Part of the mission of The McCorristons of Molokai is “to share our moʻokūʻauhau—our genealogy” with descendants of Hugh and Daniel McCorriston, those interested in Hawaiian history in the 19th and 20th centuries, and others who find an interest in what we’re sharing on our website.
As we also declaimed, “the narratives sometimes change as new information comes available.”
In our first year of publishing, some new information has definitely become available. Whether it was through research, DNA testing, leads gleaned from stories from our kūpuna, or a combination thereof, more of the story of the McCorristons in Hawaiʻi has become available over the last twelve months.
[Note: when the author writes “we,” she sometimes means “I”; some of this information may be or have been known by other members of the McCorriston ʻohana, and it simply came to light for the author within the last 12 months.]
What We Learned About the McCorristons of Molokai in Our First Year of Publishing
Daniel McCorriston arrived aboard the Comet in 1863
We previously had conflicting information on when Daniel McCorriston arrived in Hawaiʻi; several sources stated that he left Ireland and arrived in the Kingdom in 1862. Ship manifests from the Alexander Marshall (Liverpool to New York) and the Comet (San Francisco to Honolulu) indicate that he arrived in Honolulu on October 27, 1863. Furthermore, he arrived with his cousin Daniel McCorriston (1845-1899), which has been a source of confusion and conflation for several generations. [1]
Hugh and Daniel McCorriston had a brother in Hawaiʻi
To be fair, this was new information to the author, not necessarily to the entire McCorriston ʻohana. Hugh and Daniel had a younger brother, Edward McCorriston, who arrived with Hugh in 1864 and died in 1872. We also learned that Edward was naturalized as a citizen of the Kingdom on June 8, 1868. [2]
Annie Nelson was at one point known as Anna McColgan
For a very long time, we’ve known the matriarch of the Daniel McCorristons as Annie Nelson. According to a marriage record discovered in the archives at the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaiʻi, we learned that Daniel McCorriston married a woman named Anna McColgan. Given the time frame of the marriage—March 5, 1867—we concluded that Anna McColgan was our Annie Nelson. Furthermore, we learned that they both lived in Waiawa, Oʻahu. [3]
Daniel was a naturalized citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi
Concurrent with his marriage, Daniel McCorriston was also naturalized as a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on March 5, 1867. The reason for his naturalization is unclear at this point; we’re currently working off of the assumption that he was eligible for naturalization due to his marriage to a citizen of the Kingdom (as opposed to residence in the country for at least five years and an application to the Minister of the Interior). [1]
Hugh McCorriston and Margaret Louise Gorman were married by Fr. Damien
We knew that Hugh McCorriston (1836-1926) married Margaret Louise Gorman (1846-1932), the widow of Samuel Hudson Foster (1842-1872), after his arrival in Hawaiʻi; we did not know when, where, or by whom. Thanks to a previously-overlooked blurb in The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, we learned this year that Hugh and Margaret were married on August 19, 1877, in Kamalō, Molokai, by Fr. Damien (now St. Damien of Molokai). [4]
There’s so much more that we’ve learned this year—it simply hasn’t all been written up! Come back next week to see what we’re looking forward to publishing in 2020.
Have a Mystery Concerning the McCorristons of Molokai?
If you have a question you’d like answered, a mystery you’d like solved, or a myth you’d like explored, please email the editor at editor@themccorristonsofmolokai.org!
Lynn Kanani Daue, “Daniel McCorriston, 1840-1927,” The McCorristons of Molokai (blog), December 17, 2018, https://themccorristonsofmolokai.org/blog/daniel-mccorriston-1840-1927.
Lynn Kanani Daue, “Edward McCorriston, -1872,” The McCorristons of Molokai (blog), January 7, 2019, https://themccorristonsofmolokai.org/blog/edward-mccorriston-1872.
Lynn Kanani Daue, “Who Was Annie Nelson?” The McCorristons of Molokai (blog), July 19, 2019, https://themccorristonsofmolokai.org/blog/who-was-annie-nelson.
Lynn Kanani Daue, “Hugh McCorriston, 1836-1926,” The McCorristons of Molokai (blog), December 31, 2018, https://themccorristonsofmolokai.org/blog/hugh-mccorriston-1836-1926.