Who is John the Immigrant? John William Devlin was born on March 12, 1825 in Coalisland, Tyrone, Ireland and immigrated to the US between 1843 and 1850. While here in America he worked on the Erie canal and on the B&O Railroad bridge. Sometime before 1860 John went back to Ireland and brought his bride-to-be, Bridget Nealon, and her sister back to the states and was then later married on the 8th of January 1860. After he married he moved to Bowling Green, Ohio and worked on a farm owned by George Williams. John eventually acquired nearly 100 acres of his own land between the years of 1866 and 1888. An axiom related to us by a distant Irish cousin says, "The Irish never sell their land, they just acquire more land." This would be very true in the example of John the immigrant. John and Bridget had 3 children, John William, Thomas and Joseph J.Above is just a brief sketch of our dear John and his family. There is always so much more to learn!
