The Devereux of the Leap, County Wexford , & New York. America.
The Devereux of the Leap, County Wexford and of Utica, New York. By John Devereux Kernan. The article traces the descent of the Devereux family of Utica from Nicholas Devereux, 17th century, great-great-grandfather of the brothers who emigrated from the neighbourhood of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, two of whom, John Corish Devereux and Nicholas Devereux, settled in Utica where they became eminent businessmen and bankers. The author gives some historical background on the Devereux, an Anglo-Norman family prominent among the County Wexford gentry and known locally as the "Proud Devereux", mentioning various prominent men of the name and the impact on the family of the upheavals of the 17th century. He indicates that the Nicholas who was ancestor of the Utica family might well be the Nicholas of Ballybarna who died in 1698. Thomas Devereux of the Leap (died 1798/9) had nine children by his second wife Catherine Corish (died about 1813). Thomas and several of his sons took part in the 1798 Rebellion in which a son James is believed to have died at the Battle of Vinegar Hill. Four sons went to the United States although one later returned to Ireland. A daughter Catherine (c1788-1844), in religion Mother de Sales of the Presentation Order, was foundress of convents in Wexford and Enniscorthy. The sons who emigrated were John Corish (1744-1848) who arrived in America in 1796 and was in Utica by 1802, where he became a wealthy merchant and banker (founder of the Utica Savings Bank), served as mayor and performed many charitable works; Thomas who was in Utica in 1812 and 1813 where he had a distillery, but returned to Ireland in 1814 and fathered a son John Corish (1817-1861) who was sent to the United States to be reared by his uncle of the same name and practised as a lawyer in New York; Luke (c1789-1818) who went to Utica c.1807 but later moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where he died of yellow fever; and Nicholas (1791-1855) who arrived in New York in 1806 and settled in Utica. Nicholas acquired very extensive business interests and his many benefactions included the founding of the Utica Catholic Academy and the giving of land and money for the Saint Bonaventure College (now University) at Alleghany. By his wife, Mary Dolbeare Butler (1797-1881) of New York, he had six children and numerous descendants (including the author of the article, descended from his daughter Hannah Avery Devereux wife of U.S. Senator Francis Kernan).Close