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Thomas
Eustis/Eustace was born in about 1822-24 probably in County
Longford, Ireland. He was the oldest of eleven or twelve children born
to the family of Patrick Eustace. His mother probably was Catherine
Cunningham although no birth or baptism records are available to confirm
this. Thomas spent his boyhood in Townland Collum in the Parish of
Cashel. While nothing is known about his childhood, we do know that the
Cholera outbreak of 1832 and the Great Famine of 1845-49 occurred during
his early years in Ireland. He obviously survived both.
There is
substantial evidence that during April 1850, Thomas together with his
sister Bridget and their cousin John (also called Daniel)
Eustace/Eustice (son of James Esutace and Bridget
Kennedy) of Ballymahon, Shrule Parish departed from Limerick on
the Polly, a 281 ton ship. (The Polly was a ship type called a snow
rig which was similar to a brig.) They arrived in New York City on
May 18, 1850. John and Bridget immediately went to Schuylerville,
Saratoga County, New York to join relatives and other Irish immigrants
from the Parishes of Cashel and Shrule, County Longford. Among those at
Schuylerville was Bridget Eustace Carle/Carroll and John Eustace,
brother and sister to Patrick Eustace, father of Thomas and Bridget and
James Eustace, father of John. Although Bridget and John Eustace
apparently went directly to Schuylerville and appear on the 1850 US
census of Schuylerville living with the William and Bridget Carle
(Carroll) family, Thomas may have gone elsewhere at first. He first
appears as Thomas Ustis, age 24, servant in the home of Mayo Pond
on the 1855 New York State census of Schuylerville. Mayo Pond was a
prominent Schuylerville resident who served as town supervisor in 1845.
Thomas became a US citizen at Schuylerville on September 22, 1858. His
name is spelled "Hustis"
on the application. Witnesses to the naturalization were Peter J.
Dowling and John M. Lawton. Thomas signed with an X.
About 1859,
Thomas married Bridget FitzPatrick, daughter of Dennis and Joanna
FitzPatrick, natives of County Tipperary, Ireland. The couple is listed
on the 1860 US census under the name Heustis, living at
Schuylerville. The census taker reported that Thomas could not read or
write. Thomas and Bridget are both listed as 35 years old. They had a
seven month old daughter named Katy also listed on the census. On 1865
New York census, Thomas Eustice, age 35 and his wife Bridget, age 30 are
listed in the Town of Saratoga. Thomas is described as a laborer and
stated that he was a naturalized citizen. No children are present in the
home. Their daughter Katie had died in July 1864 and a second daughter
Julia had died a year earlier in 1863. Both are buried in marked graves
at Victory Cemetery. In 1870, Thomas and Bridget Huestes were
living at Quaker Springs, Town of Saratoga. He was working in the cotton
mill and gave his age as 40 years. Bridget was listed as 33 years old.
Also in the home were their sons Patrick and Thomas as well as Catherine
Carroll, age 15, who was working in the cotton mill. Catherine was
Thomas’s niece, the daughter of Bridget Eustace and William Carroll.
Catherine’s mother had died in 1868; her father died in 1856. Next door
to Thomas and Bridget was the Quigley family, Barney, age 76 and his
wife Margaret, age 65, and their sons Patrick, age 25 and James, age 23.
The Quigley’s son Thomas was the widower of Bridget Eustis, sister of
Thomas, who died May 1, 1868.
Patrick
Eustis, son of Thomas and Bridget, was born in 1866, became a hotel
clerk and did not marry. He died February 12, 1903 at the age of 36.
Thomas Eustis Jr. was born March 9, 1870. He married Mary Elizabeth
Mullen on June 14, 1899 at Visitation Church, Schuylerville. Thomas and
Mary (Mullen) Eustis were the parents of two children; Joseph J. born
January 6, 1901 at Victory Mills, NY and Rose born October 30, 1902.
Thomas Eustis Jr. died October 1, 1951 at Victory Mills.
The 1892
New York census lists Thomas Eustice, age 65, laborer, Bridget, 57;
Patrick, 26, occupation clerk and Thomas Jr. age 23, no occupation
given. In 1900, the census shows Thomas Eustice, 76, born 1824, widowed,
immigrated 1850 as household head living with Thomas Jr; son age 30,
mill hand, born 1870, married one year and Mary, daughter in law born
July 1869, age 30.
Thomas
Eustis Sr. age 82 years died August 30, 1905 at Smithville (Victory
Mills). The cause of death is listed as old age. Patrick Eustice is
listed as the father of the deceased. In the space for the mother’s name
is written Unknown. The informant was Thos. Eustice Jr. Bridget
FitzPatrick Eustis preceded her husband in death on December 28, 1897.
Both are buried in Visitation (St. Mary’s) Cemetery at Schuylerville.
Various
events recorded during Thomas’s life show the wide variation in spelling
of the family name. The parish priest at Newtowncashel, County Longford
between 1830 and 1844, spelled the names of Patrick and Catherine
(Cunningham) Eustace’s children as Eustace, Eustice, Eustan and Eustier.
On the ship passenger list (1850), the name is spelled Eustice. The New
York census of 1855 shows the spelling Ustis, while the federal census
of 1860 records Heustis. The name is spelled Eustice again on the 1865
and 1892 state censuses. In 1870, it was Huestes. The recorder spelled
the name Eustice on Thomas’s death certificate. The descendents of
Thomas in the Saratoga County, New York area spell their name Eustis.
Records
used:
United
States Census; 1850, 1860, 1870, 1900.
New York
State Census; 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905.
The Daily
Saratogian, February 13, 1903; Page 6, (Obituary of Patrick Eustace)
State of
New York Death certificate of Thomas Eustice; (September 1, 1905).
Records of
baptisms and burials Visitation Catholic Church, Schuylerville, NY.
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These pages © Ronald Eustice, 2007
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