My oldest known McGovern ancestor is John McGovern, born March 10, 1809 in County Fermanagh,  in Northern Ireland,  I have been unsuccessful in locating the Parish or the Townland where John lived in Ireland, and therefore, have no information on his ancestors.

I know that he first married "Rose" and that at some point, they were living in Glasgow, Scotland.  John and Rose had one son:

Rose died of typhus fever sometime around 1845 and is buried in the graveyard north and east of St. Mary's Catholic church, which is situated on Abercrombie Street, Glasgow, Scotland. (I contacted the Catholic church in Glasgow to see if I could get any records on John and Rose from that parish, but never received a reply.)

According to John's pension file records, he and John, Jr. arrived in the United States around 1846.  To date, I have been unable to find them on the ship passenger lists.  They settled in Wilmore, Cambria County, very near to St. Bartholomew Church.

St. Bartholomew Church, Wilmore, PA

Although they were in the country, I could not find John in the 1850 census.

I have not yet verified John's naturalization records, but I believe that the date may have been October 8, 1851 (Cambria Naturalization 4, pp. 336-337). There was no time lapsed between his filing of intent and his naturalization.

I found John McGovern listed in the 1860 census, Cambria County, Wilmore Borough, reel 653-1088, page 587, enumerated on July 31, 1860 by H. A. McPike. At this time, he was not yet married to Catherine Moore Trainer. "Ln 32, HN 2467, FN 2498,: John McGovern, age 51, male, occupation laborer, real value 250, pers val. 50, born in Ireland."

John married Catherine Moore Trainer on Aug. 1, 1860. Catherine was born on Jan. 14, 1838 in County Down, Ireland. Catherine was widowed when her first husband, John Trainor, died on June 12, 1860. She was left with three young children, Charles, Catherine and Rose.  So, it's not surprising that just two short months after his death, she was married again. I was unable to find this marriage record in the Catholic Vital Records of Central Pennsylvania, but the date was confirmed in John's pension files.

John and Catherine had ten children together:

John McGovern's property in Wilmore is noted on the 1867 landowner's map of Wilmore, off Portage Street, not far from St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church. (See McGovern Documents for a copy of this document)

St. Bartholomew Church, Wilmore, PA

The family is listed in the 1870 census, Cambria County, Wilmore Borough, Reel No, M5931318, page no 332b, enumerated on June 4, 1870 as "McGauvern":
John age 61, farmer, real val. 250 pers. val. 150;
Catherine age 30, housekeeper, can't read or write; children were:
Edward, 8 years, born in PA, Margaret, 7 years, born in PA,
Patrick, 4 years, born in PA; and
Thomas, 1 year, born in PA--everyone had marks for foreign born father & mother.
Also included in this census were the children from Catherine's first marriage to John Trainer:
Catherine "Traner", age 15, born in PA, foreign born father & mother
Rosana "Traner", age 14, born in PA, foreign born father & mother, attending school
Charles "Traner", age 11, born in PA, foreign born father & mother, attending school (John & Catherine had another son: James Jacob b. June 22, 1867 and died March 20, 1869, so he was NOT listed in the 1870 census)

According to family stories, some of this family worked on the RR's (And I have an old railroad office photo that was with my grandmother's items that might contain some of them, but no one was identified on the photo):

During the Civil War, John served with a unique group of older men from Cambria County, Palmer's Independent Silver Grays. During the Civil War, the cut-off age for service was 45, but these men were closer to 60 years.  John enrolled on Nov. 30, 1861.  They served at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg and were charged with taking care of the arsenal and warehouse containing the public stores in Harrisburg.  The Silver Grays were disbanded, and John  was honorably discharged at Harrisburg Pennsylvania on the 30th day of April, 1862.  Although this was a short period of service time, it was long enough for him to earn a pension, which came in handy later when John suffered medical problems. (See McGovern documents for copies of newspaper articles from The Alleghanian about the Silver Grays and also copies of the documents from his pension files.)

John McGovern is listed as a private on the Ebensburg War Memorial, Plaque 16
5-20-2000 John served in Palmer's Independent Company "Silver Grays" from November 30, 1861 to April 30, 1862.

The McGovern property was listed in the landowner map for Wilmore in the Illustrated Atlas of Cambria County from 1890. The property was between Prospect Street and Crooked Street, near St. Bartholomew Church.  His daughter and son-in-law (John G. Waltz) were living across the street.

I found this family in the 1880 Census, Cambria County, Summerhill Township & Wilmore Boro;  Page #313B, Lines 18 through 25, Dwelling #94; Family #94.
John McGovern, White, Male, age 67, married, farmer, born in Ireland, parents born in Ireland
Catheran McGovern, White, Female, age 40, married, keeping house, born in Ireland, parents born in Ireland
Charles McGovern, White, Male, age 22, son, laborer, born in PA, ( all children have parents born in Ireland marked)
Edward McGovern, White, Male, age 19, son, at home, born in PA
Margaret McGovern, White, Female, age 15, daughter, at home, born in PA
Patrick McGovern, White, Male, age 13, son, at home, born in PA
Cornelius McGovern, White, Male, age 8, son, at home, born in PA
Bridget McGovern, White, Female, age 5, daughter, at home, born in PA

Somewhere around 1884, John suffered a stroke and sustained paralysis.  This is detailed in various statement by his wife, priest (Rev. Henry McGugh), and his Declaration for Invalid Pension, filed on July 19th, 189_ (year not filled in, but it was 1892) State of Pennsylvania, County of Cambria. (Copies of these documents are available in the McGovern Documents section, along with the transcriptions, as the documents are difficult to read)

John died Sept. 4, 1893 in Wilmore.  He is buried in the old section of St. Bartholomew Cemetery, along with three of his children.

Front - John McGovern

Back - James, Thomas & Annie McGovern

Catherine lived with her son, Charles, in Derry, Pa. at the end of her life, so she is not buried with John.  She died on April 23, 1928 in Derry.

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