|
JAMES McCreery 1788- October 28 1852
What do we know about JAMES McCREERY and his wife Elizabeth McGee McCreery (1783 or 1786-Sept 1871)?
JAMES McCreery (McCreary) is buried at Boyds Methodist Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth McGee McCreery within a few feet of Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth Magee - and nephew William Magee (1813-1853).
Close by - and mostly embedded in earth and sod is the joint tombstone of William Magee (1795-1865) and Sarah McCall Magee (1812-1861) (see Main Web Pages HERE for picture).
Perhaps a dozen feet further away is the stone of James McGee (1802-1883 or 1888) and nearby that of James' second wife, Mary Braiden (spelled or even Bredin or Braiden in other places) . He separate tombstone contains the denotation "of Carlow". James first wife, Elizabeth Warren (also of Carlow) is buried a mile or so down the concession Road at St. John's Anglican Cemetery.
The McCreery family came to Lanark from County Armagh* in 1823, settling at Ramsay Twp. Con. 3 Lot 3E, next to William Hamilton Con. 4 Lot 3W who had been settled there in 1821. William MCreery Jr. (1810-1892) - the McCreerys' second oldest son, age 11 when they arrived, would later marry Margaret Hamilton,
who was 5 years old at the time. Most families came out from Ireland
with friends and relatives - or knew someone already settled. One
wonders if these families knew each other in Ireland. It's hard to determine. It was common for families to indicate only their County
of origin. Each came from a village, townland and parish - but these
origins often remain obscure. Having failed, to date, to find parish
records for the McCreerys in Armagh, I will attempt to hone in on them below - but here I will concentrate on existing Irish settlers before 1823.
The earliest migrations to this part of Ramsay Township occurred in 1820 - but before going back to that year and the settlement of Boyd's Settlement, I will digress slightly to the settlers who arrived about the same time as William Hamilton in 1821.
William Hamilton had been settled July 21st 1821. John Hamilton had been placed at Lanark Twp. Con. 9 Lot 10W two days earlier on July 27th, William Wilson received Ramsay Twp. Con. 8 Lot 4W on the 30th and William Wallace received Ramsay Con. 7 Lot 7E one day later on July 31st. on the same day as Robert McFarlane (from Scotland) received Ramsay Con. 8 Lot 7E, and Thomas McLelland received Con. 7 Lot 7W - and James McFarland (from Scotland) received Con. 8 Lot 6E. John McIntyre (also a Scot) had received Con. 8 Lot 8E in July 21st. and Stewart and William Houston received nearby lots Con. 7 Lot 5E and Con. 7 Lot 6E on the 8th of August of the same year. Five of these families all gaining land at much the same time - the Hamiltons, the Wallaces, , the Houstons, the Wilsons and (perhaps even) the McLellands
were Irish. Lacking records which might indicate that some or all of
these Irish settlers came out together, or that they came from the same
place, we will now look for these surnames in one source which locates
families by parish among the List of Flax Growers of Armagh in 1796.
This list predates the emigration by 25 years - so, in most cases - like the Hamiltons who were raising young children in 1821 - we are looking for this generation's parents on the list. But the Irish and Scots had a naming pattern (described in more detail below) which kept the same names recurring in regular fashion. The surnames above indeed occur often in County Armagh.
SURNAME GIVEN NAME PARISH
Hamilton
Archibald
Armagh
Hamilton
David
Armagh
Hamilton
George
Armagh
Hamilton
George
Mullaghbrack
Hamilton
James
Newtownhamilton
Hamilton
John
Derrynoose
Hamilton
John
Loughgall
Hamilton
Joseph
Killevy
Hamilton
Rev. A. J.
Armagh
Hamilton
Robert
Tynan
Hamilton
William
Loughgilly
Wallace
Edward
Armagh
Wallace
Hugh
Mullaghbrack
Wallace
James
Mullaghbrack
Wallace
John
Kilmore
Wallace
John
Loughgilly
Wallace
John
Mullaghbrack
Wallace
Robert
Loughgilly
Wallace
Robert
Mullaghbrack
Wallace
Wm.
