The story · Chapter 3
Eleven children and an ocean
Where the White children went, and how they got there.
Of James and Mary White's eleven children, at least six ended up in America. One stayed on the farm, and for the other four the tree does not yet say:
| Child | Born | Where the tree places them later |
|---|---|---|
| John White | 1859 | Somerville, Massachusetts, after 1930 |
| Rose Elizabeth White | 1861 | Clark County, South Dakota; died 1958 |
| Rebecca Jane White | 1864 | died 1914, place not recorded |
| Robert White | 1866 | still farming Carrowhugh in 1911; see the note on Robert |
| William Thomas White | 1869 | Brentwood, New York; died 1967 |
| Mary White | 1871 | Seattle, Washington; died 1957 |
| Bernard White | 1872 | the tree's death place is an error; see research |
| Matilda Ann White | 1873 | dressmaker at home in 1901; gone by 1911 |
| Margaret White | 1874 | died 1912 |
| James White | 1875 | Auburn, Washington; died 1958 |
| Albert Burnside White | 1879 | Auburn, Washington; died 1967 |
How they left
From the 1860s until 1939, transatlantic liners of the Anchor Line (Glasgow to New York) and the Allan Line (Liverpool to Canada) anchored in Lough Foyle off Moville. Emigrants went out to them by paddle tender from the stone pier in Moville, where the Anchor Line had its ticket office. Roughly four in five went to the United States, and many traveled on tickets paid for by relatives who were already there.
The tree records Rose White connected with Glasgow and arriving in New York on September 24, 1888, with George Morrison and their baby Mabel. That fits an Anchor Line crossing that stopped at Moville, but the passenger list itself has not been found yet. Open question
Why they left
The pattern in the records is the common one for Ulster farm families after the Famine: one son keeps the farm, the others and most of the daughters go, and each one who goes pays the fare for the next. Robert stayed with his mother; his brothers and sisters went to Massachusetts, New York, South Dakota and Washington. Religion, land and hard times all played a part across Donegal. Which of them decided it for this family is not in any record we have found. Open question