Hearth Rolls of County Donegal, Ireland

From previous posts you may remember that I have been attempting to trace where in Ulster (Northern Ireland) Samuel Bradford, father of our Rebecca, came from by attempting to locate the birthplace of his brother James Bradford. There is more written about James, probably by virtue of the fact that he is the father of David Bradford of Whiskey Rebellion fame.  I reasoned that if we can James' birthplace, we may have also found the birthplace of his brother and our progenitor, Samuel.

To refresh your memory, here is the reference where we learned that James Bradford was from Ireland:

"Mary Bradford, born about 1748 in Ireland, daughter of James Bradford [brother of Samuel Bradford, our Rebecca Bradford's father] and a sister to David Bradford who is well known in connection with the Whiskey Insurrection of 1791. Mary immigrated with her family from Ireland to Cecil Co. Maryland, later moving to Washington Co. Pennsylvania. She is buried in Chartiers Hill Presbyterian cemetery near Canonsburg, Pennsylvania." (source: http://www.sasktelwebsite.net/deham/allisonfamily.htm).

We learn later in this article that the above-mentioned Mary Bradford married James Allison, also of Ireland:

"Judge James Allison was a prominent citizen in Washington Co. Pennsylvania. James [Allison] was born in Ireland about 1743. He immigrated to Maryland with his brothers and one sister. He married Mary Bradford, daughter of James, and they moved to Chartiers Hill in  Washington Co. Pennsylvania where they raised 8 children. James along with Dr. McMillan and John McDowell established the Washington Academy later renamed Jefferson College. James was an associate Judge in Washington Co. He died July 24, 1820 and is buried in the Old Chartiers Hill Presbyterian Church cemetery near Canonsburg, PA. The 1882 History of Washington Co. by Crumrine has a biography. "

It's reasonable to suggest that finding the ancestral village of the Allison in-laws might provide a possible clue as to where our Bradford's hailed from. A Google search turned up Allisons in County Donegal, Northern Ireland "hearth roll" (see note # 1 below).  It mentions a James Allison in the parish of Conwal (see note #2 below).  I wondered if this was the same James Allison who married Mary Bradford, niece of our Samuel?  

However, upon searching this record which contains hundreds of names, not a single Bradford is listed.  As ever, our Bradford's remain frustratingly elusive!  

However, it did notice several Dunlaps and Gibsons, and those names are prominent in the list of in-laws of Millers and Bradfords respectively.

While it will take more research to determine of any of these people are our direct or indirect ancestors, this hearth roll record is worth keeping in mind as we continue our long-fought Miller-Bradford research.


NOTES:
#1:  In our day and age, many taxes seems extremely arbitrary.  It looks like this practice is not new--the people of Northern Ireland were taxed on how many hearths they owned!  Here is how the above-referenced record:

#2:  Is it just a coincidence that Conwal Parish is only 15 miles from Ballindrait, the village next to Lifford where our Miller's are from? 

More About The Covenanters, Religion of Our Miller Ancestors

"Signing the Covenant"

This Ulster Historical Foundation article below corroborates the difficulty many of us have found in searching for our Miller Covenanter ancestors (use the search box, below right, to find other posts dealing with our Covenanter ancestors).  I also did not find anything relevant to our Miller's at the referenced "rparchives" site mentioned below.  Even though our Millers and Bradfords remain elusive as ever, this article sheds light on this on this interesting, albeit obscure group of people.

" Though it is over 250 years since the signing of the Covenants of 1638 and 1643, the word Covenanter still has significance. Covenanter has been used as a general term to describe Presbyterians, though this article is focussed on its application to the Reformed Presbyterian Church. A great many people in the United States are the descendants of eighteenth-century emigrants of Covenanter background. Emigration was not confined to the eighteenth century, of course, and many Reformed Presbyterians left Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to seek a new life in another part of the world.

"How difficult is it to trace Covenanter roots? It is well known that there are major obstacles to overcome in the pursuit of Irish ancestors. Researching Covenanter ancestors is especially difficult for a number of reasons. First of all, there is the paucity of Reformed Presbyterian records, such as registers of births, marriages and burials. This is discussed in more detail below.