Keady
<>
M'Clelland
Andrew
Ballymore
M'Clelland
James
Ballymore
M'Clelland
James
Loughgilly
M'Clelland
John
Ballymore
M'Clelland
John
Mullaghbrack
M'Clelland Joseph Mullaghbrack
Housten
Alexander
Armagh
Housten
Francis
Armagh
Housten
John
Derrynoose
Housten
Robert
Creggan
Houston
Charles
Derrynoose
Houston
Henry
Tynan
Houston
John
Armagh
Houston
Thomas
Armagh
Houston
William Armagh
Wilson
Adam
Armagh
Wilson
Adam, Jr.
Armagh
Wilson
Daniel
Mullaghbrack
Wilson
David
Armagh
Wilson
Eleanor
Armagh
Wilson
Hugh
Armagh
Wilson
Hugh
Tynan
Wilson
James
Armagh
Wilson
James
Mullaghbrack
Wilson
James
Tynan
Wilson
John
Armagh
Wilson
John
Mullaghbrack
Wilson
John
Tynan
Wilson
John, Jr.
Armagh
Wilson
Robert
Killevy
Wilson
Samuel
Tynan
Wilson
Thomas
Armagh
Wilson
Thomas
Tynan
Wilson
Wallace
Tynan
Wilson
William
Armagh
Wilson
William
Tynan
Conclusion: Armagh is one of Ireland's smaller (484 sq. miles) but most
heavily populated counties. It is roughly 15 miles from east to west
and 30 from north to south. I feel that to find summer of 1821 settlers with all five surnames living no more than eight miles from each other suggests that these families likely did know each other - and in Armagh. This tentative early conclusion is strengthened by the later arrival of the McCreery and other families in 1823.
The parishes of Keady, Derrynoose and Tynan seem to represent one cluster - while Mullaghbrack and Loughgilly - about 8 miles to the east seem to form another.
* County Armagh
was equally divided among Protestants and Roman Catholics - and farmers
and labourers at the turn of the 19th century. Its industry had
undergone a transition as recently as 1750 (when the town of Keady
sprung up as a manufacturing centre) from farming to an economy which
increasingly devoted to linen weaving - which gave Catholic weavers
money with which to work - which had not been previously available to
them. Protestant small farmer tenants, few of whom owned land began to
band together - attacking Catholic tenants - ostensibly to ncover
hidden arms - but destroying the weaving looms they found during their
attacks. Catholic farmers and weavers formed themselves into a
protection gang called The Defenders and Protestants into a band of marauders called the Peep O'Day Boys. Matters came to a head in 1795 with an armed conflict between these groups a Loughall - within walking distance of Keady - resulting in the formation of the ultraprotestant Loyal Orange Lodge.
Arrival of the Boyd Family Cluster From Armagh 1820
Beyond a smattering of families who
had been placed in Lanark before 1820 on military grants, Lanark County
really opened its rural areas to settlement following offers from the
British government of land in Canada and the 1817 creation of lists of
more than 3,000 families wanting to emigrate. The Wesleyan Methodist Boyds (John and Samuel) whose name was attached to Boyds Settlement were among the first to receive land in southwest Ramsay Township along the shores of Mississippi Lake - were known to have come from the Keady* area in Armagh.
*Another group of Boyd families emigrated later to the Huntington County and the seigniories of Beaharnois & Châteauguay of the Quebec Eastern Townships. They are easier to pin down in Armagh - as there were also Steel(e) families (all from Loughgilly) and Dalzell families (from Mullaghbrack and Tynan) intermarried with the Boyds - and other families - the Campbells (all parishes), the Cowans (Keady and Tynan), the M'Kees (Mullaghbrack, Keady and Loughgilly), the Grahams (all Armagh parishes).
Here's the REFERENCE if you wish to follow up this thread.
I am pretty certain, again from reading the 1796 Armagh Flax Grower Records, that this emigration came from the Mullaghbrack/Loughgilly Parishes - my guess based solely on the concentration of Steel families at Loughgilly and not seen elsewhere. Interestingly - they also named their new home Boyd Settlement.
In 1817, as a response to the recent War of 1812,
preparations were under way in Wexford and Wicklow to transport large
numbers of farmers to Canada - with the emphasis of able-bodied men who
could participate in a militia should there be further hostilities. Men
who had born arms in the Rebellion of 1798 on the loyalist side were
preferred. In the document A Release of
Protestant families preparing to emigrate from the counties of Carlow
and Wexford in the insuing Spring — dated (New) Ross, 29th November 1817, we see the actual naes of many of the Irish settlers of Ramsay, Lanark and Drummond Townships.
