DeKalb County History Center turns focus to local Irish immigrants

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County History Center is turning its focus to local stories of Irish immigrants.

Rob Glover, director for the Joiner History Room in Sycamore and archivist with the DeKalb County History Center, said in light of Irish American Heritage Month and St. Patrick’s Day, history center staff wanted to learn more.

For example: When did the Irish first arrive in DeKalb County?

To begin creating a local archive of Irish immigrant history in DeKalb County, center staff members are conducting an overhaul of history records in the community. If someone was to search “Irish immigrants in DeKalb County,” not a lot of information would come up, Glover said.

“But if you take them one by one as individuals and work through what are they doing, where are they living, where have they gone to school, what by the end of their lives were they accomplishing, you start to then see, ‘Oh, look. They made this huge impact,’ " Glover said.

But trying to find that information hasn’t been easy, Glover said, and can include painstaking research into census lists and attempts to create genealogical connections.

Glover said early research seems to suggest the Irish Potato Famine as a main catalyst for many Irish immigrants to DeKalb County.

According to the history center’s archives, settlers arriving in the U.S. in the mid-1830s – largely from New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont – tended to be of English ancestry. That narrative echoes in DeKalb County history also.

However, broader searches for Irish stories don’t turn up results in existing DeKalb County archives. As a result, the more individualized-approach Glover detailed is how researchers expect to build an Irish immigrant database.

Census records are another tool.

The census occurs every 10 years and DeKalb County has participated in every national census since 1840, according to the history center. Volunteers searched records of the 1840-1880 census and the 1900-1940 census. Most of the 1890 national census was lost in a 1921 fire in Washington D.C.

Where in the county did early Irish immigrants settle?

DeKalb County consisted of 13 townships in 1850, according to history center records. Records show residents in every township had people who reported being born in Ireland.

“Only one Irish-born person lived in DeKalb and South Grove Townships,” according to the archives. “But in Pampas Township [the former name of Cortland Township] boasted 66 Irish residents, more than twice the next highest township, [which was] Mayfield Township with 25.”

In 1850, a total of 142 Irish people lived in DeKalb County, according to that year’s census. The Irish made up 1.88% of the population.

Searches for local Irish immigrants next will include a search of the 1840 census records.

“Researchers also currently seek to connect these names with long-time DeKalb families – names like Welch, Ganan, Callahan, Halloran, Horn, McCormick, McAllister, Persil, McDowell and Henegan,” according to the archives. “The 1850s spellings complicate this effort.”

Glover said archivists will also sift through property records. He invites the public to contribute to the historical timeline.

“If anybody who’s Irish sees [this story] and is like, ‘Oh, that’s our family, here’s our stuff,’ that would be amazing,” Glover said.