Ancestry search

Thank you! Alexander's family in Ireland was Hugh Simpson (1704-1774), Hugh Simpson Jr. (1731-1793), and Hugh Simpson  III (1765-1837). Hugh III came to America in 1791. If you have any information on any of these gentlemen, I would appreciate it. Also, The death place listed for several of these people are "Clogher, County Tyrone, Donegal". It appears that Clogher is not in Donegal. Could you explain this to me? Was Donegal a larger county in the 1700's?

Many thanks!!

 

Bill Simpson

Clogher may have been a diocese rather than a place. The present-day Diocese of Clogher stretches geographically from S.E. County Donegal to N.W. County Louth and includes parts of counties Fermanagh, Monaghan, Tyrone and Leitrim.  The diocese crosses the boundary between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. What records listed "Clogher, County Tyrone, Donegal" and in what years? Were they wills? Probate used to be granted by church courts during the times your Simpson ancestors lived and died.

There is a village and civil parish called Clogher in County Tyrone. The civil parish includes an area in County Tyrone.

I used Placename Search on Sean Wilson's website https://www.swilson.info ; There are many places with the name Clogher.

2 Poor Law Unions in Counties Monaghan and Tyrone (Poor Law Unions began to be formed in 1830s)

3 baronies in Co. Tyrone

 3 civil parishes in Counties. Louth, Tipperary and Tyrone

2 towns in Co. Louth and Tyrone 

35 townlands (the smallest land division in Ireland). One was in Donegal civil parish, Tirhugh barony, County Donegal 

Also in Co.  Donegal were these townlands:

Clogher East and Clogher West, both in Boylagh barony 

Cloghard in Rapho barony 

Cloghernagh

Cloghroe

 

 

I joined Ancestry.com a couple of months ago. My information comes from that website. Alexander, Hugh Sr., Hugh Jr. all were listed as burials in "Clogher Cathedra graveyard, Ireland". Hugh III was born in Clogher Parish, Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He left Ireland and came to America in 1791. I just visited the cemetery in Madison County, Mississippi and confirmed some of the facts of his life. 

What I think is that the cathedral of St. Macartan, located in Clogher, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland is where my ancestors are buried. I hope to be able to contact the church to see if they have burial listings that I can confirm. Once I get these established, my wife and I will plan a visit to Ireland.

Your answer helps me to understand the situation very much and I appreciate the help so much.

Bill Simpson

 

I just joined today.  Don't know how to use the website well yet, but I have a lot of the same info as you.  My father did a considerable amount of research in the family ancestry before he passed, and I am trying to understand it.

One thing that I would like to know is whether the Clogher Simpsons were buried only at St. Macartan in Clogher (I understand that several were buried  there) or if there was another cemetery  in the area where Simpsons were buried as well.  Does anyone know?

Some information about Church of Ireland parishes and registers:

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)  Church Records leaflet pdf 

Irish Genealogy Toolkit for advice, hints and lists of sources. https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com ; Northern Ireland tab is under "Genealogy" in menu. There's a link to the Church Records leaflet in the section on PRONI. There's other information about Church of Ireland + other church records on Irish Genealogy Toolkit website. 

List of Church of Ireland parish registers for the whole of Ireland can be seen on this C. of I. website.

  https://www.ireland.anglican.org/about/rcb-library//online-parish-regis…

See "Table of Parish Registers" and click on "Read more" to access the table. It's in alphabetical order of church or parish and is colour-coded. Introduction explains coding system. Clogher registers on the list date from 1763. 

SWilson.Info website has a function to search for Church of Ireland parishes. https://www.swilson.info

GENUKI website has a function to find churches within a radius of a place + map with churches, colour-coded by denomination. It usually gives years of founding + operation of each church, if known and whether it had a cemetery. 

I am also looking for information on Alexander. He is my 7th great grandfather on my dad's side. I am on ancestry and the trail ends on him. I just recently began my journey into my roots and have DNA on file at ancestry.com. If anyone is able to retrieve any information please share it with me or direct me to the information. I am excited to learn my heritage. Thanks!!

Maggie May,
Alexander is one of my ancestors. I've been doing the same research as both you and Bill Simpson, and I have come to the same result. My ancestor trail ends on Alexander in Ireland as well. I'm not sure if there are any records that go farther back than that. I've tried some of the Irish research sources that were recommended by Irelandxo, but so far, I haven't been able to find any records that may be ancestors of Alexander.
Charles Simpson

Maggie May and Charles,

I have some interesting information on the Hugh Simpson III family that you might have now or be interested in. Hugh III and his wife Mary Elizabeth Miller came to the US in 1791 and eventually settled near Madison, Mississippi. If you need or want additional information, let me know.

