Margery ("Maggie") McFarland

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ID: I398 Name: MARGERY ANDERSON Sex: F Birth: ABT 1756 in Ardstraw? co Tyrone, Northern Ireland Burial: 1835 Hopewell, New Bedford, Lawrence co, Pennsylvania Immigration: 1796 Philadelphia? PA Reference Number: 398 Death: 29 APR 1835 in Coitsville, Trumbull co, (later Mahoning co), Ohio Note: MARGERY (ANDERSON) MCFARLAND (1756 - 1835) SCOTS/IRISH IMMIGRANT (Research by Peter Folsom McFarlin - May, 2012)

FROM IRELAND TO AMERICA The American pioneer family of John and Margery (Anderson) McFarland were all born in Ireland in the 1700's, as shown by references in various history sources (*1,* 2*, 3* below). Margery and husband John's births in Ireland were further reported in various later US censuses by their grandchildren. Margery was born in 1756 (*3, *4), likely in or near the northern Ireland county of Tyrone where she apparently lived after marraige. During the 1700's and 1800's many Anderson and McFarland families lived in county Tyrone, just to the south of co Londonderry. Perhaps from the Ardstraw/Strabane area? Most of these Scottish families had originally emmigrated from Scotland to Ireland, across the Irish Sea. The surname Anderson is the eighth most popular surname in Scotland and means "son of Andrew." Andrew (man, or manly) was the first of Jesus' disciples, and was a revered name in medieval times due to its church connections. St. Andrew is the patron saint of both Scotland and Russia. Margery (or Margaret?) McFarland, at age forty, emmigrated in 1796 from county Tyrone, northern Ireland, probably arriving at the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She accompanied her husband John and they brought at least six of their children with them into America; four boys and two girls. The children ranged in age from baby James, who was one to about twenty for son Alexander. After arriving, and during their first five years in America (1796-1801), her husband John was killed somewhere on the east side of the Allegheny mountains, perhaps in an accident, since there was no war at the time. "...John immigrated to America in 1797(sic) with his wife Margery, and six children. He was killed east of the Mountains..." (*1 p 1024). Where they were living from 1796 to 1802 has not been found.

LAND IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA - ca 1790'S The newly pioneered and lightly populated land in Western Pennsylvania about 1800 was just emerging from uninterrupted forest. There were clearings and small areas of plains and marshlands, but most of the land was forested. When early settlers moved into the area that would become Mercer County around the 1790's, the Indians there were primarily the Cornplanter Indian tribe of the Seneca Nation. They had a few semi-permanent hunting and seasonal farming camps. In 1793, "Mad" Anthony Wayne led his men through what would become Mercer County, and against the Indians in Ohio. At the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, near Toledo, General Wayne defeated the natives, and any organized Indian threat was now over in Ohio and the Western Pennsylvania region. Nathaniel Bedford of Ft Pitt (Pittsburgh), who was the only Bedford listed in Allegheny county in the 1790 census, became a popular and wealthy man, and was a respected doctor. He also became owner of much land in the newly formed Mercer/Lawrence counties to the north of Pittsburgh and acted as an independent speculator for his lands. This Dr. Nathaniel Bedford held lands in Mahoning and Shenango Townships. Later, the town of New Bedford, in Lawrence County, was probably named for him, that land being included in his claims. About 1794, Margery's brother, John Anderson worked as land agent for Dr. Bedford. As such, John likely helped his brother William (and wife Betsey Adams) Anderson to find land and settle (before him) in Mercer county. Then John himself soon followed (1796) and settled nearby to William on land he had purchased to the north of Hopewell village (later New Bedford village). Both families; William and Betsey (Adams) Anderson and John and Jane (McFarland) Anderson were Scots/Irish who had immigrated from Ireland. The history of Mercer County writes ..."About 1796 John Anderson, a brother, followed and located a short distance from his brother William. He was known as 'Agent John Anderson,' acting in that capacity for Dr Nathaniel Bedford, of Pittsburgh, who owned large tracts of land in this (Mercer) and Lawrence Counties. He married Jane McFarland..." (*1 p 847). Could this Jane McFarland, wife of John Anderson, have been a relative of the deceased immigrant, John McFarland - possibly a sister, since they were about the same generation?" John and William Anderson were listed in the early 1800's Taxables Lists for Mercer county, PA, (among a few other Andersons). John Sr "of North Beaver" was listed in 1800 and in 1801 he was "of Neshannock". (His brother?) William is listed the same way; North Beaver in 1800 and Neshannock in 1801. They were likely living in their respective homes near to each other. The name of the taxing authority (county) changed, while they themselves did not move - see note *5 below.

