I greatly appreciate everyone's reply to my question. I am new to rootschat and have not yet figured out how to reply to each individual separately. Based on Abraham's brother Robert's will which he wrote on November 22nd, 1846 in Philadephia the siblings were as follows:
Brother Abraham gets 30 pounds of silver to come to America.
Mrs. Nathaniel Gordon gets 25 dollars
Mrs. James Gordon gets 25 dollars
Sister Ann Leacock gets 25 dollars
Brother Joseph Gordon gets 100 dollars
Mrs. Joseph Gordon 25 dollars (crossed out with heavy lines)
The balance is given to Mother Mary Ann Gordon
The sister Ann Leacock married Michael Leacock in Ireland and a Michael Leacock is listed on the 1831 census living in the Townland of Dooleybeg (Dooey Beg according to Google). Michael Leacock died in 1862 while fighting in the US Civil War. According to his pension papers Ann stated they were married between 1827 and 1829 in Northern Ireland. Ann Gordon Leacock died in 1876. Ann and Michael arrived in the USA at the Philadelphia Port the 13 Apr 1840 with 3 children.
According to the 1860 Philadelphia city directory, Michael Leacock works as a cloth lapper.
I did find that James Gordon born in 1806 from Killure sailed from Londonderry to New Brunswick Canada in 1834.
Robert Gordon's will was filed on January 7th, 1851. At the beginning of his Will, he states he bequeaths the following sums to his Dear Mother, Brothers, and Sisters (I only find one sister so sisters may just be standard wording - he does not mention a wife and the lawyer is the executor.
Would the fact he gives money to each of the wives of brothers James and Nathaniel mean James and Nathaniel are deceased? Widow Gordon could be the wife of Robert. There is a Widow Gordon living in Killure in 1828 on the Tithe Returns for Macosquin and possibly this was the grandmother and she also came to the USA. There is also a Mrs. Gordon in Portstewart I found while searching records online but I forget where I found her.
On Ancestry there are a good number of folks who have family trees but none have found out who Abraham's father was. Some state he was the George Gordon 5th Duke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gordon,_5th_Duke_of_Gordon but this is not possible. A lot of folks copied this information into their trees. Some also have the father as James Joseph Gordon with no information attached. Not sure where they found this but it is possible the father of Abraham and his brothers and sister Ann was James Gordon. Some also have a John Gordon listed as a brother to Abraham and this is a possibility but so far no evidence that this is the case. On the 1851 census for Ireland, there is a John Gordon living in Ardmore, Limavady Co., Derry whose father was James and mother Mary Ann but then again no way to make the connection.
Abraham is on 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 USA census records, and all state that he was born in Ireland and his parents were born in Ireland. Now, long-deceased relatives, I interviewed told me that the family was from Scotland and there was a well-known minister in the family. Again there were a zillion ministers with the surname Gordon.
For Killure I found the following Will information:
In 1801 Will’s probated, William Gordon Killure Macosquin 1801 (possible this is Abraham's grandfather or his father's brother)
In 1829 James Gordon Killure Macosquin 1829 (possible this is Abraham's father)
McFarland and Farley seem to be popular names in the area during this time. Abraham's first wife was Sarah McFarland based on his son Robert's citizenship papers (Robert was born in 1835 and his sister Elizabeth was born in 1837). His second wife was Mary Ann Farley and their first living child was born in 1842 and his name was Joseph, their second child born in Ireland is my great grandfather John. I can only guess that Sarah died in Ireland and Abraham remarried Mary Ann Farley.
I did find that Killure was an active linen industrial site:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~catty/aghadowey/ag_linen.htm Killure. A very old bleaching site. Pyke's survey in 1725 mentions that George Gregg has on this land "a Bleaching yard for whitening Linnen cloth." Alsop's survey in 1765 gives the tenant of Klillure as Mr. Robert Givvin, and notes that there is a bleach green on this farm. According to the O.S. it was occupied as a bleach green by the late Robert Kyle of Laurel Hill and ceased to work about 1807. At the time of the O.S. it had been converted to a flax mill and was occupied by John Lynn.
Abraham states he was a Weaver in Ireland. His sister's husband Michael states he was a cloth lapper so I am just putting two and two together and guessing that the Killure, Macosquin, Portstewart areas etc. are where I should start looking for information first.
I attached a copy of the report sent to me by the genealogist I hired in Northern Ireland.
I would appreciate any information that can send me in the right direction to search.
Many Thanks!
Debi