Bill Simpson

 

Bill,

According to FamilySearch.org, I believe that Hugh Simpson III was my 4th Great Grandfather.   I have the same basic information on him as you described in your post, and if you have something else to share, I would like to know it.   I also have some additional information on him from Leon County (Texas) historical records, and I also have a photo of the plaque in Mississippi commemorating him and his family that was dedicated by his descendants in 1978.  I found this additional information among some geneological records left to me by my father, Francis Dale Simpson.   I would be happy to share this additional information with you and Maggie May if either of you woud like to have it.  Let me know if you want it.  I think I can just upload the files to this message board, right?

Charles Simpson

Good morning, Charles. Hugh and Mary Elizabeth Simpson's children were: Joseph, Ann, Thomas, Hugh Mitchell, James Josiah, Robert and Oliver Moses. THOMAS is my direct relative. I visited Madison County MS. last year and, purely by chance, met William Lloyd Simpson, and his son William Lloyd, Jr. They showed me several Simpson places around Cameron, Ms. and William Lloyd later mailed me a large folder of info that he obtained from Walter William Simpson, and Texar Clark, his wife. They visited Ireland years ago and got and confirmed some info I have. One of my ancestors is Margaret Martin Simpson, who was the first wife of James Robert Simpson, my great grandfather. Margaret was from Texas and her parents were William Martin and Martha Jane. I would really like to know the connection between the Martins and the Simpson in Texas, if you know it.

I don't know how to load pics or documents on to this website, but my email address is Billjanet22@yahoo.com  so if you want to contact me directly I can send info that way. If you don't, I'll just summarize things I think you might want and post it here.

Bill Simpson

Bill, posts on here come up on internet searches. With that in mind, I suggest you alter the way you have written your email address to avoid scams. 

Charles, I've no connection with the Simpson family. I replied to help Bill with his enquiry. 

Was Alexander born in Ireland? With the surname Simpson, his ancestors may have been from Scotland.

 

Maggie May,

Thank you for the clarification that your role is helping us with the Simpson family ancestry search.  We appreciate it. Thanks also for warning us about potential internet scams out there.  Will certainly take heed.

As to your question about Alexander Simpson, my family records indicate that Alexander Simpson Sr, my 7th Great Grandfather, was born in 1677 in Clogher, County Tyrone, Ireland.  According to familysearch.org, his is the oldest record of my ancestors in that database. I haven't identified who Alexander's father was, so my trail stops there.  However, I do have some family records that were passed down to me that indicate that the Simpson family came to Ireland from Scotland during the Plantation of Ulster, which I understand was between 1609 to 1690.  So it seems at at least possible that Alexander's father may have been Scottish.

Quoting directly from a handwritten family document passed down to me by my father, "The Scottish people, who were transplanted to No. Ireland, go back to Norman the Conqueror.  The Simpsons are from the Frazier clan of No. Scotland.  1107 - Gilbert Frazier.  1290 - Sir Andrew Frazier.  His son, Simon, bears the Simpson name (Son-of-Simon). Sir James Young Simpson discovered (illegible)."  

I tried searching on some of the Irish databases that you passed along to us, but I didn't have any luck finding out who Alexander Simpson Sr's father might have been.  So, I'm kind of stuck there, but I do believe there is indeed a Scottish connection to our family ancestry.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

Charles Simpson

Bill,

You said that Hugh Simpson III and Mary Elizabeth Miller's son THOMAS Simpson is your direct ancestor. Their son JOSEPH is mine. So, it seems we have common ancestry.  FYI, you might want to look at the post I just put up for Maggie May in response to a question she asked about our ancestor Alexander Simpson of Clogher, County Tyrone, Ireland.  It might have some information that might be of potential interest to you.  

As to your question to me, I use familysearch.org, and according to that database (marriage, death, census and individual records) I came up with a little bit.  James Robert Simpson of Madison, MS and his wife Margaret Martin had a son named William Thomas Simpson, who was born in Madison, MS on 8 Dec 1879 and was married to Mary Ada Baird in 1904, and they resided in Tennessee (Brighton, Tipton).  William Thomas died in 1947 and is buried in Atoka, Salem Cemetry (according to death record).  According to the 1930 Census, William Thomas and Mary Ada Baird also had Robert E. Simpson, Son, age 21, Margaret Simpson, Daughter, age 19, and William Simpson, Son, age 10, living in the household at that time.  If James Robert was your great grandfather, that would make William Thomas your grandfather, correct?  And would William Simpson, Son, age 10 (in 1930) be your father, since you go by Bill Simpson, Jr., and Mary Ada Baird your mother?

As to connections between Margaret Martin (wife of James Robert Simpson) and her parents in Texas, the trail in familysearch.org seems to be incomplete.  There is no individual record for either James Robert or Margaret Martin (other than her mention in the death record of William Thomas Simpson) that links either of them to their parents.  There is an individual record for William Thomas Simpson (LKTP-71C) in the database which shows his spouse to be Mary Ada Baird, but William Thomas' individual records does not show his parents, so no link has been established in the database itself.  There is also an individual record in the database for Mary Ada Baird (LKTG-5KW) which DOES show her parents and their children (so there is a trail there), but this isn't the trail you seem to be looking for. So, I think that the records for the trail you are looking for stop with William Thomas Simpson.  Information for the parents of James Robert Simpson and Margaret Martin seem to be missing.  Sorry I couldn't be of more help.  If I got anything wrong based on what you know, then I apologize in advance.  It can be a little tricky plowing through these databases.  Good luck.  Also, check out that information about Scotland in my post to Maggie May, in case you didn't know about it already.

