Birth and Parents of Thomas McLain/McGlin
Research note by Wesley Johnston - begun 15 Oct 2013 - last updated 28 Oct 2017
https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/15071894/person/28030301918/media/e6bb545d-b64a-4baa-9514-5147eb923289?_phsrc=iNx2355&usePUBJs=true
CAVEAT: Keep in mind in all this that the modern notion of fixed spellings of surnames did not come about until the late 1800's, and even then census takers and others often wrote down a name the way they guessed it was spelled. The bottom line is not to get fixed on the particular spelling of McLAIN as the surname when you search for records and not to ignore records that do not spell the name that way. It is also important to recognize when Latin versions of a name are used, so as not to mistake Joannis and John as being two different men, for example.
Conclusions
It is important to state the current conclusions up front so that they are not lost in all of the detail. So here are the conclusions, based on the evidence thus far.
1 - The Thomas McLAIN who came to the US in 1864 and settled in Chicago and married 10 Jan 1876 with Mary Jane McCARTHY in Chicago was the 1851 son of John McLAIN and Catherine McDERMOTT. This clearly conflicts with the information on his year of birth on his death record and grave stone, but it conforms with his parents' names on his death record and also with the month (and almost the day) of his birth. While Thomas came to America in 1864, it appears that his parents and sisters remained in Sheffield, with sisters Bridget and Kate both marrying in 1877 and John dieing in 1878.
2 - It f is not clear what became of the family oappears that Patrick McLAIN and Bridget MOOREN and their son Thomas McLAIN, remained in Sheffield, with Bridget dieing in 1867, Patrick remarrying in 1870 and Thomas marrying in 1877.
3 - While there is a strong probability that John McLAIN and Patrick McLAIN were related, possibly brothers, the search for documentation of this relationship has not yet begun.
IMPORTANT NOTE: 27 Oct 2017 -- This is a complete reversal of my earlier conclusion, based on evidence in hand at that time. The new evidence that led me to the current conclusion is the more complete FindMyPast transcriptions of the baptismal records that include the birth dates, which make it clear that the 1851 Thomas McLAIN was born 16 Jan 1851 and the 1851 one was born 12 Apr 1853. The month of a person's birth is the most reliable informant-sourced information on a death record. Thus I now believe that the Thomas McLAIN who died in 1912 and has a birth date of 17 Jan 1853 on both his death record and his grave stone was actually born 16 Jan 1851. Since there remain inconsistencies in the available information, I remain open to changing my conclusions if new documentation is found that merits such change.
The Problem: Conflicting Evidence
Who were the parents of Thomas McLAIN (who came to Chicago in 1864 and married Mary Jane McCARTHY 10 Jan 1876 in Chicago) and when was he born?
His 25 Jul 1912 death record shows his birth date as 17 Jan 1853, his birthplace as England and his parents as John and Catherine (McDERMOTT) McLAIN, with the informant being his oldest son John McLAIN. -- Thanks to Sharon Selle for posting the death record on Ancestry.com ( https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/12254308/person/-120511432/media/c3c31ee4-6d66-4f3a-b2ab-2430f3fa0dbf ).
A search on FamilySearch for a Thomas M*c*l*n baptized about 1853 in England finds two, both baptized at Sheffield, Yorkshire, both with the spelling McGLIN:
- baptized 26 Jan 1851: Thomas McGLIN, son of John McGLIN and Catherine McDERMOT (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NT5V-RPN from FHL film 1941281, ref ID 237). There is a separate civil registration for Thomas McGLIN in the Sheffield registration district in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1851 (on FreeBMD).
- baptized 17 Apr 1853: Thomas McGLIN, son of Patrick McGLIN and Bridget MOOREN (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NJZ9-F2B from FHL film 1941821, item 9, p 325). There is a separate civil registration for a Thomas McGLIN in the Sheffield registration district in the Apr-Jun quarter of 1853 (on FreeBMD).
