Nancy Rainey of Ireland - 52 Ancestors #11

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Luck of the Irish." Do I have a favorite Irish ancestor? Actually, I only have three (possibly four) immigrant ancestors that I believe were born in Ireland.

The one I know most about is the one who lived into the 20th century, mostly from census records, city directories, and her children's death certificates.

Nancy Rainey was born in Ireland sometime between December 1813 (1900 U.S. Census) and 1821 (1860 U.S. Census). I wrote about her in census records here. She married Scottish-born James Freeland before 1850, when her oldest child, my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary was born in Pennsylvania.

Four children followed, all born in Pennsylvania:
William J. Freeland (1852-1918), who worked as a railroad conductor
Anna Claudine Freeland (1854-1952), who worked as a school teacher
Edward C. Freeland (1858-1877), twin
Emma L. Freeland (1858-1893), twin

Her husband, James, died in March 1863.

Matrilineal Monday ~ Jane Hunter McAlpin

After seeing my last blog post about a branch of the Hunter family on my mother's side, a reader of this blog asked about where the name Hunter came from on my father's side.

Hunter is the maiden name of my third great grandmother, Jane Hunter, who married James McAlpin.

Jane Hunter was briefly mentioned in a post about my McAlpin line. According to Pyle, Smith and Allied Family Histories (Privately published, 1951) which I have mentioned before, she was born on May 11, 1786, in Muckamore, Antrim, Ireland. She married James McAlpin on July 14, 1809, at Antrim, Ireland, and had one or two children before immigrating to New York, on the Jupiter, in 1811. The family soon settled in Dutchess County, New York, up the Hudson River from New York City.

I believe Jane Hunter and James McAlpin were Scotch-Irish.

Most of this information is from secondary sources (though I have seen enough references to the immigration on the Jupiter that I'm pretty sure that's accurate) so please don't go believing all this is fact - it's simply a place to start if anyone wants to do some research in Antrim County, Ireland, which is where research would need to be done to find her parents' names.

Jane's children were baptized at the Presbyterian Church in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, New York. In June, the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society made a book available in which I could confirm the McAlpin children's baptisms.

Arthur C. M. Kelly, Vital Records of Presbyterian Church Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, NY 1793-1947
(Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2007). Page 131 (image 135) from the index.

After her husband died in the cholera epidemic of 1849, and was buried in what is now Beacon, Dutchess County, New York, Jane is found in Brooklyn in the U.S. Federal Censuses in 1850, 1860, and 1870, with different combinations of children and grandchildren.

Surname Saturday ~ McAlpin of Dutchess County, New York

My immigrant McAlpin ancestor is James McAlpin. He was born about 1780-1783 in Scotland or Ireland.

One of the (secondary) sources I have [1] tells me that he was born in Scotland because his son's 1901 death certificate noted that his parents were born in Scotland. Although no primary sources are noted, I'm a bit more inclined to believe the other secondary source [2], which tells me that he was born in Muckamore, County Antrim, Ireland. According to this (unsourced) research, this branch settled in Northern Ireland during one of the many colonizations by the Scots. At some point I need to research the primary sources for this ancestor.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

The secondary sources agree that James McAlpin sailed from Belfast, Ireland to New York on the ship Jupiter in the spring of 1811. He arrived with wife, Jane, and one child. He settled in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, New York, in what was known then as Clinton Township, later moving to Fishkill, also in Dutchess County.

His wife was Jane Hunter, born in Muckamore, Antrim, Ireland, May 11, 1786. They married in Antrim, Ireland on July 14, 1809.

Surname Saturday ~ Hunter in Allegheny, Pennsylvania

There are a lot of Hunters in Pittsburgh in the 19th century.

My third great-grandfather is Samuel K. Hunter and according to a couple of census records, he was born in Ireland in 1813-1814. I have found a couple of passenger list records that list a Samuel Hunter (one arriving in New York, 1838, and one arriving in Philadelphia, 1841), but I don't know for sure which one might be "my" Samuel Hunter.

A family story that my mother heard from her mother says that Samuel Hunter came over from Ireland as a young man because he had fallen in love with a girl whose family didn't think he was good enough for her. With a broken heart, he immigrated to the United States.

His wife is Catherine Carr, who was born in Pennsylvania. I know her maiden name from the death certificates of a couple of her children, as well as from some old handwritten family notes.

Most of what I know about Samuel and his family is found in census records.

1850 U.S. Federal Census, Allegheny, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 744; Page: 34B;
Lines 23-28. Record for Samuel K. Hunter family

In 1850, I find Samuel, a grocer with $1,400 in "Value of Real Estate Owned" in Ward 1 of the City of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. (Remember, Allegheny was a separate city from Pittsburgh until 1906.) This record indicates that he was born about 1813 in Ireland. His family includes wife, Catharine, age 30, and children Mary J. (9), James K. (6), John K. (5), and Ann E. (2).