THE SPAIN FAMILY
OF
AMERICA AND IRELAND
BY
ROBERT ALAN LORICK
THE SPAINS OF AMERICA AND IRELAND....
Well, it SOUNDS impressive anyway. This may be as good an introduction as
any to a family history.
To begin with, what is known of the origin of the SPAIN's is scant . Family tradition has always held that the name SPAIN was originally DE SPAIN, meaning ,of course, of or from Spain. It was said the SPAINS were originally from Ireland and the name derived from the wreck of the Spanish Armada off the coast of Ireland in 1588.
The King and Queen of Spain had sent an armada of ships to England in 1588 because of religion. Elizabeth Tudor, Queen Elizabeth of England, was a Protestant queen reigning over a formerly predominantly Catholic society. Her rival to the throne was her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, a staunch Catholic. Mary was the logical successor to the throne because she could carry on the royal line when Elizabeth could not.(i.e. no children for the Queen of England). The battle between cousins ended in 1587 with the execution of Mary of Scotland by order of her cousin for "incitement to insurrection, and high treason".
In the sixteenth century religion was a strong political power . There was still little or no separation of church and state, and the church had no geographically defined area it held sway over, yet religion made strong political alliances. Europe, and especially Spain, saw the death of Mary as a threat to a way of life. This is of course simplified because there were many wars going in Europe and political alliances also affected Spain's decision to send an armada to help the Catholics of England and Ireland. The result was that in July and August of 1588 the armada of Spain set sail against the navy of Britian. The Spanish and British both fought bravely but, with the superior ships and sailors of the British fleet led by Sir Francis Drake, the Spanish Armada was sorely beaten.
In the attempt to retreat from Drake's navy many of the ships sank or were wrecked off the coast of Ireland. At least some of the Spanish sailors made it to shore. The people of Ireland would have helped and protected some of these sailors. Many of those sailors who survived and were not killed or captured would have been forced to live out their lives in Ireland. Of those sailors at least a few choose to use the surname DESPAYNE, DESPANE, DI SPAIN, SPAINE, SPAYNE, SPANE, and SPAIN. And thus the family of SPAIN came to Ireland.
Some of the earliest records we have found on the surname
of SPAIN/SPAYNE/etc. in Ireland are of a Sussana Spane, Daughter to Henry.
Baptized 24 April, 1662- From records of St. John's Parish, Dublin. We also
have, from Irish Pedigrees Vol. 1, by John O'Hart, reference to the
Spain\Spaine Family name under the pedigree of the Family Kavinagh of
Clonmellon, County Carlow:
"128. DONAL-AN-SPAINEACH ( or "Donal The Spaniard"), of Clonmellon; his son
(i.e. son of Donoch Kavanagh) died 1631. From this Donal some derive the
surname SPAINE ............this branch of the "Kavanagh" family emigrated to
France after A.D. 1690"
The Spains really did come from Ireland. The first SPAIN ancestor we have record of is that of Charles Spain and his wife Bridget. Both were both born in Ireland CA. 1801. Unfortunately, we do not know where in Ireland our Spain family came from (yet!).
We (I?) know that Charles and his wife and at least one infant son, Stephen immigrated to America around 1830-1831. Charles and Bridget Spain were married in Ireland. They ultimately settled in upstate New York. They and their descendants made their homes in that area until the first part of this century. There are probably some distant relatives still there that we do not know of. The telephone directory for the year 1989-1990; a massive tome of some forty or fifty pages did not list any present day residents with the surname of SPAIN. This first bit of data was derived from the 1840 and 1850 Census records of Herkimer County New York.
It is now known from the Records of the Irish Settlement Cemetery in Newport, New York that Charles Spain Died September 14, 1891 and that his oldest son Stephen died in 1891
The Spains really did come from Ireland. The first SPAIN ancestor we have record of is that of Charles Spain and his wife Bridget, who were both born in Ireland ca. 1801. Unfortunately, we do not know where in Ireland our Spain family came from (yet!).
We (I?) know that Charles and his wife and at least one
infant son, Stephen, emigrated to America around 1830-1831. Charles and
Bridget Spain were married in Ireland. They ultimately settled in upstate
New York. They and their descendants made their homes in that area until the
first part of this century . There are probably some distant relatives still
there that we do not know of. The telephone directory for the year
1989-1990, a massive tome of some forty or fifty pages, did not list any
present- day residents with the surname of SPAIN. This first bit of data was
derived from the 1840 and 1850 Census records of Herkimer County, New
York.
