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County Monaghan to Philadelphia 1798 Immigration - Thomas and Francis Wright and related family members

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Armstrong, Cameron, Davis, Dougherty and 16 others
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Thomas Wright and Francis Wright emigrated from northern Ireland to Philadelphia in 1798. They arrived between February 7 and 13th, and both signed their Declaration of Intent to Naturalize on February 20, 1798, after which Francis scratched out his signature, only to sign again in May of that year.

The original research for this project centered around where in northern Ireland these brothers had come from. Through Y-DNA research (there is finally a distant Y-DNA match) and existing records in England, it is now proven that Thomas was a descendant of George Wright, of Banbridge, b. 1686 in Gateshead, County Durham, England, and a detailed pedigree exists based on church records for this initial Banbridge Wright. But details below that were lacking, save for one very strong autosomal DNA ancestor: Col. John Joseph Armstrong, of Longfield, who lived in Five Mile Town, County Fermanagh, and was one of the Brooksboro Armstrongs. Hypotheses were created that assumed that Thomas's Wright ancestors stayed in the Banbridge area, where it has been found that there is absolutely no shortage of Wrights descended from George, and where one of these supposedly married a granddaughter of John Joseph Armstrong.

The Armstrong place connection, however, argued for a different venue, and this came into sharp focus when an autosomal DNA match in Victoria, Australia, who had a DNA overlap consistent with both Wright and Armstrong DNA, contacted me through the FTDNA Wright group on Facebook. She was a descendant of Dr. John Wright, originally of County Monaghan, who married "Jane McCoy" in 1776 in Clogher, County Tyrone, who had moved to Bailieborough, County Cavan, to practice medicine. His daughter Jane married Presbyterian Rev. James Gibson, who had written a long letter to a descendant in 1856 describing his family and Jane's. I now have a typewritten copy of this letter - it's attached as a source to the appropriate GENI profiles - and it points at the region near Gola as the place of abode for John Wright's birth family.

Since George Wright of Banbridge had arrived in Ireland around 1709 and married around 1710, and Dr. John Wright was born reportedly around 1743, then it seemed that George Wright's first born son had left Banbridge and settled somewhere near Five Mile Town, married there, and later moved to County Monaghan. Clogher would have been the central location that met all the criteria, and indeed we know that Dr. John Wright married there, so the family was clearly in the vicinity and had business with this town.

I was able to find a marriage record in Ematris Parish for George Wright, who married Isabella Wright (nee McKee) in 1767. By Irish naming conventions, a first-born son is typically named after his paternal grandfather - so George would have been named after George Wright of Banbridge. That implied that George's father was probably named after George of Banbridge's father, who we know was named Samuel. The first born son of George Wright of Banbridge must have settled near Clogher, County Tyrone, and married a daughter of John Joseph Armstrong, of nearby Five Mile Town, County Fermanagh. A family was beginning to take shape.

Especially notable was the realization that the woman John Wright had married was probably not Jane "McCoy" but rather "McKee", since the McCoys of this region were Roman Catholic. A baptism record from 1754 readily confirmed that she was likely Jane McKee, daughter of James, and baptized in Church of Ireland tradition.

Clogher diocese records furthermore clarify that a Samuel Wright did marry a Dorothy Wright in 1744. While cousin marriages were not a problem in Ireland, if Samuel had arrived only around 1734 a cousin marriage was not what we are seeing. These were two different Wright families. The one family was the Banbridge Wrights, and the other was the Wrights of Gola. Dr. John Wright could indeed have been a relative AND a Gola Wright, even if Samuel wasn't. The family of Samuel then included two marriages: first one to an Armstrong, and the second one to Dorothy Wright.

Other hints about the extended Ireland family that may be involved include the County Tyrone Martin family. We get to this family by means of two DNA matches, both Getgens, who are about three generations apart, and known descendants of Alice Gheen . Alice married Nathan Gahagan (Gheen) in Chester County, PA, but nobody knew her maiden name. But she has to be the daughter of Samuel Wright and his Armstrong wife. The only question would then be how she got to Pennsylvania. That was answered by means of two DNA matches that were descendants of Henry Martin . Henry could well be Alice's daughter from a first marriage, which would have occurred in Ireland. Researching further points strongly at Corporal John Martin being the father. He also came from Clogher, County Tyrone.

Thus, the current theory (far better than hypothesis now) is that Samuel Wright, of Ematris married Mary Armstrong near Five Mile Town, probably because he settled in Clogher. Samuel was born around 1711, Mary Wright was born around 1715. We can only guess at her given name from the names of granddaughters, but we now have evidence from multiple families that her name was Mary. Mary died before 1744, and Samuel remarried, this time to a Gola Wright descendant, Dorothy Wright.