Until 27 Oct 2017, this was the only information that I had found, and based on the agreement of the year 1853 of the latter baptsim and the death record, I concluded that the then-available information tentatively supported the 1853 Thomas McLAIN as the subject of this research. However, on 27 Oct 2017, I found that FindMyPast had more complete transcriptions that included the birth dates in addition to the baptismal dates. So the full currently known information is:
- born 16 Jan 1851, baptized 26 Jan 1851: Thomas McGLIN, son of John McGLIN and Catherine McDERMOTTS (separate civil registration on FreeBMD for Thomas McGLIN in the Sheffield registration district in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1851) NOTE that FamilySearch shows the baptism year as 1851, while FindMyPast shows it as 1852 and also spells the mother's surname differently than does the FamilySearch transcription.
- born 12 Apr 1853, baptized 17 Apr 1853: Thomas McGLIN, son of Patrick McGLIN and Bridget MOOREN (separate civil registration on FreeBMD for a Thomas McGLIN in the Sheffield registration district in the Apr-Jun quarter of 1853)
There is also the fact that the Thomas who came to Chicago and named his first son John and not Patrick. The first son was often named for the father's father, which counts in support of John being Thomas' father.
So which Thomas McLain was the one who died in 1912 -- the one who was born to Patrick and Bridget in the year that the death record shows or the one who was born to John and Catherine in the month shown in the death record -- when either conclusion results in conflict with the death record.
Weighing the Death Record Evidence
I am always skeptical of birth information on death records. It was given by a surviving spouse or child, neither of whom was present at the birth. So whatever information that they gave to be written on the death record was hearsay information.
Thomas' eldest son John McLain served as the Informant for his death record.
The question is which is more credible: the precise birthdate of 17 Jan 1853 or the names of his parents?
If they celebrated his birthday every year, then it seems that they really all knew that he was born 17 Jan 1853 and not 26 Jan 1851, since he himself would have been the one who had begun ceebrating 17 Jan as his birthday. Thus the month of the birthdate seems more likely to have been something known with near certainty, with the day being next most reliable. The accuracy of the year depended entirely on whether the parents of the desceased were illiterate or innumerate or not.
So is there a scenario in which the family could have thought that John and Catherine were his parents when they were not? And there is. If Patrick and John were brothers - quite likely with a father named Thomas since they both named their sons Thomas, then if John's Thomas had died and if Patrick and his wife also died, it is possible that John and Catherine took Patrick and Bridget's Thomas into their home and raised him as their own son. Certainly Thomas himself would have known who his birth parents were. But if his birth parents had died, then his son would only have known his adoptive parents (and it is likely that there was no formal adoption, since there seldom was in such cases). So John McLain would have put on his father Thomas' death record who he thought he knew as his father's parents: John and Catherine. BUT the records really do not support this scenario. The 1861 census of Sheffield shows the Thomas in the home of Patrick and Bridget as 8 years old, thus born about 1853. And the more complete FindMyPast transcriptions of the baptisms and FreeBMD entries show that each couple did indeed have a son named Thomas, one in 1851 and one in 1853, so that there was not just one Thomas born to one set of parents and raised by another. So this scenario can be ruled out.
Is there a scenario in which the names of the parents on the death record are correct but the birthdate (which is also the birthdate on his grave stone) is wrong? Yes, there is. And it is a much more feasible scenario, especially if the parents were illiterate or innumerate. The scenario is that the 17 Jan 1853 on the 1912 death record of Thomas McLAIN had the wrong year and had a day just one day off from the actual date of birth. The 1851 Thomas McLAIN was born 16 Jan 1851. If the records that give only age might include 1851, then the 1851 birth could be the right one, and John McLAIN and Catherine McDERMOTT were his parents. In the 1861 census, he is 10 in the family of John (vs 8 in the family of Patrick). I do not find any other records of his age until the 1880 census, when he was shown as 28, which would put his birth about 1852 and thus possibly 1851. By the 1900 census, he had apparently locked in on January 1853, which is what the census shows. Earlier census records are always the more credible for age. So this scenario cannot be ruled out.
