Michael T Tracy

Daniel Tracy (1795-1876) Michael T Tracy

Born in the fishing village of Kilkeel, County Down in present day Northern Ireland, Daniel Tracy worked it was said, as a bradesman hatter, gardener, coachman and laborer. He fell in love with Mary Hanna, the daughter of an auctioneer of nearby Downpatrick. They were married on Sunday, 8 December 1816 in Downpatrick, County Down. A possible myth grew around the marriage that Mary's father, John Hanna disapproved of the marriage and after the wedding he disowned his daughter Mary. Through various letters still kept by Daniel and Mary Tracy's first daughter, Catherine McCadden and her descendants, it was known that their mother was known as Lady Mary Hanna and was disowned by her father when she eloped with the coachman, Daniel Tracy. It was known also that Daniel Tracy could not read or write as evidenced by the U. S. Federal Census of 1850 for Schuyler Falls, Clinton County, New York. The Tracy family left Ireland in 1820-21 and immigrated first to Canada for a very short period of time and settled on Grand Isle, Vermont. By 1830 the family relocated to the Irish Settlement near Schuyler Falls. Daniel Tracy purchased property and began farming his land. After his wife Mary died in 1856, he was a widower for the next eleven years before he married Anna Cook also of Schuyler Falls. This then is the narrative of the life and times of Daniel Tracy.