Charles Simpson

Thank you for the email warning. I had not thought of that. The information that I have is from Walter and Texas Simpson, who visited Scotland and Ireland in 1988. I am summarizing what they have written and what they say is that they visited the Simpson location in Scotland in 1988 and  then went on to Ireland, so apparently the Simpsons were Scottish. They agree with you, Charles, about the Scottish clan of Fraser. They say that King James I of England planted Ulster with Scottish protestant settlers. In Ireland the Simpsons were involved in the linen and woolen trades. They raised flax and sheep and used their mills to weave cloth. They were well known for their farming and commercial activities in that area of Ireland.The family graveyard was at the Macartan Cathedral graveyard.They were Presbyterians. This is a summary of the information I received from Walter and Texas Simpson, who are both now deceased. I haven't been able to find anything earlier than Alexander.

I was re-reading our posts and noticed a question about other graveyards in Ireland of the Simpson family. According to Walter/Texas Simpson, "Hugh's people were buried nearby in graveyard at Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland". I think they are saying an episcopal Cathedral near Macartan's Graveyard.

Charles, as I was rereading our posts  I see that I somehow missed your post telling me that JOSEPH is your direct ancestor. You are correct-William Thomas is my grandfather and Mary Ada Baird my grandmother. After William Thomas' death in 1947, my grandmother moved in with us and lived with us until she died in 1958. She was a wonderful lady who was a school teacher and School truant officer. I don't remember anything about William Thomas because I was three when he died. I do have several pictures of the three of us. James Robert's father was Thomas Simpson, and his mother was Drucilla Barnett Miller, both buried at Shiloh cemetery in Cameron, Miss. For some reason, James Robert moved to Tipton County, Tennessee. When Thomas died in 1885, Drucilla moved to Tipton County. (I found this out through the church Presbytery records, when she moved her church affiliation from the Madison, Miss. church). When she died two years later, she was brought back to Cameron and buried with her husband. 

Bill,

Your information squares 100% with mine.  It all lines up.  We have common ancestors, I think.   This is pretty interesting to me and I hope for you too.  I think maybe you gave me a couple of new leads that may help us to dig deeper.  Specifically, "James Robert's father was Thomas Simpson, and his mother was Drucilla Barnett Miller, both buried at Shiloh cemetery in Cameron, Miss." This is new information to me and may be a useful lead, and I will try to chase that. down.  I will let you know if I get anything from it.  I do defintely think we Simpsons (both of us) go back to Scotland and the Frazier (Fraser) clan.  Let's see what else we can find.  Maybe Maggie May can help.   Hope so.  Would you be willing to share pictures of you, William Thomas, Mary Ada Baird?  If you don't want to, I understand, but I just thought I would ask.  I want to be very respectful of your wishes and ask you what you think and take no liberties.  Let me know.

Charles Simpson

Charles, I'll be happy to share pics with you. I will have to learn how to post a pic on this website and I'll try to do that. I know how to send pics by email and by text so I should be able to learn. I will also be happy to give you my phone number and we can communicate that way. Just let me know.

I found some interesting information about about Joseph Simpson after finding out he is your link to Hugh III. You may already have it. If not, here it is and it from Walter and Texas Simpson from Leon, Texas. "Joseph Simpson and Rebecca Dunkin (his spelling) grew up together and were married in York County, SC in 1815 and a daughter (Isabella) was born in 1816. They moved to Perry County, Alabama in 1819. Joseph had a 640 acre farm and 26 slaves. He went back to SC and convinced the rest of his family to come to Alabama. In 1824 the rest of the family (I assume Thomas and his family and brothers) sold out and moved to Alabama with Joseph. Thomas and Ann Dunkin, Rebecca's mother and father, gave Joseph their home and 86 acres of land in SC in exchange for taking care of them for the rest of their lives. After they were all settled in Joseph and Rebecca had four more children-Thomas, Hugh M., William David and Mary Ann. Joseph was very active in civic affairs in Perry County until his death in 1827.He left a wife and four minor children without a will. Isabella wasn't considered a minor any more because she married Edward Evans at age 16. The estate was tied up in probate court for 4 years before being settled. Hugh III and Mary and other members of their family moved to Madison county, Miss.about then."  Again, this is a quote from Walter William and Texas' notes and I don't have any verification, but I believe it to be true as they obviously spent a lot of time studying their ancestry. If you know any of this to be wrong, I apologize and would welcome your corrections.

I look forward to hearing from you soon and I would welcome a phone call so we could set up a direct email communication.

 

Bill