John and Samuel Boyd were placed, on August 1st 1820, on non-adjacent Lots in Lanark Township - Samuel at Con 12 Lot 2W and John at Con 10 Lot 2E - probably
this is what they asked for rather than a bureaucratic decision - as
settlers were often granted such consideration. Interestingly enough
they eventually had Andrew Stephenson b.c. 1794 (at times spelled Stevenson) located between them at Con. 11 Lot 2E - about 1823-4. He was married to their sister - Mary Boyd. It has been said that the Boyd family's parents died in 1819 and that 6 out of their 9 Boyd offspring came to Canada. We account here for 4.
Henry Hammond, who was married to another Boyd sister, Margaret Boyd, was located next to John Boyd at Lanark Con. 10 Lot 1E on the 12 of August 1820.
<>
Unfortunately, this family tree is
pieced together rather than assembled in an orderly way. It may
needs to be changed somewhat after closer scrutiny. Nevertheless it
shows family connections in Armagh transported to Canada.
Indications are that the Boyds lived near Clay Lake which borders Keady.
Names like Boyd's Settlement and later McCreary's Corners further
to the east - were informal descriptions of the communities which
sprung up. There is no doubt, however that the emigration of August
1820 brought together two groups of families from far-flung corners of
Ireland, some Methodists, some Church of Ireland (Anglican).
A look at the dates in August 1820 when land was granted reveals a
little more about the wave of Irish settlement here. There were few
Scots who were settled in this area in the early days, and the Irish
were distributed among the Armagh settlers and those from Wexford and
particularly western Wicklow. Whether these settlers knew each other
before arriving or met while being transported is not known.
The McGee/Magees among the Boyd's Settlers of 1820
The question is raised again as to the Irish origins of William McGee and James McGee, both of whom signed their name Magee. William McGee/Magee was 25 and James McGee/Magee was a mere 18 year old in 1820 when they were granted land. James listed his parents as William and Elizabeth McGee, while William indicated that Elizabeth McGee McCreery was his sister, that John Magee who arrived later in 1821 was his brother. John Magee listed his parents as George Magee and Elizabeth Totten.
In 1820, their land grant holdings were surrounded by friends, the Methodist Hammonds from Armagh on the west, Methodist Lancelot Jackson from Wicklow on the east, and the Methodist Boyd brothers from Armagh on the northeast and northwest. William quickly joined the Methodists in building a church, while James married Elizabeth Warren whose mother was Sarah McGee (from Wicklow/Carlow) as an Anglican in 1824. James appears to have had a sister Margaret (spelled Magee) who married Elizabeth's brother Thomas Warren in 1825. The Anglican Warren family generally appears to have intermarried with folks from Wicklow/Carlow after coming to Canada.
The Magees/McGees Armagh or Wicklow?
Checking the Armagh Flax Growers List of 1796, we see the McGee name spelled M'Kee in Armagh -(there is no William M'Kee listed ) and knowing that the Boyds came from the Keady-Derrynoose-Tynan area - it is interesting to say the least to survey the Magee names of Armagh:
Surname Given Name Parish
Magee
Bernard
Armagh
Magee
Catherine
Armagh
Magee
Edward
Armagh
Magee
Henry
Tynan
Magee
James
Armagh
Magee
John
Armagh
Magee
John
Keady
Magee
John
Tynan
Magee Thomas Armagh
John Magee of Lanark Con. 11 Lot 7E, William's brother, was born about 1780, and might have been (but probably wasn't) old enough to be registered as a flax grower in 1796. William Totten was a flax grower at Mullaghbrack in 1796.
William Magee/McGee married Sarah McCall who were said to live on the second line of Ramsay. I haven't been able to trace the McCall roots in Ramsay past the generation after Sarah - but they were definitely Methodists.
M'Call Families (flax growers) from the Keady Area in 1796.
M'Call
Alexander
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
David
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
John
Armagh
Armagh
M'Call
John
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
John,
Jr.