ARRIVAL IN HOPEWELL (NEW BEDFORD) VILLAGE, PENNSYLVANIA Meanwhile, the widow Margery and children, continued the difficult trek over the Allegheny Mountains, through Pittsburgh and north into newly created Mercer county. This was likely done by wagon and horseback, perhaps bringing some few utensils and furnishings. They likely followed 'The Pennsylvania Road' which was the main migration route after the Revolution from the east into western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. Today it approximates route 30 in Pennsylvania. During this time of travel, say about 1801-1802, her children's ages were; Alexander in his mid-twenties, William was twenty-two, Andrew in his teens, Isabel about ten, Mary nine, and James had reached seven. John McFarland's "... widow with her children visited her brother at New Bedford, Penn., for about one year and then moved to Trumbull County, Ohio..." (*1 p 1024). This clearly means that Margery had an Anderson relative who had preceded her into western Pennsylvania. It is quite possible that this brother was the John Anderson who was living in the small village of Hopewell (later New Bedford, PA) by 1802, near his brother William. These two Anderson brothers were of the right age (born ca 1750-1760's) to be contempoaries of widow Margery and were the only Andersons in Mahoning township, Mercer co, PA at the time she arrived in Hopewell (see 1810 census, below). So, both had to be her brothers. It is likely that John Anderson (the agent) would have been the most help to a widow sister with six children, in assisting them in their time of need. The Anderson brother's homes appear to be a few miles north of Hopewell (New Bedford) village from the late 1790's through 1820. John Anderson reportedly died about 1826, and his son William R Anderson (d 1888), can be located on the 1873 map of Shenango, Mercer county, just north of the Shenango/Pulaski township lines. This William, son of Margery's brother John, died on the old John Anderson homestead, (where it appears that Margery McFarland had come to stay over eighty years earlier). At nearby brother William's farm ..."William Anderson...and his son...were progressive men of their day. They erected on their farm one of the first gristmills built in this county, and were also extensively engaged in the distilling business."(*1 p 847). John Anderson ran one of the small taverns in the town later, in 1806-07-08. It is quite possible that Margery McFarland's sons learned the trades of building mills, operating distilleries and running taverns from the year or so living with their Anderson uncles. Only a few years later, in Coitsville, Margery's son Alexander ran a sawmill, and sons William and James each had distillerys, while son Andrew kept a hotel, the "Temperance House".

SETTLERS FIRST CHURCH AND SCHOOL The early settlers who came into what is now Mercer County, Pennsylvania, were largely Scots/Irish, and mainly members of the Presbyterian Church. The widow McFarland and family likely attended the small Presbyterian Church at Hopewell starting upon her arrival in 1802. This was the first church of any kind in the area and was established in 1800, built of round logs with a fire built in the center of the earthen floor. It had a mud chimney leading to where a hole was cut in the shingled roof in order to let the smoke escape. Reverend William Wick was the ordained pastor. He also served the Presbyterian church in Youngstown, traveling the difficult miles between them every week until his death in 1815. The Hopewell Church was attended in the early times by many of the Anderson's neighbors including; other Andersons, Blacks, Browns, McKeans, Neals, Pettits, Porters, Sherriffs, Thompsons, and Walkers. All of these families had many burials in the Hopewell Cemetery. Also buried there in the 1830's, were four McFarlins from nearby Coitsville; Maggie (=Margery), her son James, his young daughter Margery, and Dickinson (son of William and Elizabeth). The family may have begun spelling the name MCFARLIN by the 1830's, probably following the way it was pronounced. So, this was the church of choice for Margery and her family while in Hopewell, it was just a few miles away while she was there with her brother John. She apparently continued attending later when she lived in nearby Coitsville. The old Hopewell graveyard was laid out in 1800 and the first burial was in 1810. At first, neighborhood homes acted as schools in Hopewell, until James Walker became the first schoolmaster in the area. A school was taught by him, about 1802-3, in a log building erected by the Presbyterian congregation. He lived over near the Shenango River and all the schools he taught were in his neighborhood, reaching as far as Hopewell. He was reportedly the best teacher the early schools ever had. He drafted the constitution of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church at New Bedford, believed in temperance and was strongly anti-slavery. Widow Margery McFarland's children; Andrew, Isabel, Mary and James likely were taught by him for a year or two, there in Hopewell. Her older sons were not at school, but were working to help pay the family's way while they were living with the Anderson family. The first real road, able to take wagons easily, was laid out in 1802. It went from Mercer through New Bedford and westward to Youngstown. This road also went through the small village of Coitsville, just over the Ohio line on the way to Youngstown. The Western Reserve of Connecticut (now much of Ohio) was opened for settlement and the land was put up for sale. It is quite possible that Margery and her family were helped by her brother John Anderson (the land agent for Mercer county, PA) in finding suitable land to settle on in adjacent Coitsville, Ohio.

