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Searching for GG Grandfather Robert Ross

My father searched for many years for information on his great grandfather, but could never find anything.  He has since passed way and I have taken on the search.  My brothers and I are planning a trip next year and I would love to have more information on our Irish Heritage.

My GG Grandfather was Robert Thomas Ross, born January 3, 1837 (according to his tombstone) and birthplace is just known as Ireland.  He was Protestant.  He immigrated to Indianola, Texas, USA (possibly ca 1857).  He first appears in the census there in 1860 living in a rooming house with a Patrick Hannon (who my father believed may have been a cousin). Indianola was destroyed by a hurricane so not much information there.

Not much information at all.  We do not have his parents names.

ReginaRoss

6 replies

Hello,

I looked at some records for Robert on Ancestry.com and noted that his age varied; the earliest year I saw for his birth was 1835.  This inexactness of ages is common in genealogy, as you likely know.

The tombstone notes that he was born on 3 Jan 1837.  

I found the transcription of a baptism for a Robert Ross at RootsIreland.  He was baptized 6 Jan. 1835.

His father was John Ross--and his first son was named John.

This might be your Robert. Have you taken a DNA test, which might help prove it?

 

Name: Robert Ross   

Date of Birth: 

Date of Baptism:        06-Jan-1835

Address:          Antrim

Parish/District:           Antrim

County            Co. Antrim

Denomination:           Church Of Ireland

Father:            John Ross       Mother:          Catherine Ross

Occupation:    Police Sergeant Ric                

:          

Notes:

13 Days, Mother's residence Antrim

 

 

glanvil3@aol.com

Thank you for your reply.

I have seen this Robert Ross (from Antrim) on ancestry.  I have ruled him out as he joined the Civil War in Ohio or Pennsylvania.  My Robert served in the Texas troops and never left Texas.

Reading Dad's notes again, he mentioned a possibility of Amagh Parrish? I think he found a couple of Roberts there, but dates did not match.  It, of course, is quite possible the birthdate we have is incorrect.

John is a name that runs in my family.  Robert's only son was named John, my father and brother are both named John.

Regina

ReginaRoss

1860 Texas census, the last two names are Robb Ross  aged 27 yrs, a marble cutter and Patrick Mannon aged 30 yrs , a ship's carpenter, both from Ireland. 

v

kellyeileen20@…

At the risk of stating the obvious, Robert Ross is/was a very common name in Ireland. In the 1901 census there were 128, mostly living in the 9 counties of Ulster. Mostly Presbyterian (implying Scottish origins) and many in Co Antrim. The name would have been equally common in the mid 1830s when your ancestor was born, meaning that without parents names it will be very difficult to identify the correct man. As has been already suggested DNA testing might help.

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).

The place you mention “Amagh” is probably Armagh. There is a city and a county of that name. It’s one of the counties of Ulster.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  I know Robert Ross is common.  We are sure our Ross family originated in Scotland.  I did an ancestry.com DNA test and after England, Scotland is my largest percentage followed closely by Irish.  I had read that many of Scottish decent ended up in Ulster.  

Thank you for the tip about the Family Tree DNA and the Ulster project.

 

Regina

ReginaRoss

Something like 200,000 Scots settled in Ireland in the 1600s, mostly in the counties of Ulster. So Ulster was swamped with them. Don’t rely too heavily on ethnicity tests as there is an element of error and guesswork in them, and ethnicity is a man made concept. Scientists are rather sceptical of it.

However the Scots settlers brought an equal number of women with them (in contrast to say the Vikings who brought none). Though there was inter-marriage with native Irish, many Scots tended to marry each other and so in general you would expect someone born in Ireland of Scottish descent to show the same ethnic characteristics as someone born in Scotland.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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