Series 9 - Mathew Gaynor letters

92pp

The National Library of Ireland provided copies of the Gaynor Letters to Kerby A. Miller on 22 July 1974 from which Miller created his transcripts. The original manuscripts are held in the National Library of Ireland [MS 13554].

Material primarily relating to two letters written by Matthew Gaynor in Utica, New York to his parents in Clonkill, County Westmeath. Per Kerby A. Miller: 'Gaynor writes two letters, in 1847 and 1849, from Utica, Oneida County, New York. Mathew is a Catholic. He writes in 1847 noting that he is a worker in a factory in Utica (look at Mary Ryan's Cradle of the Middle Class for bibliographic and other clues). In April, 1849 he contemplates moving 100 miles farther west, to Auburn, Cayuga County, New York, because Utica is filling up with other immigrants. He also contemplates returning home to be with his father during an illness.'
The series contains: photocopies of the original letter; Miller's typed transcripts of the letters; census research; photocopied pages of secondary sources related to New York; Miller's research notes and his correspondence with the Oneida County Historical Society.