I have never been able to claim any other native country
other than my own. I don’t have any
ancestors who arrived in the United States that I know of – any later than
1810. My ancestors didn’t come over and
land on Ellis Island and watch the Statue of Liberty out their window – most of
them came on the Mayflower or within a hundred years of the Mayflower. Most of my families are English, German, and
Dutch with a bit of Scottish and Irish thrown in for good measure. I just wish I knew more about my Irish roots…since
I have always been fascinated with Ireland.
My 4th great grandmother was Mary Jane
Callison. She was born in 1804 in
Greenbrier VA (now WV) and died on 5 May 1854 on Mill Creek Mountain,
Greenbrier Co., WV. Mary married Robert
Shawver on 25 Apr 1820 and they were the parents of nine children, including my
3rd great grandfather George William Shawver. She was the daughter of Isaac Callison and
Mary Cavendish who were both first generation descendants of Irish immigrants. Sir James Callison, Sr was born about 1739 in
Ballyhagen, Armagh Co., Ireland and was married to Elizabeth McCallister who
was reputed to be born in North Ireland.
I have no idea as to what prompted them to come to American…It seems
that most who came in those early days (first 150 years) came for opportunity
or for religious freedom. Can’t help if
both might have been in play here…I know enough to say that if you were a
Protestant and a Catholic and tried to marry in Ireland…there might have been
problems. That is just a guess of course…but
it does make sense. Mary Cavendish was
also the daughter of William Hunter Cavendish.
Story goes that William Hunter Cavendish was the illegitimate son of
Margaret and an aristocrat who was born in Ireland in 1740 and came over to
America with his mother and sisters.
Strictly speaking, William Cavendish was born in Ireland, but more than
likely was of English descent.
My great grandmother always told my mother that she was of
Scots-Irish descent. Seeing that she was
from the Appalachian area of the country…this is not a surprise. Sophia Dollar Friddle was born in 1894 to
John Dula Dollar and Buena Vista Bailey.
The Irish line is obviously the Baileys…but I sure wish there more bread
crumbs to trace them to Ireland. Jasper
Bailey was Buena Vista’s father and from what I can tell, he was born in 1842
in Ohio and died near Abingdon, Washington Co., VA in 1928. I know he was born in Ohio from census
records – but I haven’t been able to locate him I the 1850 census with any
faith in the accuracy nor have I been able to find him in the 1860 census. He turns up in the 1870 census with three
children and a wife named Margaret. I
have since found out that he was first married to a Martha Ellen Church. However, I am very interested in Margaret –
and this 1870 census is the only record that I have of her name. Anyway, Margaret dies and he marries his ex-brother-in-law’s
widow, Rachel McBride. It is fairly obvious
from Jasper’s last name that he was most likely from Irish descent and I am
sure that my great grandmother heard that from him personally…I just wish I
could figure out when and where his family came from with some sort of proof.
My last line with Irish roots is that of John Nathan Lyons. I first found mention of him in my great
great great grandfather’s death record.
John Nathan Lyons was born about 1790 in Ireland and probably arrived in
the United States in 1810 or so…or at least before his marriage to Mary French
in 1817. He lived to be an old man of 90
years old and died in 1880 in Manchester, New Hampshire. I have seen a record that lists his father as
Timothy and his mother as Honora. I have
also seen a few other items that lead me to doubt this…
So here I am…searching in vain for the Irish ancestry that I
always thought I had. My claims are
tenuous and unproven…and I wonder if I will ever find proof. All I can do is what I have always done…keep
searching. Perhaps someday, I will find
who Jasper Bailey’s parents were or why James Callison left Ireland and perhaps
where John Nathan Lyons immigrated from in Ireland. These are three separate branches on my
family tree that as yet don’t have any connections beyond what I already
have! So, as I prepare the corn beef and
cabbage and soda bread tomorrow on St. Patrick’s Day – I will celebrate those
tenuous ties to my Irish heritage.
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