Thus I now believe that the Thomas McLAIN who died in 1912 and has a birth date of 17 Jan 1853 on both his death record and his grave stone was actually born 16 Jan 1851, son of John McLAIN and Catherine McDERMOTT. Obriously such a conjecture has to fit the evidence and not the other way around, and whichever Sheffield Thomas is concluded as the right one leads to conflicts with the self-conflicting information on his 1912 death record. But with the evidence thus far obtained, this conclusion best fits the information -- including the fact that Thomas named his first son John, probably named for his own father. So I am tentatively carrying Thomas as the son of John and Catherine, until I find documentation that merits a change. So what might be such the other evidence?
CONSIDERATION OF THE EVIDENCE
I originally posted this section in an unspecific order. It is now arranged in chronological order. It must be kept in mind that the earlier records are almost always more accurate about age and birthdate than are later ones, further in time from the actual event.
Baptisms and Free BMD
As noted above, Free BMD shows a Thomas born in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1861 at Sheffield and also shows a Thomas born in the Apr-Jun quarter of 1863 at Sheffield. Free BMD is an online service that indexes the civil registrations of England and Cornwall. Civil registration in the UK began in 1837. Even if a child was baptized in the church, they still had to registered in the civil registration.
The actual records can be purchased from the Public Record Office for about $25 each.
The baptismal information is detailed above. Essentially both were baptized at St. Marie Cathedral in Sheffield, Yorkshire:
- Thomas McLAIN (as McGLIN) the son of John McLAIN and Catherine McDERMOTT was born 16 Jan 1851 and baptized 26 Jan 1851 (1852 per FindMyPast)
- Thomas McCLAIN (as McGLIN) the son of Patrick McLAIN and Bridget MOOREN was born 12 Apr 1853 and baptized 17 Apr 1853
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28 Oct 2017 UPDATE SUSPENDED AT THIS POINT DURING SHEFFIELD RECORD RESEARCH: The Sheffield records below are all valid, but there are many more. And I have NOT done any updating of the subsequent records (1861 census and later records).
I am suspending this update for the time being so that I can do the overhaul of my tree on Ancestry to incorporate the information. And I will then resume the updating of this research note to include all records with references to Thomas McLAIN.
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However, there were other baptisms for children of John McLAIN and Catherine McDERMOTT from FindMyPast, all baptized at St. Marie Cathedral in Sheffield:
- 1849 May 5 birth - 1849 May 13 baptisom - Catherine McLAIN (as Cath McGLINN), daughter of John McGLINN and of Cath McDERMOTT
- 1853 Oct 19 birth - 1853 Nov 27 baptism - Mary McGLYNN, daughter of John McGLYNN and Cath McDERMOTT
- 1857 Oct 27 birth - 1857 Nov 18 baptism - Brigida McGLYNN, daughter of Joannis McGLYNN and Catharina McDERMOTT
The following also belong to John and Catherine but are dated after 1864, which was the date that Thomas McLAIN said in the 1900 and 1910 US censuses was the year that he came to the United States.
