Augustin Bomford

  General Notes:

3i Augustin Bomford, baptised 18 Apr 1844, Taughmon, Co Westmeath, Ireland (RC Parish records) (but see also his census records), d 1 Jul 1923 in New York (see table below), m Katherine Drugan, b Ireland c1845 (from census records), d 2 Apr 1924, New York (see table below) and had issue. He was naturalised as a US citizen (as Augustus Bumford, address Parthion Street [sic], Kings Co, New York) on 23 Oct 1865 (SP email 3 Mar 2012). He and Katherine probably died between 1920 when they were shown in the census, and 1930 when the census shows that their son Oliver had moved into the family home. Also seems to have been spelt Augustus, Agustus, Agustin, Agustave and sometimes Bumford, known (1870 census) as Gus. Augustin fought in the Civil War, Battle of Gettysburg, served with the New York Fire Department and is described in the census documents as an engineer working for wages. Jim Bomford's records show him as working as an engineer for the Fire Department, and that he worked for the City of Brooklyn Volunteer Fire Department before the five counties were joined to form New York City. Jim Bomford (email to Richard Bomford 15 Jan 2006) says his father once showed him a clipping of a bare knuckle fight that Augustin won against John L Sullivan for the rights of the Brooklyn Longshoremen to work the Hoboken, NJ docks. He was supposed to have won the fight. Jim says that is hard to believe because he would have been much older than Sullivan, but Jim's father had a newspaper clipping, from the Brooklyn Eagle if Jim recalls correctly. Augustin was the eldest son of an eldest son according to Jim (though the Parish records, as reflected in this tree, indicate he was the youngest of 8 sons). The 1920 census has Augustin as 75 years old and Katherine 70, living in their own house with no mortgage at 67 Bush Street, Brooklyn; it says Augustin was born in Ireland and came to the USA in 1863, was naturalised in the USA in 1865 and that Katherine was born in Ireland, came to the USA in 1860 and was naturalised (no date). Family legend has it that Augustin could not return to Ireland due to a clash that he allegedly had with a British trooper which compelled him to leave in the first place. As the family tale goes (email from Jim Bomford to Richard Bomford, 15 Jan 2006) "Gus was a big man whose uncle was the owner of the property and the tenant farms of Ballinakill. He allegedly had an encounter with a British soldier in the street and was insulted by him. This insult had something to do with the fact that he was related to a man of property or was one himself. In the resulting fight he either beat up or killed the soldier. One version had him leaving the soldier who he had disarmed hanging on a hook of some kind. A fellow named Paddy or Patty Iago (not sure of the spelling but that is the name they used or at least how it sounded) helped Gus slip out of Ireland and work his way to America. He could not return and thus the letters of Mary Bomford Burns [sic: but see entry for Theresa Bomford below] went unanswered as to the defence of the title to Ballinakill land." Augustin Bomford, by then in the USA, was the only person remaining who may have had standing to defend Bomford title to Ballinakill lands. City directories indicate he was an 'engineer' and living at 110 Sullivan street in Brooklyn in 1889 and 1890 (SP email 3 Mar 2012). Augustus Bumford in 1915 had been (past tense - no indication of when) a Private, Co G, 46th Regiment, New York Infantry and was entitled to an increased pension. The 1900 census says Katherine had had 15 children, of whom 6 were living; the 1910 census says she had had 10 children of whom 3 were living: Henry and Felix were two of those three in 1910, living with their parents, and the third was Oliver (Alfred), was living close by with his own family, so it is presumed William and Augustin Jr had died

Augustin married Katherine Drugan between 1865 and 1868 in Brooklyn Kings County, New York. (Katherine Drugan was born about 1845 in Ireland and died on 2 Apr 1924 in Brooklyn Kings County, New York.)