The Clogher marriage license records, available via Ancestry here:

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/100507:62077?tid=...

... show that Samuel married Dorothy Wright in 1744, implying that his first wife died before then. This second family appears to have been all girls, and there are a number of Clogher marriages that may involve Samuel and Dorothy's daughters available. This extends the names we are looking for Philadelphia immigration records.

Families that appear to be associated with the family of Samuel Wright and Mary Armstrong, or Dorothy Wright:

  • The McLains. At least two members of this family settled in Berlin, NJ, and lived alongside Thomas Wright, John Johnson, and John Rogers. Primary immigrant was James McLain, and he came with brothers Matthew, Samuel, and Thomas. A sister Mary is also buried in Berlin Cemetery as well. From the family layout it seems clear that the McLains were first cousins of Thomas Wright.
  • The Camerons. DNA suggests that a daughter of Samuel and Mary married William Cameron. The DNA relationship passes through William Cameron, of Camden, New Jersey, and I was able to locate his likely father James, who signed his Declaration of Intent to Naturalize on February 19, 1798. James was thus likely a first cousin of Thomas Wright.
  • The McKees. As we already discussed, son George Wright married Isabella McKee and son Dr. John Wright married Jane McKee. It was therefore quite likely that Thomas had McKee relatives aboard ship, and indeed I've found a whole family, headed by his likely uncle William McKee.
  • The Martins. As already discussed, Samuel's daughter Alice seemingly married John Martin before leaving for Pennsylvania. Private , Private .
  • The McDonnells. Several DNA matches from persons in Victoria, Australia, as well as in Wales can be traced back to the McDonnell family of County Monaghan, where an unknown McDonnell apparently married a daughter of Samuel Wright and Mary Armstrong.
  • The Millers. A DNA match and naming hints from the tree of Rev. John Miller, who started a church sect of his own In the Midwest, suggest that his mother was a Wright, and would have to have been a daughter of Samuel Wright and Mary Armstrong.
  • The McMahons, or just Mahons. A DNA match leads back to a family headed by Alexander "Paul" McMahon, who emigrated to New York from Ireland with his wife Griselda. It appears that Griselda may well have been another daughter of George Wright and Isabella McKee.
  • The Rosboroughs. DNA strongly hints at a Rosborough / Wright marriage, probably between a daughter of George Wright and Isabella McKee, and John Rosborough, who later moved to County Derry. The Rosboroughs lived near Clontivern, County Fermanagh. We've found that William Rosborough, probably a brother of John, emigrated in 1798 along with his wife and two children.
  • The Johnstons. Related by marriage; William Rosborough, above, married Sarah Johnston in County Monaghan.
  • The McDoles or Doyles. An early arrival in Pennsylvania was indentured servant James Doyle, whose name came from McDole, and whose mother was likely a daughter of Samuel Wright and Mary Armstrong.
  • The Montgomerys. Jane Wright married William Montgomery in Ematris Parish in 1778. This couple emigrated to Philadelphia with their sons Joseph and John and daughter Elizabeth in 1811. But John's elder brother James Montgomery arrived first in 1798.
  • The McLaughlins. Some Wrights married into the McLaughlins, e.g. Sarah Wright , and thus it is conceivable that some McLaughlins from Monaghan emigrated. These were not cousins, however - Y-DNA shows no match for descendants of Anthony Wright to descendants of Thomas Wright..
  • The Moores. These were uncles and aunts and cousins by marriage. Thomas's uncle was Alexander Moore , although he and his wife emigrated before 1789. It still made sense to look for Moores who arrived in 1798.
  • The Jacksons. These were children of Louisa Johnson , or relatives by marriage. It appears that one Jackson son, Robert, emigrated in 1798 and settled in London Britain, Chester County, PA. He married but there is no evidence of children.
  • Crawleys or Crillys. These are not known relatives of Thomas Wright, but there are two February 1798 Philadelphia immigration records for them, and the name was a common one in County Monaghan at the time. I suspect they were relatives by marriage with Thomas but I haven't yet figured out how. No work has yet been done on the family in GENI.
  • Beatty or Beattie. These are cousins by marriage to Thomas Wright on the McKee side; his mother's sister married Thomas Beatty and emigrated to Washington County, New York.
  • Johnson (NOT Johnston). Thomas Wright's daughter Elizabeth married the son of John Johnson, also of Berlin, NJ. Mr. Johnson is also buried in the same (older) section of Berlin Cemetery as Thomas is. There is DNA evidence now linking the Johnsons to Thomas as well, and John Johnson was apparently on the same 1798 boat as Thomas. He signed the Declaration of Intent to Naturalize in October, 1798. It now appears that John Johnson's mother was Louisa Wright, Thomas Wright's aunt.
  • Davis. John Johnson's sister Mary married John Davis in 1803 in Burlington County, New Jersey. He did not sign a Declaration of Intent to Naturalize, but the rest of his family did. Robert was the father, and the sons (in order) were: William, George, and John. The fact that Mary Johnson went to Burlington County to marry implies that the Johnsons and Davises were already close, which is why I now believe John Johnson's first wife was likely to have been a Davis.
  • Dougherty. These are not known relatives of Thomas Wright except possibly through marriage, but there was a family of four aboard the Monaghan boat. Most of the Doughertys signed the Declaration of Intent to Naturalize on February 19, 1798.
  • The Carrols. These were children of Elizabeth Carrol , or relatives by marriage. Thomas Wright's father's sister married a Carrol in Ireland. An Anthony Carrol emigrated to Philadelphia in 1798 but settled in and married in Baltimore. He seemingly had at least one son, a sister, and brought his mother along. Interestingly, he had a brother Thomas, who had immigrated earlier (unrecorded) and also settled in Baltimore, who had a son that married a Johnson daughter.
  • The Rogers. These were direct relations of the Johnsons (John Johnson married fellow immigrant Sarah Rogers in Berlin, NJ after getting off the boat). An entire family emigrated, headed by John Rogers Sr., who it appears died aboard ship (and never signed the Declaration of Intent to Naturalize). A tombstone without markings was erected for him in Berlin Cemetery, Berlin, NJ, near Thomas Wright's and John Johnson's.
  • The Armstrongs. These were direct relations of Thomas Wright via his mother's sister, who married William Armstrong.
  • The Finlays. Two Finlay brothers arrived: John Wright Finlay and Hugh Finlay. I believe that the "Wright" the name refers to is their mother, Rose Wright. Rose could have been a daughter of Samuel Wright of Ematris and his second wife Dorothy Wright of the Gola Wrights, but more likely she was a daughter of one of Dorothy's male siblings. But their brother James likely married a granddaughter of Samuel Wright of Ematris and Mary Armstrong, so there is an in-law connection.
  • The Murphys. John Murphy married a Johnson daughter, so I went looking for Murphys who had naturalized in early 1798, and found three of them: John Sr., John Jr., and Thomas. No other relation to Thomas Wright is known.

