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Family Name: Steen County Antrim "The Vow"

I have documentation both online and with my Steen Family book, that my mother, Ellen Patricia Steen born July 6th, 1917 Red Oak, Iowa,    is related to Matthew Steen who was born in 1755 "most likely" it says, 8 Irish miles from Coleraine in a place called the "The Vow" in County Antrim, Ireland.  

  It says in the book & online that  Matthew Steen was probably a son of Richard Steen.  In Matthew's early life it says he and his parents and siblings immigrated to Pennsylvania from Antrim, Ireland.    It says Matthew married and & had children and  died in Canonsburg Washington County, Pennsylvania at the age of 80 on April 23, 1835

It says online & in the Steen book that descendants of Matthew and his family continued to live for generations in County Antrim.   The documentation also suggests that there was a cemetery there in " The Vow"  area.  

I am coming to Derry, Ireland in June for a wedding.  I live in San Francisco, California.   I was wondering if there could be Steen descendants still living in this area?    Or if this cemetery that I have referred to above is still there?   It says the cemetery is not far from the River Bann.....

Can anyone give me some information about the above?

 

cheriehawkins

5 replies

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about the area can help you but I found these links on the internet-

https://www.townlands.ie/antrim/kilconway/finvoy/the-vow/vow/

You might want to email the organization identified below

https://www.causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk/see-do/arts_museums/museums-se…

A gravesite at Vow Cemetery found on Angelfire.com

Here lieth the body
of John Steen who
depd this life February
the 14th 1818, aged 63 yrs
also his wife Catharine
who depd this life November
9th 1829, aged 80 years

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2617716/vow-cemetery

FindaGrave list two Steen gravesites and provides GPS coordinates

Regards- Mary

mtvrdk@gmail.com

Thank you so much Mary !!!

 

cheriehawkins

There is a graveyard at The Vow and it has been in use for many hundreds of years. It is probably most famous for being the site of a memorial to the ordination of Rev William Martin, the first Covenanter Minister to be ordained in Ireland, in 1757. (See photo attached). Covenanters are otherwise known as Reformed Presbyterians. They follow a slightly stricter interpretation of the gospels than “mainstream” Presbyterians in Ireland. Both denominations have the same Scottish origins though.

Vow (often referred to as The Vow) is in the townland of the same name, in the parish of Ballymoney. The graveyard is down a lane off the modern Vow Rd and is well signposted.

I looked in the 1803 agricultural census of Ballymoney parish. (Available on Bill McAfee’s website: https://billmacafee.com   . )  There was only 1 Steen household (plus a few Steensons which is obviously the same name). The Steen household was in Ballygan. They had gone by the time of Griffiths Valuation c 1860.

94 Steens in the 1901 census of Co Antrim. Most in and around Belfast. This is the only one I could find in Ballymoney parish:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Enagh/Inshinagh/942756/

Researching in Ireland in the 1700s is very hard going due to the general lack of records. If you don’t know where they lived it’s a needle in a haystack. Ideally you need to know the person’s exact denomination and the townland or parish they lived in to have any chance of finding them, and even then there may not be any records for that location.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

 

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn.....thank you so very much for all the information.....most informative and helpful.   Can't thank you enough !!

cheriehawkins

I have Steen DNA, and you can find our possible match on Ancestry, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDMatch.

Matthew Steen is not a name I've seen in my matches' trees, but I'm familiar with the Moses Steen book to which you refer.

Good luck with your search.

Ed Wurster

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