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amiislsi The Frontier Family ofBarack Obama "Endlessly fascinating. the story ofhowAmerica was made. .. Irish Independent f STEPHEN MacDONOGH B ARACK Obama has referred to his mother, Ann Dunham, as "the dominant figure in myformative years... Thevalues she taught me continue to be mytouchstonewhen it comes to howI go about theworld ofpolitics," This unique book tells theveryAmerican story ofher Irish ancestry: ofhergreat-great-grandfatherwho immigrated fromthe smallvillage ofMoneygall in Ireland to the SciotoValley in Ohio, and of his relativeswho made thejourneybefore him. This Irish family, the Kearneys, came first to Baltimore, Maryland, then movedwestwith the frontier to Ohio, where many ofthese settlers are buried in a small rural cemetery beneath gravestones that proudly record their origins. Some migratedfurther, to Indiana, where three Kearneydaughters marriedthree sons ofanother settler family, the Dunhams of Tipton County, before many ofthe Dunhams and Kearneys moved onto Kansas, some to Oklahoma. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, andwith previously unseen photographs. Pioneers: TheFrontierFamilyofBarack Obama is a poignant evocation ofIreland's darkestyears, America's pioneeringpast and howthe two are intertwined in a dramatic narrative encapsulatingtheAmerican Dream and echoingthe president's own inaugural address. "Ourfamily's storyis one thatspans miles andgenerations; races and realities..." PIONEERS: THE FRONTIER FAMILY OF BARACK OBAMA Stephen MacDonogh is the author of a memoir, Open Book: One Publisher's War; a local history. The Dingle Peninsula, and a study offolk custom; a campaigner for freedom of expression, he is the editor of The Rushdie Letters: Freedom to Speak, Freedom to Write; he is also a photographer, poet, editor and publisher. He is a formerchairperson ofthe Irish Writers Cooperative and former president of CLE, the Irish Book Publishers Association. STEPHEN MacDONOGH PIONEERS The Frontier Family ofBarack Obama BR/\ND3N ABrandonHardbackOriginal FirstPublishedin2010byBrandon animprintofMountEaglePublications Dingle,Co. Kerry,Ireland, andc/oDufourEditionsInc,POBox 7, ChesterSpringsPA 19425 Copyright©StephenMacDonogh2010 Allrightsreserved Theauthorhasassertedhismoralrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork. ISBN978-0-86322-433-1 2468 97531 10 Thisbookissoldsubjecttotheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayof tradeorotherwise,belent,resold,hiredoutorotherwisecirculatedwithout thepublisher'spriorconsentinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthanthat inwhichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionbeingimposedonthe subsequentpurchaser. Mapartwork: AmiDesign Coverdesign:AnuDesign TypesettingbyRedBarnPublishing,Skeagh,Skibbereen 1 Contents List of Maps vi Introduction 1 Thomas Kearney of Baltimore 18 Poverty and Injustice in Ireland, Opportunity Abroad 36 Ireland's Great Turning Point 60 To the Frontier 69 Frontier Settlers 92 Before the Famine 106 An Irish Family Sets Down Roots 127 Frederick Douglass in Ireland 138 The Great Famine in Offaly 146 The Aftermath ofthe Famine 159 Moving On: Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma 172 The Post-Pioneer Family 185 Hawaiian Marriage 205 Obama and Ireland: The Personal and the Political 217 Carnival of Reaction in America: Birthers, Tea Parties and Racists 236 Carnival of Reaction: Ireland in the Twentieth Century 244 The Irish American Presidents 260 Appendix 277 1 Appendix 2 280 Endnotes 282 Bibliography 292 Acknowledgements 298 Maps List of Places in the Continental USA particularly associated with the Kearney and Dunham famihes x Moneygall, Ireland 15 Places associated with the Baxleys of Baltimore 26 The long journey from Baltimore to the Ohio Falls 79 The Wilderness Road 80 From the Ohio Falls to Deerfield 82 The Moneygall area 115 Counties Ross, Pickaway and Fayette 128 Places in Kansas and Oklahoma associated with the Kearney and Dunham families 187