Mary
I believe John McCreighan (father of John
McCracken b1865) was one of three brothers (John, Arthur, Michael) who emigrated from Ireland to Attleboro. All are the children of Edward McCreighan and Mary. Additionally I know John's mother's maiden name, which was
McCourt.
Whilst researching one of my ancestors (John McCreton b~1834) I searched the Kildress parish records. Although I couldn't find a record of my John I did come away with a small list of marriages and baptisms with the namess McCreighan/McCretton in Kildress in the 1840's, 1850's and 1860's. The list is fragmentary as the records were incomplete and hard to read.
Since returning home I have tried to link any of these records to people who subsequently appeared in
England or
America. From the dates of birth and parents names I believe the Arthur and Michael in Attleboro correspond to two of the baptisms in Kildress. John McCreighan in Attleboro has the same parents names as Michael and Arthur. In addition, although separate households, John is living in the same residence as Michael on the 1870 census.
The baptism records for Arthur and Michael give the parents names as Edward McCreighan and Mary
McArt. The age for Michael is a direct match with records in the US although Arthur's age is a few years out.
I believe there is at least one other set of siblings with a link back to Kildress who came to Attleboro slightly later than these three. Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to find a solid link between these and the three brothers. These were Sarah Ann b1869, Arthur J b1874, Catherine b1876 and Mary b1884. From US marriage / death records their parents names were Hugh McCretton and Ann
Murphy. There was a marriage in Kildress in 1863 of Hugh McCrettan and Ann
Murphy. The dates and names are consistent but unfortunately I don't have records of baptisms later than 1845 to corroborate them.
In any event there seems to be too many McCrettons appearing in what is a relatively small town for at least some of them not to be related to each other.
Although I can't say that I am related to you in any way there are people on ancestry descended from both of the other two possible brothers (Arthur and Michael). The descendants of the other two brothers settled on the spelling McCretton.
I have started a small public tree on Ancestry of McCrettons in Attleboro in the second half of the 19th and the early part of the 20th centuries and I have tried to find supporting documentation for as much as possible. Please have a look and let me know if you can add anything. One thing I haven't been able to find is a record of John McCreighan and
Bridget Nugent's wedding.
Richard
Collinson