New York. Maurice is Thomas Michael McLaughlin's youngest sibling born in 1857. Mary Maxwell is Dennis Maxwell's daughter, Ellen Maxwell's neice.
I have recently had the great priviledge to be able to connect with one of Maurice and Mary McLaughlin's grandchildren who is a Living McLaughlin. He has so much wonderful information to share about our Maxwell's and McLaughlin's.
Both Maxwell/McLaughlin marriages produced children and both of these lines continue today. It has been such a pleasure to find those who share multiple family lines with me. The Maxwell/McLaughlin connection back to the Irish Settlement in Newport, New York, can still be found today. Let's keep the connection going and find more Maxwell's, Maxwell/McLaughlin's, and McLaughlin's. I am sure that there is family out there who have no idea of their connection and history for this wonderful family line.
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