McGuiggan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

During the 19th century thousands of impoverished Irish families made the long journey to British North America and the United States. These people were leaving a land that had become beset with poverty, lack of opportunity, and hunger. In North America, they hoped to find land, work, and political and religious freedoms. Although the majority of the immigrants that survived the long sea passage did make these discoveries, it was not without much perseverance and hard work: by the mid-19th century land suitable for agriculture was short supply, especially in British North America, in the east; the work available was generally low paying and physically taxing construction or factory work; and the English stereotypes concerning the Irish, although less frequent and vehement, were, nevertheless, present in the land of freedom, liberty, and equality for all men. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Research into passenger and immigration lists has brought forth evidence of the early members of the McGuiggan family in North America:

McGuiggan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• John McGuiggan, who arrived in Mississippi in 1854 1

• Jake McGuiggan, American Buffalo Bisons coach
• Mrs. C. A. McGuiggan, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Minnesota, 1940 2
• Margaret Rose McGuiggan MBE, British volunteer, recognized as Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Save the Children Fund at the 1995 New Year Honours