Happy St. Pat's! I'm thinking of Grandpa Smallwood today. Papapa would have turned 95 on Monday, and he was VERY proud of his Irish heritage. His mother, Anna, was descended from the Pauls and the Eatons; both families were Ulster Irish (so don't wear green today, fellow Orangemen!).

James Paul left Coleraine, County Dery in 1839. He paid four pounds passage, and arrived in the US with exactly two cents cash. His sweetheart and future wife, Mary Nowry, came with him on the same boat; they married that year. James sold his watch for $6 and headed for Pennsylvania, where he worked at mining and boating. In 1851 they bought a 200 acre farm in Troy twp Illinois. James and Mary  had seven children, two of whom fought in the Civil War. James' youngest son, Matthew Henry, married Sarah Jane Eaton -- their daughter, Anna Paul, was Papapa's Mother.

Sarah Jane was a more recent arrival from Belfast, having immigrated to Canada with her parents and her two brothers. By 1869 they were naturalized and living in Joliet with a whole passel more children.

And now, meet Matthew and Sarah!