Halpin family of Wicklow - Part 1

[Shanachai]

I came across the following some time ago, Bill, and include it here because it might prove useful in trying to situate two Halpin families within reach of each other.  On the one hand, only lore, hearsay and a few incidental facts place them on the same tree.  On the other hand,  the history books have them down the street from each other - one in Custom House, the other a few hundred metres away in the Ballast Offices, across the Liffey (this is post-George snr's death).  Separating the two is Burgh Quay (south side of the river), and there you can still see the late Georgian facade of the Corn Exchange, reputedly built by George snr in 1813. 

From The Times, Sept. 07, 1844:
                                                   THE CUSTOM HOUSE - The vacancy in the landing department of this port, caused by the death of Mr. Purcell, searcher and coast-waiter, has been filled up by the Lords of the Treasury nominating Mr. E [surely a missprint] Halpin, son of the Rev. Mr. Halpin, of this city, to a junior landing waitership.  The realization of the hope of Mr. Halpin has caused a corresponding despondency in some two or three hundred other claimants on the influence of the city members, who, it appears, were of late so inconveniently beset by the eager applications of their friends, that they deemed it more prudent to retire from Dublin than to be subject to the daily clamorous remonstrances of their disinterested supporters. - Dublin Freeman. 

Bill, I'll return to George in the coming weeks.  In the meantime I want to focus on those Halpins living in Wicklow during the 1800s, and on those directly related to them - specifically: Robert Wellington Halpin, Edwin Halpin, Stopford Halpin, George Halpin MD, Charles Halpin MD, Gen. William G Halpin and his co-conspirator Charles Grehan Halpin(e)...I have some terrific stuff to post on them.  Cheers.

[Shanachai]

1.

ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY
     
     An interesting presentation took place on board the British and Irish Steam Packet Company's ss Lady Roberts.  The hon. representative of the Society, Captain Thomas McCombie, attended, and presented Fireman Edwin Halpin with a framed vellum testimonial and a small monetary recognition for having, in a most praiseworthy manner, saved the life of Mrs. Margaret Winter, who he rescued on the night of the 17th December last, she having slipped into the river Liffey off the quay.  Halpin ran considerable risk, and found great difficulty in saving Mrs. Winter, as the space between the vessel and the quay was very limited.  In making the presentation, Captain McCombie spoke in most flattering terms of the assistance rendered by Andrew Welsh, donkeyman, and James Dowd, sailor.  Captain Clarke, of the ss Lady Roberts, also spoke, and the presentation was made in presence of the ship's company.
     - Irish Times, Saturday, March 3, 1906.

     Edwin's son, James (my grandfather), was forever 'saving' people from drowning, whether they were in trouble or not.  Until I found the notice above, I had no idea he had been trying to repeat his father's exploits.

A FALL BETWEEN THE ROYAL MAIL STEAMER AND THE PIER.

     On Saturday evening a rather alarming accident occurred at the Carlisle Pier which but for the presence of mind and courage of a seaman named Halpin might have had a fatal termination.  The Royal Mail steamer Leinster had been brought alongside the pier and was being admired by a railway porter, named John Mulcahy, when he suddenly took a fit and fell into the harbour between the boat and the wharf.  One of the sailors, named Robert Halpin, who witnessed the accident, immediately dropped along a rope to the water's edge and caught the unfortunate man by the hair when he came up and held him until a boat was brought to the rescue.  Mulcahy was landed at the Victoria Wharf and taken to St. Michael's Hospital, where he was attended by Dr. Stevenson, who could give no opinion in his regard, as he could not speak.
     - Freeman's Journal, Monday June 3rd 1889.

     Was Edwin attempting to emulate the heroics of his brother, Robert?  I can't answer that question, since I can't accurately identify the Halpin named in the piece above, nor do I know what became of Robert after he took over his father's duties as secretary of the Wicklow Harbour Board after Robert senior died in late 1883.  I'd welcome clarity on the matter, if anyone can provide it.

SAD DEATH OF A YOUNG WICKLOW SAILOR.