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
Mary
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
Patrick
Armagh
Armagh
M'Call
Robert
Derrynoose
Armagh
M'Call
William
Derrynoose
Armagh
There are enough differences between the traces left behind by William and James McGee/Magee to suggest that they were not full bothers - perhaps half-brothers or cousins. I return to this in discussing the McCreerys below.
The leaning here is that James McGee was from the Carlow-Wicklow area and that William Magee was from the Derrynoose-Tynan-Keady area of Armagh. Is this true - and if so, how were they related?
Some Research Left To Others to Complete
A survey of the surnames of settlers granted land near Boyd's before - and to some extent after 1823 reveals the names Conn, Cardiff, Richardson, Carberry, Cullen, Graham, Maloney and Brown who also received land. While I have searched these names at the biggest known data base of Lanark Settlers (136,000 names), Robert Bond's wonderful index - complete with references to obituaries and Carol Bennett McCuaig's research - I was not able to discern any Wicklow or Armagh connection for any of these names. The Ireton brothers appear to have come from Wexford (closer to Wicklow). Surveying the Flax Growers List of Armagh for 1796, I found the names Graham, Cullen, Carberry and Brown, but not Maloney or Richardson. I also found in Armagh the surnames Hamilton, MgGuigan, Houston
- which may relate to the group of settlers placed on Concessions 7 and
8 of Ramsay. I must, however, not get too far afoot - and will leave
further research of the names to persons related more closely to them.
Before coming back to the McGees of Lanark Township, however, it must be acknowledged that Boyd's Settlement - while centred in Lanark Township - was at the intersection of four townships - Lanark, Ramsay, Beckwith and Drummond.
The names of the few settlers or northeast Drummond Township are
largely seen on the 1817 list of persons awaititng transport in
Werxford/Wiucklow/Carlow. Fosse Sterne, George Crampton, Samueal
Rathwell are definitely on thst List.
TheLanark and Ramsay were heavily settled first (1820) with a few Irish settlers distributed to the northeast corner of Drummond, and, by 1822 other Irish settlers, including relatives of the Lanark-Ramsay settlers in the northwest corner of Beckwith. The record keeping for each Township was different. Lanark Township census record are not on line. The Drummond Census is on line, but lacks detail until 1842. We see on the Drummond map - the arrival of JOHN POOLE in 1820 - whose daughter (or sister) Ann married Samuel Boyd.
(See POOL/POOLE above) There is only one POOL in the Armagh Flax Growers List of 1796, James POOL at Ballymore - and no other indication of the origins of this family. This family would appear to be from Wicklow.
Elizabeth Pool, born in Drummond in 1827 married Thomas Appleby - who had come from the Shillelagh area in Wicklow. Anne Poole (1805-1893) said to be born in Wexford, married William Tully in Drummond before moving to Manitoba - according to Methodist records. Harriet Poole, born in Drummond in 1838 married E. Halpenny. John Poole b. 1830 married Matilda Crampton - whose family came from Wexford and later Jane Cunningham of Scottish extraction. William Poole b. 1832 married Margaret Crampton. The Cramptons had emigrated from County Wexford.
Was the POOLE family from Wicklow or Armagh? I lean towards Wicklow.
We also see the Richard Cook or COOKE family of Drummond Con. 12 Lot 23. This family intermarried with the SEELY and the CHAMNEY families - were adherents of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and buried at Boyd's Methodist Cemetery.
We also see Fosse Sterns at Drummond Con. 12 Lot 25. Sterns was one of the Methodist Church-Building Committee at Boyd's Settlement in 1824 according to a fascinating book on the Caswell family of Lanark by Shirley Maynse - along with Andrew Stephenson, Thomas Jackson and William Magee.
The Beckwith - Scotch Corners Early Irish Settlers
To the southeast of Boyd's Settlement, another group of settlers from Ireland were settled in 1822 - the Codes, Dowdalls and Chamneys in particular from Aghold Parish in Wicklow. The name Swayne or Swain is probably also from Aghold.
The Beckwith Census is presented including settler locations - with a very interesting hand-drawn map in 1822
and the information about settlers becomes more detailed in later
reports in 1842, 1851 and 1861. The 1822 Map produced a "local mystery"
as to the identity of John Codd Jr. at Con. 12 Lot 3 and John Codd at Con. 12 Lot 4, two settlers who were obviously related to the other Codds, but the question was "how related?"