After raising a family but before the children married, Samuel and Mary moved south - not precisely sure where - but the sons and daughters married largely in Ematris Parish, Monaghan (see pic of St. John's there).

This now begged the question of who else had arrived in Philadelphia February 1798 that was a member of, or closely related to, these County Monaghan families. That is what this project is all about.

This story is already too long, but to summarize, the following families are related to Thomas Wright in close enough fashion to look for in February 1798 Philadelphia immigration records:

  • Wright [found 4 members so far]
  • McKee (McGee, MacGee, etc) [found 6 members so far]
  • McLain [found four members so far, plus a confirmed sister]
  • Cameron [found 1 member so far, plus a probable sister]
  • Martin [found 4 members so far]
  • McDonnell (McDonald, McDaniel) [found 2 members so far]
  • McDole (Doyle) [nobody yet found]
  • Miller [found at least two members so far]
  • Roseborough (Rosborough, Roseboro) [found 4 members so far]
  • Johnston [found 5 members, so far]
  • McMahon (Mahon) [found only "William Mann", who has no history in Philadelphia]
  • Montgomery [found 1 member, so far]
  • McLaughlin [found 1 member, so far]
  • Moore [found 3 members, so far]
  • Jackson [found 1 member, so far]
  • Beatty [found 1 member, so far]
  • Johnson [found 1 member, so far, plus his sisters and several younger male siblings]
  • Davis [found 3 members, plus a younger brother and a likely Johnson wife]
  • Dougherty [found 4 members]
  • Carrol [found 1 member, so far, under the name "Carles", plus his sister and his mother]
  • Rogers [found 3 members, so far, plus a sister a younger brother and a father. Probably the mother came as well.]
  • Armstrong [found 3 members, so far, all single males.]
  • Finlay [found 2 members, so far, all single males.]

The people we already know of in the 1798 arrival are:

An 1808 arrival that seems related:

Several 1811 arrivals that are also related:

Note 1: For some of the profiles above, a precise date when the Declaration of Intent was signed is unavailable, because the source summary documents have been lost.
Note 2: For some profiles, the date of signature is far later than February, 1798, and may therefore represent a different ship. Or it could be that the signing was merely delayed, as it was in the case of Francis Wright.
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