CHARLES SPAIN
M. Bridgit - Born: in Ireland. c.a. 1801 Married c.a. 1825-1826 in Ireland
Died: before 1880 in Herkimer Co. , N.Y. Probably in Schuyler Town
Issue:
Stephen Spain (1A), like his brothers, was a farmer. Records indicate that he never married. The 1890 census of Civil War Veterans and Their Widows indicates that Stephen Spain was a veteran. It states that "Stephan Spaine" enlisted in the army on February 15, 1864 and was discharged on March 5, 1865 with the curious rank of "foreman". No company, regiment, or vessel was noted. His length of service was one year and one month and the post office he enlisted from was that of Newport. No disability was incurred. In 1890 he gave this information from his home in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N.Y. The National Archives in Washington and the New York State Archives does not have any record of him in the military, though they (the State Archives) says that he may have been a civilian and never been mustered into the service.
"It should be noted that some soldiers in state militia units which were never mustered into the service of the Continental, Federal, or Confederate; records of which state service, if available, are in state custody".
By the same respect, there were many positions during the Civil War done by civilians that would today have their strictly military equivalents. Stephen was the only member of the Spain family doing duty during that war with the exception of his brother John Henry, my Great-Great Grandfather.
John Henry Spain (1D) -
Issue:
Margaret/Margarette Spain(1B)
Married: Patrick M. Mahardy(A4 under MAHARDY)
Issue:
John Henry Spain (1D) was about 5'10" or 5'11" with the dark complexion of the Spains today, black hair and black eyes. Sometime around 1860 John Henry Spain moved from Schuyler to the nearby community of Newport (maybe eight miles distance). There he met Mary Mahardy. They married in Utica, New York on April 12,1860 and settled back in Newport until he joined the Cavalry during the Civil War.
John Spain was a private (later a corporal) and a teamster with Company A of Scott's 900 N.Y. Cavalry. This regiment was later designated the 11th New York Cavalry. He served from January 6,1864 until October 8,1865 when the war ended. He served in Tennessee during that time and while on detached duty to the Freedman's Bureau Dept. was injured when his horse fell on him. From this injury he was to wear a leg brace on his right ankle for the rest of his life.
He returned to Newport, N.Y. after discharge from the cavalry and lived there until January or February of 1866. It is not known exactly where he went to live then, but it is known that for some period of time between 1866 and 1872 John Henry and his wife and at least 3 or 4 children lived in Lewis County, New York. We now know from birth and death certificates that two of his children were born in Osceola Township in that county, though in one record someone reported Osceola, Lewis County as Osceola County, New York (there is no Osceola County , New York.)
From at least 1872 till 1882 he worked and lived in Salmon River, Oswego County, New York. In the Spring of 1882 he moved to Clayville, Town of Paris, Oneida County New York until his death on April 7, 1905. Sometime between June 1880 and March 28,1898 Mary Mahardy, his wife, died. He never remarried. His Daughter Mary Bridgid Spain, known to everyone as Minnie, lived with him in Clayville, NY until his death. She eventually went out to San Francisco to live with her brother James Henry, who had settled out there after moving from New York to Pennsylvania and then to California. It is assumed that John H. was a Catholic because the Spains have been Catholic traditionally, and John Spain does mention that a record of his marriage is in Parish records in Utica, NY.
A great deal of this data is derived from thirty years worth of Civil War pension records based on an invalid pension claim. One statement that John Henry Spain made several times in his pension records made me laugh. I like to think it was his sense of humor . One pension form asks if he was or had been married before, and of course, he stated in the affirmative (YES). When asked what record of this marriage exists his answer was," a certificate and three children". No known picture exists of John Henry Spain.
William Spain (1E) -
William Spain (1E) was a twin. He and his twin brother were born in Schuyler, Herkimer County, New York in October of 1840 and he remained in Schuyler his entire life. His twin brother, James, had a farm next to his. The 1875 census shows William's farm to be 165 acres and worth $8000. His father lived out the remaining years of his life with William on his farm. The 1920 census says his wife, Margaret Ward and her parents were all born in New York. The last record of William Spain is that he was living with his daughter Helen M. and her husband John F. Farrell, in the town of Frankfort in Herkimer County in 1920. He was, by then, eighty years of age. His children may have followed the other Spains to the Scranton, Pennsylvania or San Francisco, California areas. Further research is needed.