Some More Research to Be Taken Further by Others
George Code (1796-1890) and Jane Morris (1807-1894) were
the mainstays of the Beckwith part of the community directly to the
south. A daughter, Sarah b. 1832 married John Code of North Elmsley
Township. It now seems likely that John's mother - Rachel Code (b. 1796) was a sister of George Code
of Beckwith - or at the very least - a cousin. They would have been
more distantly related as well through John's father - Joseph Code of Carnew, Wicklow.
Codd-Jackson researcher Eileen Jackson
(now deceased) shed some light on the mystery, which is not yet
completely unravelled and will be left to others to research further -
by identifying one of the John Codds as the son of Abraham Codd and Elizabeth Fulham - who lived nearby in Ramsay Twp. This John Codd
was tragically drowned in Mississippi Lake at age 37 in 1849 - and
Eileen discovered his identity by researched the Coroner's Report. It is quite likely that this Abraham Codd was George Codd's brother.
Without going in to detail - and I admit that I haven't done much on this front, I do have a Compilation of the Census for Beckwith Northwest
which includes 1842, 1851 and 1861, and which shows
movement of families in northwest Beckwith - and specifically the
arrival of the Dowdall family from Aghold Parish, Wicklow.
John Dowdall (b. 1774) arrived in 1824 with his wife Sarah Codd (b. 1778). Sarah is thought to be the aunt of George Codd of Beckwith Con. 12 Lot 3 in December 1822. Interestingly enough, Richard Evans b.c. 1800 (record, unfortunately replete with inaccuracies) and his wife Rachel Codd located at Ramsay Con. 2 Lot 20 on November 30th 1822. Relatives? Seems likely.
We also see the arrival of JOHN SWAYNE b.c. 1812 (sometimes spelled SWAIN) in 1824 who married Sarah _______ b.c. 1816. John Swayne is thought to have emigrated from Aghold Parish in Wicklow - but with whom did he come? He was perhaps only ten years old when he apparently arrived in 1824. He certainly didn't come to Canada on his own.
Edward Hopkins of Wicklow was another Boyd's Settlement settler in 1820, located next to Samuel Boyd. In a letter from Joan Hopkins in 2005, she said:
The information on the Strathnakelly Hopkins
is from a large family tree of the HOPKINS/HASKINS families going back
to the early 1700's and Jane Hopkins Moorehouse is dau of Edward John Hopkins 1755-1844 of the Strathnakelly line. The title is The Haskins & Hopkins Families of Kilcommon and Neighbouring Parishes in Co. Wicklow and Co. Carlow with credits to about ten family researches who pooled their information.
Most of my ancestors were Church of
Ireland as well but another tree of the HOPKINS/BARKER families
starting with William Barker 1735-1797 m. Esther Hopkins 1737-1836
notes for their son Benjamin Barker 1763-1847 of Carrick, Kilcommon
Parish "Church Warden Kilcommon 1790-1813- The first to receive Methodist preachers in Tinahely, Mr. and Mrs. Barker welcomed Mr. Averill at Tinahely, 1807, first house in neighbourhood where Methodist services were held."
So it does not surprise me that they became Methodists
in Canada, the roots were there. Ross, Jaqui and I have been trying to
connect our lines into the old Hopkins families but so far no luck with
a direct connection, except with Jaqui's family. I have a list of all
the Hopkins in the Shillelagh Church cemetery, a little booklet
(81 pages) "Shillelagh Looking Back"
with a lot on the Hopkins family history. Another wonderful book "A
Christian Calling" (300 pages) by the Clonegal (Moyacomb) Parish
Jubilee Committee 2000. It contains all the Hopkins families buried St. Fiaacs Church of Ireland, Tithe Applotments 1824 for Barragh and Moyacomb and lots of pictures and information.
My gggrandfather Richard Hopkins born 1811
and his wife Martha Hopkins 1802 (a cousin) travelled on the ship
"Industry" from Dublin in April 1846 landed Quebec May 30, 1846. They
travelled overland June 13, 1846 (Canadian Archives) Richard travelled
with Martha's brother Charles Hopkins 1793 and his wife Hannah to Grey
Co. There are handwritten teamster records available at the Canadian
Archives. Charles Hopkins 1793, Martha Hopkins 1802 and Charlotte
Hopkins Hutton 1801 are the children of Charles Hopkins 1760 and
Margaret Edge 1760 and all settled in Grey.
