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Seeking Walls Family

Derry

Hi, I am trying to find the birthplace and the parents of James Walls, my third great grandfather. He was born in County Derry around 1777, and I believe he arrived in Philadelphia in the 1790s. His wife was Susan Morgan, and I am not sure if they met in Ireland or Philadelphia as I can't find marriage records, but she did state she was born in Ireland. I don't have a date of birth for her. James's younger brother was Michael and he was married to Margaret McKee. They had a son Francis in 1810 and they arrived in the US around 1818. James bought land near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and sold some to his sons and some to the railroad in 1847-48. His sons sold their land to their cousin Francis, who sold some to the railroad and developed the rest, which made him very well off. The village of Wall was named after these ancestors, who originally owned the land.

Joandrum@hotmail.com

2 replies

Statutory birth, death and marriage registration (in some jurisdictions called Vital Records) only started in Ireland in 1864, save for non RC marriages which were recorded from 1845 onwards. So you probably won’t find statutory birth, death or marriage certificates in Ireland for this family. For earlier years you usually need to rely on church records, where they exist. You obviously need to know the precise denomination in order to search the correct records. Not all churches have records for that period and not all are on-line.

RC records are mostly on-line on the nli site:

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

For other denominations, the churches usually hold the originals but there are also copies in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them. Access to the records there is free. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

I had a look at the 1831 census for Co. Londonderry/Derry. There are about 80 households headed by people named Walls/Wall, with several James and several Michaels. Most were Roman Catholic though there were 1 or 2 of other denominations. So knowing your ancestors’ denomination could make a difference, especially if they weren’t RC.

A problem you face is that comparatively few parishes have records for someone born c 1777. So there may simply be no record of your ancestors in Ireland. Likewise given that the names are in common usage, without parents names (from a death certificate perhaps) it would be difficult to know if you had found the correct family.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks, I am aware that there are few records available for dates this early. That's why I was asking on here, hoping there might be someone out there who is related and has family records. They were devout Catholics, and I have checked for another ancestor from the same county, so I know there are no Church records either. I do have James' death certificate, but when he died in 1853, Pennsylvania only required the names of the parents when the person was a minor. I live in the USA, so visiting Belfast isn't an option, and since there likely are no records, I don't see the use in hiring a researcher. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with all of the information I have learned about the family's life in Pennsylvania.

Joandrum@hotmail.com

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