Thread: Harts of Ardagh, County Donegal and Scotland

I've had a lot of luck so far, but I've hit a wall as far as my 5th great grandfather's identity is concerned.

His son, Samuel Hart (born about 1790) married Charlotte Marrow on 2 Nov 1807 in St. Columb's Parish, Co. Derry.

Their children were (all dates +/- 1 year):

Thomas Hart (1811)

James Hart (1813)

Samuel (1816)

Solomon (1818)

Mariana (1820)

Elizabeth (1822)

Moses (1824)

William (1826)



Except for James, all of them arrived in New York aboard the Ontario on 23 Jul 1834, and settled in Kendall, Orleans County, New York.



On 15 Mar 1841, James (living in Ardagh, Co. Donegal) married Jane Kirk (b. 3 Sep 1825), daughter of William Kirk and Anne Morrow (of Mullanboys, Co. Donegal) in Inver parish/district.

On 24 Jun 1842, James and Jane arrived in New York aboard the RMS Britannia, and also settled in Kendall.



Sometime between 1855 and 1860, James, Solomon, and Moses moved their families to St. Clair County, Michigan.



In 1925, a Michigan newspaper ran an article about a meeting held by members of the Michigan and New York families to organize annual family reunions, and mentioned that the family "traces its lineage back to Scotland. About 1785, the family emigrated to Northern Ireland, living there for two generations, when the lure of America drew nearly the entire group to Western New York."



This is the only mention of Scotland that we have, and Samuel Hart would've most likely been born in the county of Derry or Donegal. Other than guessing his father's name based on the traditional naming patterns of the time - which even his son didn't really follow - I really have no idea where to even look at this point. If anyone knows of a good source of information about immigration from Scotland to Ireland around 1785 (which is considerably later than a lot of the Ulster Scots articles and websites), or of another type of record that I should be looking for, please let me know.

No suggestions?

[quote name='kptz' date='20 March 2010 - 03:44 PM' timestamp='1269114293' post='217268']

Do you have a copy of their marriage cert for Samuel and Charlotte? have you tried obtaining a copy of the parish record from the church? Those records will give the father's names. The Irish Family History Foundation at Irish Family History has many online records - it is free to search but pay to view. If it has been transcribed you may see the marriage record which will give the father's names. There is also Cyndi's List - Ireland & Northern Ireland.



[/quote]



I did pay to see Samuel & Charlotte Hart's marriage record transcript on Irish Family History, but it does not list their parent's first names, only the fathers' surnames - in fact there was even a big transcription error, since they spelled her and her father's last name as Harrow, instead of Marrow, as it appears on her son William's grave in New York. So are the parents' names not listed to due lazy transcribing, or because they weren't written on the original document? Would St. Columb's parish have the original document from 1807, or are these transcriptions of earlier copies of records that have been lost or destroyed?

At any rate, thanks for the response and suggestions!

[quote name='kptz' date='20 March 2010 - 09:36 PM' timestamp='1269135393' post='217289']

The records may not exist but you have nothing to lose by asking.



[/quote]

For whatever reason, I have found no baptism records for Samuel Hart or any of his children, yet I found one for James' wife easily enough. Samuel and Charlotte would've been born around 1789; on Irish Family History, even broad searches for them don't turn up anything that early.



I've been searching online for St. Columb's parish, and any way of contacting someone about the records, but I haven't turned up anything useful. Any suggestions?

"Our register just records the marriage in November 1807. There are no details of parents etc. recorded.



Regards

(St. Columb's Cathedral)"



Damn!