Cunninghams of Columbus, Wisconsin, Part 1

I haven't posted about the genealogy of my mother's family, but during a recent family trip to the Wisconsin Dells, we stopped in the town of Columbus, where Maurice Cunningham and Elizabeth Cunningham, my 3xgreat-grandparents, settled with their family in the 1850s. We got a lot from the trip, so I'm going to write several blog posts. Here's the first one, an overview of what we knew about the Cunninghams before the trip to Columbus, based on the documentary evidence. You can find the other posts here: Part 2 (the cemetery), Part 3 (the church and farm), Part 4 (our current state of knowledge) and related posts on Robert Steven Cunningham, the Rooney farm and Wallenstown, Ireland.)

An Overview of the Cunninghams of Columbus

Maurice and Elizabeth Cunningham arrived in the United States in 1828. My uncle Mike found them on the manifest of the British ship Trio, sailing from Cork, and arriving in New York on October 2. On the manifest they are listed as Maurice and Betsy Cunningham, aged 21 and 18, with Maurice's profession listed as "carpenter"(1).

Maurice and Elizabeth and numbers 11 and 12 on this manifest.
Click for larger size.

I could not find the family in the 1830 or 1840 censuses. There are multiple Cunninghams living in New York, and it's not at all clear which one is the correct one, if any. At the time, the census only listed the name of the head of household and the number of free or enslaved people living in the household. If Maurice and Elizabeth were boarders or living with an employer, they would not be counted by name in the census. We do know, however, that during this time Maurice served as head gardener for Robert Livingston Pell, of Pelham estate in Ulster County, New York. This was a prestigious position, as the Pells owned a very extensive estate and were known for their agricultural innovations. Today, the estate is home to a seminary and retreat center owned by the Redemptionist Fathers. This YouTube video shows the landscape, although the buildings all post-date Maurice and Robert Pell. In 1843, Pell (with specific mention of Maurice) won a premium at the Fair of the American Institute, and was considered a source of "superior specimens" of winter apples and culinary vegetables(2). 

Maurice and Elizabeth were recorded in the 1850 census in Esopus, Ulster, New York, along with eight children, ranging in age from twenty to eight(3). By the 1860 census, they had moved to Columbus, Wisconsin, and they were recorded there with nine children (the additional child being my great-great-grandfather, Robert Steven Cunningham)(4). Although the birth-years, birth-orders, and even country of birth tended to change from census to census, the children of Maurice and Elizabeth were, I believe, all born in New York, and their birth years are, to the best of my knowledge:
     Richard - 1830
     William - 1831
     John - 1834
     Maurice W. - 1834
     Ellen - 1836
     Elizabeth (Eliza) - 1838
     Michael - 1840
     Edward - 1842
     Robert - 1850

Maurice and Elizabeth staked a land claim to the southwest of the town of Columbus, Wisconsin. An 1873 plat map of the county shows the farm marked M. Cunningham, although Maurice himself had died in 1867. Later maps show the land claimed by William Cunningham, the second-oldest son.

The 1873 map showing the Cunningham farm

Maurice died in 1867 and was buried temporarily in the churchyard of St. Jerome's in Columbus. The next year, he became the first person laid to rest in St. Jerome's new cemetery(5).

Elizabeth continued to live in Columbus until at least 1880. In the 1870 census, she is listed as head of household on the farm, living with her children William, Ellen, Edward, Eliza, and Robert(6). I don't know where the other children went. By 1880, she is living on the farm with William, Edward, Ellen, and Michael(7). Robert had married by that time, and Eliza had joined a religious order.

In the Wisconsin state census of 1885(8), William is head of household with 3 males and 1 female, presumably William, Edward, Michael, and Ellen, since all four household members were born in the United States. Probably Elizabeth had died by then (unless she moved to another child's home), but her name is not found in St. Jerome's cemetery.

There's no record of the Cunningham family living on the farm after 1885. Unfortunately, the 1890 census for Wisconsin was destroyed in a fire. By the 1900 census, there are no Cunninghams in Columbia county except for Ellen, who is living with her sister-in-law, Elsea Lyons(9). She died before 1910. There are no Cunninghams in Columbus, Wisconsin, in the 1910 census.

[Update: following up on the Elsea Lyons, with whom Ellen Cunningham was living in 1900, I found more of Maurice's grandchildren. Elsea T. Richards, born April 12, 1843 in Concord, New York, married John Cunningham and had two children, William Cunningham (who died in 1899) and Corinna Cunningham (married to Hoadley Long). After John's death, Elsea married Elisha Lyons. I was able to find the John Cunningham family in the 1870 census, living in Columbus. He was a carpenter with $600 in real estate.]

References:
(1) Ship's manifest of the Port of New York.
(2) 1843 Documents of the Senate of the State of New York, Volume 3, pp. 74, 75, and 47.
(3)  "United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZMM-8G8 : accessed 18 January 2015), Maurice Cunningham, Esopus, Ulster, New York, United States; citing family 469, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
(4) "United States Census, 1860," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWMP-MP2 : accessed 15 August 2015), Morris Cunningham, Columbus, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com(http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing p. 133, household ID 988, NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 805,401.
(5)  1880 The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin, p.692
(6) United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN97-D14 : accessed 21 January 2015), Eliza Cunningham, Wisconsin, United States; citing p. 17, family 118, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,205.
(7) "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN4H-FFN : accessed 21 January 2015), E Cunningham, Columbus, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district 19, sheet 55A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1420; FHL microfilm 1,255,420.
(8) "Wisconsin, State Census, 1885," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MM9R-LBC : accessed 21 January 2015), William Cunningham, Columbus Town, Columbia, Wisconsin; citing reference 14, State Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,032,696.
(9) "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMK7-H6F : accessed 15 August 2015), Ellen Cunningham in household of Elsea T Syons, Columbus city Ward 1-3, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States; citing sheet 10B, family 258, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,241,781.