Saturday, April 21, 2012

Surname Saturday - McWeeney

One of my original lines in the US is McWeeney from Ireland.  My oldest known ancestor is Patrick McWeeney, who appears with his family on the 1850 Lockport, Will, Illinois census.
FamilySearch.org: 1850 Federal Census, Illinois, Will County, Lockport, p. 30, lines 28-34 
Patrick also appears in the Illinois Land Tract Sales database as purchasing a parcel of land in the village limits of Lockport in 1848.  The parcel is only steps from the Illinois & Michigan canal, so my speculation is that he came from Ireland to work on the canal like so many others.  These are the only records I've discovered in which Patrick appears.

The family structure, as known, is:

Patrick, born about 1815 in Ireland, dies possibly before 1860

Mary, born about 1820 in Ireland, appears in Lockport 1860 and 1870

Mary A(nn), born 1843 in Canada, died 1922 in Lockport
married John Patrick Riley

Andrew, born 1845 in Illinois, died 1910 in Lockport
married Rose Anna Stanners

John, born 1849 in Illinois, died 1920 in Lockport
married Isabella Daly

Patrick, born 1850 in Illinois, died unknown

There is likely a relationship to Charles and Elizabeth Clifford, who appear with members of the McWeeney family on several census records.

Other spellings of this name are:
McWeeny
McQueeney
McQueeny
McQuinn
McQuinney

If you are familiar with this surname in Illinois or in Ireland, leave me a message.