Elizabeth Funston born about 1810 in Donegal, Ireland

Thanks Roger. I really appreciate the help. I have hit a brick internet wall on these Northern Ireland questions (I am in Oregon). For various reasons the family doesn't have much history handed down within the family. However, I am pretty sure that the Robinson/Funston background is Episcopalian and in fact I believe at some point William Graham Robinson became a pastor or at least a lay leader of some sort. Apparently he served as such in the U.S. If I could go back far enough I suspect I would discover a Scottish or English background.

 

Thanks again for taking an interest and the time to look at my questions.

 

Regards,

 

Don Robinson

Elizabeth Funston m William Graham Robinson in Ireland where he was a preacher.

He was b. 8-12-1808 in Donegal.

He was a resident of Galena in 1837 and a member of the Methodist Church for a long time and had been a licensed preacher.

Census shows he was a merchant and grocer.

He was on a visit to his daughter in the town of Rush, Il at the time of his death.

His son was Thomas Robinson of Rockford along with Ruth, Anna and John.

There were a lot of marriages between Robinsons, Funstons, Reid/Reed and Virtues in Donegal.  My Virtues lived in Carne, Pettigo, Donegal.

 

Barb

HI Barb:

 

William Graham Robinson was born in 1808 and lived in Pettigo. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Funston and they had 3 children (Thomas, William and Samuel), the youngest, Samuel, is my direct ancestor. William and Elizabeth divorced after Samuel was born in the U.S., probably while still in their 20s. He remarried Anna Brimacombe and they had 3 children (Ruth, Anna, John). I have come to wonder if the Elizabeth Funston that died in Rush was not formerly his wife, but instead a cousin of his wife. All the siblings used the same names over and over in their families. I suspect the Elizabeth Funston that William Graham Robinson married, instead actually remarried a William Wallace in the U.S.and actually died in Greenwich, CT in 1900. I can't prove or disprove the possibility and would be interested in any proof around the question. More certainty around Elizabeth Funston and her ancestors would be very helpful

I have discovered that the Robinsons intermarried with about 12 families in Ireland, the U.S. and Canada. About half are apparently Border Reiver families.  All appear to have been members of Freemason Lodges in 2 small areas of Ireland in the mid to late 1700s and the early 1800s.

 

Don