Land OwnershipEven middle-class farmers in Ireland in the early nineteenthcentury only worked a few acres of land (Kenny 2014). Asindicated by Columbiana County, Ohio tax records, theMcHugh family had enough resources to purchase land inOhio. By the mid-nineteenth century, land in the easternUnited States had become increasingly valuable (McDonald1954). By selling this land, the family was able to purchasethe land pictured below – James himself owned 640 acres atone point.

Civil War ServiceJames McHugh Sons in Civil War

Charles – served in Civil War after staying behind in OhioJames Jr. – enlisted Company K, Wisconsin 17th Infantry

on December 27, 1861 – Died June 15, 1862 Corinth, Mississippi

Francis - enlisted Company K, Wisconsin 51st Infantry, 1865

Michael McHugh Sons in Civil War

Hugh – enlisted Company K, Wisconsin 17th Infantry on December 27, 1861

Patrick – enlisted Company I, Wisconsin 17th Infantry on February 9, 1862

Alexander – enlisted in the 44th Wisconsin Infantry on December 24, 1864

.

IntroductionJames McHugh, his wife Mary Shevlin, and their childrenleft Donegal, Ireland circa 1825 to settle in Ohio (JH Beersand Co 1895). The family continued to grow and ultimatelysettled in Waupaca County, Wisconsin circa 1850. Therethey became founding citizens of Caledonia Township.

Scholars such as Kevin Kenny (2014) argue that Irishimmigrants who came to North America prior to the GreatFamine of the 1840s generally did so in the spirit ofentrepreneurial ambition, rather than out of economicdesperation. The McHugh family was likely attracted tosettle in Ohio and then in Wisconsin because of the promiseof affordable land. That land could then be used as a laddertoward other economic opportunities.

Based on obituaries and county histories, it is clear that theMcHughs of the nineteenth and early twentieth century sawthemselves as American pioneers as much as Irishimmigrants.

First and Second Generation McHugh Family Tree

AcknowledgmentsJulie Hintz of the Holly History and Genealogy Center

Darlene Ryan, and all the members of the Waupaca Area Genealogical Society

John Irish, webmaster for LaonaHistory.org,

The clerks at the Registers of Deeds of Waupaca and Outagamie Counties

Millie McHugh and family

Wisconsin Department of Transportation, UW-Milwaukee Archaeological Research Laboratory, Brian Nicholls,

William Balco, Brooke Drew, Elissa Hulit

UWM-CRM field and laboratory technicians

Irish Identity and theMcHugh BurialsIrish Identity may often be seen in large urban Catholiccemeteries such as Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee.Wisconsin.

Identity, as reflected in McHugh burial practice, however, isdefined on the basis of Catholicism primarily andsecondarily on the basis of family.

The McHughs of Waupaca County: An Irish Immigrant Family on the Wisconsin Frontier

Figure 1.

Pioneer IdentityAlthough the McHugh family immigrated from Ireland,newspaper articles and obituaries focus on the family’s roleas founding members of Caledonia Township, and the word“pioneer” appears frequently. The family’s role in thesettlement of the area is also memorialized in local historiessuch as A Standard History of Waupaca County (Ware1917) and the Commemorative Biographical Record of theUpper Wisconsin Counties (JH Beers and Co 1895) whichcontains a likely self-written entry about William EdwinMcHugh.

Three generations of McHugh Family burials are located inCalumet, Outagamie, and Waupaca Counties, Wisconsin,and for the most part, in fairly close proximity to theMcHugh family homestead and archaeological site. MaryMcCoy McHugh and her son Francis are buried in St RoseCemetery in Clintonville, both in unmarked graves.

Ware, John M.1917 A Standard History of Waupaca County, Wisconsin. An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development. Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York.

Wisconsin Historical Society1914 Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, available online at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/index.asp. Accessed 2/2/2017

ReferencesJ.H. Beers & Co.1895 Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin

Counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade, and Shawano. Available WHS ArCat http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wch,5650, accessed 5/30/2012

Kenny, Kevin2014The American Irish: A History. Routledge.

McDonald, Sr. M. Justille1954 History of the Irish in Wisconsin in the Nineteenth Century.

Catholic University Press, Washington, D. C.

Jennifer L. Picard and Patricia B. Richards Department of Anthropology, College of Letters and Science

For Further Information

Photo from McDonald, M. J. (1956) The Irish of the North Country. Wisconsin Magazine of History 40:126-132.

Left: Map of land owned by James Sr. and Michael, Caledonia Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. Right: Michael McHugh land patent, NE1/4 of Section 25, dated September 5, 1850.

Left: Thursday morning, September 8, 1881 edition of the Waupaca Post; Right: Mary McCoy McHugh’s obituary, Clintonville Tribune, May 1, 1903

Lot 1297Grave 1

Lot 1297Grave 1

Francis McHugh 1849--1905Francis McHugh 1849--1905

Possible location of Mary McCoy McHugh burial 1810--1903

St. Rose Cemetery (above) Calvary Cemetery below) *no Celtic crosses observed in St. Rose

Select examples of Celtic crosses, Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

McHugh burials St. Denis Cemetery, Shiocton

McHugh burials Most Precious Blood Cemetery, New London

William McHugh 1855 - 1916

Patrick McHugh 1839 - 1931

Hugh McHugh 1838 - 1924

Sarah McHugh 1840 - 1914

For a copy of this poster scan the symbol or point your browser to:http://archaeolab.anthro.uwm.edu/McHugh_Site/The McHugh site investigations were conducted by staff of UWM Cultural Resource Management (UWMCRM) under contract to the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation. Additional information on this project and the UWMCRM program can be found at: http://www4.uwm.edu/archlab/crms/