John Kilday^[1]

Abt 1815 - 1874  (~ 59 years)

• Name	John Kilday
  Born	Abt 1815	Lettenleague, County Donegal, Ireland
  Gender	Male
  _FGLINK	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176382748
  _FGRAVE	176382748
  _UID	48096B98F4524F7E9E9177FD987E6EFC8A67
  Died	6 Oct 1874	Taylor, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States
  Buried	Calvary Cemetery, South Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States
  Person ID	I54573	Wyman
  Last Modified	14 Dec 2020

  
  

  Family	Ellen Killoran,   b. Abt 1827, Shinrone, Offaly, Leinster, Ireland ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	1. John Kilday,   b. Jul 1846,   d. 21 Jan 1848  (Age ~ 1 years)   2. John Kilday, II,   b. Feb 1848,   d. 25 May 1849  (Age ~ 1 years)   3. Mary E. Kilday,   b. 21 Apr 1850, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States ,   d. 20 Dec 1884, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States  (Age 34 years)   4. John Kilday,   b. 1852, , , Maine, United States ,   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Catherine Kilday,   b. Dec 1854,   d. 24 Sep 1855, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States  (Age ~ 0 years)   6. Thomas A. Kilday,   b. 28 Jun 1857, , , Maine, United States ,   d. 28 Oct 1861  (Age 4 years)   7. William Dennis Kilday,   b. 1858,   d. 23 Feb 1903  (Age 45 years)   8. Thomas A. Kilday,   b. 1863,   d. Yes, date unknown   9. Annie Kilday,   b. 1864, , , Maine, United States ,   d. 20 Nov 1870  (Age 6 years)   10. Charles James Kilday,   b. 12 Jun 1867,   d. Yes, date unknown   11. Charles Henry Kilday,   b. 13 Jul 1869, Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	12 Feb 2013
  Family ID	F19317	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Died - 6 Oct 1874 - Taylor, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States Buried - - Calvary Cemetery, South Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  1860 Federal Census: M653 Roll #436 pages 256 - 257 City of Portland ward # 5 recorded: 6/6/1860 age:40 sugar worker born: Ireland wife: Ellen, age 33, born in Ireland Children: Mary, age10; John, age 8; Thomas A, age 3 RECHECK occcupation and residence facts that are not recorded on fed census John may have died about 1870, his wife and children were ennumerated with John Sr on the 1870 census and he ceased to be listed in the Ptld City Dir. John Sr is my designated head of the family, as are the relationships of "uncle Kilday and John E. I know that they are related but the "links are frayed". Index to New England Naturalization Petitions 1798 - 1906 Roll #81 cert # or vol and page: 1-2 US Circuit Court, Portland, Maine Born: 1815 Residence: Portland, ME Country of Birth: County Donegal, Lettenleague, Ireland, Date & Port of Arrival in the US: New York, January 11, 1841 Naturalization Date: August 4, 1851 Witnesses: John Burns,Ptld, ME; Dennis Kilday, Portland, ME (NOTE: I am assuming that the birth date is in error ,1805 rather than 1815. Calvary rec assumes birth date abt. 1809; age 65 on 1870 Fed Census. I may have attributed the Naturalization to the wrong John, see entry below) Portland Voter Registration Collection (MeHist Soc: coll #4, vol 27, Naturalization, pg 113 Date of Approval: Sept 4, John Kilday, Date of Papers: Apr 23, 1851; US District Court 1870 Federal Census: M593, Roll #541, City of Portland, Ward #4, (call number 145), page 101, lines 8 - 18, June 29, 1870 real estate value: $5,500 personal property value: $ 2,000, 11 Kildays ennumerated at this residence: John, age 65 John E, age 23 John Jr, age 18 Ellen, age 43 Mary E, age 20 William D, age 9 Thomas A, age 7 Annie, age 5 Charles, age 1 Mary, age 20 Joseph, age 2 Note for Caroline: The Kilday's came from County Donegal, Ireland. Naturalization papers say that they came through the port of NY in 1841. It is clear through record research and oral anecdotal history that they spent their first few years in Louisiana perhaps that is where Dennis met and married Maria. In any event, that is where John E. was born. Shortly after his birth they traveled to New York where William was born. They made their way to Maine where they settled. The early Kilday's worked as laborers at local sugar manufacturers, and did so with distinction. John became a foreman and was a protector of the poor Irish immigrant employees. Through discrimination, business upheavals, and disease (cholera, dysentery and typhoid) they struggled for survival; sometimes living together as a large extended family. (Read through the family tree and see how persistent they were in carrying on the family heritage through the naming of their children.) The year that John Coleman was born his Dad was a sugar boiler at the Portland Sugar Company and lived on Danforth Street in Portland. (In 1868, John E and Mary Jane were married at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland. One of the witnesses at their wedding was Edward Coleman.) It seems that John Coleman was the first on this family to get out of the rough labor industry and into the "cleaner" side of business. He began working as a clerk for the telegraph company which later became NET&T. His brothers followed his lead. He moved back and forth from Portland to Massachusetts as he climbed the corporate ladder eventually becoming a District Superintendent. Research on the Kilday's began with an anecdotal oral history told by Peggy Kilday Sullivan, as told to her by her father, Judge Francis Sullivan. The information that we have gathered has come from State Archives, cemeteries, newspapers and libraries, etc. There is still much to learn: John Sr died in Iowa! what was he doing there; a Lewis Kilday was said to be a soldier in the Confederate Army; what of the two Uncles who came here from Ireland and have not been heard from again; who is Jane Kilday, buried with the family in Calvary; and of course can we find the ship that transported the family to America. 1841 was a difficult time in Ireland and many people left or died, but there is still the chance that we have family still living in Donegal..... That may call for another trip to Ireland. And what of the O'Malley's, that search hasn't even begun!

  
  

• Sources

  [S1401] Gellerson Maine Family Tree, compiled by Deb Gellerson.