County Donegal, Ireland: Donegal is the northernmost county of Ireland and was one of the last areas of the island to succumb to English rule. First established as a Viking fortress, its name stems from the Irish "Dun na nGall," or "Fort of the Foreigners." From the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, the region was ruled by the O'Donnell family, who made their home at the imposing Donegal Castle. The castle, recently restored, is now one of the county's major tourist attractions. Vistors also flock to Donegal to visit Slieve League, the highest sea clifffs in Europe, as well as the region's miles of sandy beaches. The coastal town of Rossnowlagh is as famous among surfers as Donegal's golf courses. Each summer, Donegal hosts the Ballyshannon Folk Festival, a celebration featuring traditional Irish music.

Ireland has 4 Provinces, 32 Counties and the country is about the size of Washington State. County Donegal has six larger cities: Ardara, Buncrana, Donegal, Dunglow, Letterkenny and Rathmelton. The County is known for it's tweed and knitwear, has roughed coastlines, green valleys, hills and lots of water area in the form of lakes (loughs) and bays.

m: <1828, Co Donegal Ireland (probably, no record); 10 children:

                 Mary-Ann                 m:   ??               
                  1829 (Canada)-?                            
                 Bridget Sophia           m: Jeremiah Spencer  
                 ~1831 (Canada)-1878           ??                                      
                 Peter Jr                 m:  Jane Haskell 
                  1833/1837-1867               1829-1910                 
                 Nancy                    m: Thomas Lynch 
                  1835 - ?                     ?? 
                 Margaret                 m:  John Kiley
                  1837-                        ??
                 John                     m:  Margaret Grey
                  1842-?                       1844-?
                 James
                  1845-1846                      
                  Childhood death, noted on parents gravestone:
                  "James Son of Peter" at St Mary's RCCem, Houlton ME 
                 Thomas                   m:  Elizabeth Curtis
                  1846-1908                    1855- 1914 
                 Francis                  m:  Catherine Abernathy 
                  1848-?                       1851-1927 
                 Charles                  m:  Louisa Laverty                                                       1849, 1850-1922              1858-1930 
               
                  Many of Peter & Nancy's decendents acquired the 
                 "Haggerty disease": diverticulosis, arthritis 
                  and/or depression.
               
                 John, Thomas, Francis & Charles, at one time, all 
                 resided in the Stillwater MN / Houlton-St Joseph WI
                 area (St Croix Valley) and served as sponsors & witness'
                 at each others m: & family bap:
          

Stillwater, Minnesota This city of 13,882 residents is nestled into the bluffs of the St. Croix River along the eastern border of Minnesota just 23 miles east of St. Paul. It was a thriving logging town into the late 1800's. It is located across the St. Croix River from Houlton, Wisconsin and connected by a bridge. Stillwater was the site of the first territorial prison in Minnesota. Isaac Staples was one of the towns pioneers and became a lumber baron in the 1800's and owned a lumber mill. The Main Street contained a rooming house,a railroad building, a saloon,a brewery and a theater.

Frank Haggerty his wife Catherine and their family moved here in 1881 as did brother John during the same period; and his brother Thomas lived across the river in Houlton WI.

d:

HE: Bangor ME USA, 15 January 1881, 74 years old

SHE: Houlton ME USA, 27 February 1886, 79 years old

Both interred, together, and with other family members, in St Mary's RCCemetary, Houlton ME USA

Gravestone Inscription

                               PETER HAGGERTY
                                    died
                                Jan 15, 1881 
                                 AE 74 years      
                           
                                   Nancy
                               his wife died
                               Feb 27, 1886
                               AE 79 years      
                              
                                   James 
                                son of Peter      
                                     
                               Mary mother of
                               Peter Haggerty
                               74 years/1857        
                               

"The Faithful Are Certain Of Their Reward"

