To investigate the history of my Quaid relatives, I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at the records of people to whom I am not related. I often see partial matches that aren’t quite the person I'm looking for, but the names are so familiar that I can’t help wondering about them. Who the heck are these people?
Well, the name “Quaid” isn’t all that common. It turns out that the number of people with that name in any given time or place is pretty manageable. As a sort of experiment I decided to try to identify the family groups present in a few specific sets of records.
Why?
This is most likely pointless. There is some outside chance of identifying a hitherto unknown branch of my family, possibly through someone else’s research and perhaps more likely by identifying candidates for a distant DNA match. A minor benefit of doing this is that, for each of these data sources, I will have associated each Quaid record with a specific person, so in the future I can be less distracted.
How?
The technique here is simply to use Ancestry to link each of these people to an immigrant, with as little effort as possible. Typically that means using existing trees on Ancestry that others have developed. Relying so much on the work of others is not ordinarily a sound strategy for genealogy. But what I’m doing here is basically a survey, so it calls for a different approach.
And while we’re at it, focusing on a specific surname is very limiting, overly focused on men, and again normally a mistake in genealogy. In this project I’m even identifying each of these branches by the name of the male immigrant, which is obviously not a principled approach. You might think it’s due to some logic about how names transfer, but is mostly due to the extra work that researching their wives would take.
Illinois Census Records for 1950
I looked through everyone living in Illinois named Quaid (precisely) in the United States Census of 1950. There were only 76 individuals that matched, although since the census is subject to spelling and transcription errors, there are probably at least a few more that I missed. Twenty-two of those people are not descended from Quaids, mostly because they took the name in marriage, and in one case because the child was adopted.
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| Three of the 76 Quaids in the 1950 Census |
John Francis Quaid (1824-1914)
Fourteen of these Quaids descended from John Francis Quaid (1824-1914) and his wife Catherine, whose last name I don’t know. John was reputedly born in Doon, a village in the eastern portion of County Limerick, near the Tipperary border. John’s father Patrick also emigrated, living with his son from 1860 until his death in 1882. His mother Catherine Brady appears to have died in Ireland.
John and Catherine were farmers in Logan County, in central Illinois. They had five children that I know of, two boys and three girls.
John Quaid (1832-1903)
Twelve of the Quaids descend from John Quaid (1832-1903). John came to the United States in about 1860, initially to the Piqua, Ohio area. Some Ancestry trees indicate that he came from County Limerick, but I haven’t seen any sources for that information. John married Catherine McDade in Ohio. She died after the birth of their sixth child in 1873. A few years later, John married Anna Harvey, moved to McLean County, Illinois, and had three more children.
Thomas Steven Quaid (1865-1933)
Thomas Steven Quaid, my great-grandfather, was born in the city of Limerick and emigrated in the 1880s to Chicago. There’s a lot more about him here.
Eleven of the 1950 Quaids descend from Thomas and Mary O’Day (1876-1925), notably including my father and grandfather.
William Quaid (1843-1903)
Another eleven of the 1950 Quaids descend from William Quaid (1843-1903) and his wife Bridget Bohan (1846-1894). Census records record that William was born in Ireland, but there isn’t anything more specific than that. Bridget appears to have been born in Tobernea, County Limerick, again just a few miles from Ballymacamore. But the couple most likely was married in Chicago, so their proximity in Ireland probably doesn’t tell us much.
William emigrated in 1860, according to the 1900 Census, probably straight to Chicago where he became a dock worker. William and Bridget had four children who reached adulthood – two daughters and two sons. Only one of the children ever married, so all the descendants in 1950 come from him.
Daniel Quaid (1854-1922)
Six of the 1950 Quaids were descendants of Daniel Quaid (1854-1922) and Mary Donohue (1861-1940). Daniel was apparently from County Limerick, but we don’t know precisely where. Mary and Daniel emigrated separately in the late 1870s and were married in 1884. Mary’s parents were Daniel Donohue and Ellen Quaid, who lived near Ballykennedy, a few miles away from Ballymacamore. Small world, eh? So possibly these two did know each other back in the old country. And since they descend from Quaids on both sides, I suppose I have twice the chance of being related to their descendants.
Daniel’s parents on his death certificate were listed as Daniel Quaid and Winifred Gavin.
Daniel was a day laborer in Chicago, and then later a blacksmith. Daniel and Mary had five children, 3 girls and 2 boys.
Illinois Census Records for 1940
Most of this cursory research on the Quaids of 1950 applies to the census of 1940, as well. The 1940 census found a total of 83 Quaids (exactly) in Illinois (exactly). Most of them were from the branches noted above, in varying proportions:
- 15 descended from John Francis Quaid (1824-1914) from Doon.
- 14 descended from Thomas Steven Quaid (1865-1933) from Limerick City.
- 14 descended from John Quaid (1832-1903), possibly from County Limerick.