JAMES SPAIN (1F) -
JAMES SPAIN (1F) : Both James and his twin, William, were still living with their parents in Schuyler in 1860 though by 1866 he had married and gotten a farm of his own in Schuyler. In 1870 He and brother William had adjoining farms and their older brother, Stephen, was living on William's farm. His wife, Marcellus/Marcella Mahardy was the sister of Mary Mahardy, his brother John Henry's wife. Unfortunately James died sometime between 1873 and 1875 when his wife remarried John Davins/Devins/Devens of Ireland. He came to the states about 1871 and was born in January of 1834, about six years her senior.
John Devins took care of his stepchildren and the four Spain children were even living with him and his mother in 1900 when they were all in their late twenties to early thirties. All four of these children were unmarried. I know Irish social tradition had the sons marry later in life, but it seems to be a trend that so many of the Spains were unmarried late in life or never married. From what I have seen of the Spain history the average life span for that family was about seventy-nine so maybe they were in no hurry. I should not judge. As of this writing I am thiry-nine years old and not yet close to marriage.(not including serious strike outs I personally attribute it to Robert Service who wrote, "There's a race of men who don't fit in; a race who can't stand still; so they break the hearts of kith and kin; and roam the world at will")
JOHN M. SPAIN (1D1) -
John M. Spain (1D1) was an electrician like his brother James Henry. He apparently had already left home by the time he was 16 or 17 because he was not present with his family in the 1880 census of Albion, Oswego County, New York. Somewhere between 1880 and 1897/98 he chose to move to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Perhaps his brother James Henry Spain moved to Pennsylvania in the 1890's to follow his older brother, or perhaps they moved together. In 1900 he lived at 425 Kellum Court in Scranton City, Pennsylvania, and in 1910 he lived on Orescott Avenue in Scranton.
It is also known that for a short while John went out to San Francisco, California and was a clerk for his brother at his "cigar" store, SPAIN & WILLINGHAM CIGARS, located at 66 Market Street in 1908-1909. He and his brother were living together at 1535 Fillmore Street at that time. It is known that by April 1910 John M. Spain had returned to Scranton, PA where he lived out the rest of his life. I have a picture of John M. Spain and his wife Joanna taken after 1928 with his nephew and his wife, Paul Berton and Charlotte Spain. Paul and Charlotte were my mother's aunt and uncle and my great-aunt and uncle. They talked warmly of the Spains, and Klotz's and Lohman's in Pennsylvania. And they gave me many of the clues necessary to write this little family study and directing me to Paul Deininger and William Curnow, who filled in things I could not even guess at.
From that time until his death the Spain family resided at
2030 1/2 Steiner Street in San Francisco. I believe that James Spain and
wife Caroline may have moved to California originally because his wife had
family out there. According to information provided by William Curnow,
Caroline Klotz had an aunt and possibly other relatives out there. In fact,
San Francisco was where Caroline's sister, Louise Klotz met and married her
husband, Jacob Klarer. I am afraid Bill Curnow has not yet provided me with
the name of the aunt that resided there.
For a while James' brother John M. lived and worked with him in San Francisco and their sister, Minnie (Mary Bridgid) would be living with James and Caroline by that time. Again, maybe the three of them decided to come to San Francisco together, being the only surviving siblings. Up till 1905 Minnie had lived in Clayville, Oneida County, New York with their father until his death.
We had always heard that James Spain died at sea and under
mysterious circumstances. It was always implied that he might have been
killed. His obituary from 1916 gave validity to the rumor. It follows
verbatim:
S.F. MAN DIES AT SEA;
TEARS UP BIG MONEY
FELLOW VOYAGERS WHISPER HE LOST HEAVILY
AT MONTE CARLO; WIFE COLLAPSES AT NEWS
DISPATCHES FROM NEW YORK LAST EVENING BROUGHT WORD OF THE DEATH LAST FRIDAY NIGHT ON BOARD THE FRENCH LINER ESPAGNE, OF JAMES HENRY SPAIN OF THIS CITY, WHO WAS ON HIS WAY HOME FROM EUROPE. THE CAPTAIN OF THE ESPAGNE, WHICH ARRIVED IN NEW YORK YESTERDAY ORDERED THE REMAINS BURIED AT SEA.
