Interesting conversation, Here in Northwestern Pennsylvania the land was settled from 1795 with the majority of the setters came after 1798, and at least in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, well over 50% of the settlers were from Northern Ireland. This includes those who had emigrated decades before and those who were new immigrants. During the War of 1812 the militia was tasked with protecting the port of Erie while they built Commodore Perry's fleet. There was a newspaper ad posted in the Western Press published in the town of Mercer to the effect that the veterans from the rebellion of 1798 were ready to fight the British, so there miust have been quite a few of them among the settlers. There are some biographies that mention a few the settlers part in the 1798 rebellion, but they were written from 1872 and by that time much of the families history had been forgotten. Mark
On Sat, May 2, 2026 at 8:52 AM Susan Elliott via CoTyroneList < [email protected]> wrote: > Thank you so very much Elwyn for taking the time to provide such a > comprehensive summary of the Rebellion. > > > > My earliest record from Stewartstown 1st is a baptism on 18 April > 1818/1819 of a Sally (Sarah) Johnston. The PRONI Ref is Baptisms 1814-1871 > MIC/1/P48/1. Her Father was John Johnston of Dernagh Parish of Clonoe and > mother Belle Rainey. This couple remain my brick wall as despite > exhaustive searches I have not been able to find a marriage nor baptism for > either of them. Subsequent children were baptised at Stewartstown 1st > with John and Belle living at different locations. At least one daughter > was married there in the early 1850’s. I have spread my searches over a > very wide area. There are Johnstons and Raineys in various places but I > have not been able to link them to my John and Belle. I assume that Belle > was Arabella as that Christian name has been used in subsequent generations > of the family. > > > > As an aside John Johnston became a Bailiff for William Blacker who was > appointed in 1831 ‘agent’ for the Commissioners of Irish Education to > manage the Dungannon Royal School Lands (Plantation – Royal Schools – > 1614). He was ultimately responsible for the condition of the lands and > the tenants. > > > > John would have been very unpopular as a rent collector and there is the > following reference in a publication titled "The Faire Field" by James > Walshe and Wilfred Dilworth: > > > > In October 1842 one of Blacker's bailiff's called Johnston attempted to > build a new house for himself in Derrytresk but it was alleged that locals > pulled his house down at an early stage. In consequence the town-land was > fined £12-10-0. They petitioned the Commissioners on the 31st December > 1844 complaining that the house had fallen down by itself and indeed that > *'sometime > in September last (1843) this Johnston was building on the same ground and > the new house fell down too, in open day, as God would have it' *despite > the fact that it was built of better materials than the original house, > which was built using sticks *'newly risen out of the bog and in a wet > late season of the year'*. The tenants protested that 'if it had fell at > night he (Johnston) would have had it (a fine) on the townland' as in the > case of the former house." > > > > In Griffiths Valuation of Ireland ~1848-1864 John is shown to be a tenant > of the Commissioner of Endowed Schools in Derrytresk. > > > > John died in Derrytresk in 1863. > > > > Thank you again Elwyn > > Susan > > > > > > > > *From:* Elwyn Soutter <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, 2 May 2026 7:27 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Cc:* Susan Elliott <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [CoTyroneMailingList] 1798 Rebellion > > > > Susan, > > > > I have never seen any evidence of deliberate decisions to destroy > Presbyterian records because of the 1798 rebellion. My experience is simply > that in many cases in the 1700s Ministers never kept any records, mainly > because they had never been instructed to do so by Synod. That changed > around the 1820s, and they started to keep them a bit more regularly but > even then gaps remained. > > > > You may also be told that many were lost in the 1922 fire. No Presbyterian > records were ever kept in the Public Record Office so that’s a myth. > > > > But some Presbyterian records were lost in the 1798 rebellion. In Maghera > in Co Derry & Ballymoney in Co Antrim, the army set fire to the roofs of > the homes of folk believed to be involved in the rebellion. Since pretty > well every house in both towns had a thatched roof it meant almost all the > houses caught fire and were destroyed. And in both towns the Presbyterian > churches also caught fire or were deliberately burned by the army and any > records held there were nearly all lost. (Some fragments were rescued from > Ballymoney 1st, covering the mid 1700s, and you can see burn marks on them. > They are held in Union Theological College in Belfast). But