HAGGERTY MIGRATION RECORD

1829- Peter Haggerty and Nancy McGuire Haggerty immigrated from 
      County Donegal, Ireland to the Woodstock-Fredericton area 
      in New Brunswick, Canada.
1828- 13 Original States formed.
1833- Peter Haggerty and family moved to Bangor, Maine.
1837- Peter Haggerty and family moved to Belfast Academy Grant
      now Lodlow, Maine
1845- Texas annexed by USA.
1846- Peter Haggerty became US citizen.
1854- Peter Haggerty and family moved to Houlton, Maine to 
      Littleton Ridge area.
1861-65- Civil War.
1867- US buys Alaska
1868- Thomas Haggerty migrated to Cambria County, Penn.
1869- John Haggerty and wife Margaret migrate to Stillwater, 
      Minnesota.
1869- USA transcontinental railroad completed.
1872- Thomas Haggerty moved to and established town of Houlton,
      Wisconsin.
1881- Frank Haggerty and Catherine Abernathy Haggerty migrated to 
      Stillwater, Minn. just across the St. Croix River from Brother 
      Thomas in Houlton, Wisc.
1883- Frank Haggerty and family moved to Beardsley, Minn.
1893- Catherine Haggerty and family migrated to Sisseton, So. Dakota.
1895- Edmund Peter Haggerty travelled the country, Maine to Minn. to 
      Kansas to Montana to Dakotas and settled in Houlton, Wisc.
1898- Spanish-American War
1898- John Haggerty builds a sod house on homestead land by Hillhead, 
      So. Dakota.
1914- Pamama Canal opens.
1917-20- World War 1
1918- Edmund Peter Haggerty and family moved to Glendive, Montana by 
      Train
1929- Wall Street Stock Market crashes
1940- Melvin Hanson and Skutz Haggerty Hanson migrated to Hoquiam, 
      Washington.
      Lots of Haggerty's from So. Dakota followed in 1941 and 1942.
1941- US enters World War 11 against Germany.
1950- Charlie Haggerty and family move from Hoquiam to Port Angeles, 
      Washington by Brother Dick and Bessie Haggerty.
1963- Kennedy assassinated.

According to INS records, they, Peter, Nancy (& Mary, Peter's mother, a reluctant voyager) arrived USA in 1831 via St Johns NB Canada. He became a naturalized /USA citizen in 1841, being unlettered in English, he signed his citizenship papers with an "X".

Daughter Bridget Sophia was recorded as b: ~1831 in NB Canada & daughter Mary Ann, bap: 1829 at St Dunstan's RCCh, Fredericton NB was also probably Canada b: where the family lived during their first years in North America.

Peter, it is reported, may have owned land in NB Canada. A land grant, dated 1828, was issued to a Peter Hagerty & partners: Thomas, William & John Armstrong, Alexander Anderson & John Topham for 598 acres of land at Alston Point, Town of Bathhurst, Gloucester Co NB Canada. They, the Haggerty family, then, re-settled in Bangor ME USA.

Bangor, Maine This is the county seat and port of entry of Penobscot County, Maine, at the head of tidewater and ocean navigation on the Pensbscot River. The city lies in central Maine 60 miles from the mouth of the Penobscot, and at its junction with the Kenduskeag River. Highway and railroad bridges over the Penobscot connect Bangor with Brewer; bridges at various street intersections also span the Kenduskeag, which flows through the heart of the city. Within the city limits of Bangor, on the Penobscot, is the famed Salmon Pool, where, in May and June, 10 to 30-pound Atlantic salmon fight their way up the falls of the river to spawn.

The site of Bangor was a favorite Indian camping ground. It was visited as early as 1604 by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Settlement took place during the latter part of the 18th century; Bangor was incorporated as a town in 1791, and chartered as a city in 1834. In the 19th century, Bangor was noted for its shipbuilding and as the leading lumber port in the world. In the mid 1830s, Bangor was home to more that 300 sawmills, earning the city the undisputed title Lumber Capital of the World. Lumberjacks harvested the northern Maine woods and sent their logs down the Penopscot River where runners in Bangor picked them up. Pictures from the era show Penobscot River swollen from shore to shore with logs; people were literally able to walk from one shore to the other! The development of railroad transportation gradually transformed the great lumber port into an important business metropolis and a sports and recreational center.

