Anyone reading this who might also read the occasional news update on Facebook's "The Great Ferriter Family" may recognize that work has commenced on compiling a "Red Book of the Ferriters" (Leabhar Deargh an Fheiritearaigh). Such a document would be a comprehensive family history, genealogy, reference and register. The idea of such a book extends directly from the Irish, who kept such compilations within their septs, to chronicle and document the family history. These were not usually single volumes, but in some cases rolls of parchment, bound books, loose documents, all taken together and considered as one thing. Most such collections only exist in... Read More
Robert Garret Farritor was born in Blossburg, Pennsylvania, February 2, 1846 to his Irish Immigrant Parents, John Ferriter and Honora Fitzgerald Ferriter of Ard Na Cainthne (Smerwick) Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry Ireland. Raised in Pennsylvania Coal Mining Country, he joined his Father and brothers in the coal mines at age 16. After the Civil War, his family relocated to Streator, Illinois, a new coal mining community in central Illinois. Determined to leave this dangerous occupation, he homesteaded in central Custer County Nebraska in 1879, along with his brothers and other immigrant families from County Kerry. Successfully enduring the natural and personal hardships of establishing a... Read More