In an 1862 letter, Rev. William J. Pettigrew related a bit of his family history, the excerpt which follows.
Rev. Pettigrew wrote, "My grandfather was a Scotchman (of Scotch parentage at least), an officer in the British Army. His name was James Pettigrew. He settled in County Down, at Drumraw, after his life of soldiering was ended. My father, Robert, was his oldest son, and inherited his estate. Eleven children, all sons, grew to manhood under his roof. Of these, I am the ninth.
With our Scotch kin we kept up pretty constant intercourse. My father's brothers, indeed, all returned to Scotland, and settled near Stranraer."
As Rev. Pettigrew was born 1824-25, I would hazard a guess that his grandfather's army service was in the mid-1700s or later. He gave no other identifying info about his grandfather.
How can I find information about the British Army service of his grandfather James? James' surname might have been spelled Petticrew in Army records.
I want to trace this Pettigrew line back to Scotland, and hope that finding info about the grandfather James will help me to do so.
I assume the Drumraw mentioned is townland Drumra today, parish Drumbeg, Co. Down. This townland was where Pettic/grews were located in the 1800s, including a Robert Pettycrew who was listed as a freeholder in 1813 and 1818.
Rev. Pettigrew emigrated to America in 1848, followed by his mother Elizabeth and three brothers in 1849. If you want to know more about him, these two posts contain much:
http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/pettigrew/1664/http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/pettigrew/1391/Thanks for any help you can offer about officer James Pettigrew, or about the family of Rev. William J. Pettigrew in Co. Down.
To avoid confusion, please note there was another James Pettigrew, lieutenant and then captain in the British Army, who served in Canada, the American colonies, then Jamaica, successively before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. He was heir to Crilly House, Co. Tyrone, knighted for his army service, and died in Jamaica.