- 1864 Aug 22 birth - 1865 Aug 23 baptism - Joannis McGLYNN, son of of Joannis McGLYNN and Catharina McDERMOTT
- 1865 Aug 22 birth - 1865 Aug 23 baptism - Jane McGLYNN, daughter of Joannis McGLYNN and Catharina McDERMOTT
The following appears to be the burial of Bridget (MORAN) McLAIN, wife of Patrick McLAIN:
- 1867 Jan 22 - burial - Bridget McGLYNN age 64 (thus born about 1804, which conforms with her entry in the 1861 census) - also reported in the 1804 Quarter 1 civil record of deaths
Other probable related records at St. Marie Cathedral in Sheffield, unless otherwise noted, (found in transcription on FindMyPast) are as follows. It is very possilbe that some of the infants who died were children of Patrick and Bridget:
- 1839 Aug 4 - baptism - Margaret McGLYN, daughter of Terence McGLYH and Ouny COINE - Godparents: John REED and Catheirne REED (baptisms at Catholic Chapel, Norfolk Row, Sheffield - image at https://search.findmypast.com/record/browse?id=tna%2frg4%2f3754%2f0%2f0103 )
- 1848 May 24 - marriage - Bryan McDERMOTT, son of James McDERMOTT - married - Margaret McGLYNN, daughter of Patrick McGLYNN
- 1852 Quarter 3 (Jul-Sep) - birth - John McGLYNN
- 1852 Aug 1 - burial - John McGLYNN (Sheffiled Park St John Anglican)
- 1856 Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun) - birth - John McGLYNN
- 1856 Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec) - death - John McGLYNN
- 1860 Jan 6 birth - 1860 Jan 29 baptims - Joannes McGLYNN, son of Joannis McGLYNN and Catharine READY
- 1860 Apr 2 birth - 1869 Apr 3 baptism - Joannes Josephus McGLYNN, son of Michaelis McGLYNN and Maria CURREN
- 1862 Jan 13 birth - 1862 Feb 9 baptism - Emma McGLYNN, daughter of Joannis McGLYNN and Catherina READY
I only searched systematically through the death of Bridget McGLYNN in 1867, but there were more records after hers, one of which was the marriage 6 Nov 1870 of Patricium McGLYNN and Marian KIRKMAN, which could - needs solid verification or refutation - be the remarriage of the widowed Patrick McLAIN.
Similarly, the Kate McGLYN who married 22 Oct 1877 with John DARKIN (image at https://search.findmypast.com/record/browse?id=gbprs%2fyorkshire%2fenglyor1d_pr-10-17%2f00140) may have been - needs solid verification or refutation - the oldest child of John & Catherine. And the Bridget McGLYN who married 3 Sep 1877 with William McMULLINGS (image at https://search.findmypast.com/record/browse?id=gbprs%2fyorkshire%2fenglyor1d_pr-10-17%2f00131) may have been their 1857 daughter. The father's name in both of these records is given as John McLAIN whose occupation is given as a joiner. If this is the same John McLAIN who was the father of Thomas -- which appears to be the case -- then it seems that if Thomas did come to Chicago in 1864, his parents remained in Sheffield with their daughters. And that may be the case, since a John McLAIN was buried from Sheffield St. Vincent 10 Feb 1878, age given as 63, which would be about the right age for John who was the father of Thomas and husband of Catherine McDERMOTT.
There were also banns at St. Marie Cathedral 8 May 1881 of Thomas McLAIN of Campo Lane (the same address given for Patricius on his marriage record) and Mary Anne OLIVER. So it does appear that Patrick and Bridget and their son Thomas remained in Sheffield where Bridget died and Patrick remarried and that this is the marriage of the 1853 Thomas.
Clearly all of these baptisms on LDS Church Family History Library microfilm 1941821 need to be seen in their original images, but since FamilySearch does not have these records online and has stopped lending out microfilm, the only place that this can be done in the U. S. is at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
1861 UK Census
Thomas McLAIN's childhood family should appear in the 1861 England census, since in the 1900 US Census he stated that he arrived in the US in 1864.
And indeed the family of Patrick, Bridget and Thomas McLAIN is there in Sheffield in 1861 (as McGLYN at http://search.ancestry.com/content/viewer.aspx?dbid=8767&iid=WRYRG9_3474_3476-0592). Patrick is a navvie, age 45, born in Roscommon, Ireland, same place as 50 year old Bridget and also as his neighbors Thomas COURY and Thomas DOWN. Thomas McLAIN is an 8 year old scholar, born in Sheffield, which clearly conforms with the 1853 birth and baptism.
