Born in County Antrim, probably on his parent's farm in Ballymacmary Townland in the Parish of Killead, John Oakman left his homeland not long after reaching adulthood. His father, George Oakman, died in 1811 in the Parish of Glenavy, County Antrim. John was a young child when his father died. As his father's only heir, John inherited the bulk of his father's estate, in particular a farm in Ballymacmary in the Parish of Killead (PRONI D/971/1/17/1/12). John's grandparents were John Oakman and Jane Whitla who once lived at Hopevale in the Townland of Ballyminimore, Glenavy Parish. They were a linen manufacturing family.
In 1833, when John was in his early 20s, he decided to sell the farm in Ballymacmary and advertised it for sale in the Belfast Newsletter.
After selling the farm, John headed for America. He travelled on the Independence and arrived in America in 1834. The passenger list for the Independence shows John's occupation to be that of a "Merchant".
Life in America
Lee F Crawford's "William Webb Crawford, Dean of Birmingham Bankers and Family Sketches Genealogies" (page 244) tells us John came to America at the age of nineteen on a visit to relatives in Canada and the U.S. He fell in love with Harriett Campbell in Philadelphia, returned to Ireland to settle his affairs and then returned to Philadelphia to marry his sweetheart in 1841. He worked as a linen importer - no doubt importing Oakman-made linens from his family in Ireland.
John and Harriett appear to have had four children. Thomas Campbell Oakman, was born in February 1842, and Walter George Oakman (aka George Walter Oakman) was born on 10 May 1845. Another child was stillborn in 1849 and another died in infancy in 1853.
The 1850 US Census shows John working as a Merchant in Germantown, a few miles northwest of Philadelphia. John was Naturalised at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on 18 April 1853.
John's wife, Harriett died on 28 March 1853 and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery. John does not appear to have remarried and by the time of the 1860 Census he and his son Thomas were living in Paterson, New Jersey while his younger son George boarding with John Miller and family whilst attenting school in Philadelphia.
Paterson, New Jersey was known in the late 1800s as "Silk City" due to the dominance of silk production in the town. John had established a cotton factory there named "Hope Mill". I find it of interest that John named his mill almost the same as his grandfather's home in Ireland - Hopevale.
The 1870 Census lists John as a Cotton Yarn Manufacturer in the city of Paterson. By this time, both of his sons are living with him.
In December 1871 John's mill was damaged by a fire which had started in the neighbouring Franklin Mill. Fortunately, Hope Mill had a metal roof which saved the building from total destruction. The damage bill was estimated at $12,000 - a considerable sum in those days. Read the full article on the Great Fire at Paterson (The New York Times on 14 December 1871).
John died on 28 June 1876 and was buried alongside his wife at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Burial place of
Harriett Sykes Oakman
died 28 March 1853
Photographs supplied by
Laurel Hill Cemetery |
Close-up of base of headstone
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Close-up of pillar
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Burial place of John Oakman, died 28 June 1876
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A biographical note found in an 1892 publication provides the following details about John:
John Oakman, 1835 - Was born in or near Belfast, Ireland, between 1810 and 1815. His father, a linen manufacturer, died while his son was still attending school. On attaining his majority he came to America and travelling in the United States, returned to Ireland, settled his affairs there and came to Philadelphia and established himself in business, dealing largely in Irish linens. In 1856 he bought the Hope Mills in Paterson, N.J., of which he had been commission agent, and was engaged in cotton spinning until within a few years of his death. He died at Paterson, N.J., in June, 1876, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. He married in 1841 Harriet Sykes Campbell, daughter of Thomas Campbell. She was a niece of John Gill, Jr. (1818), and a sister of Archibald Campbell (1834). One of his sons, T.C. Oakman, is connected with the Marietta and North Georgia Railway Company.
Source: John H Campbell, "History of the Friendly Sons of St Patrick and of
the
Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland : March 17,
1771 - March 17, 1892", Philadelphia, Hibernian Society, 1892.
Thomas Campbell Oakman (1842 - 1909)
Thomas Campbell Oakman was born in Philadelphia in 1842. He studied to be Architect at the University of Pennsylvania.. He served as an officer in the Civil War and was with the First City Troop when General Lee invaded Pennsylvania and was later Captain in the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Graves of Thomas Campbell Oakman
and his wife Mary Saunders Oakman,
and their son
John Saunders Oakman
After the war Thomas joined his father's cotton manufacturing business at Hope Mill in Paterson, New Jersey. Though listed as an Architect in the 1870 Census, Thomas does not seem to continue with this profession after his father's death. Instead we find him following in his father's footsteps as a cotton manufacturer.
After inheriting from his father some shares in the Rockfish Manufacturing Company of North Carolina, Thomas went to Little Rockfish in Cumberland County, North Carolina, where, in 1871 he purchased the failing company. The mills in Little Rockfish had been destroyed by General Sherman and his troops during the Civil War. Thomas set rebuilt them and named them Hope Mills. He also purchased more land at Little Rockfish, donating some of it to the Episcopal Church. He also built a library and established a night school in the town. (Source: "Encyclopedia of Massachusetts" by Henry L. Dawes, pg 319.) The town of Little Rockfish was later named Hope Mills.
