Showing posts with label Botetourt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Botetourt. Show all posts

Friday, April 25, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #18: Who Else Is in John McClure's Family?

Hubby's 4th great-granddaddy was Alexander McClure (1717-1790), who sailed with his father Halbert and mother Agnes (as well as uncles, aunts, and siblings) to Philadelphia in the 1730s or so. They weren't indentured servants, so they clearly had the money to pay for their passage. The entire McClure family then walked to the Shenandoah Valley and "claimed" land. All of this is documented in the excellent, well-researched book Following the McClures-Donegal to Botetourt by Joseph W. McClure, George E. Honts III, and Ellwyn Worley.

Alexander, once he was established in the new world, married Martha Moore and had a number of children, including John McClure (1781-?). In turn, John married Ann McFall (1780-1823). The records are sketchy here, so the only one of their children I've definitely identified is hubby's 2d great-granddaddy, Benjamin McClure. (You can visit "Uncle Benjamin's" Facebook genealogy page here.)

My challenge is to see who else might have been in the family of John and Ann McClure. Despite the detailed descendant appendixes in the McClure book, no one knows what became of John and Ann. I know where they died (Adams County, OH) but I just don't know whether Benjamin had siblings. It seems very unlikely that he would be an only child in the 1800s, doesn't it?

With the National Genealogical Society's 2014 conference just around the corner, I'll have a chance to get new ideas from experts in Virginia and Ohio family research. The conference also has a few sessions on Scotch-Irish migration that will arm me with good tips and techniques for pursuing this question.