     On Sunday the meloncholy news reached Wicklow of the death by drowning at sea, on the 5th December last, of Mr. Henry G Halpin, eldest son of Captain Richard Halpin, of Wicklow.  Deceased, a fine promising young man of 19, well known and deservedly popular with every inhabitant of Wicklow, was an apprentice on board the ship Belcamah, bound from London to San Francisco.  The vessel was in mid-ocean, and Mr. Halpin was engaged in his duty when he was knocked overboard by a sail.  Life buoys were immediately thrown out, the ship hove to, and a boat lowered with all possible speed.  For some minutes the poor young man could be plainly seen from the vessel swimming strongly and well, but before the boats could reach him he suddenly disappeared and was not seen again.  After lying to till every chance of recovering the unfortunate young man had disappeared the vessel proceeded on her voyage.  The reception of the news in Wicklow caused the deepest grief and regret, for by all classes, both high and low, the ill-fated youth was deservedly esteemed and respected.  All the vessels in the river, of which there were a considerable number at the time, hoisted their flags half-mast high as a token of sorrow and respect, while his bereaved family had the melancholy satisfaction of receiving countless messages of condolence and sympathy from all parts as soon as their loss became known.  They must possess a further satisfaction in the knowledge that he died while doing his duty in the profession he had chosen - a profession the most useful and honourable a Briton can choose - one the very dangers and perils of which constitute a great portion of its charm for youth, but which, during five hundred years, has laid the foundation and built up the structure of our national and commercial greatness.  Our young townsman has fallen a victim to one of the thousand dangers daily encountered by those "who go down to the sea in ships" but while we deplore his loss and sympathize most sincerely with his sorrowing relatives, we cannot help reflecting with a feeling of pride that it is the youth of our country such as he, who devote themselves by choice to a nautical life, knowing well and fearlessly braving the dangers that beset them, looking death daily in the face, and meeting him bravely and firmly when called upon - that have made our national flag known and honoured at all the ends of the earth, and our national language spoken by millions at the Antipodes.
     It may be mentioned that this is the first death by drowning which has occurred in the Halpin family, although, some years ago, four brothers of that family were at sea at the same time and, of course, exposed to the constant dangers of a sea-faring life.
     - The Wicklow Newsletter, March 25th 1883.

     

[Shanachai]

2.

     It's hard to exaggerate the value of a mark of respect like the one above.  Apart from its obvious merits as a piece of journalism (they wrote well and with flair and worldliness in those days) it tells us a great deal about the Halpins of Wicklow, about the political sensibilities of the community they belonged to - they certainly considered themselves servants of Empire - and about what from our perspective might seem dated and archaic codes of honour and morality.  I know that my great-great grandfather (RW Halpin) subscribed to this very British worldview, but that he did so for wholly 'pragmatic' reasons - the world was what it was, regardless of what one's personal views on the matter might be.  Just how loyally he stuck to that philosophy can be seen in his testimony to two Royal Commissions of Inquiry which visited Wicklow town in the years 1854-55 and 1877 (respectively - Royal Com. to inquire into State of Fairs and Markets in Ireland; and Royal Com. to inquire into Local Gov. and Taxation of Towns in Ireland (Belfast, Trim and Wicklow), both of which contain minutes of evidence).  During the latter inquiry in particular, despite some deservedly critical comments from one of the commissioners about his personal conduct in his capacities as Town clerk and clerk to the Harbour Board, my great-great grandfather took the rap for what was clearly a collective 'misuse' of public monies by the town commissioners (a subject I hope more local historians find the time to discuss).  Throughout this inquiry RW Halpin was not simply displaying extraordinary gall before his interrogators, he was protecting friends and family from possibly criminal prosecution - he was protecting their good names and reputations.  That kind of 'honour' was not well regarded by RW's son, Edwin, who was very much a Parnellite and a modernist.  In fact the whole worldview buttressing RW's conduct was eventually to be blown to pieces on the battlefields of France and Belgium, where his grandsons James and Cecil - both barely literate Catholics from one of the worst slums in Europe - fought for the 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers (from1914-18...Jim spent the entire war in combat and returned to Dublin mute, gassed and shellshocked to recuperate at Leopardstown Hospital in Foxrock).  William, older brother of James and Cecil, meanwhile fought members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers at home on the streets of the capital - his story, and the stories of his brothers and sister, will be told at a future date, but I am not the first Halpin to wonder what remains in us of the 'ethic' so diligently practiced and defended by Robert Wellington Halpin, and the rest of Wicklow's Protestant community, during the last decade or two of Victoria's reign.  Has time wiped out all trace of that old Anglo-Irish attitude?  Is there such a thing as a 'Halpin character' and how much of it has been altered by the history of the intervening years?  Is it sensible to even ask such questions?  One of the reasons so many visit a site like RootsChat is to establish some kind of connection and continuity between themselves and their forebears, so the questions I ask here are not as self-indulgent as they might seem.   

