Finding an 1866 penny causes me to think of people from that time in my family tree.

Here is a photo of John Dineen.  He is Lewis Dineen's uncle.  He was also a railroad worker.  I believe he was a railroad engineer.  I hope to find my family history book for this family as I believe there are some good railroad stories that go with John.  Any ways John was born in 1862.  His parents were John Dineen and Margaret Donovan.  They came from Cork County Ireland.  Many of the Irish immigrants were coming to America due to the potato famine.  I remember a few years ago reading a children's book about the journey from Ireland to America during this time.  The boats were called "Coffin boats" because  more people died on them than survived.  The link attaches you to a write up about this time.
But I'm writing today because of a penny I found at work this weekend.  It was an Indian head penny dated 1866.  Someone at one point used it as a necklace as it has a hole in the top of it.  But I thought it was cool.  So I traded a regular penny for it.  It made me think about my ancestors.  Who was alive at this time and what were they doing?  One of them could have walked around with some of these pennies.  I tried to take a photo of the penny, but it didn't come out that great. 
What I found was that many of my husbands ancestors were arriving just a few years before this date, and that it is a few years after the civil war ended.  I'm not a great history person.  I learned a new word "Antebellum."  Which means before a war specifically the Civil war.  These people lived in a post bellum world.  I wonder what life was like for them and if their parents came to America on the "Coffin Boats."  I'll have to see if I can find the book I read and read it again.

Another ancestor whose family came to America during this time is John Brutcher.  His parents were John Brutcher and Mary Ann O'Hare.  A German father and Irish mother.  His family lived in Raritan, New Jersey.  They lived near the Raritan Woolen mills.  Until a few years ago the woolen mills were still around, but now they have been torn down and luxury apartments have taken their place.  Many people came to America for a better life, I'm not sure working in the woolen mills could be considered a better life.  But I'm sure it was better than starving.  As it seems that is what was happening to the Irish immigrants. Any ways the penny I found led me to thinking about who might have been alive when it was brand new, and just think about how many people may have held this penny over the years.  Some may have held onto it for years and then some how it ended up in my store.  Now I can hold onto it.  Have you ever found an old penny and thought about someone from your family line?
G.G.