Thread: Samuel Hart

My long-standing brick wall is my 4th-great-grandfather, Samuel Hart, born in Ireland about 1789. According to a family reunion announcement in Michigan from 1925, his father would have been born in Scotland, and moved to Ireland around 1785. I have not been able to find a single document to link Samuel to any family in Scotland. I did find Samuel's marriage record - he married Charlotte Harrow on November 2, 1807 in St. Columb's Parish, Derry County (Charlotte's maiden named is spelled "Marrow" on one of their sons' cemetery records, I don't know which would be more likely for that area). They lived in Magherashanvalley, near Castlefinn in Donaghmore Parish, County Donegal before emigrating to America on a brig called the Ontario, aarriving in New York on July 24, 1834; two of their sons had arrived there earlier, and another stayed in Donegal for another eight years, marrying right before coming over on the RMS Britannia. I distant cousin of mine that I contacted through Ancestry.com gave me a copy of poem that had been handed down for ages, describing each of Samuel and Charlotte's children as they were getting ready to leave the country. The author was a teacher who was a friend of the family, and on one of the Donegal genealogy sites, they mention a David McKinney in the 1820s education census, who taught in a stable. With these great finds, it makes it all the more frustrating that after three years, I have not been able to find any other Harts in that area that could've been related, and I have no idea where in Scotland they might have lived. I have posted about this two or three times on this site with no response. Any help at all would be wonderful!


Lines composed of the ancient proprietors of Shanvalley now preparing for America.

By McKinney.

Shanvalley once the pride of all these parts,
And flourish’d long beneath the Race of Harts
As if in sorrow at their going away,
Now clouded seems, and falling to decay.

The fertile fields and meads so gay so green,
Where winter’s withered face could scarce be seen,
A different aspect here of late assumes
All of their verdant beauties clad in gloom.

Here oft the needy and the neighboring poor
Found sure relief and still an open door;
The stranger too benighted sought the road,
To Mr. Hart of Shanvalley’s abode.

But now no more the sprightly dance or songs,
In blameless mirth, goes round the cheerful throng;
No more at setting sun or rising moon,
We hear the viol’s brisk enlivening tune.

You charming fair still with abundance blest,
Of beauty, grace, and modesty possess;
Entitled to unclaimed respect beside,
And always free from vanity and pride.

Farewell, be happy in a foreign land;
Eliza fair and noble Mary Ann.
Seven blooming youths of fair unblemished fame, Recorded here, each by his proper name.
The first is Thomas, sober, wise and grave,
In person, graceful, and in conduct, brave.
Well skilled in that most useful of all arts,
To mortals, most essential in all parts.

The second, James, the noblest of our youth,
Fames for true valour, dignity and truth;
A faultless form above the middle size,
A face like Phebus beaming in our eyes,
Where Mars and Venus both united shine,
To render him complete in every line.

Two absentees already have crost o’er,
And point the way to freedom’s native shore;
Samuel and Joseph, sacred names we find
That bode success to those here left behind.

Solly and William comely, fair and young,
The last that from a worthy mother sprung;
In them already independence glows
And their success through life hereafter shows.

Shalt thou Miss Charlotte here forgotten be
Seeing removed from those but one degree;
Delightful pratter innocence so sweet,
Might render short the passage o’er the deep.

Now to you all a long last adieu;
And if the good be happy so will you.

Rubina, thanks for replying! Sorry it's taken me a while to check back here. I do not know Samuel's father's name, and we could guess, based on the naming patterns, but even that is tricky, since we're not sure about what order his sons were born in. It goes something like this:

Thomas, 1811-1892
James, 1813-1889
Samuel, 1816-1890
Joseph, 1817-1869
Moses, 1819-1896
Solomon, 1822-1890
William, 1826-1911

Now, the problem is that we're not sure if Samuel Jr. was born before Joseph, or the other way around. I've read that traditionally, the first son would be named after its paternal grandfather, and the third son would be named after the father, but James went on to have four sons, and the fourth one was named James Jr. None of James' brothers seem to have followed any naming patterns with their own children. So we could guess that Samuel Sr.'s father was a Thomas Hart, but that only narrows it down to...a few dozen? I've found a ton on the Scottish census records that would've been at a reasonable age, but nothing other than guesswork to link them. Any suggestions at all could be a big step forward. So Marrow is not a Scottish name? What about Irish?