Geneology - What's yours?

[Moosedog]

I am mostly Scottish, French, and American Indian (Cherokee and Osage.)

My surname is Robertson.

The first Robertson I have record of in the New World is the Reverend George Robertson. Born in Scotland, he served as a chaplain aboard a man o'war in 1692, then came to Virginia and served as Rector of Bristol Parish from 1693 until his death in 1739.

When I lived on the East Coast I visited his church several times. Old Blandford church was built a few years before his death. The area was also the site of the Battle of Petersburg in 1781...according to one source "Lord Cornwallis and British Generals O'hara and Phillips met in Petersburg and decided on the strategy that led the British Army to Yorktown and defeat. General Phillips became ill while in Petersburg and passed away. He was secretly buried somewhere in the churchyard."

Each June 8 a service is held honoring the old men and boys who fought bravely aganst an overwhelming Federal force in 1964.

In 1901 the church and ground were declared a Confederate shrine; former members of the Confederacy commissioned a set of windows from Louis Tiffany to grace the church.

Rev. George had lots of decendants, mostly in Louisiana and Tennessee, then on to Arkansas and Oklahome. My grandmother's middle name was "Tennessee," a nod to the roots and migration.


I have often wondered what led the Reverend George to leave Scotland...I have read bits and pieces of the religious unrest in Scotland at the time but still cannot piece it together. Does anyone have a good source for this?

Thanks for starting this thread, it has been fun to see others' roots!

Moosedog

[Ryan Nielson]

Wanted to add this. I looked further into my geneology and found out I have a little bit of Welsh on my mothers side. Just thought that was interesting. it's through the last name Rice.

[macwilkin]

I am mostly Scottish, French, and American Indian (Cherokee and Osage.)

My surname is Robertson.

The first Robertson I have record of in the New World is the Reverend George Robertson. Born in Scotland, he served as a chaplain aboard a man o'war in 1692, then came to Virginia and served as Rector of Bristol Parish from 1693 until his death in 1739.

When I lived on the East Coast I visited his church several times. Old Blandford church was built a few years before his death. The area was also the site of the Battle of Petersburg in 1781...according to one source "Lord Cornwallis and British Generals O'hara and Phillips met in Petersburg and decided on the strategy that led the British Army to Yorktown and defeat. General Phillips became ill while in Petersburg and passed away. He was secretly buried somewhere in the churchyard."

Each June 8 a service is held honoring the old men and boys who fought bravely aganst an overwhelming Federal force in 1964.

In 1901 the church and ground were declared a Confederate shrine; former members of the Confederacy commissioned a set of windows from Louis Tiffany to grace the church.

Rev. George had lots of decendants, mostly in Louisiana and Tennessee, then on to Arkansas and Oklahome. My grandmother's middle name was "Tennessee," a nod to the roots and migration.


I have often wondered what led the Reverend George to leave Scotland...I have read bits and pieces of the religious unrest in Scotland at the time but still cannot piece it together. Does anyone have a good source for this?

Thanks for starting this thread, it has been fun to see others' roots!

Moosedog

If he was listed as a Rector, then he was most likely an Anglican...and Virginia was an Anglican colony.

Todd

[Moosedog]

Hi, Todd,

Thanks, yes, he was definitely Anglican after he got here. I guess I just want to know more about the climate in Scotland at that time, and why he felt the need to leave.

Moosedog

[SteveB]

George Robertson,
Schoolmaster, chaplain of a man-of-war, 1692; settled Bristol Parish (Dinwiddie) VA., 1693-1739; patented 2000 acres of land in Prince George County, VA 1728; Episcopal; died Revelans, Bristol Parish, VA 1740.

There are no current descendants of George Robertson in the Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, from whose records the above is quoted.
The Colonial Clergy of Virginia by The Reverend Frederick Lewis Weis: 1955.
Slainte,
SteveB
Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, Treasurer-General

[gilmore]

...There are no current descendants of George Robertson in the Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, from whose records the above is quoted.
The Colonial Clergy of Virginia by The Reverend Frederick Lewis Weis: 1955....

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Do you really trust Weis' work that much? Or is there another Weis who was active during that period whose genealogical works' accurarcy is often questioned? As I recall, the one I am thinking of attempted medieval genealogies quite a bit.

Just for fun, does he list Francis Fontaine, Williamsburg, Virginia, chaplain of the Virginia House of Burgesses, etc ?

Is there yet another genealogical society to join? Do they have a riband and medal? For some joining them is more addictive than kilts. (I, happily, have escaped that compulsion...so far.)

[Cat]

I've got some MacKinnon (changed to McKinnon during immigration into Canada), as well as a bit of Stuart and MacDonald WAAAAYYY back in the day. I've also got French (surname Baril, supposedly fairly noble family a few hundred years ago. Also via Canada.), Italian (Sicilian no less!) and Spanish. I've heard that there is some Finnish in there too, but I haven't found anything in the past hundred years or so, so I'm not so sure about that. My main roadblock is my grandmother on my father's side, I can't find out anything about her parents. I keep meaning to call her one of these days and get their names.

When I was doing my research, I found it interesting how many Scots ended up in Quebec...you'd end up with children that had a Scottish surname and a French first name (on of my distant relatives is someone named Emil McKinnon), or vice-versa.

Now here's the kicker: my last name is Krakowski. I have no Polish in me and I wasn't adopted!!!*

*(It's actually pretty simple...my mother was adopted and she had me at the age of 17. She never married the tool, er, my father and her surname at the time was Krakowski. I never bothered taking the surname of either of her husbands, so the name stuck. Plus, my grandparents had a big hand in raising me at various times. Maybe one day I'll legally change it, but honestly, I have better things to spend money on and worry about. Having been around a Polish grandfather, who's still going strong at 78, I will NEVER turn down a pierogie or borscht though!!!)

[Erikm]

Does anyone have any Gaddy-Geddy or Ged ancestry in there family history?

[SteveB]

Gilmore,
The Reverend Frederick Lewis Weis did not attempt medieval genealogy. He was strictly interested and published in the American Colonial period. I have had a chance to dig through many of the reference works in my personal library on this.
To add to the above on George Robertson
b: Perthshire, Scotland 1662. St Andrews, Scotland M.A. 1683. Ordained London, England 20 Dec 1691. m. 1698 Mary Worsham. Record of a son James b., 1708.

Francis Fontaine b.1697, son of James Fontaine; K.B. for VA 30 Dec 1720; settled Manakintown, King William Parish (Powhatan), VA 1720-1721. Settled Saint Margaret's Parish (Caroline) VA 1721-1722; settled Saint Peters Parish (New Kent) VA 1722. Settled Yorkhampton Parish (York) VA 1722-1749; Professor of Oriental Languages, William & Mary College 1729. d. Yorkhampton Parish, 1749.

The Blue Book of Genealogical and Hereditary Socities is rather fat, for there are many. I belong to several, and one of them inspired me to return to my kilted (Scot) heritage. Ihave only joined a few groups, as I really need to feel as if I can contribute to the group before I take the time to do all that genealogical research and documentation.
Slainte

[Phogfan86]

There is also ancestry.com, but it is a pay site.

Good luck!

The great thing about ancestry.com is, all I had to do was go back about six generations until I hooked up with someone who shared a 4x or 5x great-grandfather, and all the work before that had already been done by others. I learned a lot really fast.

The hunt wasn't so much the reward for me. I needed the information in a hurry.