Searching for relatives, Townland of Mullaghboy
My great-great grandfather, William Long, was born to John Long and Agnes Hill Long 23 February, 1833, and baptized 6 March, 1833 at the 1st Islandmagee Presbyterian Church. I visited the church, May 2005, speaking with Rev. Stephen Moore, who copied records from the baptism. Rev. Moore told me many of the records I would need for further research were destroyed by fire.
My notes are not very good, but I have reason to believe William may have had siblings
James (DOB unknown);
John, b. 1831;
Thomas, b. November, 1834;
Margaret, b. January, 1837;
Anne, b. May, 1840; and
Matilda, b. February, 1843.
William may have had an uncle, also named William (John's brother), who was married to Margaret Evans 9 August, 1839, also at 1st Islandmagee Presbyterian Church.
We do not have any information on John Long's forebears.
We believe John Long was a ship's captain, and that John and Agnes Long and family emigrated (along with the millions of others) to America in the late 1840s, but have never been able to document this. In any case, we do know it was sometime prior to August, 1852, when William Long was married in Cuyahoga County, Ohio to Alvira or Elvira Calhoun, born in Pennsylvania.
There is some speculation that the Long family was not originally from Co. Antrim, but rather that John settled there in order to find work.
Any help in fleshing this out would be most appreciated. Thanks for your time and attention to this.
Sincerely,
John Huebner