- 9 descended from William Quaid (1843-1903) from Ireland.
- 7 descended from Daniel Quaid (1854-1922) from County Limerick.
There were a few lines in 1940 that don’t appear in the 1950 census, however.
Jeremiah Quaid (1834-1910)
Three people in the 1940 census are children of Jeremiah Quaid (1834-1910) and Johanna Hannan (1836-1915), who are from Ballymacamore, the very same township as my ancestors. Ballymacamore had only a couple dozen households in it, so it seems reasonable to assume that these people were related to my branch in some way.
Jeremiah and Johanna emigrated in 1873, when they already had 8 children. An advertisement for the auction of their farm appears in the Munster News, noting that Jeremiah is leaving the country. Jeremiah became a day laborer in Chicago. Jeremiah and Johanna had 10 children in all, but it appears that only one or two ever married. The others lived together into their old age.
Somewhere along the line this family appears to have changed its name to McQuaid. They were clearly Quaid in Ireland and during their travels, but sometime afterward they all changed. One of the daughters on her naturalization paperwork notes that the name was changed explicitly, by court order, so it wasn’t some casual decision.
Catherine Quaid (1810-1879)
One Quaid in the 1940 Census descends from Catherine Quaid (1810-1879) from Mount Vernon, Ohio. I don’t know who her husband was, nor where either of them came from. What I do know is that until 1905 her son ran a clothing store in Mount Vernon called The Quaid Store.
The Mysterious Guest
The last Quaid in the 1940 census was one Joseph M Quaid from Iowa, age unknown, who was staying in a hotel. There’s a Quaid family from Cedar Rapids (see below), but I didn’t have enough information to link this person to that family.
Illinois Census Records for 1930
Again the 1930 results are quite similar to 1940. There are a total of 99 Quaids in Illinois in 1930, and for 15 of them it's their married name. The others descend mostly from the same set of ancestors.
- Twelve descend from John Quaid (1832-1903), possibly from County Limerick.
- Ten descend from John Francis Quaid (1824-1914) from Doon.
- Ten descend from Thomas Steven Quaid (1865-1933) from the city of Limerick.
- Ten descend from William Quaid (1843-1903) from Ireland.
- Six descend from Daniel Quaid (1854-1922) from County Limerick.
- One descends from Catherine Quaid (1810-1879) of Mount Vernon, Ohio.
There are two other Quaid branches in 1930:
Patrick Quaid (1858-1926)
One person in the 1930 census descends from a fellow named Patrick Quaid (1858-1926) who emigrated in 1880 to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There are still a lot of Quaids in the Cedar Rapids area. Patrick was the child of Patrick Quaid and Catherine Roche of Ballintaw, again very near Ballymacamore, and therefore possibly related to my branch somewhere back in the mists of time.
Timothy Quaid (1794-1883)
One person in the 1930 Census descends from Timothy Quaid (1794-1883) and Mary Bridget Shine (1804-1852). Timothy and Mary had six children in Ireland, then in June of 1836 they emigrated to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, just over the border from Illinois. Timothy's obituary says he was "native of Parish of Kilkenny, County Limerick", but that can't be right -- Kilkenny is a county itself. Since his children born in Ireland are generally described as coming from Limerick, I'm guessing that the obituary should have said Kilfinny, not Kilkenny. Kilfinny is next to Ballymacamore, and in fact Ballymacamore was sometimes part of the parish of Kilfinny.
A story about Timothy and Mary says that they farmed in Pleasant Prairie until 1852, when they lost the farm in a swindle. Mary died shortly afterward, and then two of their sons died within days of each other during an 1854 cholera outbreak in Chicago.
California Births
Ancestry.com has a record of everyone born in California between 1905 and 1995. It seems like a high quality dataset; while some names are truncated, they are generally spelled consistently and correctly, so there aren’t the usual transcription errors one sees elsewhere.
There are 124 Quaids in this dataset, but one is duplicated. So 123 total people named Quaid were born in California between 1905 and 1995.
Walter Simpson Quaid (1790-1815)
Almost two thirds of these Quaids (79 out of 123) are descendants of Walter Simpson Quaid, who reputedly emigrated from Kilfinny in 1815. There are a number of (ahem) colorful and confusing stories surrounding this family. Walter is reputed to have died at sea, aboard his ship Esther. One story says he died in Indonesia, but nonetheless was buried in Mississippi. He left three sons, one of whom was Thomas Walter Quaid (1815-1860). Thomas is reputed to have been born at sea the same year his father died at sea, which seems a little too convenient narratively. In any case Thomas settled in Mississippi, and the story goes that he won $1000 (an absolute fortune) in some contest while in college “back east”. In Mississippi he won the hand of his future wife, quite literally, in a shooting contest. Thomas moved with his wife’s family to Rusk County, Texas in 1846. Most of the family is centered around Texas and Oklahoma to this day. The famous actors are from this line of Quaids.
