Wilsons of Dunfanaghy, Donegal, Ireland

[vlwilson]

I'm researching my husband's Wilson family line.  I know his grandfather was Alexander Wilson, born October 12, 1869, in Dunfanaghy, Donegal County, Ireland.  Alexander's parents were William Wilson and Jane Clark(e).  He came to the United States in 1889 and settled in Blair County, Pennsylvania.

Any information or leads would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Vickie Wilson

[Annraoi]

These Wilsons lived near Dunfanaghy in the townland of Claggan, Horn Head.

Valuation of Tenements 1864
CLAGGAN Lot#6 (Horn Head) James Wilson had house, offices and land. The buildings were the highest value in the townland being more than twice the average valuation.

The children I have for William and Jane (Clark/e) Wilson

James Henry born 2 Jul 1866
Alexander born 12 Oct 1869
Thomas born 7 Dec 1871 [died?]
Mary born 26 Jun 1874
William born 1 Jan 1877
Thomas born 26 Jan 1878
Jane born 2 Jul 1880

I don’t have any other details to hand at the moment but if you’d like to share info please get back to me.

 All the best
                  Henry

 NB Sorry but I had previously mis-typed the birth date of James Henry
       The above is now correct.

[Sbobden]

Hi Im Stuart Wilson son of Fredrick wilson......Grandson of Fred wilson.......Great grandson of William Wilson who was the brother of Alex Wilson, who as I understand it both left Ireland to work the railway in Pennsilvania USA.   Willie returned to Horn Head where I now Live.

[DMW]

Re: Wilsons of Dunfanaghy

Does anyone know how far the Wilsons of Dunfanaghy go back?  Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788) was the younger brother of a Thomas Wilson (b.1701) from Leeds, where the family was very prominent.

Their father, Major Wilson, was a wealthy merchant of cloth who did trade with Russia.  The oldest son, John (b1699) was at the Court of Peter the Great.  The second son, Thomas was in charge of his father's ship which took cloth to Russia.

According to Benjamin's diary, on returning to England, Thomas stopped at Dunfanaghy to 'divert himself ' in the town, neglected to take care of the ship which was wrecked 'due to his carelessness'.  He stayed there out of fear of his father's wrath, married a local woman with a good fortune and they had several chidren who also married well.  The family in England never saw him again.

Benjamin Wilson went to London where he became a famous portrait painter and electrical scientist.  He was a member of the Royal Society and his painting of Benjamin Franklin, with whom he also had a scientific disagreement, is the oldest painting in the White House today.  He was also Painter to George 111, after Hogarth.

His son, Sir Robert Wilson, faught Napoleon, was a Member of Parliament for Southwark for 15 years, and ended his career as Governor of Gibraltar.
I am related to the family, through another brother of Benjamin's -- Joseph, (b1707) and our side of the family migrated to Australia in 1837.

Would love to hear from anyone with more information.

DMW

[Matty]

Hi DMW,

I have no information on your family but I am interested in " Dunfanaghy" it was not a very big place and I am sure that every one new one another.

The families that I am looking for are McNutt, Richardson, McKinly & Culbert all had some conection with the Dunfanaghy Prestbyterian Church.

If you have come accross any of these names I would appreciate it if you could let me know.

Thank you Matty

[maireag]

RE: VWilson's posting and Annraoi's posting

I am searching for information about my great, great grandmother Eliza Clark.  She was born in Ireland around 1838, possibly in  Belfast,  but came to the USA and married in 1860. 

She had a sister named Jane in Ireland who married a Wilson.  I have reason to believe that Jane's husband was named William Wilson.  I am not certain at this point where Jane Clark Wilson and William Wilson lived, but Jane and Eliza's mother, Meary, wrote letters to Eliza from "Horn head" and "Claggan". 

As this is near Dunfanaghy I wondered if these could be the same Wilson's as you are mentioning. 

In addition.  Eliza received a letter from a nephew Alex Wilson, written in 1894.  He addressed the letter from Blair Co, Pennsylvania. 

From the letters I know that Eliza and Jane Clark Wilson had a brother named Henrey, and a sister named Marry.  They also had an Uncle James and Aunt Jane. 

To further confuse things, Eliza's mother signed the letters "I remain your mother to deth --Meary Alcorn".  I know that Eliza was named Clark when she married in 1860, so I don't know where the name Alcorn came from unless perhaps her mother was widowed and remarried. 

Any information on the Alcorn, Clark or Wilson's of the Claggan, Horn Head area that you think might be related would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!
Lisa

[dwaynemilp]

DNA testing of Wilson blood has confirmed that the Wilson family is from Donegal county Ireland, 2 matches: one in Canada whose grandfather came from Donegal county Ireland and another in Donegal county Ireland both lines go back to about 1810.

DNA test:
Marcus Wilson gfthr Robert Wilson b 1820 Donegal Ireland
Orville Wilson New Brunswick CA gfthr Matthew Wilson b 1811 Donegal Ireland

Our ancestor is Richard Wilson (Willson)
His son Robert was born in 1765, speculation wants to place Robert's birth in North Carolina, but oral history says they moved from Staunton Virginia after he was born.

Richard Wilson died in Old Rowan county North Carolina abt 1805

1759 Rowan County Tax List
Wilson, George
Wilson, James
Wilson, Wm
additions
Wilson, Charles
Wilson, James (so fork)
Wilson, John
Wilson, Robert
Wilson, Wm

1761 Tax List Rowan County Taxables Summonsed by Arthur Oneale (Davidson county area)
Wilson Charles
Reed George
1768 Rowan County Tax List of John Ford
Willson, Charles
Willson, John
Reed, George

Earliest record of Richard is 1772.

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat but the original poster hasn't been online since 2004 so you might not get a reply from them.

[Brewster]

We are USA descendants of a Dunfanaghy family of William Warnock and his wife, Mary Wilson.  Their son John Wilson Warnock emigrated to the USA in 1846 and settled in Clarion County, PA.  John died in 1878 and the family is well documented.  John's Dunfanaghy wife was Elizabeth Alcorn, who died in 1845, leaving him a widower with 6 children.  This was what prompted him to emigrate.

Several trips to Donegal have not found this Alcorn, but the Warnock family there were members of Dunfanaghy Presbyterian Church.  We have the baptismal records of several Warnock's from there.

Would like to make contact with either this Wilson or Alcorn family descendants.  Much of this can be seen at our online site:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/a/r/Bruce-E-Warnock-Ohio/index.html

Thanks so much,
Bruce Warnock