TED AND MONICA's DONEGAL INTERESTS

James DEAN was my husband's great grandfather.  His father was also James and his mother was Helen RAMSAY. James and his brother Henry  left Donegal and went to Philadelphia, PA in 1851.  Shortly thereafter he married Sarah TODD who was born in Buncrana, Co. Donegal.  Sarah's sister Lydia was the first to leave Ireland and a year or so later Sarah and their brother George left Ireland landing in New York and then moving to Philadelphia.  We are puzzled by the fact that there was another Todd family who lived in Buncrana Castle during this time period, but so far we cannot connect our Todd's with the other family.  Lydia, Sarah and George left a brother James in Buncrana and their father's name was John TODD.  The Todds of Buncrana Castle eventually changed their name to TODD-THORNTON.

The DEAN's lived in the Birdstown area very near what is now the boundary between The Republic and Northern Ireland.  From the obituary of Henry DEAN we have learned that the Deans fought with Cromwell at the Battle of Drogheda and were involved in the Siege of Londonderry.  They were originally from Scotland, however.  We also learned from the obituary that they had two sisters and one brother who stayed in Ireland.  When we visited the Birdstown area we met a woman who owned property which was once leased to an Allen DEAN by the Marquis of Donegal.  We think it is possible that Allen was the brother who stayed in Ireland especially since one of my husband's uncles was named George Allen Dean - George for his mother's brother George TODD and Allen for his father's brother.  We also have a drawing obtained from records in Belfast that shows a parcel of land with the name of James DEAN on it.  It was located in the area of Trooperstown not far from Birdstown where we know this family lived.  I have also found Dean's who were living in Burnfoot during the same time period as our Deans.

STEVE'S FAMILY

I received an e-mail in May 2001 from Steve who is researching Wylie's from the  Drumhaggart, Burt area. This is his information on the family to date.

Richard WYLIE born ? died 1899 married circa 1879 Rebecca ERSKINE born 1859  died 1935.

They had eight children (in birth order):

John McCaulay WYLIE (Jack) born between 1880 and 1892 married his cousin Mary Jane WYLIE. Their children were Arthur John WYLIE and a daughter Dorothy WYLIE (USHER).

Elizabeth WYLIE married Harry TOWSLEY. They had three sons, Teddy, Norman and Donald.

Sarah Jane WYLIE (Sadie) maried Rupert Joshua BARKER and raised Rupert's grandchildren who were Ida Mary, Robert and an adopted son Danny.

Mary WYLIE who remained single.

Isabella WYLIE (Peggy) married Geroge BURTIS. Their children were Marvin BURTIS who was killed in WWII, George BURTIS and Patricia BURTIS who married Raymond TIMGREN.

Fanny WYLIE (Nancy) was born 1896, died 1975. She married Joseph DAUKSHTA. They had no children.

Kathleen (Kitty) born 1897, died 1987 married John LESINBY. A daughter Lorretta married James BURKE. They also had a son Johnny.

Richard  had at least two siblings, Mary and Dorothy and unknown brothers. Mary was blind due to smallpox. Richard is buried in Drumhaggart Cemetery in Burt parish.  After Richard's death in 1899, Rebecca moved to Derry. Rebecca and the children all emigrated (between 1908 and 1918) firstly to Canada and then to the United States.

We presume the Robert Erskine on the 1857 Griffiths Valuation is Rebecca's father or may be her grandfather. Derryvane is only half a mile from Drumhaggart. The Wylie's and Erskine's had adjoining farms in Donegal and Richard and Rebecca's marriage was prearranged. It was not till they met at the church the day of the wedding that Rebecca knew which Wylie she was to marry. (Richard was previously married to a wealthy Australian woman and lived in Adelaide, Australia. They had no children and when she died he returned to Ireland.)

If anyone has any information or suggestions on the above family, both Steve and I would be very grateful to receive it as we have come to a "brick wall" at the moment.

KERRY's FAMILY

Kerry sent myself and Steve (above) this e-mail late last year.

Saw the note on maggiesirshkin about a connection to WYLIE/ERSKINE families. We are probably connected, but as to proving it, that will be difficult. I have a Isaac WEYLIE born Lenamore Farm 1790 married Nancy BELL about 1814. The family came to Canada in 1835. They had 8 children. His sister was Rebecca WEYLIE  born  about 1775 married William STEEN and came to Canada with their family in 1822. William Steen lived at Culmore before coming to Canada.  It has been suggested in the family but not proven, that the parents of the above were a John WYLIE/WILEY and unknown ERSKINE. The eldest son of Isaac Weylie was Isaac Erskine WEYLIE. The Wylie /Wiley family  were said to have come from Renfrewshire, Scotland about 1662 to Ireland.

Interestingly a Nathan BELL appears on census form with Isaac Weylie's family about 1861 and Bell children lived with different family members. I wonder if he is the Nathan Bell on the web page. He was born about 1790 but have not been able to trace him, afterwards.

There is also a database on rootsweb, with Wylie/Steen/ Erskine connections in this area of Donegal/Muff/Burt - have you seen it? Can probably find it by searching for Wylie married Erskine.

Now for another coincidence. I am a descendant of a James FERRIS born about 1810/1812 in Ireland. Possibly came from Dromore Parish in County Down. His mother Elizabeth appears to have come to Canada with him and a brother to James was John (noted on mother's tombstone). Mother Elizabeth may be from Belfast. No further trace of John and do not have a name for the father. The family was in Canada by about 1836. My father was Bertram "Ferris" WEYLIE, as the Weylie side used surnames for given names. James FERRIS was married to Jane McKELVEY/McKELVIE in Ireland.

DAVID's FAMILY

David lives in England and has little information on his grandfather Charles McNAUGHER born 1916, Londonderry.  According to family lore Charles McNAUGHER's father was killed in WW1. His mother brought him to England where he was raised and his mother went to the USA to live. I suspect that maybe Cassie, daughter of Charles McNaugher and Anne Ferris,  had a brother, then David's Charles could have been his grandson. Not having been able to trace anything further on Charles and Anne McNaugher, this is very theoretical at this stage. There does seem to be a family likeness though and McNaugher is an unusual name.

Thanks to Margaret (Mags) WYLIE wife of John WYLIE, son of Moses Wylie who was Liza Jane's youngest brother.

JULIE is seeking information on:

William McNAUGHER born about 1876 married to Liza Jane WILEY, both of Donegal. The migrated to the US in 1908 aboard "Colombia" leaving from Londonderry. The passenger list says they were leaving to see Liza Jane's brother David WILEY in Nebraska. They had a daughter born in Ireland, Dacey Margaret Isobel McNAUGHER. Five more children were born in the United States.

Julie McNAUGHER
James McNAUGHER
David McNAUGHER
Wiley McNAUGHER
LaRue McNAUGHER

Liza is standing at the back with William on her right. The baby is Dacey Margaret Isobel. 

PAM's RESEARCH

LOUGH DERG
    A lake of 2000 acres four miles north of Pettigo

Pam's research has been mainly confined to Australia at this stage, but she is keen to find out more about the family in Ireland.

-