"Secondly, there are various categories of record from which Covenanters were excluded, or rather excluded themselves, because of their religious beliefs and in particular their views on the state. They did not vote and so will not appear in freeholders’ registers. They were opposed to the payment of tithes for the support of the Church of Ireland clergy, though to what extent they were able to evade the tithe collectors is unclear.

"They do not seem to have made regularly wills that were probated as that would have meant recognising the authority of the Church of Ireland which had responsibility for all testamentary matters before 1858. Of course, as is revealed below in the discussion of the earliest session book of the Antrim congregation, there were those who broke the rules and were censured for it.

"Researching Covenanter ancestors who emigrated to America in the eighteenth century is particularly problematic. A close reading of Jean Stephenson’s meticulous Scotch-Irish migration to South Carolina will show that in very few instances is it possible to identify the Irish place of origin of the hundreds of families, many of the them Covenanter, who emigrated from Ulster in 1772.

"While the majority of these emigrants were probably from north Antrim, it is impossible to be more precise than this for all but a handful of the emigrants. One exception is Hugh McMaster, ‘late of parish of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim’, whose will of 1787 refers to his brother John back in Ballymoney and includes a bequest of money to a society of Covenanters in America. Careful sifting of records in America might reveal further references to places of origin in Ireland of Covenanter ancestors.

"An initiative that merits attention is that of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America to digitise their older publications, such as the magazines The Covenanter and Reformed Presbyterian, both founded in the nineteenth century, and make these available online (www.rparchives.org). Obituaries notices were carried in these publications and, if the deceased was from Ireland, these will often include the individual’s place of origin on the island."

Source:  http://www.ancestryireland.com/irish-presbyterianism/researching-covenanter-ancestors/http://www.ancestryireland.com/irish-presbyterianism/researching-covenanter-ancestors/ 

xxx

William Miller's Ancestors From Ballindrait, County Donegal, Ireland!

In the last post we read that William Miller's grandfather (and Abraham's father) was David Miller who had studied under the tutelage of William Trail of Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland.


The following excerpt from an article entitled "From Lifford to Chesapeake; The Advent of the Scotch -Irish in America" by John F. Polk, Ph.D., Havre de Grace, Maryland, pinpoints exactly where Rev. Trail's first assignment was...just about 3 miles away in the little village where our Miller's no doubt lived:  "William Trail moved to Ireland and was finally ordained in 1673 at Lifford ["county seat" of County Donegal, Northern Ireland]. He served as minister in Ballindrait until his departure for America a decade later." (http://www.mdgenweb.org/somerset/history/scotch-irish.htm)

A lovely garden in Ballindrait
(Picture courtesy of: http://donegalcottageholidays.com/images/properties/janescottage-ballindrait)

Ballindrait is a small, peaceful village nestled in the rolling countryside. There are a handful of tiny villages all from 1 to 2 miles away, including Baile an Droichnid, Gortin, Rossgeir, Brownfield, Killindarragh and Ardnaglass, but an online search reveals that Ballindrait was home to the only Presbyterian Church in this area. As this is the church we know our Miller's attended, if they weren't from Ballindrait, they were no doubt from one of these surrounding villages.  

Wouldn't it be lovely to visit this beautiful countryside in Ireland and know we might be walking where they walked?! More on this wonderful story in our next post.

Rebecca Bradford Miller, Her Parents and Maternal Grandparents

Now and then I will get back to the basics and post general information about our ancestors:

REBECCA BRADFORD, HER PARENTS AND MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

Husband:   WILLIAM MILLER

b.   22 Feb 1732, New Castle County, Delaware

m. 13 June 1778, Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland

d.  1814, Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette County, PA (location C-116)           

Father:  Abraham Miller                                Mother:  Rosannah Roddy

Wife:           REBECCA BRADFORD  (“Rebeckah” in William's military record)

b.  1760 (probably in New Castle County, Delaware, or Cecil County, Maryland)

d.  18 March 1835, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette County, Pennsylvania (location C-116)

