Stpatrick - Arline's Ancestors

March 17, 2002
from

The Sudberry Family:

vape shops baltimore

Henry and Arline

to you!

Erin Go Braugh

St. Patrick’s Blessing
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields, and
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Thank you, Suzanne!

To find my Irish relatives, one must travel back in time almost 300 years.

Billy Kennedy stated in his book The Scots-Irish in the Carolinas, that “Some 140 Presbyterians from congregations on both sides of Belfast Lough in North Co. Down and East Co. Antrim sailed from Groomsport of September 9 bound for Boston.” They sailed on the Eagle Wing, which was believed to be the first ship to sail to America from Ireland, just 16 years after the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock.

Between 1717 and the American Revolutionary War years, an estimated 250,000 Scots-Irish Presbyterian settlers left the Province of Ulster in the northern part of Ireland for the New World. They left Ireland with practically nothing but the clothes on their backs, because they were forced to move due to the severe restrictions placed on their faith by the ruling British establishment of the day, and because of the economic deprivations in Ulster.

Sometime before 1750, my Brandon ancestor’s father was probably on one of those ships to America. As far as I can tell, he along with his Fulton friends, and others came to America and settled in York County PA. Charles, my fifth great-grandfather, was born in York County PA, April 7, 1750 Old Styles. Sometime before 1772, he and his family, and other Scots-Irish Presbyterians had moved to the Up-Country of South Carolina.

Actually the first Presbyterians to settle in South Carolina were from Scotland, who came in 1684 during the ‘Killing Time’ period in Scotland when Covernanters were killed for their faith, but this colony was destroyed by Spanish migrants.

By the 1760’s, many people from Ulster were traveling directly to Charleston, SC. By now many of those who had settled in PA were finding their way down the Great Wagon Road into the Cherokee Country of South Carolina. This country had opened up, and lands were cheaper in the South. The Brandon family was among those Scots-Irish Presbyterians looking for a better way of life and a place to call home.

By 1772, Charles had married, established a home, and had a family. The American Revolution started, and he was not only fighting in the Revolution, but there was still a definite problem with the Cherokee. Later, when the Revolution ended, new lands were opened up in the west. His first wife had died, and he had married again. His second wife probably died also. Seeking a new home, Charles and his family moved first to Kentucky, and later to Bedford County Tennessee, where he died, on lands he owned near Rover in the 10th District.

I’m proud, not only of my Scots-Irish ancestry, but my Presbyterian ancestry. Many of my ancestors, including Reverand George Gillespie, were leaders first in the Presbyterian movement in Scotland, along with the Scots-Irish Brandon’s of Ulster, Ireland, and then in the United States. Charles Brandon’s daughter Nancy married John King, whose Uncle Samuel King led the movement to start the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. John, himself, donated the land for the Kingdom Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which I am a member. Without these early pioneers, who brought great change to the world and its way of life, things might be very different today.

Irish Web Links

A Wee Bit o’ Fun
Kepals Club of Ireland: Why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick Tribute
Irish Folk Songs
Tracing Irish Ancestors
St. Patrick’s Day: Fact and Legend
Turlough O’Carolan: Irish Harper
Infosite: The Complete Guide to Ireland
Larne: The Gateway to Northern Ireland
Ulster Historical Foundation

My Family Web Links

Back to Holidays
Arline’s Country Cousins
Pacolet’s People: A Study of SC Brandon Family

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