Wallace

[rlw254]

Death certificate gives date of death as January 4th 1871 but date of burial as Jan 8th 1872.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6QM3-D6N?i=345&cc=1320976

Right, I think it just illustrates that people have always struggled with writing the correct year just after New Year's 

I'm really not sure how to approach the question of finding their home in County Tyrone from this point on however. Even if I were to find that, tracing the father's location to Scotland will likely be even harder.

[aghadowey]

I wouldn't worry too much about looking for father's birth, etc. in Scotland. It wasn't uncommon for Ulster Scots families to say they were 'Scottish' even if the link was several generations further back.

[rlw254]

There are two tidbits of information I have that suggest it might be more than that. First, Matilda was the only one of these siblings to live long enough to be recorded on the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses in America. These ask for parents' birthplace. She consistently reported Scotland for each of them while reporting her mother's birthplace as England or Ireland (variable). Personal statements in Andrew's pension docket indicate that Matilda "knew the facts" about their family.

Second is from Catherine Williams (Wallace), the woman who I believe is a sister of father James. Someone shared a letter passed down in their family that indicates "Catherine Wallace went to Ireland from the lowlands of Scotland at the age of six or seven years." and this was allegedly taken from Catherine's bible.

[aghadowey]

It may be well that the Scottish connection is as you say but I've countless examples (mostly in U.S. census records) where place of birth for parents vary from one census to another between Ireland and Scotland (and even an occasional England) for someone born in Ulster.

[rlw254]

Quick question for those who know more.

If I am indeed looking for a James Wallace living in County Tyrone before 1847, I found that there is an entry in "Ireland, Valuation Office Books, 1831-1856" for a James Wallace living in Aghadarragh, Dromore, in 1835. This looks to be the only James Wallace in this particular collection living in Tyrone. How can I find out more about this James? There's also a Joseph on the same parcel of land it looks like. I'm not really sure what kind of information can be extracted from these land valuations.

Edit: I'm seeing now where it says in the record that on this parcel of land there was a Roman Catholic chapel. The children of James were Presbyterian so it looks like this is a stale lead. I'm still curious if anybody has any input though.