The Jackson Co. marriage index showed that Daniel Charles Manning had married Ann Lanigan on 26 Jan 1868. Manning is a common enough name in the county, but I had never heard of a Lanigan. So, I tried to verify the bride’s name. But, I couldn’t find any Lanigan’s in the area. Perhaps I just needed more information. In the 1870 census record for Daniel and Anne Manning, I got my first solid clue. Living with the young couple were their first child, John; Peter, a farm laborer; and a nine-year-old girl named Catherine Dorgan, born in Missouri. Relationships were not provided in that census, so I had no information as to who this girl was. Was she a sister? A cousin? A servant? An adopted daughter? There were many possibilities. Catherine was too young to have been recorded in the previous census, so how could I find out about her?
I looked in the 1860 Jackson Co. census and found no Dorgan’s, but there was a Dennis and Margaret Dangan, both from Ireland, and, lo and behold, they had a daughter named Ann who was the same age and birthplace as Ann (Mrs. Daniel) Manning. So, was Ann’s maiden name was really Dangan? But, finding no other evidence of Dangan’s in Jackson Co., I went back to looking for Dorgan's. There was a Dennis Dorgan who bought land in the county in 1845. And there, in the 1850 census, was Ann, in Bellevue Twp., along with her apparent parents, MICHAEL (not Dennis) and Margaret Dargan[close], along with most of the other children from the 1860 census record. Were Dennis and Michael the same person? Were they brothers? If so, maybe Dennis had died and his brother, Michael, had married his brother’s widow, Margaret, as frequently happened in the old days. I just don’t know. But I am more confident that their surname is actually Dorgan.
The Dorgan family may have been early settlers of the county. One M.Dargen was listed in the 1840 census, but I can’t be certain that it is Michael. In any case, Michael and his family moved to Polk Co., Iowa before the 1870 census and apparently on to Madison Co., Iowa before 1873 when Michael died and was buried there. Some of the children followed, others settled in Dallas Co., Iowa. Their daughter, Alice, married Martin Haley in Jackson Co. in 1868. They are mentioned in my blog post titled “Seeing Double.”
And after all of that, I still have never discovered who Catherine was or what became of her. If anyone knows or has a lead for me, I would appreciate the information.
I never found a published biography for anyone in this family, so I wrote this one for them.
Biography of Michael and Margaret (Myers) Dorgan
Or The Dorgan / Dargan / Daregan / Danigan / Lanigan Family
Michael Dorgan, Sr. was born in Ireland in about 1798. Margaret (Myers) was born there in about 1810. They also married there, probably before 1830, when their son, John, was born. The family immigrated to the United States and Iowa before 1840, when M.Dargen[sic] appeared on the census for Jackson County, Iowa Territory. Their daughter, Alice, was likely born there in November of 1840. At least five more children were also born in the county before 1855. The 1849 and 1850 censuses listed the family in Bellevue Twp. In the 1852, 1854 and 1860 census records, they are shown in Washington Twp. In 1860, the family, enumerated as Dangan[sic] or Daregan[sic], was shown in Jackson County, although Michael is inexplicably listed as Dennis.
But by the 1870 census, they had moved to near Altoona in Polk Co., Iowa, where Michael's name was given as Michel[sic] Dorigon[sic]. They apparently moved on to Madison County, Iowa, before 1873 when Michael died. He was buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery there. Margaret was buried there, as well, when she died in 1878. Their younger children, Richard, Michael Jr. and Margaret all settled permanently in Madison County.
I have not found John Dorgan, the eldest child, after the 1850 census.
Alice Dorgan, the first child born to the couple in Jackson County, married Martin J. Haley in 1868. They are listed in Jackson Twp. in the 1870 census, but afterwards appeared in the Dallas County, Iowa census records. Alice died before the 1920 census when Martin is listed as widowed.
Ann E. Dorgan was born in Jackson County, Iowa in June of 1843. One month before her sister's wedding in 1868, Ann married Daniel Charles Manning, the son of James and Hannah Manning of Jackson and Washington Twps. Ann's maiden name from her marriage record was transcribed as "Lanigan." Daniel was born in April 1841 in Ireland and immigrated to America with his parents in 1847. Daniel and Ann lived in Jackson, Washington and Van Buren Twps. in Jackson County before moving to Dallas County, Iowa by the 1880 census. Daniel died there in March 1901. Ann survived until 1928.
Richard J. Dorgan was born in July 1845, probably in Jackson County. He moved with his parents to Polk County, then to Madison County, Iowa, where he lived the rest of his life. In about 1881, he married Bridget Hoy, who was born in Louisiana in February of 1853.
Margaret V. Dorgan was born in Jackson County, in May 1850. Her younger brother, Michael W. Dorgan, was born there in Bellevue Twp., in February 1855. He and Margaret apparently took care of each other. Settling in Madison County, neither ever married and in the 1880, 1885 and 1900 census records, they appeared in the same household. Margaret died in 1905 and was buried in the same cemetery as her parents. Michael lived until at least 1930, when he appeared on the Madison County census next to his nephew and niece, Joseph and Alice Dorgan.
Joseph M. Dorgan, son of Richard and Bridget Dorgan, created a sensation on his death in July 1973. (See the article on him from 8 Jul 1973 Des Moines Register.) When Joe died, unmarried, he left the bulk of his estimated $350,000 estate in a trust to be used "... to give aid, comfort, support or assistance to the people of the Negro race, singularly, or as a group, in their quest for equal rights and equal treatment." He refused any bequest to his sole heir, Marcella Harkin, his niece and the postmistress of Norwalk, Iowa, because her mother, Joe's sister, had married against their father's vehement objections. There was a series of articles on this case, right up through 19 July 1977, which carried a large article on Joe.
According to the great website of Bill Dorgan [Bill Dorgan's website], the Irish surname Dorgan or Daregan, was originally pronounced "dare-a-gone." This, added to the assumed Irish accent of Michael and Margaret, explains why I found so many different varieties of their name, including: Dorgan, Dargan, Daregan, Danigan, even Lanigan.
© 2011 LuAnn Goeke
See what I mean about genealogy adventures? You ask one simple question, like "what was her maiden name?" and away you go. Enjoy!
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