Hi Cliff, See my message to Denver re: checking church records for people. In due time I would like to transcribe these records for the list....but just now I'm knee deep in preparation for a research trip to PRONI in October. I have run across Johnstons in the Bellaghy area before. Land records are a great place to look if you haven't tried this already. LDS has indexes and originals on microfilm. I believe a Johnston married a distant cousin of my Seawrights and one of their children was Searight Johnston :-). Take a look at this family tree: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3007411&id=I779 for a Thomas Johnston from the Bellaghy area. I also have this fellow listed in a will of John Seawright's from 1850 (transcription attached). No idea if this might be your people, but possibly a relation? The Mary Seawright who married Thomas Johnston supposedly emigrated to Australia. The family tree on rootsweb that I reference is not necessarily correct on family relationships as I have researched some of these people and I think Mary is a sister of William and that John (of the will) is the father. Good luck! ~Linda S. -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Cliff. Johnston" <moments-in-time@xxxxxxxxxxx> > Would you happen to have any Johnston bdm's from ca. 1800-1820? More > specifically I'm looking for: > > Francis "Frank" Johnston, b. ca. 1805 > Robert "Red Robin Johnston, b. ca. 1808 > Archibald "Archie" Johnston, b. 1815 > > Also, Catherine, Jane, and Thomas but no dates for them - all thought to be > siblings who went to Upper Canada in two trips, one in 1822 and the other in > 1832, plus George Johnston who may have been an uncle.. > > Cliff. Johnston > "May the best you've ever seen, > Be the worst you'll ever see;" > from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <brigid272@xxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <BannValley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 12:47 PM > Subject: [Bann Valley] Church records and cemeteries--Castledawson, > Bellaghy, Ballymena > > > > Hello All, > > > > My ancestors are from the townlands of Ballymacombs and Ballynease, right > > near > > where the Bann connects with Lough Beg and next to Bellaghy. > > > > Before the Presbyterian Church was formed in Bellaghy (late 1820s), the > > families > > recorded births and marriages at the Castledawson Presbyterian Church, > > just > > southwest of Bellaghy (maybe three miles away). > > > > I was fortunate enough about two years ago to be able to purchase the > > entire > > microfilm of Castledawson's church records from about 1800 to 1845. I > > found the > > birth records of my g-g-grandfather and his siblings, which I had never > > imagined > > I would find. To get the records I had to ask the current minister of the > > church to write a letter of permission to PRONI. I then paid PRONI to > > make and > > send me a copy. I have also tried to buy the records for the Bellaghy > > church--which records do not start I believe until about 1840 or 1850, but > > I > > have had no luck reaching the current minister, who also serves the > > Magherafelt > > church. Magherafelt has records from before 1800 and I would like to buy > > that > > film as well, but again, no luck. > > > > I will be doing research in Belfast in October this year and have decided > > to try > > to access the church records either at PRONI or the Presbyterian > > Historical > > Society which I read somewhere has an index for church records in Northern > > Ireland. I'm trying to confirm the information about the indexes but have > > yet > > to hear from them. > > > > I know that one can pay to have the genealogical society in Derry City > > look up > > records but it's a bit pricey for those of us in the U.S. > > > > I have a few questions for this list: > > > > ---Boyd listed the church records at the Coleraine library on microfilm: > > do you > > know if they have the Bellaghy or Magherafelt church records there also? > > > > ---Does anyone know if Castledawson's Presbyterian church has a cemetery > > with > > old headstones (ca. 1800-1850)? The Bellaghy CI has my people from the > > Presbyterian church as > > it was a common graveyard for protestants, but I haven't been able to find > > some > > lines and wondered if the cemetery in Castledawson might have them. > > > > --Finally, for my McCullough ancestors from the area, I have one clue that > > a > > relation, one Nathaniel McCullough, was resident in Ballymena in the late > > 1700s. > > He's listed in a deed from a family that married into mine, and was a > > witness at my g-g-g-grandmother's marriage in 1812 in the Castledawson > > church. What would be the Presbyterian churches from that era for > > Ballymena? > > > > Thanks for any help you can give. > > > > ~Linda Sewright > > > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe send a mail to BannValley+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > List rules and FAQs: http://www.torrens.org.uk/Lists/3_rules.html > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe send a mail to BannValley+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > List rules and FAQs: http://www.torrens.org.uk/Lists/3_rules.html >
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John Seeright's Will-1850.doc
Description: MS-Word document