Father:  Samuel Bradford                             Mother: Sarah nee Bradford

Children: 

1.        William Miller            b. 20 Aug 1779         m. Gracy Gallaher

2.        James Miller             b. 21 June 1781        m. Mary Dawson

3.        Samuel Miller            b. 1 May 1783           m. Rachel Dawson

4.        Abraham Miller         b. 4 Nov. 1785           m. (1) Nancy Blackburn  (2) Ann Early

5.        Jesse Miller               b. 7 Aug. 1787           m. Martha Allen

6.        Stephen Miller           b. 1790                       not married 

7.        Rebecca Miller          b. 21 July 1792          m. Josiah Allen

8.        David Miller                b. 9 October 1794     m. Susanna Warne

____________________________________________________________

Rebecca Bradford Miller’s parents:

Husband:  SAMUEL BRADFORD  (middle name may be Robert)

b.   1727, Northern Ireland

m.   (unknown)

d.    1782  (place unknown)

bur.  Unknown

Wife:         SARAH nee BRADFORD  [same last names, but no relation, except by marriage]

b.  abt. 1735

d.  1835

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette Co., PA (location C-116)

Father:  Samuel Bradford                               Mother: Margret

Children: 

1.  Rebecca Bradford    b. 1759                 m. William Miller 1778 in Elkton, Cecil Co, MD

2.  David Bradford          b. 1765                 m. Barbara Grimes 1786, Adams Co, OH 

3.  William Bradford        b. 8 Jan. 1770     m. Margaret Parkinson 20 Aug. 1779

4.  Jane                            no other info known

5.  Samuel                       no other info known; died young 

____________________________________________________________

Rebecca Bradford Miller’s Maternal Grandparents

Husband:  SAMUEL BRADFORD   

b.  abt 1710  (placed unknown)

m.  date unknown

d.   20 April 1767, Red Lion Hundred, New Castle Co, Delaware

Parents: Unknown

Wife:           MARGRET

No other info known 

Children:                                                                

William  b. abt 1729

Sarah     b. abt. 1735

Martha    No other info known

Notes:

·         Unknown if this couple had other children unknown. These three were mentioned in their father’s will.

·         More information about son William:  m. Catherine Golden; d. 3 Oct 1795; bur. Old Drawyer’s [Presbyterian] Cemetery, Odessa, New Castle County, Delaware; had a son named Samuel Bradford who would have been Rebecca’s  cousin. This Samuel d. in 1790 and is also buried in the Old Drawyer’s Cemetery). 

 SOURCES: 

• The Allen Family Record, Family History Library, SLC, UT  US/CAN 929.273  Al1  No. 8554
• Will of Samuel Bradford of Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware
• Other family records in my possession

 This summary was compiled by Donna Charpier Snider on 14 April 2014

Our Miller's and Bradford's Along the Elk

Elk Landing along Elk River
(Courtesy of http://www.elklanding.org/timeline.htm)

New research consistently attests that our Bradford's and Miller's were in the heart of Scots-Irish territory, just adding to the wealth of evidence that they were indeed from Ulster. Here is another example (search previous posts for their ties to the Elk River):

"A southern stronghold of Presbyterianism was in the neighborhood of Newcastle, Delaware. The narrow tongue of land between the upper shore of Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River is shared by Maryland and Delaware. Maryland s portion includes the Elk River and is known as Cecil County. Delaware's portion is called Newcastle County, with Wilmington, its chief city, at the mouth of Christiana Creek. North of these two counties and across the Pennsylvania line are Lancaster and Chester counties (all known as Chester County from 1682 to 1729), extending from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna River. This territory, south a few miles from Philadelphia, became the mecca for Scotch emigrants from Ireland. These emigrants pushed up through Newcastle County to cross the Pennsylvania line, hoping to escape from Maryland and its tithes. Unfortunately at this very time the exact line of the boundary was in dispute between Lord Baltimore and the heirs of William Penn, and many of the settlers flocked in and preempted land in dispute, without obtaining right or title. To add to the confusion the Penn family were in a state of domestic discord, so that their agent James Logan allowed very few grants in any place after the year 1720. An exception was made however in the case of the Scotch Irish, people who, said Logan, "if kindly used, will I believe be orderly, as they have hitherto been, and easily dealt with; they will also, I expect, be a leading example to others. " These grants were made for a settlement which was called Donegal." (Source: http://www.lynx2ulster.com/ScotchIrishPioneers/014.php