MRS. SPAIN, WHO LIVES AT 2030 1/2 STEINER STREET, HAD
HEARD NOTHING OF HER HUSBAND'S DEATH AND SHE COLLAPSED WHEN APPRISED OF IT
BY THE CHRONICLE. SPAIN, SAID HIS WIFE, WAS IN ROBUST HEALTH WHEN HE LEFT
HOME AND COULD IMAGINE NO CAUSE FOR HIS SUDDEN APPARENT DEMISE.
TORE UP GOLD NOTE
SPAIN, ACCORDING TO HIS FELLOW PASSENGERS ON THE LINER, WAS SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY. IT WAS REPORTED THAT HE HAD BEEN UP TO MONTE CARLO, WHERE HE HAD LOST A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY. HE SEEMED TO HAVE PLENTY OF FUNDS, HOWEVER, AND ONE NIGHT ENTERTAINED A GROUP OF SPECTATORS IN THE SMOKING ROOM ABOARD BY TEARING UP A BILL OF LARGE DENOMINATION AND SCATTERING THE FRAGMENTS ABOUT THE FLOOR.
ACCORDING TO MRS. SPAIN, HER HUSBAND WAS FORMERLY AN
ELECTRICIAN THOUGH MORE RECENTLY HE HAD BEEN ENGAGED IN THE CIGAR BUSINESS
HERE. THE FAMILY CAME TO SAN FRANCISCO FROM NEW YORK SHORTLY AFTER THE 1906
FIRE. ON DECEMBER 6TH LAST SPAIN LEFT THIS CITY FOR NEW YORK WHENCE HE
SAILED FOR EUROPE, OSTENSIBLY ON A BUSINESS TRIP.
HAD NEW "SYSTEM"
HIS WIFE ON CHRISTMAS RECIEVED A LETTER FROM HIM. HE THEN WAS IN PARIS. HE WROTE FROM THE FRENCH CAPITAL AGAIN DECEMBER 29TH, BUT THIS WAS THE LAST LETTER MRS. SPAIN RECIEVED FROM HIM. SHE SAID SHE HAD HEARD NOTHING OF HIS ALLEGED VISIT TO MONTE CARLO ALTHOUGH HE HAD OFTEN SPOKEN OF A DESIRE TO GO TO THE FAMOUS GAMBLING RESORT TO TRY OUT A "SYSTEM" HE HAD INVENTED. SPAIN LEAVES, BESIDES HIS WIDOW, TWO SONS PAUL, AGED 14, AND CARL, AGED 19 WHO LIVE WITH THEIR MOTHER .
The pure irony of James Spain's death was the name of the ship he was on when he died: ESPAGNE. This is French for SPAIN. The passenger lists for arrivals in the New York Times still showed James as an arriving passenger when the ship docked.
MARY BRIDGID SPAIN (1D3) was known to my Mother as Aunt Minnie. Minnie never married and instead took care of her father most of her life, possibly because of his injury during the Civil War that left him crippled and wearing a leg brace. After his death in 1905 it is presumed that she moved from Clayville, Oneida County, New York to live with her brother James who was probably living in New York City at the time. Around 1906-1907 the three siblings Johnny, James (or was he called Henry then?), and Minnie moved to San Francisco, California where Minnie was to spend the remainder of her life. She and her sister-in-law, Caroline Spain, lived together after the death of Minnie's brother, James Spain. In the 1900 Census her profession was listed as a weaver. I know from her death certificate that she was a practical nurse. And I know she was a Catholic. I would like Aunt Mae or my mother to give me their comments on her since they both knew her and I did not. She died on Novemebr 28,1947 in San Francisco and her funeral was held at St. Mary's Cathedral on Vann Ness Ave. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Mary J. Spain (1E1) - the only information I have for the children of William Spain(1E) is from census records. And after 1900 I fail to find any information, presently. She was 28 in 1900 and unmarried and was a dressmaker. She was twenty eight at the time and she and her three siblings all lived with their parents in Schuyler, New York.