WICKLOW.
The Soiree Musicale That Never Came Off:-
     Walter Sorrell, alias Martin, was brought before Samuel [illigible], Esq., R.M., on Wednesday, on the charge of obtaining money by false pretenses.  It will be remembered that the prosecution was instituted by the Crown at the suit of Mr. Edwin Halpin, who, having read a printed circular, announcing a "soiree musicale" in the Marine Hotel on friday evening, the 17th September, went to the hotel on that evening, and paid 1s 6d to the accused for admission.  He alleges that the accused decamped by the half-past eight train, and that no entertainment whatever took place.  Mr George H Major, Sessional Crown Solicitor, prosecuted, and Mr. Charles Coates. BL, instructed by Mr. Valentine Duff, defended.  Mr. Kynasten Edwards, Mr. Robert Halpin, detective Cully, and the manager of the Marine Hotel gave evidence in addition to that given on Monday, the 3rd inst.  On the application of Mr. Major, the case was sent for trial at the ensuing Wicklow Spring assizes, bail to be accepted for the appearance of the accused.
     - Irish Times, Friday October 15 1875.

   

[Shanachai]

3.
     This case, which made him the laughing stock of the British Isles (it was reported everywhere), did more to drive a wedge between Edwin and his community than anything else, including the political issues which he was so fond of citing years afterwards.  The suit was not instituted by Edwin (he was simply the front man) but by his father and some of the town commissioners, all of whom had been roped into Sorrel's ruse and publically embarrassed by the incident.  Their decision to seek prosecution was no doubt the worst thing they could have done if it was their public reputations they were trying to restore, and in some respects it exposes them as an insular people with very narrow horizons - which contradicts what I said above about RW being a man of the world...I suppose they were naive about the interest the media would take in the case.  They shouldn't have been, because Sorrell had convinced the good folk of Wicklow that the Italian Opera, led by Florence Marryat (she can be Googled), a prolific and immensely popular novelist of the time, as well as being a singer of repute (the Madonna of her day?), would be performing at the Marine Hotel the following night, which is why the town commissioners were so quick to notify the aristocrisy and landed gentry of the surrounding district.  At any rate, I'll return at a later date to give a summary of the trial, since Ms Marryat herself appeared at it as a witness.  I wonder if the Wicklow Town Council has a transcript of that trial, because it would probably contain Edwin's testimony, which I'd very much like to read.  Would anyone know - can anyone help?

LOSS OF THE SHIP OUZEL GALLEY OF DUBLIN.

     The loss of the ship Ouzel Galley, of and for Dublin, with a valuable cargo of sugar, was announced Friday at Lloyd's.  She was from Trinadad, and on the 1st of last month, when in lat. 33.43, long. 64.18, she encountered a severe hurricane from the N.W. She was struck by a tremendous sea, which killed the man at the wheel, broke both thighs of the chief officer, fractured the legs of a seaman, and injured Captain Halpin [I think this might be Captain RC Halpin's brother, - the one who met Gladstone (see above) - rather than the Captain himself] and two others of the crew.  The captain would have been washed overboard but for his legs getting entangled in the chains of the wheel, which was demolished.  The bulwarks were stove, and the after-hatch broken away, so that the sea went into the hold.  The ship had sprung a fearful leak, and was abandoned, when the crew, on the 4th, were picked up by the Ann E. Hooper, from Liverpool to Baltimore, in a very exhausted condition.  The ship and cargo are reported to have been very heavily insured.
     - Irish Times, Tuesday May 24 1859.

I'll leave things there for the time being.  When I resume, I'll focus on putting some substance behind the claims my brother made in the posting that began this plotting of the extended Wicklow Halpin family tree.  I'll prove that Charles Grehan Halpin(e) did not, as his potted-biographers claim, alter his name to dissociate himself from his father, the Rev. NJ Halpin (Ed. of the Hi-Tory newspaper the Dublin Evening Mail), but to try to dissociate himself from a phase of petty criminality. Cheers.