There are so many incredible elements of the history of Walter Simpson Quaid that it’s hard to put too much faith in whatever dim memory suggests that he’s from Kilfinny. Having said that, Kilfinny neighbors Ballymacamore, the township in which my family farmed in County Limerick. So while there are no known links to this family, in documents or DNA, it’s nonetheless likely that there’s some sort of link in the distant past… if the link to Kilfinney is legitimate.
David Joseph Quaid (1846-1925)
The second largest group in this record is a branch of my family, descendants of Patrick Quaid and Ellen Dundon of Ballymacamore. David Joseph Quaid (1846-1925), a son of Patrick and Ellen, emigrated in about 1870. A total of 16 of the 123 Quaids in the record are his descendants. David ended up in San Benito County, and many of his descendants are still in the area. Much more about David J. Quaid here.
John Pier Quaid (1879-1945)
John Pier Quaid was also from my branch of the family. He was the brother of my great-grandfather Thomas Steven Quaid, and a grandson of Patrick & Ellen. He emigrated in 1905 and started several distinct families in California. Ten of the 123 Quaids were his descendants.
Since I’m more familiar with these two branches, they make good examples of how a name-focused approach might make an interesting survey, but it results in poor genealogy. David, for example, emigrated with his sister Ellen, who also had children. But since they weren’t named Quaid, they don't appear in this list. And one of John Pier Quaid’s children was later adopted and had his name changed, so he too doesn’t appear on this list.
Andrew Rees Quaid (1812-1878)
Seven of the 123 Quaids born in California descend from Andrew Rees Quaid (1812-1878) and Nancy Agnes McMillen (1812-1908). Andrew emigrated to Huron County, Ontario, Canada. His grandson, also named Andrew Rees Quaid, emigrated to the Detroit area in about 1905. His son Robert (1915-1980) was a Detroit police officer, and finally his son Robert (1940-2014) moved to California established several car dealerships, some with his brothers. Quaid Harley Davidson in Loma Linda is associated with this branch of Quaids.
Andrew Rees Quaid’s grave marker says he came from County Antrim, in Northern Ireland, home of Belfast. The font on that marker is suspiciously modern, however, and I wonder if perhaps Andrew just embarked from Belfast. Some trees on Ancestry identify a father for Andrew in Croom, comfortably in the middle of County Limerick.
If Andrew was indeed from Antrim, then the name is most likely coincidental and unrelated to my family.
Two of the names descend from Patrick Quaid (1858-1926) from Ballintaw and Cedar Rapids, who I described above.
One name on the list descends from John Francis Quaid (1824-1914), the fellow who emigrated from Doon to Illinois.
I could not trace eight of the Quaids in the list. In some cases I had a pretty good idea that the name belonged to one of these groups I’ve described, but I couldn’t nail the connection.
Some Others
While researching these lines of Quaids I ran across a few other interesting families.
Daniel Quaid (1772-1842)
According to his gravestone, Daniel Quaid was a native of Manister, County Limerick, just about two miles from Ballymacamore. He emigrated to Newburgh, New York, about 60 miles north of New York City along the Hudson. One of his notable children was Jeremiah Quaid (1808-1905), who became a prominent feed and grain merchant in Brooklyn. Jeremiah is regarded as coming from Abbeyfeale, which is also in County Limerick but not especially close to Manister.
Timothy Quaid (1840-1889)
Timothy Quaid emigrated from Ireland to Sayreville, New Jersey in about 1860, and promptly married Catherine Mills. They had several children, notably including John J Quaid, the first mayor of Sayreville. Sayreville has both a Quaid Street and a Quaid Avenue named after him. In 1920 he got some national publicity by placing an ad in the newspaper claiming he planned to sell his house in Sayreville and move "to the United States." Many of the individuals in this branch were involved with DuPont and other paint and/or chemical companies.
Timothy's parents were Michael Quaid and Alice Renehan, who I think lived in Ballymacamore. My current theory is that Michael was the brother of Patrick Quaid, my second-great-grandfather.
Spellcheck
What about other spellings, like Quade? I’ve always assumed that Quade was just an alternative form of Quaid. But as I looked into Quades in these record sets, I found that the vast majority were German. Not all of them, to be sure, but even focusing on less German-sounding given names, I found less than 20% or so to be Irish. I should probably follow up on that, particularly in the census where misspellings are common, but following so many dead-ends takes the wind out of the sails a bit.
McQuaids are another story. Based on Irish Names and Surnames I’ve become convinced that the distinction it makes between Quaid (County Limerick) and McQuaid (County Monaghan) is correct, and so far this survey seems to bear that out. But there is definitely a tendency to go from Quaid to McQuaid, even if the genealogy or history argues otherwise. And in contexts in which people didn't write their own name, like the census, McQuaid shows up sometimes for some people who otherwise consistently used Quaid. So I think at some point I should go back and look at the McQuaids, too.
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