YOUR SCOTS-IRISH ROOTS

This page starts with your 4G grandparents, the ancestors of your great-grandfather Hollis Dean McKim, back to the earliest immigrant to America. The youngest of these 4G grandparents was born in 1810; the oldest in this group was one of your XG grandparents, born in 1575. 

Most of the immigrants in this group (their names are highlighted) came from Scotland via Ulster (Northern Ireland). The people who settled western Pennsylvania were descendants of Scottish Presbyterians who had been settled in Ulster (northern Ireland) in the early 1600s as part of England's strategy for 'civilizing' Ireland. After a generation or two in Ireland, many found their hopes for a better life in Ireland dashed, and headed out again--this time to America.

Economic pressures were primary. English and Anglican landlords raised rents beyond what tenant farmers could sustain. The wool and linen trades that Ulster Scots depended on were deliberately suppressed by English trade laws protecting English manufacturers. Periodic famines made bad situations worse.

Religious discrimination compounded the economic hardship. The Test Acts barred Presbyterians from holding public office, serving in the military, and even having their marriages legally recognized. People who had already uprooted themselves from Scotland for Ulster found themselves second-class subjects in Ireland as well.

Pennsylvania was the destination of choice for several reasons: William Penn's colony had a genuine tradition of religious tolerance, land was available and relatively affordable, and crucially, chain migration meant that once a community established itself, letters home brought the next wave. They came through Philadelphia and pushed west and south along the Great Wagon Road into the frontier.

They arrived already toughened, skeptical of established authority, and already experienced at building communities from scratch. Western Pennsylvania's coal country, which your Orkney and Abercrombie ancestors (the parents of your great-grandmother Jean Abercrombie) entered a century later, was shaped by that Scots-Irish foundation.

This list does not include anyone who stayed in Great Britain; my work stopped with the immigrant. Men who fought in the American Revolution are marked with (AR).  The numbering system is explained in this post. 

YOUR 4G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

31 & 32 - John Adam McKim  (1804-1867)  and Henrietta Nelson  (1804-1881)

Henrietta seems to have gone by Harriet. These two lived their whole lives in western Pennsylvania; first in Huntingdon County and later Mercer County. During John's lifetime, only one federal census listed occupation. His was "master carpenter."

We don't have any stories about them, but we do have photos. 

They were both born in 1804, and I cannot find a record of their marriage. Their first child, your 3G grandfather Robert Alexander was not born until 1838, when John and Harriet were 34, which is a bit old for that time. After Robert, they had four daughters in the next ten years: Lydia, Rebecca, Catherine, and Martha. 

There is a little bit of disagreement on Ancestry.com about the identity of John's wife. On some family trees, his wife is identified as Henrietta Rung, and some differ about the names of their children. 

It's clear from the few official records that there was both a McKim and a Rung family living in Huntingdon County at that time, and both had a John and a Henrietta or Harriet. Judging by the dates of the various records tied to both women, I don't think this is a case of John marrying both at different times.

I couldn't entirely sort it out, but chose to go with the Henrietta/Harriet Nelson story because their grandson John, on his father Robert's death certificate, listed Nelson as his mother's maiden name.

Her stern mouth and dress make Henrietta 
look rather unapproachable, but I noticed her eyes; 
I think they might have been quite beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

33 & 34 - Oliver H. Gould  (1810-1872) and Hester (unknown)  (1810-1875)

These two are the first on this family tree for whom the record just peters out--I cannot find enough parentage about either to be able to track any farther back. 

Here's what I do know: The 1850 Census shows both Oliver and Hester at 40 years old. Oliver's birthplace is given as Connecticut; Hester's as Pennsylvania. Oliver was a surveyor by trade. The 1870 census shows an economically comfortable family with personal property valued at $2,500 and real estate valued at $7,000 in 1870.

Here's what I don't know: Hester's last name, which prevents identifying her parents. 

But Oliver is also a bit of a mystery. I cannot find him in any record in either Pennsylvania or Connecticut before that census when he was 40 years old. No Oliver Gould, or Goulde, or Gold born anywhere near 1810. I cannot even find any male with any of those last names and the initial O.

So I looked for Olivers born around then. Connecticut records show eight boys named Oliver born in 1809 or 1810. Records are available through death for all except one: Oliver Rising, the youngest son of Samuel and Sarah Rising, of Hartford. Sadly, his parents' deaths are recorded in 1819, when Oliver was only 10. His older siblings can be seen growing up in Connecticut, but Oliver just disappears from the record. Here is my pure guess, a long-shot one at that: Was Oliver adopted by a Gould family in Mercer? That's far too weak a link, I think, to justify researching the Rising lineage, so this line stops here. 

35 & 36 - James Sloss  (1784-1867) and Elizabeth Thompson  (1791-1872)   

Immigrants from Ulster

 

37 & 38 - David Semple  (1785-1856) and Mary Stewart  (1791-1845)  (from Ulster)

Both were born in Ulster, and both immigrated (likely with their parents and siblings) before 1810, when they married in Pennsylvania. They may have had 11 children, born between 1811 and 1834--I didn't check to see how many lived to adulthood. Our ancestor Jennie was their fourth child and third daughter. 

On any record that listed occupation, David was identified as a farmer. In 1824, David was recorded as one of 33 'subscribers' who contributed funds "for the purpose of building a Bridge across Stone Creek at or near Couch's Mill in Barree Township in the County of Huntingdon."

Pennsylvania changed its counties' boundaries several times between independence and the 20th century. I finally gave up trying to figure out precisely where these people lived, even though most records name a county of residence. 

Because both David and Mary were born in Ulster, I did not research their ancestry any farther back. David's parents were James Semple, born in 1753 in Ulster, and Nancy Kerr, born in 1751 in Scotland. I wasn't able to identify Mary's parents.  

 YOUR 5G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

63 & 64 - David McKim  Dec. 19, 1768-1830 and (Sarah Stringer)  (1730-1817) 

 

65 & 66 - John Nelson  Dec. 24, 1774-1850 and Margaret Graffius  Oct. 27, 1776-1845  

 

67 through 70 - unknown

YOUR 6G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

127 & 128 - Robert McKim  1740-1834 and Mary Graham  c. 1747-1814 

129 & 130 - Sarah Stringer's parents

131 & 132 - Lt. William Nelson (AR) and Elizabeth Carroll  1735-1813 

133 & 134 - Nicholaus Graffius  Apr. 17, 1746-1822  and Maria Elizabeth Correll  1753-1843 

135-142 - unknown

 

YOUR 7G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

 

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YOUR 8G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

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 YOUR 9G GRANDPARENTS of Western Pennsylvania

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