More on the Covenanters in Ireland

Ballindrait, County Donegal, Ireland

I am still working on the third post about our Miller ancestors, who were Presbyterian Covenanters living in Ulster (Northern Ireland), and whether or not they fled to Holland because of religious persecution. Remember, the Allen Family Records says that Abraham Miller, William's father, was born in Holland.

Till that post is ready, here is part of an interesting article (though not particularly good news genealogically-speaking) about the Covenanters in Ireland.

It contains a link to a map showing where the current day congregations live. Two congregations are close to where our Millers lived in the Ballindrait area between Strabane and Letterkenny.

"Of the early history of the Covenanters in Ireland very little is known, save that the denomination was small and scattered. It was not until the latter part of the eighteenth century that congregations began to be organised and ministers were ordained. Very few Reformed Presbyterian records have survived from the eighteenth century. This can be partly explained by the paucity of ministers at this time; many baptisms and marriages were performed by visiting ministers from Scotland and there is little evidence of proper records being kept of these events. Congregations were divided into societies, composed of several families living within a short distance of each other.

For background information on this denomination see The Covenanters in Ireland: A History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland by Adam Loughridge (Belfast, 1984). For information on ministers in the Reformed Presbyterian Church see Fasti of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland compiled and edited by Adam Loughridge (Belfast, 1970). A recent article on researching Covenanter ancestors is ‘The Origins of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland with some comments on its records’ by William Roulston, published in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review (2008), pages 86-110. The website of this denomination is..{ http://rpc.org/directory/ ]. This includes a map showing the location of [current] congregations." (source:  http://www.ancestryireland.com/irish-presbyterianism/presbyterian-ancestors/seceders-non-subscribers-and-covenanters/ )

More On Rev. Traill, Minister to Our Miller Family in Donegal, Ireland

In previous posts we have learned that our William Miller's ancestry was closely associated with the Presbyterian Church in the Ballindrait area of County Donegal, Northern Ireland, and specifically with the Reverend William Trail. Here is an interesting history that includes information about Rev. Traill (see previous posts for William Traill's connection to our Miller's)

RIVER FOYLE
Courtesy of http://www.dipity.com/tickr/Flickr_foyle/

The Laggan and its Presbyterianism

Reference 3A

CHAPTER I (Excerpts)

EARLY LAGGAN HISTORY

In looking at a map of the County Donegal, it will be seen that the north- eastern part of the county, which is the most northerly part of Ireland, is a peninsula washed on the eastern side by the waters of Lough Foyle and on the western by Lough Swilly. This is Inishowen, a mountainous and, to a large extent, a barren country.

Immediately to the south of it is a fertile and comparatively flat country, lying between the river Foyle and the upper reaches of Lough Swilly, and extending in one direction from the City of Derry to Stranorlar, and in another from Lifford to Letterkenny. This is the district which in by­ gone times was well and widely known under the name of THE LAGGAN, and formed the most productive and desirable portion of the ancient territory of Tyrconnell. Never having been at any time a county or fiscal division of any kind, its boundaries were never accurately defined, but, roughly speaking, it might be said to correspond to the north Barony of Raphoe, running for a short distance at its southern end into the south Barony.

The name would appear to be a very old one. It has been conjectured, and not without good reason, that it is the place referred to by Ptolemy, a Greek writer who lived in the second century of the Christian era, and who wrote a description of the Western world, as the Logia, and which in aftertimes is called Locha by the ancient Irish, and Logan by the early

English writers. This conjecture is corroborated, and, indeed, made almost a certainty, by the fact that Ptolemy speaks of two large waters or rivers adjoining the Logia, which he calls the Argita and the Vidua, the former of which antiquaries and geographers of bygone times regarded as the Finn or river of Lough Foyle, and the latter as Lough Swilly.