The Hopkins family intermarried with the descendants of John Code (1787-1867) and John Wright of Ramsay. Members of this family may certainly have joined the exodus to Western Ontario - including Grey County - which occurred from Ramsay about 1850.
McCreery Relatives of William and James Magee /McGee Arrive in 1823
For all the speculation this transposition of names has sparked over the years, we still know nothing for certain of the story that accompanies the McGee/Magees
names. The viewer is warned that the material below makes a few
connections but no actual headway as yet which would reveal the whole
story.
What we do know is that Elizabeth McGee McCreery was the aunt of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian Father of Confederation. McGee visited his aunt on several occasions at Boyd's Settlement and did legal work for the McCreery/ McCreary family after graduating from law school at McGill in 1861.
On the right is a map of the McCreary Neighborhood, also known as McCreary's Corners in 1837. The records from the early years of Ramsay Twp. 1837 Cess Roll of Ramsay.
The interesting additions have been the Wright family of Armagh and the families of Patrick Hughes, John Rule and Robert Grier along with Thomas and James Dalzell (Dezell).
You have seen bits and pieces of the entire map already.
I am also including from my own working records, a map constructed of the entire Lanark Ramsay settlement plan from Innisville to Carleton Place.
Some of the map areas are missing records which have been lost -
so the map remains incomplete - but it is nevertheless -
interesting and informative - to a point.
Information About the McCreerys From the Irish Naming Pattern
The
Irish Naming Pattern - which sprung up around 1700 or before and began
to wane in the mid 1800's - generally named the first son after the
paternal grandfather, the second son after the maternal grandfather and
the third son after the father, the first daughter after the maternal
grandmother, the second daughter after the paternal grandmother and the
third daughter after the mother. This pattern went on to name
subsequent children after the parents siblings.
This pattern was
subject to some variation, however, and it was often disrupted when
children died young - with the parents prone to name a child after a
child who had died. The Irish naming pattern is inexactly replicated
among the Codd/Code/Coad families and is more easily seen when children
who died young are listed.
We also know the names of James and Elizabeth McCreary's family and whom they married - which may reveal something. They were:
John McCreery (1810-1888) who married Mary Livingston (1814-1880)
William McCreary (1812-1892) who married Margaret Hamilton (1815-1901)
Mary McCreary b. 1814 who married John Cotnam
James McCreary (1816-1881) who married Elizabeth Wallace (1819-1900)
Joseph Campbell McCreary (1819-1903) who married Harriet Bailey (1829-1916)<>
Elizabeth McCreary b. 1821 who married ________ Hamblin
Margaret McCreary b. 1823 who married James Dezell
Anne McCreary b. 1826 who married George Argue
Alice McCreary 1828-1905 who married William Halpenny (1826-1871)
The Irish Naming Pattern suggests here that James McCreery's father was either John or William - and conversely that Elizabeth McGee McCreery's father was either John or William.
The McCreerys definitely came to Ramsay with the Dezell (in Ireland Dalzell) family - so they should be found together in Armagh. Returning to the Flax Growers List of 1796, we find:
Rule
John
Derrynoose
Rule
Rose
Derrynoose
Wright
Robert
Armagh
Wright
Samuel
Derrynoose
Dalzel
Samuel
Tynan
Dalzell
Allen
Tynan
Dalzell
John
Tynan
Dalzell
Thomas
Mullaghbrack
M'Creery
James
Loughgilly
M'Creery
Mary
Mullaghbrack
M'Creery
Samuel
Derrynoose
Again, trying to "nail down" these families to one Parish in Armagh runs into a brick wall. Two areas are still in contention: Tynan-Derrynoose-Keady and Mullaghbrack-Loughgilly. Take your pick!
Nor does it help to search the families the McCreary family married into in the next generation: Livingston, Wallace, Cotnam, Hamblin, Argue, Armstrong, Seymour, Pritchard, Lewis, Graham, Lumsden, Brown, Percival, Porter, Perrin, Stewart, Lucas, White, Montgomery. Those in bold face are found in Armagh - but the splay between the areas indicate that either could predominate.
