Florance Driscoll, a native of County Cork, Ireland emigrated to America in about 1848 with his wife, Mary Donovan. While enroute, their son John Joseph Driscoll was born in London. They had one other son about whom nothing is known but is believed to have setteled in the Boston area. They were orphaned at an early age and John J. Driscoll came south during the Civil War. In 1879 he married Bridget McGrath, the daughter of Patrick Phillip McGrath and Mary Bridget Fanning who were also emigrants from County Cork. In the 1900 U.S. Census, John Driscoll’s occupation is listed as "Bank Clerk" and in the 1910 Census it is listed as "Custodian of Vaults, Bank"