[J.M. Flannery]

Hi Christopher and others,

I was facinated to find, only on Saturday last the chat on the Halpin Family. I have some information on the Wicklow Halpins. On Wednesday 22nd April, I attended a lecture, given by Mr Jim Rees, a local historian and author, who has written books on Capt Halpin of the Great Eastern Fame. It was part of Internationas Day for Monuments & Sites 2009, and hosted by Wicklow County Council in association with ICOMOS Ireland. The heritage Officess for Wicklow Co. Co. can be contacted at
dburns[at]wicklowcoco.ie
As an amateure genealogist living in Wiklow Town I have copied the 1901 & 1911 Census for the town only, and try to keep it up to date if I have any information on Births, Marriages or Deaths after this time.
Census of 1901 Wicklow Town b1 Wentworth Place 62/63. Private Dwelling with 2 out offices = 1 stabe & 1 coach house. All 3 persons were Church of Ireland and could read & Write.

1 Eliza Halpin, head of household, age 70 yrs [bc 1831] Occ = Income from House property, Widow,  born Co Carlow.
2 Ida I Halpin, daughter age 36 yrs [bc 1863] Assistant Registrar, single born Wicklow
3 Mary Jane Maxwell, servant age 25 yrs General Domestic Servant, single Born Co Wicklow
~~~~~~~~---------------------
Census of 1901 Wicklow Town b2 Wentworth Place 62/63. Private Dwelling with 3 out offices,  stabe, coach house & store. 4 Family members  ere C of I.
1 James Henry Halpin, head of house,could R & W. age 40 yrs, Phisian & Surgeon DK & GC.PLMCSI. married born Wicklow
2 Adelaide Maude wife, could R & W 29 yrs old. born Wexford
3 James Raymond son, age 1 yr born Wicklow
4 Martha Florence Sutton, Sister-in-Law c of I, could r & w, single, born Wexford.
5 Catherine MacNamara, servant R.C. age 30 yrs housemaid, Dom Serv. single born Co Wexford.
6 Annie Furlong, R.C. age 20 yrs, Nurse Dom. Serv. single born Co Wexford
7 Elizabeth Davis R.C. age 28 yrs Cook Com. Serv. sinhgle born Co Wexford.

Census 1911 Wicklow Town b2 Wentworth Place 65/62. Private Dwelling 5 windown in front of 2nd class house. 9 rooms occupied by 9 persons, with 5 out offices. Family members  were C of I.
1 James H Halpin, head of house, could R & W. age 50 yrs, General Practioner FRCP & Surgeon Ireland. married born Wicklow
2 Adelaide Maud wife, could R & W 39 yrs . Married 13 yrs, 4 children born 4 alive, born Wexford
3 James Raymond Halpin son, age 11 yr, scholar, born Wicklow
4 Robert Everst Halpin, son age 9 yrs scholar born Wexford.
5 Damaris Margaret Halpin daughter age 5 yrs born Wicklow
6 George Herbert son age 5 months born Wicklow
7 Nora Guin..... age 25 yrs, Nurse Dom. Serv. single. born Tipperary.
8 Mary Ronan, Roman Catholic age 36 yrs, Cook, don. servant, signle born Wexford.
9 Johanna Clovey R.C. age 34 yrs Housemaid, dom. servant, single born Wexford
~~~~~~~~------------------------
Now for Memorial Cards of this family:
1 "Captain Thomas J. Halpin, who died at Monastery House, Ennisketty Co Wicklow on the 2nd June 1878, in the 54th year of his age.
2 Stopford William Halpin, who died at Arklow February 27th 1885 aged 61 yrs - prayer...
3 Richard Matthew Halpin (Wicklow) who died December 15th, 1889, Aged 64 years. Interred in Wicklow Churchyard.
4 Maria Griffith Gibson, Died at 18 College Green, Dublin  ...prayer..
5 Louisiana, Eldist & dearly beloved daughter of George H and Eliza Halpin, who fell asleep in Jesus The 11th of February 1887 aged 24 years.
6 George Halbert Halpin, who fell asleep in Jesus The 21st of June 1887 Aged 66 years ... prayer
Two other memorial cards I dont know if they mean anything, but I was given them with the Halpin ones.
Anne Bayley, who died at Moneygrath, Myshall, Co Carlow. December 11, 1883. ..prayer... and
Dr. Samuel Hawkes of Woodland Cottage, Wanstead, who peacefully passed away on Thursday, May 21st, 1891 aged 48 years".

Halpin- May 20th at Wentworth place, Wicklow Eliza, widow of the late Dr. George H. Halpin.
Saturday May 23, 1903.

