Martin Eagen, a native of Roscommon, Ireland, was only 23 years old when he threw himself overboard from the SS. Mantiban. The ship was bound for Boston in the great mid-19th century  Irish emigration period when this terrible event occurred. The vessel stopped and turned around to look for him but he was lost forever. His sister, Mary Eagen, was left to find her way alone to Portland, Maine.

Margaret McGovern, listed under occupation as “spinster,”  arrived at the port of Boston on February 16, 1882. She had a child fathered by one James Bracken in Ireland who gave her parents one hundred dollars “to dispose of her.” With this money the parents paid their daughter’s passage, gave her ten dollars for her expenses, and told her to apply for the almshouse when she reached Boston.

These two stories, with their pathetic details, are among the many thousands to be found in public records kept by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to the Passenger Lists collection from which the stories cited come, this agency has many other records relating to family history. The web site www.state.ma.us/sec/arc provides more detailed information about these holdings.

The period from 1848 to 1891 saw one million immigrants land in Boston. Not a few of the new arrivals here were also new arrivals into the world, having been born on board the ship that carried their mothers. At least one record gives the exact latitude and longitude of the ship the infant was delivered.

One such was born to a woman not arriving on these shores for the first time. Maggie Mason, 20 years old, had been born in the United States and was visiting family members in Ireland. She booked passage to Boston on the liner Marathon and during the voyage she gave birth to “infant Mason.” This child was legally Irish, rather than American, because Maggie Mason  bore the nationality of her husband. Only in 1920, with women’s suffrage, did women acquire citizenship in their own right.

I recently heard these stories and others during a talk given by Janis Duffy, who works as reference supervisor at the Massachusetts State Archives, located near Columbia Point in Boston. She also lists herself as a lecturer, researcher, and genealogist. Her presentation fascinated me and the other elders who listened as she related often heart-rending tales of suffering and hardship borne by our ancestors, or people like them, as they struggled to reach American shores.

We heard about one traveler who had already become famous –  – John L. Sullivan, the heavyweight champion of the world. He came first class and, on his arrival, was met on the dock by thousands of his wildly enthusiastic fans.  Janis Duffy found his name among hundreds of John Sullivans and became sure it was he when she found a Boston Post newspaper account of his arrival.

And Pat Kennedy’s name appears in the records also. He arrived in 1849 when he was 29 years old. He was to become JFK’s great-grandfather. He died young, so that his wife Bridget had find outside employment in order to support her family.

“We have the best research resources in the country,” says Janis Duffy. As one who has made extensive use of such resources here and in other parts of the United States, she knows whereof she speaks. Ms.Duffy began as a volunteer at the Massachusetts archives and then moved into a professional position there. She demonstrates how interest in family history can become a marvelous vantage point for a wide diversity of learning.

During her talk I reflected on my maternal grandfather, Richard Barry, who arrived in Boston May 8, 1871 as a passenger on the Cunard’s “Siberia” en route from Liverpool  and Queenstown.  Described as a “common laborer” at age 12, he was accompanied by his two younger brothers, James and John. Though it must have taken pluck for boys like this to find their way in the new world, he managed marvelously. He settled in Peabody where he went to work in a leather factory. Eventually, he became owner of a factory himself and was able to put his family on a secure footing before his death in 1909 at the age of fifty.

Using this link with Ireland, I have inquired about Irish citizenship, a step that many other Americans of Irish descent have taken. That could give me an Irish passport and facilitate travel in the European Community. Had I received citizenship before the birth  of my daughter, she too could have benefited from my new status.

The Massachusetts Archives welcomes visitors from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday and also Saturday until 3. Information over the telephone is available at (617) 727-2816. The Archives are under the direction of  the Secretary of State and contain a great many materials bearing on the history of the Commonwealth as well as other resources valuable for tracing family histories.

Richard Griffin