Thomas married Mary Saunders, daughter of a prominent silk manufacturer of Pittsfield, Massachussetts in 1876. This couple had a son and three daughters:
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John Saunders Oakman - born 5 Aug 1878 in Pittsfield, Massachussetts. John studied Architecture at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts and later at Ecole des Beaux Arts, in Paris. He became famous in the U.S. for designing Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, the Knickerbocker Hospital and Nurses' Home in New York City, the Protestant Episcopal Orphan's Home, New York City and a numerous prestigious homes around the country. John married widow Margaret Curzon Marquand Hale in 1910 and adopted her five children. They had one child together, a daughter - Renee Oakman who was born in 1911
John served with the American Ambulance Service in France during WWI and became Captain of the Army Corps of Engineers. John and Margaret lived much of their time in New York City. He enlisted again in WWII.
Margaret died in 1948 in New York City at the age of 78. John died when he was 85 years old, on 18 Dec 1963, in Anniston, Alabama. An obituary published in the New York Times on 24 Dec 1963 mentions his sister, Mrs Dorothy Oakman Fagan, and his grandson, Robert Parsons.
Read more about John Oakman, Architect.
- Anna Constance Oakman - According to the obituary published in the New York Times on 12 February 1949, Anna was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and spent her childhood in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Anna worked in Dijon, France as canteen director for the American Red Cross during WWI. She also became President of the American Red Cross Overseas League, and was a member of the Women's National Republican Club and the English-Speaking Union. She married married Albert Bullus, an insurance man. This couple don't appear to have had any children.
- Dorothy Campbell Oakman - born abt 1887 in Massachussetts. Dorothy married Levi Fagan about 1917 and had three daughters: Constance, Barbara and Penelope. Dorothy and Levi were living in Hampstead, New York State in 1930, where Levi was working as a Hosiery Salesman. Dorothy died sometime after 1963.
- Mary L Oakman - born March 1887 but appears to have died in infancy.
Family tree for Thomas Campbell Oakman and Mary Saunders
Walter George Oakman (1845 - 1922)
Walter George Oakman began his career as a mechanical engineer, working with the likes of the Gant Locomotive Works at Paterson, New Jersey and later Superintendent with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. He was to become Vice-President, President and Director of such companies as the Central Railroad of New Jersey, Richmond and Virginia and Georgia Railroad Company, Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company, Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway Company, Greeley Square Realty Company, Jefferson and Clearfield Coal and Iron Company, American Car and Foundry Company. Walter was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the with the Guaranty Trust Company, President of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Company, and was involved in numerous engineering projects, including the Hudson Tunnel and Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse (see New York Subway).
Walter travelled extensively, married Eliza Conklin, daughter of Senator Roscoe Conklin and appears to have amassed great wealth during his lifetime. He built a large, impressive home on Long Island, which he named Oakdene, and lived there until about 1912 when he sold it to Henry D Walbridge who renamed it "Waldene". Walter and Eliza then made The Waldorf their home. The couple had three children: Helen Lincklaen Oakman, Walter George Oakman, and Katherine E Oakman.
The town of Oakman in Alabama is named in honour of Walter.
Family tree for Walter George Oakman
- Helen Lincklaen Oakman - Helen went to England and became involved in war work during WWI. She met and fell in love with Lieut Buchan M Liddell, RNR. They married on 7 October 1919 in London.
- Walter George Oakman, Jr - Walter jr studied at Harvard and volunteered as a driver with the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps with the French Army in 1914. He later enlisted in the Royal Navy as a mechanic with the Armoured Car Division. Late 1915 he joined the Coldstream Guards, 2nd Battalion. He was wounded in March 1916 and spent abount 9 months recuperating in hospital in England. He rejoined his battalion in France. Wounded again in September 1917 in Belgium and November at Gouzaucourt. Walter served on the front at Neuve-Chapelle-Armentieres, Ypres and Flanders and was discharged mid-1919. He received a medal for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the left company of an attacking wave, and of both companies, after the company on his right had lost all their officers. Though checked by a group of concrete block houses, he made dispositions to outflank them, and finally reached the second objective. He had been wounded in the shoulder a few days previously, and was suffering great pain throughout the operations". (Source: Harvard Class of 1907, Secretary's Fourth Report.)
Walter died on 15 January 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. His wife, Anna Burr Hubbard died in 1993 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Cazenovia, New York State. It is unknown whether Walter is buried with her. This couple don't appear to have had any children.
- Katherine E Oakman - Katherine married John Hammond MacVeagh in the Church of the Transfiguration, New York City, on 19 October 1921. Her cousin, John Saunders Oakman, was on of the ushers in attendance. John MacVeagh became a diplomat, serving as Second Secretary of the American Embassy in Paris in 1931.