Obituary Mrs G.H. Halpin Wicklow.
"The above esteemed lady, who was the widow of the late Dr. George H. Halpin and mother of ?Dr. J. H. Halpin, Medical Officer of Health of Wicklow and of Capt. R.G. Halpin, passed away after an illness lasting for a considerable time at her residence, Wentworth -place, on Wednesday evening last. The deceased lady was held in the vewry greatest respect by the people of Wicklow, and the sincere sympathy of the entire community goes out to the members of her family, who are bereaved by her demise.
     The funeral took place yesterday to the Parish Churchyard, where the Rev. Canon Rooke, M.A.. R.D.; and the Rev. G.H.
Christie conducted the Office for the Burial of the Dead.
     Chief mourners were-Dr. James H. Halpin, Captain R.G. Halpin, sons; and Dr. RichardHalpin, Arklow, nephew......
     Christmas Tree in Rathnew School-house. The Wicklow Newslater & County Advertiser, Wicklow. Sat 2nd Jan 1897 p.4.


Hope this will be of some help. J.M.F.

Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please replace [at] with @

[markenfield]

Hi Raymond, Now I know where we Aussies get our rebel streak from! Sad about the records. Julia (Villiers)Halpin was mentioned by family over here as a French Hugenot. Your research is much appreciated I just love the quality info you have discovered! Like the examination in chief formats on George Halpin Jnr and Snr.  To actually read their own words was such an experience!If we are defeated by history on mapping the Halpin Dublin Wicklow relationship then maybe when the cost is reasonable a DNA test might help. Of course thats assuming a relative hasn't been in someone elses sheets at some time in history to interfere with the DNA chain. Maybe we can keep the DNA test up our sleeve as a last resort. The good thing is if it does show a genetic link then our two streams of Halpins will have some time come from a common family. I was only a small child at the time but remember quite vividly being told by elderly relatives about our  Halpin family links to the laying of the cable and mention of several family members on the  cable ship. Including the story about fears of sabotage and another family member working on the actual section dropping the cable into the sea from the ship. Kind regards Kim  ps I'm not sure on how to copy Bill

[Shanachai]

     Thanks Kim, and thank you too, JM.  Both of you have received private mail from me, so I'll just plod on with a little more of the stuff I've been posting lately.

     OBITUARY.
Captain R G Halpin, Wicklow.
     Quite a gloom was cast over the town of Wicklow on Friday upon the receipt of a telegram from Falmouth announcing the death from blood poisoning of Captain Robert G Halpin, brother of Dr. J H Halpin, Medical Officer of Health, Wicklow.  Captain Halpin, who was only 37 years of age, served his apprenticeship under his uncle, the late Captain R C Halpin, D.L., in the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, and entered the service of the Eastern Telegraph Company at an early age.  When only thirty years old he was appointed to the command of one of the best cable ships in the Service, and proved himself a most successful and capable officer.  He contracted blood poisoning whilst engaged in carrying out a large undertaking, of which he was in charge, for the laying of a new cable from England to Maderia.  He left Cardiff on Tuesday, the 22nd ult., and two days later, whilst testing some sounding wire at sea, he received a wound in the hand.  The ship put back to, and reached Falmouth last Monday, where the best medical aid was summoned.  The patient had only recently recovered from an attack of malarial fever, contracted on the West Coast of Africa, and was therefore unable to combat the poison, and succumbed as stated.  Captain Halpin was a general favourite in Wicklow, and his untimely death is greatly regretted.
     - Irish Times, Monday June 4 1906.

