Searching Gilligan in Swift Missouri
My great-grand parents are James Gilligan and Mary Donaghue Gilligan. They produced 11 children, the third of whom was Catherine Gilligan. She was reportedly born 10 July between 1860 and 1865 (probably in 1863) in Swift Missouri. She consistently reports the location shows in a variety of sources.
The family did not remain in Missouri, moving on to Pennsylvania for another birth in 1865.
I cannot find any evidence of a place called Swift Missouri. Does anyone know if it existed? It may simply have been a mining patch -- James Gilligan was predominantly a miner during this time. I'd be happy to find a Catholic parish - if one existed in this time frame - were I might find an accurate birth date for Catherine. I'd also love to know where the heck Swift Missouri is, and if there was mining there.
If someone could direct me to a resource that might help me, I'd truly appreciate it. If James was mining there, I'd be looking for the companies working in the area, as often miners seemed to go from one camp to another owned by the same company.
Thanks for any information. It's all appreciated.
Sharon Gowen
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@Sharon Gowen According to Arthur Paul Moser's list at thelibrary.org, there was a Swift, MO in Sec. 34, Township 20 North, Range 12 East of Pemiscot County. This is on Highway P, south of Highway A in Godair Township (Missouri uses letter names for small state access highways). The Missouri State Historical Society's Ramsey Place Name File notes Swift was a
small community and station on the Frisco Railroad in the southern part of Godair Township, where a post office was established in 1915 and named Swifton. The name was given for the cotton plantation owner, Mr. Swift, who had purchased a large tract of land there in 1914-1915, to whose name was added the common suffix for town. In 1927 the post office was reestablished under the name Swift. Both names are still in use, although the latter is more generally used throughout the county.
As their file suggests, I would be surprised if there were any mining in the area because of the elevation/water table. It was more known for its rice and cotton production.When I first heard the name Swift, I thought of the meat packing company, but it looks like it didn't get going until after Catherine was born so Swift was unlikely to have been their company town. It did get thinking about company towns so I did a web search for "Swift mining company" and it included a result for a former pyrite mine near Cobalt Village in Madison County which was operated by Swift and Company. Madison County, along with neighboring Iron and St. Francois counties, was definitely noted for its mining operations in that era.
In Stone County, there is also a Swift Shoals Creek, which also appears to have had substantial mining activity nearby. Either of these areas might easily have once had a village or wide spot in the road that was known as Swift but I didn't find a specific reference to such a place.
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@tyams Thanks so much for all this. the pyrite mine near Cobalt Village in Madison County is worth a search, as it Swift Shoals Creek. Next to find churches in that area, to see if I can get a baptismal cert. It's thin chance, but I'll check Kennedy to see where the church records got migrated. I really appreciate your help.
Best,
Sharon Gowen
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@Sharon Gowen I found one other location that might bear checking: Swift Creek in northern Butler Co., near the border with Wayne Co. Mindat includes references to at least three mines in a 2-3 mile radius from where Swift Creek enters the Black River. The Ramsey Place Names File at SHSMO doesn't say much about it but does mention the nearby villages of Keener and Hendrickson several times, including a "Danish Settlement" which developed because
Mr. F.R. Brunot, a heavy iron manufacturer in [sic] Pittsburg, has purchased large tracts of iron and timber land in the northeast corner of [Butler] county
. Since he was from PA, I wondered if he had any holdings in NE PA, where James & Mary were from but wasn't able to learn much more about him. Given the frequent skirmishes in Missouri throughout the early 1860s, I can understand why they might have opted to return to PA.0 -
@tyams I just realized that I never saw your last comment, and so never thanked you for extremely helpful information.
Unfortunately, I've been ill, and not doing any research lately, so haven't as yet followed up on your information. With luck, I'll be in a position to do that over the next several weeks. I truly appreciate your diligence.
Thanks.
Sharon Gowen
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