Modern Bangor is the commercial and financial center for northern and eastern Maine. It is also important industrially, its diversified industries including the manufacture of pulp, paper, wood products, machinery, snowplows, stoves, furnaces, building materials, metal products, cigars, clothing, and sportsman's equipment. The city is the site of Bangor Theological Seminary, the Stover School, and the Northern Conservatory of Music. Eight miles north of the city, at Orono is the University of Maine. The government of Bangor is by a city manager and council. The population in 1990 was 33,181.

Three kids were recorded as Bangor b: Peter Jr (1833/1837) Nancy (1835) and Margaret (1837). Peter's mother Mary, who d: 1857, remains untraced; she does not appear in any of the census records , nominally those of 1840 and 1850, of Aroostook or Penobscot Co ME or the 1851 census of NB Canada, but she is noted on the family gravestone at St Mary's RCCem, Houlton ME.

Little is known of Nancy McGuire, the person; she is reported as a "homemaker" in many USA census reports; she had a relative , Mary McGuire, a possible sister/cousin, who was a sponsor at the bap. of Mary Ann Haggerty, Peter & Nancy's first b: . Mary McGuire also, as a resident of Fredericton NB, m: James Landers, also of Fredericton NB, 15 November 1831, at St Dunstans RCCh, Fredericton NB with Fr Michael McSweeney officiating and Peter Haggerty & Mary Flynn as witnesses.

Peter Haggerty Sr.was a stonecutter, an expert well-digger, a man quick to anger, a devout Catholic, a strong believer in formal education and He and Nancy owned a cottage and garden on 7 acres of Bangor land.

According to his daughter, Bridget Sophia Haggerty Spencer in her novel / biography, a roman`a cleft: "FORTY YEARS in the WILDERNESS" published in 1875, as follows: "There resided in Bangor, (1834), then a small village situated on the Penobscot River, a family by the name of Kendall (read: Haggerty). Mr Kendall then owned seven acres of land on Tomas' Hill, with a neat cottage and large garden, where he lived with his wife and four children, one boy and three girls. Being a stone cutter by trade he was able to earn a good living for his family, and prospered well for five years, at which time there arose a trouble between the Protestants and Catholics which ended in mobs; some were killed, while others had their houses torn down, and as Mr Kendall was a Catholic he became alarmed for the safety of his family, sold his property for a small price, and moved to the Aroostook County (ME) which was then almost a wilderness. He bought two hundred acres of land for fifty cents per acre, built a log house, covered it with hemlock bark, split cedars for floors, and for three or four years worked very hard to keep his family from suffering, carrying a good part of his provisions on his back from Houlton to Belfast (read: Belfast Academy Grant, now Ludlow, ME), which was ten miles, the road being only bushed out. The nearest neighbor was three miles away, and they subsisted principally upon what they raised on their farm." (Book copies available to whomever may be interested)

The "Belfast" location first appeared in the Aroostook Co ME 1837 State Census which listed Peter Haggerty as "Head-of-Household" & 7 others, not named, but believed to be his wife Nancy & kids: Mary Ann, Bridget Sophia, Peter Jr, Nancy, Margaret & an unknown.

In the 1840 National Census for "Belfast" Aroostook Co ME, Peter again is listed as "Head-of-Household" along with 6 others, names not listed, but who may have been the above listed indivuals.

The actual plot of ground in Ludlow where they settled is not known today, purportedly it was 200 acres, purchased at 50 cents each. Ludlow town records have since been lost. There is, though, a Haggerty Hill and a Haggerty Stream located there.

The 1850 National Census record states that Peter & Nancy could neither r/w & that , in addition to Peter & Nancy the following lived at Belfast Academy Grant (Ludlow): Bridget Sophia, ~1831; Peter Jr, 1833/1837; Nancy, 1835; Margaret, 1837; John, 1840; Thomas, 1846; & Francis, 1848. At this point in time Mary Ann has probably married or has otherwise moved on, James, 1845-1846, was interred in St Mary's RCCem & Charles, 1850-1922, has'nt been born.