After John, William and James - the fourth McCreery son (my ancestor) - named Joseph Campbell McCreary indicates that an ancestor with the surname Campbell was in the mix - but again the Campbells are numerous - but evenly distributed between the two areas.
Mary McCreary b. 1814 was the first daughter - and since Elizabeth was the next, it seems likely that James' mother was Mary. This could place the McCreary family at Mullaghbrack
(see above). All that can be said for certain is that these Scottish
sounding names are indeed Scottish. All of these surnames were found in
the Scottish Plantation of Ulster between 1607 and 1630.
The
Roman Catholic McGee/M'Kee Families of Eardley, Quebec and South
Gloucester (south of Ottawa) and the Origins of the latter in the Keady
area
I knew from the wonderful Bytown or Bust website that the the site creator, Al Lewis, traced his Irish ancestors to the Catholic McGee family - but that the trail of the McGees in Ireland had gone cold.
One "branch" he knows about came to this area to Eardley, Quebec said to be from Limerick - headed by JOHN McGEE (1800-1884 m. BRIGIT BURNS
b. Luskville, Quebec). BRIGIT BURNS was a widow when she met JOHN McGEE
on a ship coming to Canada. She had been married to GEORGE HANRAHAN in
Ireland.
A second "branch" if you can call it a "branch" definitely came from KEADY, ARMAGH, a parish and a village. The village, created to manufacture linens, only dated from 1750, a mere 50 years before the Rebellion of 1798
but the parish of KEADY, which before that time had roughly included
DERRYNOOSE and TYNAN was no more than 4 miles by 4 miles in size.
In 1826 there was an emigration from KEADY, ARMAGH of three M'Kee/McGEE brothers who married three HUGHES sisters, daughters of one PATRICK HUGHES (1784-1854). These were TERRENCE McGEE (1804-1881), PATRICK McGEE (1802-1869) and DENNIS McGEE (1801-/)- and they were granted land in South Gloucester near Bytown (Ottawa).
Dennis McGee - Alice Hughes Family
1.) Terrence 1831
2.) Rose 1844
3.) Catherine 1845
4.) Michael 1853
5.) Bridget 1853
Patrick McGee- Mary Hughes family
1.) Mary 1831
2.) Francis 1832
3.) Terrence 1833
4.) Patrick 1835
Terrence McGee - Ellen Hughes Family
1.) Terrence 1839
2.)Mary 1841
(were there others in between?)
3. Patrick 1847
4. John 1852
5. Ann 1853
6.Elicia 1854
7. Michael 1854
8.Ann 1853
The McGee of South Gloucester came over as M'Kees.
They were born c. 1800 and later.
They could well have had a father producing flax in Keady c. 1796.
His name would have been Patrick, Terrence or Francis M'Kee
Hughes of Keady and Area Flaxgrowers in 1796
Certainly lots to choose from - but one would not expect to find the PATRICK HUGHES above as he was 8 years old in 1796.
Hughes
Anne
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Arthur
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Arthur
Newtownhamilton Armagh
Hughes
Arthur
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Bernard
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Bernard
Keady
Armagh
Hughes
Edward
Armagh
Armagh
Hughes
Edward
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Felix
Keady
Armagh
Hughes
Francis
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Henry
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Henry
Keady
Armagh
Hughes
Henry
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
James
Armagh
Armagh
Hughes
James
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
John
Keady
Armagh
Hughes
John
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Margaret
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Neil
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Patrick
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Patrick
Keady
Armagh
Hughes
Patrick
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
Patrick, Jr.
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Patrick, Sr.
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Peter
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
Terence
Tynan
Armagh
Hughes
William
Derrynoose
Armagh
Hughes
William
Tynan
Armagh
The M'Kee Families of Keady and Area (only M'Kee listed - no McGees)
M'Kee
Authur
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Bryan
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Catherine
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Henry
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
James
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
John
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Joseph
Mullaghbrack
Armagh
M'Kee
Luke
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Mary
Mullaghbrack
Armagh
M'Kee
Patrick
Armagh
Armagh
M'Kee
Patrick
Keady
Armagh
M'Kee
Stephen
Loughgilly
Armagh
BACK TO MAIN PAGE CLICK HERE
|