LIKELY TIME-LINE FOR MARGERY (ANDERSON) MCFARLAND AND FAMILY 1756 - Margery Anderson born in (co Tyrone?), Ireland ca 1775 - married to John McFarland (co Tyrone?), Ireland 1796 - two or three month ocean trip from northern Ireland to America (Philadelphia?) Possibly with her younger brother John Anderson? 1796 to 1798(?) - living with husband John McFarland and their children "east of the mountains" in PA 1798 to 1802 - death of husband John ("east of the mountains") 1802 to 1803 - widow Margery arrives in Hopewell (became New Bedford in 1818), Mercer county, PA and lives with her brother John (or William?) Anderson for "about a year" 1803/1804 - widow Margery arrives in Coitsville, Ohio with her six children and settles there

EARLY COITSVILLE As to her arriving in Coitsville, Ohio; "The widow McFarlin (née Margery Anderson) came to this township from Ireland about the year 1804, with a family of four sons and two daughters, all of whom married after coming here..." (*2 p 168). About 1803/1804, the McFarland family purchased land in newly formed Coitsville, Ohio. The first McFarland family member taxed there, in 1804, was Alexander McFarland, her oldest son. It is probable that Margery, his mother, in her forties, first lived with Alexander, along with all her children. The earliest extant federal census for Coitsville, Ohio is in 1820, where Margery (age now sixty-four) appears to be living with her youngest son James McFarland (as head of his family) and his wife, Melissa (Hard), and no young children. In the 1830 Coitsville census, she still seems to be with her son James and his wife Melissa, now along with their four children, under ten. Margery died in April, 1835 (*3), probably there in Coitsville, at age 79, near to many of her own family whom she had brought with her 35 years before. She was buried in the Hopewell Cemetery in New Bedford, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, where her marker reads; "Maggie McFarlin died April 29 1835 79 y". This cemetery is just a few miles east of Coitsville, and is where, "...the remains of most of the old settlers of Coitsville are buried..." (*2 p 172). This is because most of these early Coitsville settlers attended the Hopewell Presbyterian church and likely many of them had stopped in Hopewell for a time (like Margery) before settling in Coitsville. In 1838, three years after Margery died, her son James, aged forty-three, was also buried in the Hopewell Cemetery. Margery's brother John Anderson (b 1766) died May of 1826, probably near New Bedford, PA and was buried in the same cemetery.

PFM's SOURCES for Margery (Anderson) McFarland/McFarlin; 1800 census; Margery (and/or John) McFarland not (yet) located in Pennsylvania records. 1810 census; Mahoning, Mercer co, Pennsylvania p 896 only John and William Anderson listed in the township. 1810 census; Ohio records not extant. 1820 census; Coitsville, Ohio p 240; the older female, living with son James McFarland (Margery's age 45+). 1830 census; Coitsville, Ohio p 249; older female living with son James McFarland (Margery's age 70-80). 1838 cemetery record; Hopewell Cemetery, New Bedford, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. "Maggie McFarlin d Apr. 29, 1835 79y".

REFERENCES

• 1 History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Brown, Runk & Co. 1888
• 2 History of Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, Williams, 1882 v 2
• 3 Henry R Baldwin Gen. Records; LDS microfiche 6051349-1, p 101
• 4 Hopewell Presbyterian Cemetery, New Bedford, Lawrence county, PA
• 5 History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Brown, Runk & Co. 1888 p 147; "...it must be remembered that Mercer County was separated, theoretically, from Allegheny County March 12, 1800, but it was not organized until 1803. During the three years intervening it was joined, for judicial purposes, to Crawford County, with the seat of justice at Meadville. It should also be remembered, too, that the names of townships were those which existed under the Crawford County organization. The townships then were large and sparsely populated, and they were subdivided again and again."

Marriage 1 JOHN MCFARLAND b: ABT 1750 in Ardstraw? co Tyrone, Northern Ireland Married: ABT 1775 in Ardstraw? co Tyrone, Northern Ireland Children Has Children Alexander McFarland b: BET 1776 AND 1779 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has Children WILLIAM MCFARLAND b: 08 MAY 1780 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has Children Andrew McFarland b: 1784 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has Children Isabel McFarland b: ABT 1792 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has Children Mary McFarland b: 1793 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has Children James McFarland b: 1795 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has No Children John? (trad) McFarland b: ABT 1782 in county Tyrone? Ireland Has No Children daughter (trad) McFarland b: ABT 1788 in county Tyrone? Ireland