Joan’s Irish ancestral families can currently be traced back as far as 1795. Known geographic origins of her Irish ancestors are dispersed across the Emerald Island. The island at 26, 598 sq. mi. is half the size of Wisconsin, which is 54, 153 sq. mi. Of the more than 21 known Irish ancestors, we can reliably pin-point geographic origins for 11 of them through church, municipal and other records. These known locations are County Mayo, County Donegal, County Cork, the town of Carlow in County Carlow, and County Down in Northern Ireland (UK). Wide dispersion of her ancestors across the island, combined with the fact that most travelled to America as young individuals indicate they did not travel and re-group in the U.S. as families or groups of families with local ties. This is in contrast to the first generation of German and Greek immigrants on Nick’s side who did emigrate to America as whole families, friends and neighbors and locate in ethnic Wisconsin communities.
Joan ‘s ancestral family surnames on her father’s side, going back to the first generation of immigrants are Cribben, Ryder, Kernan and Donahue. Her respective first generation ancestral family surnames on her mother’s side are Gillespie, Sennett, Riley and Walsh. This chapter begins with the genealogy of the Cribben Family Group, followed by the Gillespie Family Group.
John Edward Cribben, Joan’s Great Grandfather, immigrated to the US east coast about 1851 when he was likely between 17 and 19 years old. That age range has been handed down through the Wisconsin Cribben clan, over time, but is verified through records as well. He was born in 1827 in County Mayo, Ireland, again based on what John Cribben passed down to his offspring, and what he provided as answers to census questions.
Your family historian, as well as others who have researched the Cribben family, have not yet found records in Ireland that conclusively identify John E. Cribben and his parents. Parish, census, legal and property records can be found however, that indicate Cribben families in the County Mayo locale during the period of his birth. There are also various spellings of the Cribben name, which compounds attempts to locate proof-positive records validating his parental lineage. This is the same for Mary (Kernan) Cribben. Mary’s family name is found to be spelled differently on various documents and records—likely because she did not know the spelling her family used. It is listed as Kernan, Kiernan, and Carnen in its main three variations. John and his wife Mary were illiterate, which was noted for both of them on Wisconsin census forms through the 1800s. Even if they learned rudimentary reading and writing in later life, they may never have known the precise spelling used by the most recent generations of their families.
John and Mary were married somewhere on the east coast in the early 1850s. The location and related details of the marriage are still lost to time, requiring further searching. Mary departed Ireland for America when about 17 years old, again, according to what has been handed down through the years. It is believed they both traveled individually across the ocean, which was typical for Irish teens whose families were dirt poor during the period of mass emigration out of Ireland. Both Mary’s and John’s obituaries indicate the two met on the east coast, where separately and together they stayed for at least a couple years or more. They departed the east coast soon after marriage and settled in Richland County where, as some of the first pioneers, homesteaded a farm as landowners.
The reason they chose Wisconsin remains largely unknown. However, it may have to do with the fact that in 1860, John took possession of a Military Land Grant transferred from the original grantee, William Jackson. This was for a 40-acre plot near Marshall Township, Richland County. What were the factors that led to this transfer? Did John and Mary meet William Jackson on the east coast prior to 1860 and arrange a purchase? Or did the young couple make their way to Wisconsin and meet the veteran land holder, then make purchase arrangements with Mr. William Jackson? It is unlikely that Mr. Jackson ever took possession of the actual property since a later sale would not have required a transfer of the Military Land Grant. These grants were established in part to hasten the population of the territories and states, thus bolstering the economy. Once the land was occupied and farmed the federal government had little to no involvement with property sales.
John E. Cribben’s son Edward Cribben was Joan’s Grandfather. He married Anna Rose Ryder whose father Martin E. Ryder immigrated to the US. Edward and Anna had only one child–John Edward Cribben, Joan’s father.
The lives and times of Joan’s parent’s, John & Frances, and her siblings will be covered in Chapter 4.