George Cunningham and Bishop Cunningham

Erica,

This current project only covers the 1847 1st Company led by Brigham Young. However the first link that you gave for Geroge Cunningham is very significant as it covers a member of the 1856 Martin/Willey Handcart company. If you haven't read his entry in full you should do so.

I may well do a separate project on the 1856 Willie and Martin Handcart company as there is quite a lot of research out there and entire books have been written about it. I've hiked that portion of the Mormon/Oregon trail in good weather and can't imagine what that hardcart company had to endure where 68 members of the Willie company and 145 members of the Martin company lost their lives because of the late start and the early blizzards.

Cool -- very interesting. I need to learn more.

I have other ancestors who did the overland trails out West for other reasons, so very glad to see this starting to be covered in geni.

I have an ancestor named George Coningham who came to the US from Britain. Was George Cunningham by any chance of British of Scottish origin.

I have traced my Cunnighams to clear Scots origin. Which means they sojourned in England and Ireland. Here's one of my "first Americans" --

William Cunningham

You can follow his tree back to Scotland and some side branches from there, perhaps.

William's descendants might not be related to George Coningham, {fictional}. But maybe his ancestors were. I am pretty sure George's father, John Coningham Coningham (Cunningham) was Scottish, and it appears he went by the name Cunningham

Would you happen to have any Ramsley ancestors?

I have traced William's family to a man called Unknown Profile. I happen to have an ancestor named David Cunningham as well. Both were born in the same year (1721), and interestingly in Virginia. I had thought my earliest ancestor to arrive in America was George Coningham, {fictional} in the 1880, but it appears my family came to America earlier, before returning to the British isles and re-arriving. If both Davids are the same, then were are possible distant relatives.