they weren’t > burned on purpose by the congregation or the Minister and presumably if > there had been no fire we’d have the Ballymoney records today. > > > > Some Presbyterian churches did keep early records, and they are still > around today. So why were they not destroyed if that was the rule? At least > 6 churches in Co Antrim have records for the 1700s and in some cases the > late 1600s. But in others they simply never kept any records in the first > place. And some were lost for other reasons than the 1798 uprising. Here’s > an 1848 quotation from Rev Witherow’s book on the history of Maghera > Presbyterian church. The Maghera Minister there in 1798 (Rev Glendy) was > involved in the 1798 uprising and fled/was allowed to slip away to America. > His successor was Rev Charles Kennedy who was appointed around 1801. > > > > *Maghera January 21st 1848* > > > > *Shortly after my ordination in this congregation as Assistant to the Rev. > Charles Kennedy and Successor to Rev. Smylie Robson now Missionary to the > Jews at Damascus, I made application to the Senior Pastor for any documents > in his possession that might throw light upon the history of our > Congregation, but he informed me that by some accident most of all the > records in his possession had been destroyed - he did not tell me however > that he had any older than his own time, but said that on order of the > Synod of Ulster had had at an early period of his ministry written a > history of the Congregation which had been given in to the body, but he did > not know what had come of it. I received no public documents whatever from > him.* > > > > As far as Stewartstown 1st is concerned, that church was only established > in 1790, so there were never going to be any earlier records there anyway. > (Their baptisms start in 1814). Stewartstown 2nd was established in 1817 > (baptisms from 1827). Stewartstown 1st has marriage records for 1820 -27 > which are in Cookstown 3rd’s records. Don’t ask me why. A travelling > Minister perhaps. > > > > > > Regarding Presbyterian participation in the uprising more generally*, *it > would be wrong to assume that everyone was involved. Many were, but many > weren’t and didn’t really support it. That’s one of the factors behind > their fairly comprehensive defeat. With a few exceptions they did not have > the support necessary to overthrow the army. They didn’t have sufficient > weapons, weren’t very experienced nor particularly well led (in military > terms). They were also massively infiltrated by Government informants. > These were all important factors. But a lot of the population didn’t > support the uprising at all, or at least sufficiently to take part. In the > descriptions of the battle of Antrim the leaders noted that as the unit > marched from Donegore to Antrim town quite a number left saying “they > needed to go to the toilet” and did not return. Perhaps their hearts > weren’t really in it? You’ll note that after 1798 the United Irishmen were > never heard of again. There’s a reason for that. They knew it was a lost > cause without sufficiently widespread support. And, a few years later, as > the industrial revolution started to get going in Britain and Belfast in > the early 1800s, these same Presbyterians suddenly found new sources of > employment that quickly made them pro-Crown. Their descendants in > Ireland today are now the folk who don’t want a United Ireland and who > remain fiercely loyal to the Crown. > > > > A fascinating subject. > > > > > > > > > > > > Elwyn > > > > > > > > > > > > On Saturday, 2 May 2026 at 09:06:08 BST, Susan Elliott via CoTyroneList < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hello > > > > Has anyone done any research on the impact of the 1798 Rebellion on church > records in County Tyrone? I understood that mainly Co Tyrone was > affected. On a visit to Stewartstown Presbyterian Church in 2012 I was > advised that records earlier than those accessible today probably do not > exist as they had to be destroyed to protect people’s identities. Is this > correct and if so, would there be a record of affected churches? > > > > Kind regards > > Susan Elliott > > Melbourne Australia > > > > ================================= > Send a Message to the List - [email protected] > List Archive - > https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com > Join the list by sending an email to - > [email protected] > To receive the Digest version, send an email to - [email protected] > Unsubscribe by sending an email to - > [email protected] > ================================= > ================================= > Send a Message to the List - [email protected] > List Archive - > https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com > Join the list by sending an email to - > [email protected] > To receive the Digest version, send an email to - [email protected] > Unsubscribe by sending an email to - > [email protected] > ================================= >
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