I am a friend of an Irish-born American, William Henry Nugent, who celebrated his 92nd birthday on January 6, 2004. He lives in Menlo Park, California. He emigrated to the USA, twice actually, the second one sticking about 1929. He served in the U.S Navy in the early 1930s, and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is looking for information on his father, Patrick Henry Nugent who was a resident of Bantry, County Cork.

Mr. Patrick Henry Nugent died May 7, 1917, married Mary Teresa Gaugin (who died in 1944 or 1945). This was the second marriage for Patrick Henry Nugent who returned to Ireland after a marriage and a life in Bayone, New Jersey. In his American life he met the inventor Thomas Edison. Patrick and Mary Teresa had four children, Kathleen Jean (YOB 1908?), Greta (YOB 1910?),Willam Henry (my friend, born 1912), and Eileen (DOB June 1, 1914).

The Nugent family had an estate, Drumore (sic). near Bantry, County Cork. Patrick Henry Nugent had a mill there where the wheat was ground. Because of his meeting with Thomas Edison, and being entrepreneural, Patrick converted the mill power to generate electricity, and provided the first electrical power to the Bantry area.

Quite an interesting story, any information greatly appreciated to help us reconstruct William Henry Nugent's family history.