Robert Troy

 

Robert Troy

Nickname:  Bob

Born: January 24, 1875, Stradbelly, Laoighis, Ireland.6*

Died:  October 16, 1961, in Philadelphia.8

Residences:  Ireland, Philadelphia. In later years, lived with neice Elizabeth Troy Calhoun.5

Religion: Roman Catholic

Education: 

Career:

Father:  James Troy (b. Ireland)

Mother:  Bridget Fitzgerald (b. Ireland)

Siblings: 

Wife: (Never married)

Children: (None)

Other Details: Immigrated in 1899 on the Waesland from Queensland.

Sources:

  1. 1900 Census
  2. 1910 Census
  3. 1920 Census
  4. 1930 Census
  5. Interview with Mary Jo Egoville. Names of siblings came from notes written by Mary Jo's mother Elizabeth. According to Mary Jo, Ellen changed her first name to Helen when she was older.
  6. Parents were determined through available Irish Birth records. In searching Irish Birth records at Familysearch.org, I found only one couple that was from that general area and who had children with pretty much the right names. I started with a search of "Robert Troy" because that only brought up six entries of I then searched all six sets of parents for a list of children. Only James Troy and Bridget Fitzgerald secured hits on siblings with the right names. I found:
    • Mary Troy: b. May 27, 1865, Stradbelly, Laoighis, Ireland
    • Patrick Troy: b. Aug. 20, 1867, Stradbelly, Laoighis, Ireland
    • Sarah Troy: b. Nov. 25, 1869, Stradbelly, Laoighis, Ireland
    • James Troy: b. Feb. 4. 1872, Kildare, Ireland
    • Robert Troy: b. Jan. 24, 1875 Ireland
    There were no records for John, Ellen, nor Bridget. That the birthdays do not match any US records raised concerns. Mary Jo later told me she knew of Sarah Troy, who had married a man whose last name was Martin and who had a large family of boys who formed a sports team in Ireland. The fact that Mary Jo independently confirmed that Robert was born in January fits with these parents. Stradbelly is right on the border with Kildare. Parents were confirmed by obtaining Robert Troy's Social Security Application which lists James Troy and "Brigid Fitzgerald" as the parents. I am not sure why the application lists March 17, 1887 as the birth date since that is more than a decade off from what clearly seems to be his birthday. It could be a mistake or perhaps there was some reason he wanted to be below the 65 retirement age when applying.
  7. Ship's list Immigration Records for Patrick & Robert. Robert and Patrick are traveling with a "Maria Troy" who had been to the US before - possibly another non-immediate relative? Note also that Robert, Patrick, and Maria all say they came from Kildare.
  8. Funeral Card.

* All Troys seem to use a different birth date on every document that lists one. I am using the Irish Birth Index for the correct date.