McLaughlin Maxwell Duffy - Roman Catholic Church Records - Nevada - Part 1

Church records are always interesting to me.  Even priests and clergy have a hard time getting the spelling correct of individuals who are part of their parish.  I've found that even with my own daughter's baptism certificate.  It indicates her mother's maiden name as Maguire.  Well, it's actually McGuire.  So even in this day and age, sometimes church records are not "all that".  You've got to read into them a little to figure things out.

That leads me to the document that I am posting today.  It is a church record that has no less 13 individuals listed with their baptisms and/or marriages plus their sponsors and parents listed.  It is for the parish of Battle Mountain, Nevada.  McLaughlin is misspelled as McLoughlin.  I should say, it is misspelled for how our McLaughlin's spell the surname.  Several of the first and middle names are a little off too.   Overall, the document is a great source.

The majority of the document sources baptisms for Thomas Michael and Ellen Maxwell McLaughlin's children along with Thomas' brother's, James McLaughlin, and Julia Mahoney's children.  I also spot Ellen Maxwell's sister's, Catherine Maxwell, marriage to Philip Duffy.  All of these individuals migrated from the Irish Settlement in Newport, New York to Austin, Lander County, Nevada, in the 1870s. 

The church record is for Battle Mountain though.  That would be the main parish for the area.  Back in the late 1800s, the mission church would have been in Austin, Nevada.  I believe that it was or is still called St. Augustine's.  It is probably a good thing that the church records are kept at the main parish.  From what I can tell of Austin, Nevada online, it has seen its up's and down's.  Part of the historic town is referred to as a ghost town.  I know a couple of people who have driven through there.  I've been told that it may not be worth visiting.  It would take me about 6 hours to get there by car.

I have noticed other individuals indicated on this document but am not sure who they are.  I do think that some of their names could be spelled incorrectly.  I wonder who Margarita Fox, Dionisius Maxwell, Joseph McGuiness, M.D. Murphy, Lizzie McGuiness, Margarita Lynch,  John Duffy, Margaret Clifford, Susan McLaughlin, and Frank Duffy are.  Those are all last names that reach back to Newport, New York and the Irish Settlement.  I wonder if any of them are related to others on my Maxwell/McLaughlin family tree.

Anyway, back to my document at hand.  The following is a good source document.  Someone has added some notes with corrections.  By the way, the very first person listed is my great-grandmother, Mary "Minnie" Elizabeth McLaughlin Flanagan. 

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