Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

McKeag and Smith Families

DownNewtownards (Down)

I am researching my 2x great grandfather, Isaac Larimar McKeag. He was born 17 Mar1843 in Newtownards. His father was John McKeag, born about 1800, and his mother was Mary Smith, born about 1907. Isaac had three older brothers that I know of, Hugh, John, and James. He had two older sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. He and all his siblings eventually emigrated to the U.S.

Isaac emigrated to the United States(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) in 1861 and fought in the Civil War for two years. His naturalization papers indicate that he applied on a soldier's application. His brother, James, also fought and applied on a soldier's apllication.

I would like to find out about Isaac's parents and grandparents, whom I know nothing about. Are there church or census records to start my search? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Bill

IrelandXO member

4 replies

What denomination was the family?

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Elwyn,

The family was Presbyterian. At least that is the church they attended when they emigrated to the United Sates. I did check the RosDavies site, but either the names aren't familiar or a match, or the name does not fit with the year.

Thanks,

Bill

IrelandXO member

You probably need to get a researcher to go through the Presbyterian records for Newtownards. Most of them are kept in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast but they are not on-line and so a  personal visit is required to view them. There’s about 8 Presbyterian churches in Newtownards. Not all have records for the 1840s and earlier but some do. Newtownards 1st Presbyterian church's records start in 1833. (There were earlier records but they are lost). The baptism records are still held by the church but there is an index to those baptisms from 1831 onwards in PRONI.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks again, Elwyn. I hope I can make a trip there myself one of these days!

IrelandXO member

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.