William, aged 24, (born abt 1825) along with his widowed mother, Catherine Davidson and his two half-sisters, Jane and Catherine, arrived in New York from Belfast aboard the Chenango on 3 July 1849.
William married soon after arriving in New York – the Census taken on 6 August 1850 lists William, his wife Martha (also from Ireland) and two-month-old daughter, Ellen. William worked as a Seaman throughout the 1850s and 1860s, but by 1870, when he was in his mid-40s, he was working as a Painter in New York. Martha appears to have died sometime in the 1860s as the Census taken on 29 June 1870 shows William living with 46 year old Mary J Oakman, along with his children Ellen (20), Walter (17), and 4-month-old George. The census shows Mary J as having been born in “New Foundland” (Canada) and “keeping house”.
By 19 January 1871, William is living in an apartment building at 46 Forsyth Road, New York (close to present-day Chinatown and the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge). Living with him are 38 year old Jane who was born “At Sea”, another Jane (21 yrs – this could be William’s eldest child, Ellen, or even a daughter of the woman living with him), Walter (17 yrs), William (12 yrs), and George (1 yr).
I’ve found no trace of William in the 1880 Census – he would have been about 57 years old – but I have found Mary J Oakman (47 yrs, born Nova Scotia) keeping house for James Hamilton and his boarders. Living with her were children George (10 yrs) and Emma (5 yrs). She is listed as widowed so William must have died between 1875-1880.