Happy St. Patrick's Day: Just a Little Bit Irish

One of the most interesting thing I have discovered in my research is that most of my Irish ancestors weren't really Irish. They came from England or Scotland, lived in Ireland for a couple of generations, then moved on to the American Colonies  or Nova Scotia, Canada.

The most documented group I have found thus far are some of the Quaker ancestors of my paternal grandfather, Alonzo Cox Huber, through the lineage of his mother, Caroline Amelia "Cramelia" Frazier.

They were:

--JOHN HUTTON b abt 1629 Lupton, Westmoreland Co England; d abt 1684 probably County Meath, Ireland; m RACHEL LADBURNER. Was living in County Cavan Ireland as early as 1658, where it is noted by Joseph Besse in the book "Suffering of the Quakers" that  "In 1658, John Hutton and other Quakers were taken from a meeting at Co. Cavan and imprisoned eleven days" - Besse II., 464. John Hutton was living in County Meath by 1677, when some of his property was seized for not paying tithes.
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--THOMAS HUTTON b Feb 7, 1659 Lupton, Westmoreland Co England; d June 1736 Rainstown, County Carlow, Ireland; m SARAH STARKEY
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--JOSEPH HUTTON birth registered 1693 Carlow Monthly Meeting, Rainstown, County Carlow, Ireland; d 1735 New Garden MM, Chester Co PA; m MARY MILLER (see below) at New Garden MM, Chester Co PA.

Second family:

--JOHN MILLER b abt 1633 Breckenbrough, Yorkshire, England; d aft 1676 Glin, County Westmeath, Leinster Province, Ireland; m ANN CLIBBORN. Moved  to Ireland in 1657 as a planter, and there was married to wife Ann, daughter of William Clibborn.
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--JOHN MILLER Jr b 1660s Moate, County Westmeath, Leinster Province, Ireland; d aft 1714 Chester Co PA; m MARY IGNEW/AGNEW b abt 1660 County Antrim, Ulster Province, N. Ireland. John Miller Jr &  family were living in Charlemont, County Armagh, Ulster Province, Ireland by 1693.
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--MARY MILLER b abt 1694 Charlemont, County Armagh, Ulster Province, Ireland; d aft 1735 New Garden MM, Chester Co PA; m JOHN MILLER at New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester Co PA

SOURCE: "Immigration of Irish Quakers to Pennsylvania 1652-1750" by Albert Cook Myers. This is an excellent source.  These Quaker families moved to Ireland to escape religious persecution in England, but of course did not find safe haven until they reached Pennsylvania.

The other group of immigrants from Ireland in my family tree can be found in the ancestry of my maternal grandmother, Ruby Bolton Brown. The majority of her Irish ancestors came from N. Ireland:

--WILLIAM BOLTON b abt 1680 Londonderry, Ulster Province, Ireland; d Sept 10, 1725 Reading, Middlesex Co MA; m ELIZABETH WHITE b April 8, 1688 Andover, Essex Co, MA

--ELIZABETH TOAL b 1730-1740 Ulster Province, N Ireland; parents unknown; died Maitland, Hants Co, Nova Scotia, Canada; m JOHN RANES/RINES b 1730-1740 Corn Hill, Barnstable Co, MA; died Maitland, Hants Co, Nova Scotia.   Apparently JOHN RANES/RINES from MA was conscripted by the British Army to take part in the expulsion of the French Acadians from Nova Scotia. He decided not to return to Massachusetts, settled in Maitland, Hants Co Nova Scotia,  and married Elizabeth Toal. "The first settler in the surroundings of Maitland after the expulsion of the Acadians (1755) was JOHN RANES (later called Rines) from Mass. His first house was on this side of the foundry site, built over an old French cellar. Later he built another house opposite the spring. "  SOURCE: History of Maitland Nova Scotia, EastHants.com website, and  "Rawdon & Douglas: Two Loyalist Townships in Nova Scotia" by John V. Duncanson, p 519- 520

The TOAL surname is the only truly Irish surname I have found in my years of researching my family; it is a variation of O'Toole.


--ELIZABETH Mc LEAN born April 7, 1748 County Down, Ulster Province, N. Ireland; parents unknown; d Nov 3, 1796 Upper Kennetcook, Hants Co, Nova Scotia, Canada; m June 1, 1762 in N. Ireland PATRICK McDONALD who was b March 17, 1727 Invernesshire, Scotland; d Jan 20, 1801 Upper Kennetcook, Hants Co, Nova Scotia.
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ELIZABETH McDONALD b June 24, 1778 probably N. Ireland; d aft 1826 Maitland, Hants Co, Nova Scotia, Canada; m JOHN RINES Jr, son of JOHN RANES/RINES & ELIZABETH TOAL.

SOURCE: "Rawdon & Douglas: Two Loyalist Townships in Nova Scotia" by John V. Duncanson, p 519- 520

See my website Betty's Boneyard or my Rootsweb Online family trees for  full discussion & documentation of these families.

For more on the RANES/RINES family of Nova Scotia & Maine, see my previous posting Sept 2008 "Little Miracles"

Have a great day! Erin go Bragh!

Betty