Alcoholics Anonymous history topics: Sister Ignatia Gavin, Angel of A.A., St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, with Dr. Bob Smith. Correct date of birth, sailing from Ireland to America on the SS Indiana in 1896.
Sister Ignatia: baptismal record (birth certificate)
and the passenger manifest for the SS Indiana
from Fiona D. (County Mayo)
12 April 2009
Sister Ignatia's date of birth, as given in some of the older historical sources, needs to be corrected. Born Bridget Gavin, the baptismal record states that she was born on 1 January 1889. This is the date which should be used.
Passenger manifest for
the SS Indiana
Passenger manifest for the SS Indiana sailing from Queenstown (now Cobh), County Cork, Ireland, on 2 April 1896, bound for Philadelphia, shows Briget Gavin (Sister Ignatia) with her father and mother and her brother Pat.
FIRST PAGE
First page of the passenger manifest
First page, detail
SECOND PAGE
Second page of the passenger manifest
THIRD PAGE
Third page of the passenger manifest
Third page, detail
We can see Sister Ignatia (born Briget Gavin) and her father and mother and brother listed here: Pat Gavin, Laborer; Barbara Gavin, wife; Pat Gavin, Son; Bgt Gavin, Child. As can be seen, their names are part of a roster of the good Irish names (Mullins, Hennessy, Dunne, Murphy, and so on) of the many other men, women, and children who were making the long voyage across the Atlantic during this period of history.