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Hello! I am searching for leads on the father of John Graham (1710-1780), immigrant to Savannah on the Georgia Pink in 1733. I have found some records that say he was from County Down, but that is where I’m getting stuck. A lot of genealogies say his father was William, who landed in Williamsburg, Carolina, but I think they were actually cousins from County Down and not closely related. I also know he married Mary Johnston and they had 2 small children in 1733 when they landed. A lot of the genealogies have either wrong dates for her birth or for his birth, but I feel pretty certain based off the ship logs that their birthdates had to have been at least 1710. Any ideas as to how to proceed? Thank you!

Csmurray

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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 for no fee.

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

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Names are right, but date is Iater than you have for your ancestors...

Date of Marriage: 22-May-1759

Parish / District: Comber CI County: Co. Down

Husband Wife

Name: John Graham Mary Johnson

Address: Ballyrussell Comber Ballyrussell Comber

glanvil3@aol.com

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