     If you have examined the Halpin family tree above - detailing that branch of it which spreads out over counties Laois (Queens), Meath, and Cavan and extending all the way to Canada and the US, you might have noticed the name there of William Henry Halpin, brother of the Reverend Nicholas John Halpin (Editor of the Dublin Evening Mail, Shakespearean scholar and persistent critic of O'Connell).  WH Halpin was fiercely opposed to the Reverend's politics but as passionate as his brother about Shakespeare - indeed the two of them seem to have had a particular liking for A Mid-Summer Night's Dream: Reverend Nicholas wrote a number of critical essays on the Bard, the relevant one here being "Oberon's Vision in the 'Midsummer Night's Dream'", whereas his brother William H used the pseudonym 'Peter Quince' - a name taken from a character in the same Shakespearean play - to write what were considered to be very funny satirical pieces of journalism that took the mickey out of all sorts of sacred cows.  For example, when the Houses of Parliament burned down in the early 1800s, 'Peter Quince' submitted to the Times a blueprint for a replacement building...the joke was that Mr. Quince was a 'humble country carpenter' who clearly presumed far more than his station entitled him to...maybe you had to be there.  But the ruse shouldn't be dismissed as a mere historical footnote, because the idea of using a humble nobody to pass comment on important matters at critical moments in history was revived by the Reverend's son Charles Greham Halpin(e), who invented a character called Myles O'Reilly to provide light relief for Northerners during the American Civil War.  These are matters I will talk more about in future postings, but I will say here that William H and his brother the Reveredn N did not see eye to eye at all, and it was their brother Charles - the Cavan MD, who struggled so heroically to save lives during the Famine and who was a big influence on Stopford Halpin, MD, brother of Captain Robert C Halpin of Wicklow town - who tried to act as peacemaker between the two, but who eventually fell out himself with the good Reverend when the latter used his position as editor at the Dublin Evening Mail to invite an 'expert' to ridicule in writing the method for the preservation of potatoes Charles was recommending to landlords and pesants, a method that many landlords tried and found effective, at least in the early stages of the Blight.  At any rate, I've rambled on and confused the matter no doubt.  All will become clear in the comming weeks.  Suffice to say that William H, who made a habit of taking the piss, was eventually imprisoned after being found guilty of libel in relation to an incident other than the one reported below.

The Cheltenham Horsewhipping.
     At these sessions, the Grand Jury returned a true bill against Samuel Young Griffith, the Proprietor, and William H. Halpin, the Editor of the Cheltenham Chronicle, for the assault committed on Mr. Judge, the Editor of the Cheltenham Journal, on the 28th of June last.  The Indictment has been removed into the Court of King's Bench, and will come down as a Crown Office record for trial at the next March Assizes for the county; and in the event of a verdict of guilty being recorded, the defendants will receive judgement in the Court of King's Bench.
     - Jackson's Oxford Journal, Sat. July 23, 1825.

     

[Shanachai]

     As I've said before, potted biographers of Charles Graham Halpin(e) say he changed his name to distance himself from his father, with whom he had a classically Oedipal relationship.  But in my research I came across evidence that seems to point to another reason for the name-change...I've read the vestry notebooks that the Reverend NJ Halpin kept during his 17 years as rector at Oldcastle, Co. Meath.  There he records the birth of a son he named Charles Boyton Halpin.

     From the North Wales Chronicle, Nov. 30 1850:

     Charles Boyton Halpin was brought up in custody of Mr. Enoch Williams, on three separate charges; first, for entering the dwelling house of Mrs. Andrew, in Boston-street, on the previous Sunday, and stealing therefrom a silver cruet; secondly, for obtaining money under false pretenses from Mr. Hodgson, the landlord of the Commercial Inn; and thirdly, for stealing a jug from London House, the property of Mr. Lewis.
     Mr. Bodvan Griffith appeared for the three prosecutors, and said that upon the person of the prisoner the policeman had found 93 pawn-brokers' tickets of gold watches and other valuable property, pledged in London, which tickets, he had got copied and sent to the Editor of the Police Gazette, in London, which no doubt would lead to more discoveries.
     Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the police officer for the cautious perseverence he pursued in detecting and capturing the prisoner.

     After an incident like this I suppose Charles had nowhere to go but to the US, where it must have seemed wise to him to alter his name and attribute the change to something like a noble aversion to High Tory - or anti-American - forebears.       

[MCJ]

Hello Raymond,

I don't know where to start!  Your history on the Halpin family is great.  I usually don't join chat groups, I prefer e-mail, however, I had to join roots.chat to contact you.  I was researching the Halpin family for my Dad and I came across your postings.  My Dad's grandfather was, Henry Ross Halpin the fur trader you talked about in one of your postings, His father being Rev.William Henry Halpin (London, Ontario) son of Rev. Nicholas John Halpin. 

This might interest you, or maybe you already have this information, I found the obituary/funeral of Charles Graham Halpin in the New York Times, his oldest sister (Lucy) obituary is also in the New York times.  I tried to locate information about the his sister in Chicago, couldn't find anything.  There is tons of information about Charles Graham Halpin.  Just curious where do you fit into the family.  Also, I think it is high time all the Halpin's had a reunion.