Colgan, in his "Acta", describes the Laggan as "In Tir-conallia, inter due maris brachia, nempe inter sinum Loch Febhuil, et sinum de Suilech". ("In Tyrconnel, between two arms of the sea that is, be­tween the bay of Lough Foyle and the bay of Swilly". )

. . . . .  suffered for his cause, and that their only offence was refusing to appear before the Bishop's court, which was contrary to their principles, ordered their release.

At a meeting of the Laggan Presbytery, held on the 2nd of February, 1681, it was resolved that considering the providences of God towards His Church and people in Britain and Ireland, they judged it their duty to call the people under their inspection to humiliation, prayer, and fasting, and appointed the 17th of that month to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and drew up a paper called the Causes of the said Fast. Now this would not, in the eyes of most people, appear to be a very grievous offence. nevertheless for having the audacity to do so, four members of the Presbytery, viz., Messrs. John Hart, of Monreagh; William Trail, of Ballindrait; James Alexander, of Convoy; and Robert Campbell, of Ray, were summoned to appear before the Bench of Magistrates at St. Johnston, and afterwards at Raphoe, and were examined "anent the Causes of the Fast." But the matter did not end here. The Government seems to have looked upon this very inoffensive and, most people would think, commendable action on the part of the Presbytery as a very serious offence; for in the following June these four ministers were ordered to appear within eight days before the Lord Lieutenant and Council at Dublin. They did so, and after being closely questioned regarding the object they had in view in appointing this day of humiliation and prayer, they were bound over to appear and stand their trial at the next Assizes in Lifford. There they were found guilty of appointing and keeping a fast, and were fined in £20 each and ordered to give bail that they would not offend in a similar way in future !  This they refused to do, and were committed to gaol, where they were kept prisoners for upwards of eight months. They were not confined in the common prison, but like the Apostle Paul were permitted to dwell in their own hired house; and as the apostle did, they received all who came in unto them, for we are told they preached every Lord's Day in turn, but sometimes their hearers were driven away, and on one occasion a person who was going to hear them was apprehended by the officers of the town and bid go to church, and because he would not he was put into the stocks. At length, after sending several petitions to the council in Dublin, an order was given for their release, and the fines imposed at the Assizes reduced to twenty shillings each.

The authorities must have regarded these Laggan ministers as very dangerous and desperate men. Mr. Trail, in an account which he wrote of his examination before the council in Dublin, tells us that amongst other questions, he was asked if he was in the habit of riding through the country armed with a sword and pistols. Mr. Trail denied this charge and said there was neither sword nor gun about his house. He was also questioned about his attendance at an alleged unlawful assembly at Donoughmore, which continued from Thursday, June the 2nd, to Monday, June the 6th; but, as Mr. Trail explained, this great meeting was nothing but the week-day services usually held at the time of the keeping of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and that on this occasion he had preached.

It is sad to find that the early annals of Presbyterianism in this district are so largely made up of the oppression and afflictions to which those who adhered to it were subjected at the hand of men who should have befriended them. These Irishmen who came from Scotland were in general plain, inoffensive, industrious men, willing to endure hardship in reclaiming and cultivating the land that had fallen to their lot, and in promoting the welfare of their adopted country, and all that they asked for was to be permitted to do so in peace, and to hold to what they regarded as the truth. But the authorities both of Church and State seem to have been sadly lacking in understanding of the times, and to have thought it impossible for a man to be a Presbyterian and at the same time a useful citizen and loyal subject. Toleration and Christian charity were matters that received little consideration at the hands of the dignitaries of the only Church the law recognised or tolerated, and they appear to have regarded their Church as an instrument of government rather than a means of conveying Divine truth.

Viewed in the light of the present age, it must, I think, be admitted that these old Ulster Scots were in advance of the times in which they lived, and if the principles of civil and religious liberty for which they contended so stoutly and suffered so bitterly had been given free course, the state of our Northern Province from then up to the present would have been more pleasant and peaceable for all parties concerned than it has been, and brethren who never should have differed would have dwelt together in unity." 

Source: http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/