William Stanford of Ireland

[pegeen44]

I am looking for where in Ireland my William Stanford was born.  He was of the Scotch-Irish Stanfords and it is thought he came from Northern Ireland, possibly Antrim area.  He was born ca 1729, married Mary (?) probably in Ireland and then came to Virginia and Chester Co, South Carolina USA.  They belonged to the Catholic Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, so I assume they were the same in Ireland.  My ancestor is NOT the William Lutterell Stanford who married Mary Poe in Dublin. Any help would be appreciated since I cannot find any records about them other than they were both born in Ireland.

[philipsearching]

Greetings, and a warm welcome to Rootschat.

This might be a silly question:  if you don't know where William was born, how do you know he was from the "Scotch-Irish Stanfords"?  Do you know the names of his parents?

Philip

[pegeen44]

Well, truthfully, it is family lore, mostly.  I am descended from his son, Thomas, and we have quite a bit of information on him, but not much on his father other than his name was William and his wife was Mary, and that they came from Ireland.  The records on him are slim to none, hence the query.  We have accepted the lore, but it is not proven. He came to Virginia originally, or so we believe since that's where his son, Thomas, was born.

[Maiden Stone]

  They belonged to the Catholic Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, so I assume they were the same in Ireland. 

I'm confused about the church. Catholic and Presbyterian are 2 different denominations of the Christian Church, opposite ends, one might say and adherents of one were often in bloody opposition to adherents of the other, especially in Ireland.
Main religious denominations in Ireland were Roman Catholic (the vast majority), Church of Ireland (the Established Church, equivalent to Church of England in England and Episcopalian in Scotland and U.S.) and Presbyterian. You need to know to which denomination your ancestors belonged in order to search for church registers. 1729 is too early for most Catholic registers. Existence of Presbyterian and other Non-Conformist registers is patchy.

[pegeen44]

That is what it was called.  It had no affiliation with the Catholic Church and was Presbyterian.  I don't know why they called it that.  I have attached a picture of a signpost that confirms this.

"Catholic Presbyterian Church Marker
Chester Co, South Carolina, USA

Located near Beckhamville, South Carolina in Chester County.  At the intersection of State Highway 97 and Old Catholic Church Road, on the right when traveling east on State Highway 97. The marker was erected in 1964 by the Chester County Historical Commission. The Catholic Presbyterian Church is located one mile south of the marker."

[Maiden Stone]

I was looking it up when you posted. I learn something every day on RootsChat. It may be the only one with the name; Mr Google and Wiki don't know any others. The word catholic means universal, all-embracing, of wide sympathies, broad-minded; catholicity  -   comprehensiveness, freedom from narrowness.
They would have been Presbyterians in Ireland.
Researching Irish founding families of the church might help.

[pegeen44]

Thank you, I'll try that.

Regards,

Peggy

[Maiden Stone]

Irish Toolkit website has advice and tips on researching Irish ancestors.
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com

[pegeen44]

Thank you, I need new places to look.  I've exhausted all I know to do, so this is very helpful.  I appreciate your sharing the info.  Plus the information I need is early 1700's which I keep finding out has a scarcity of records in Ireland.

Peggy