Bio
Joseph Thomas Sweeny was one of the brave Irish immigrants who brought his family on a boat in 1865 across the ocean to find a new life in America.
He was born in Mayo County Ireland on September 9, 1823. He married Catherine Egan on February 2nd, 1845 when he was just 21. They begin having a family right away, like many Irish Catholics of their time. When he leaves Ireland with his wife in 1865, the ship records show them traveling with following children: James 20, Nicholas 18, MaryAnn 17, Peter 16, Lizzie 12, William 9, Joseph 7, and John 2.
We find them in the Cleveland Census of 1870 living with just James, Nick, William, John, and Joe ... perhaps the girls have been married off. Joseph is working as a laborer at the mill. A decade later Joseph is still at the mill while Nick and Joe have become carpenters. William is married and living with his bride Mary Dunn, and now he is a carpenter too.
No records exist of Joseph's death, but his widow is listed in the Cleveland Directory in 1892 so we guess he passed about 1891. He would have been around 66 years old.
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