"...from "THE IRISHMAN:`A Factor in the Development of Houlton" by WJ Thibadeau. In the year of 1854 (?), there came to Houlton the following named Irishman who with their decendants are part of the history of Houlton: Peter Haggarty, Peter McGlynn, James McSheffrey, Patrick Gillen. They purchased land of Jas. C. Madigan on what is known as Littleton Ridge, and commenced to make a clearing. To many of the weak hearted men of this period, what these sturdy men accomplished seems nothing short of marvelous, for today the beautiful farms occupied by the descendants of those men are among the best in the whole county."

The 1860 National Census for Belfast Academy Grant (Ludlow) states that Peter & Nancy can R/W(?) and that the following were living there in addition to Peter & Nancy: dau: Nancy, & sons: John, Thomas, Frank & Charles. At this time Mary Ann & Margaret have dropped from site, perhaps married and living elsewhere. Bridget Sophia is married, living in Argyle. Peter Jr is off pursueing a career as a ship captain.

The 1870 National Census, the family is recorded as located in Littleton ME (Williams College Grant), (next town to Ludlow). This is the Ridge Rd, named Haggerty Ridge Rd or Littleton Ridge Rd in some documents, potato farm, although not a working farm today, it is still in existence, 2001, on a small plot, 112.9 acres, currently valued w/bldg at $38,806, w/ the original farm house in tack, but no barn.

In this census, Peter & Nancy along with 2 of their grandchildren: Charles Henry Haggerty, Martha (Elen) Haggerty (both children of Peter Haggerty Jr who was deceased, lost at sea), and son Frank lived there. Apparently the remainder of Peter & Nancy's children disbursed. Four of the kids at one time settled in the Stillwater MN / Houlton/St Joseph WI area: John, Thomas, Frank & Charles. Three of the brothers stayed "out west"; Charles returned to Houlton.

In the 1880 National Census, living at Littleton Ridge, in addition to Peter & Nancy, son Charles has apparently returned from "out west" & children of son Peter Jr: Charles, Martha, Eddie & John, all Haggerty's , are all living there. Peter Sr d: shortly thereafter, at 74 years, in 1881. At this point in time, Nancy willed the farm to her son Charles. Nancy d: at 79 years, in 1886. Both She & Peter are interred, together, in St Mary's RCCem in Houlton ME.

In the 1900 National Census; (1890 National Census records were distroyed by fire), only Charles, son of Peter&Nancy Haggerty, & Louisa (Laverty) Haggerty and children are living at the Littleton ME location.

By the 1910 National Census Louisa (Laverty) is running the farm, with Charles, her husband, hospitalized, and their kids: John, Myrtle, Albert, Mary, Augustus, Mildred, Madolyn & Clyde are at home on Littleton Ridge , Martha is in Boston at the BosCtyHosp Nurseing School, Elsie is probably working away from home somewhere & Walter & Cecil Waldo are d:, interred at St Mary's RCCem in Houlton.

In the 1920 National Census, Augustus C. Haggerty, son of Louisa, is noted as "head-of-household" running the farm; his siblings Mildred, Madolyn & Clyde are also living there along with their mother Louisa. --- John Haggerty (brother) is living down the road with his wife Catherine (Langan) & 4 kids: John H, James P, Gerald M & Alice M. --- Martha is m: (& pregnant w/Peg) to John Patrick Costello who is attempting to establish a Funeral Director business in Houlton and living w/family on Elm St w/kids: Louise & Mary (later moved to Court St). --- The Costello family soon returned to Boston as daughter Mary developed some kind of intestinal obstruction that was, according to the then family doctor, Joe Donovan, only curable by Boston medical specialists. --- Myrtle is m: to Ed Donovan, farming & living in Ludlow ME --- Albert is m: to Pearl Sharkey; living in Lewiston ME --- Mary is unmarried living & working at Watsons Hardware in Houlton ME --- Elsie is off somewhere & Walter & Cecil Waldo are d:.