And John and Catherine McLAIN are also there (as MacKLIN) in Sheffield with their Thomas and his siblings (http://search.ancestry.com/content/viewer.aspx?dbid=8767&iid=WRYRG9_3479_3482-0327). John (42 - thus born c 1819, Labourer) and Catherine (40; c1821) were both born in Ireland. Thomas is 10, born in Sheffield, which clearly conforms with the 1851 baptism. Thomas' sisters are also all born in Sheffield: Catherine age 11, Mary 8, and Bridget 3 (maybe named for her aunt, wife of Patrick???).
1864 Voyage
In both 1900 and 1910, Thomas told the census taker that he had arrived in the US in 1864. I can find no passenger list that shows him. But passenger lists at that time have not all survived, and it also depends on which port he arrived.
1870 US Census and 1871 UK Census
Since Thomas was in the US in 1864, at either age 11 or 13, then he should also appear in the 1870 US census. And since he was a minor, his parents presumably had brought him and should also appear in the 1870 census, if they survived.
And if either Thomas was still in the UK in the 1871 UK census, then the problem is resolved.
1870 US Census
I tried a lot of different searches for Thomas but could not find him (either the 1851 or the 1853) or his parents (of either family) in the 1870 US census. His 1892 voter registration says he had then been in Cook County for 25 years, meaning he had arrived in Cook County by 1867. So he should be in the 1870 census, but thus far I have not found him.
1880-1910 US Censuses
It is important to see what information Thomas himself gave about his earlier years in the US censuses. He appeared in three census.
1880 Census
Since this information differs from that of the 1900 and 1910 censuses, I suspect that he was not home when the census taker came and that his Illinois-born wife (who is shown as Scotland-born in the 1910 census) provided the information. In fact, the information could even have been given by his wife's sister, Annie "McArthur", since she was living with them at the time of the census. Alternately, earlier censuses are usually more accurate about age than later ones, so that this census could be -- in fact is likely to be -- the most accurate of the US censuses. It would be very helpful to find him in an earlier US census, but I cannot find him in the 1870 census, even though he arrived in 1864.
Thomas is shown as age 28, thus born about 1852. He is shown born in England to parents born in England. This differs from the other censuses (and from all other records I have found), which show his parents were born in Ireland. The family was living at 353 Sedgwick Street.
There was a John and Kate family that may have been the John and Catherine parents of the 1851 Thomas. (http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=6742&iid=4240469-00544&fn=John&ln=Mclain&st=r&ssrc=&pid=20779428) John is 67 (thus born c 1813) and Kate is 70 (c1810). These ages do not match the John and Catherine of th e1861 England census (see below), which is definitely the family of the 1851 Thomas, where John was 2 years older than Catherine, and they were born c 1819 and c 1821 in Ireland. The 1880 Chicago John and Catherine lived at 118 Wayman Street, which was just a 1 mile walk from Thomas. So they might still have been the same as the Sheffield John and Catherine, despite the age discrepancies, particularly if they were illiterate and really diid not know their own birth and age information. However, the 1880 census does not note them as being unable to read and write, so that the Chicago couple apparently were literate. They were shown with children that you know could not have been those of a 70 year old woman (I think they were probably actually grand-children): Maggie 19, John 15, Jennie 15, Mary Jane 7. All of the children were born in England, meaning that they were in England until at least 1873. John and Kate were both born in Ireland. So if these are the right John and Catherine, then she may have been born in Ireland and not Scotland as some trees on Ancestry have her.
1900 Census
Thomas stated that he arrived in the US in 1864 and thus would still have been in England or possibly in Ireland in 1861, which is important since there was a UK census in 1861. He also stated that both of his parents were born in Ireland -- which would be another count against John and Catherine as his birth parents, if Catherine was born in Scotland, which is really not yet established to my satisfaction. But a more solid count in favor of Patrick and Bridget is that Thomas explicitly gave his birth month and year as Jan 1853 and not Jan 1851.
1910 Census
Thomas stated the same information as in 1900: he arrived 1864, and both of his parents born Ireland. He was 57 in 1910, which calcluates to a birth about 1853.