[4qd-bannvalley] Regarding: Gilmore, Kennedy, Giffin families

[4qd-bannvalley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Iain McNeill)]

Hi Freda
My G-g-g-grandfather Daniel McNeill married a Betty Gilmore in
Aghadowey. They were both born about 1760.
Their son William married married a Jane Kennedy - I am looking for more
info on them.
Their son John (my g-g-grandfather), b 1790, married a Sarah Roxburgh, b
ABT 1795, in John Brown's Presbyterian Church Aghadowey. They had 11
children, 8 girls and 3 boys.
My father's notes say: "Lived 18 years in Trivaleagh (Crevalea). Landed
in Boston, Mass., USA on 6 Jun 1852." I have not located this on any lists.
He was with most of his family. They ended up in Millbury Mass (on 1855
census) working in the cotton mills.
Their female offspring seemed to marry those who had also travelled from
"home" - names like Young, Caldwell, Boyce, Paterson, Watson and Burnside.
My G-grandfather John had gone to Scotland in 1851 and married Sarah
Brisbane.
I hope this may be of use. Please let me know if the McNeill name pops
up anywhere!
Iain McNeill
Cambridge, England

Freda Noble wrote:
> One of my maternal ancestral families is a Kennedy family (sometimes
> spelled Cannady, Kenedy).  They appear in Massachusetts in the 1730s.
> According to several references, there was a migration of Ulster Scots
> from northern Ireland at that time; and at least, five ships of
> immigrants arrived in Boston.  Among these was probably my Thomas
> Kennedy.  I would like to correspond with anyone who researches or has
> information about these families.  Below is some of the data I have
> collected.  I would like to confirm whether the David Gilmore, who
> lived with the Giffin family in Spencer, Mass., was David Gilmore, the
> son of the Giffin father's wife in Antrim County.  I would also like
> to confirm if the John Gilmore and David Gilmore, who were among the
> first settlers of Murrayfield, Mass., were related to the David
> Gilmore who lived in Spencer.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.
> Ted Noble, Gualala, Ca
>
> Thomas Kennedy married Jane (Janet) Gilmore in Bridgewater,
> Massachusetts, near Boston, in 1735.  He eventually migrated to
> western Massachusetts, settling in "New Glasgow," later called
> Blandford, Massachusetts.  The last record of Thomas is the 1790 tax
> valuation.  The family was Protestant.
>
> Research uncovered two of Thomas and Jane Kennedy's children, Thomas
> and Hannah, living with  family, comprising Robert David and Isabel
> Giffin.  These people were two brothers and a sister who migrated to
> Spencer, Massachusetts.  David was born in the parish of
> "Bellowilling:" (the spelling used in the Giffin Will), County Antrim,
> in 1686.  Isabel was born there in 1695, and Robert, in 16??.  They
> were hard-working and acquired property in Spencer, but none of them
> married.  All three died within a space of seven months, between
> December, 1769, and July, 1770.
>
> (In one reference I found that a Protestant family named Giffen has
> been located in Antrim since the seventeenth century.  There is good
> reason, according to the researcher, to believe that all the families
> who spelled their name Giffin" or "Giffen" belong ed to this Antrim
> family.
>
> David Giffin deeded his property to his brother Robert and his sister
> Isabel. Robert bequeathed to his "cousin" David Gilmore, then living
> with him, "a comfortable support for life from the income of his real
> estate,:" which he gave, half to Thomas Kenady (or Cannady), son of
> Thomas Kenady, of Murrrayfield, hampshire County, Massachusetts, and
> half to Robert giffin, son of his brother John Giffin, late of county
> Antrim, Ireland.  (John remained in County Antrim when David, Robert
> and Isabel migrated.)
>
> As noted above, Thomas Kennedy, Sr., father of the Thomas and Hannah
> who lived with the Giffens in Spencer, Mass., resided in Murrayfield,
> Mass., near Blandford.  He was one of the very early settlers there
> along with William Kennedy, John Gilmore and David Gilmore.  This was
> sometime in the 1740s before Hampshire County was created.
> Murrayfield was not incorporated as a town until Oct. 31, 1765.  Today
> the town of Murrayfield is comprised of the towns of Chester and
> Huntington.  (Source: Taverns and Turnpikes of Blandford, 1733-1833,
> by Sumner Gilbert Wood, 1908.)
>
> It is quite probable that the mother of the Robert Giffen mentioned
> above was a Gilmore, since Robert referred to David Gilmore as his
> "cousin."  Also, it is probable that Thomas Kennedy, Sr.'s wife, Janet
> Gilmore, was a member of the same Gilmore family, since so much of the
> Giffen estates were bequeathed to Thomas Kennedy, Jr., and Hannah, his
> sister.
>
> It is possible that the John and David Gilmore who settled with Thomas
> Kennedy, Sr., in Murrayfield wer also close members of the same
> Gilmore family.
>
> Recent  research at the LDS Library provided the following additional
> data: In the "Roll of Protestant householders, 1740, of the parish of
> Balleywillan, County Derry Portion," (the parish overlapped both
> Antrim and Derry) appear the names James Gilmore and DAvid Gilmore.
> records also show a John Gilmore born in Balleywillan in 1719, and
> also, in 1737.  A John Gilmore executed a will there in 1749. (Source:
> "The Kirk of Balleywillan since the Scottish Settlement" by Julia E.
> Mullin, 1924.