John Keenan b. 1785, Antrim, Ireland; d. 1871, New York; oc. Stone Mason?
John (Jack) Leary b. unknown; d. unknown; oc. unknown
Cornelius Leary b. 1799, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer
2nd Great Grandfathers
Bernard J. Keenan b. 1829, New York; d. 1891, New York; oc. Farmer
Patrick Leary b. 1831, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer
Denis Leary b. 1835, Canada; d. unkown; oc. Meat Market?
Michael Barry b. 1839, Kerry, Ireland; d. unknown; oc. Farmer
Great Grandfathers
Walter Leary b. 1874, New York d. 1960, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer
James J. Keenan b. 1865, New York; d. 1955, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer
Grandfather
Hubert Keenan b. 1907, New York; d. 1984, New York; oc. Dairy Farmer
Census records tell me that most, if not all, of my male ancestors that lived in America on my mother's side - my grandfather through my 3rd great grandfathers - were farmers. I say most, if not all, because there are three of whom I cannot confirm (and as best as I can tell, the 5 great grandfathers not listed were born and lived in Ireland).
While the Keenan, Leary, Leary, and Barry households were farming - from as early as 1821 through 1960 - the rest of America was moving off the farms and into the cities. The graph below shows how fast the decline was. But we can also put it into perspective by looking at how much of the labor force were farmers while each generation of my ancestors were farming.
Source: Growing a Nation; The Story of American Agriculture. http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm
In 1790, before any of my maternal ancestors arrived, 90% of the labor population were farmers. In 1850, when Cornelius Leary is farming (and possibly John Keenan, too), 64% of the labor force were farmers. When my second great grandfathers (possibly excluding Dennis Leary) are farming in 1880, 49% of the labor force is farming. And in 1920, when James J. Keenan and Walter Leary - my great grandfathers - are dairy farmers, 27% of the labor force are farmers. By the time Hubert Keenan gives up farming around 1960 after his heart attack, with none of his children continuing in farming, only 8 percent of the labor population were farmers.
In 2000, when Hubert Keenan's children and grandchildren are spread across the country (having left behind our ancestral (if not actual) home of Franklin and St. Lawrence counties in norther New York State), working as (or retired from jobs as) managers, teachers, nurses, lawyers, engineers, technicians, accountants, analysts, etc - but no farmers, only 1.9% of the labor force are farmers (source: USDA).
For 200 years, many families in America moved away from farming - moving out of rural areas and into the cities. My maternal ancestors held on much longer than most, but in the end, we too moved off the farm.
*Note: Additional details and background will now be posted in the comments section.
Notes on the ancestors whose occupations I cannot confirm:
ReplyDeleteOf my 2nd great grandfathers, I cannot confirm whether Dennis Leary (not the comedian / actor) was a farmer. I am tempted to assume he was a farmer since his father Cornelius Leary was a farmer. However, I cannot find census records on Dennis during his prime working years (between 1860-1890), so I cannot be sure. And when he does show up again in 1900, his occupation is listed as "meat market" and in 1910 as "own income".
I also cannot confirm the occupation of two of my three 3rd great grandfathers that lived in the US. John Keenan is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment. The 1850 census (age 65) lists him as a "stone mason" but it says the same thing for Bernard (age 20), who later census records show to be a farmer. The 1840 census only lists the head of household - John - and says there are 2 people engaged in agriculture and 1 engaged in commerce. And I know absolutely nothing about John (Jack) Leary - father of Ellen Leary (wife of Bernard Keenan).
Notes on Sources: The numbers in the graph - from Growing a Nation are slightly different from this site at the USDA. The numbers are close enough that I feel comfortable using Growing a Nation's numbers (because there are more data points, but also different enough that I feel the need to mention it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you'll note that there are no data points for the years 1800 - 1830. Growing a Nation didn't have data for those years.