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Baw-tree Bortree Foundling? Preacher?

Tyrone

My ancestor was Matthew Bortree (may be spelled differently). I have traced him to County Tyrone, Killyman Parish. The legend, as I read it, is that he was a foundling. A shepherd found the babe under a baw-tree and took him in. When I read this as a child it appealed to me. My mother and two sisters are are that is left of this branch of the family tree. My uncles died never having children. Only 6 generations of this line. Matthew was a preacher here in the U.S. His sons owned a grist mill. He had a daughter that was married to a Richard Gilpin in Ireland, before coming to the U.S. I have been unable to find out who Matthew married or anything of his life before the U.S. I would love to find out more about him and his life in Ireland 

IrelandXO member

11 replies

Hi

Thank you for your message.

Do you know anything about Mathew's emigration? The dates or who he may have travelled with?..etc..Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool, New York, etc.), this could be a good place to find more information. -And perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.

US National Archives/Immigration info: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

Some sites you might find useful are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

County Tyrone Genealogy information: http://www.from-ireland.net/county-tyrone-genealogy/

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support 

 

 

IrelandXO member

So many different ways to spell. Matthew was born about 1753. He came to U.S. about 1806 toPhiladelphia. His children seem to all been baptized in St.Andrews, Killyman, Tyrone. Is this the church in Dungannon?

Thank you for your help with the info. I will look into it

Sheri

IrelandXO member

So many different ways to spell. Matthew was born about 1753. He came to U.S. about 1806 toPhiladelphia. His children seem to all been baptized in St.Andrews, Killyman, Tyrone. Is this the church in Dungannon?

Thank you for your help with the info. I will look into it

Sheri

IrelandXO member

So many different ways to spell. Matthew was born about 1753. He came to U.S. about 1806 to Philadelphia. His children seem to all been baptized in St.Andrews, Killyman, Tyrone. Is this the church in Dungannon?Thank you for your help with the info. I will look into it
Sheri

IrelandXO member

Matthew arrived via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from what I can gather.

IrelandXO member

If Mathew was a foundling you might find his baptism in the local church records. Killyman Church of Ireland’s start in 1745. There’s a copy in PRONI in Belfast. (Personal visit required to view them). In addition to his baptism, you might find his marriage (assuming his attended the same church. If she didn’t then the marriage was probably in her church).

Not sure about the baw tree explanation for his surname. It’s not a term I have ever heard in Ireland. I don’t think there are any baw trees here.

You asked about St Andrews in Killyman. Yes it’s near Dungannon. Here’s a link to its website:

http://killyman.armagh.anglican.org

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 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).

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi, I am not connected to this family but I have found a few of trees on Ancestry.  

Firstly, the name Boretree is also the name for Elderberry.  It is a small shrub (which could easily hide a baby).

The trees: Public

timbortree started with birth 1843, Marvin Bortree, Pennsylvania married Mary A Bortree, birth 1850, Pennsylvania.

Campbell Family Tree (archie1234) Richard Gilpin married Mary A Bortree in 1781 at Killyman, Ireland. Matthew Boretree born C1700, no parents shown, no wife's name.

The Trees: Private

Walterrichardson18 re Sarah Boretree

Treename Richardson_2011-06-24_2012-08-12_AutoBackup_AutoBackup_2016-01-09 This is latest of 3 trees.

Treename Porter Family Tree re Matthew Bortree

Treename Crater Berge re Matthew Bortree  CandisBerge

You don't say where you are but if you don't have Ancestry, and can't get to a Family History Centre, I am willing to assist you.

As far as I can tell from a March 2019 publication from the Church of Ireland (The List of Church of Ireland Parish Registers ) there is no on-line list (yet) for Killyman Parish but records can be viewed in person.  Not much help if you are not in Ireland.  It may be worth you contacting the Minister of Killyman to see if there are Bortree families still in the area who can help you.  Unfortunately there seems to be no entries for any of the Censuses available.

Whatever you decide, remember that the time period you are seeking, will be full of spelling differences and guesses at ages.  Good luck.

 

Kathy from Oz

Thank You all so much for your help! 

IrelandXO member

It's good that you traced him as a Tyrone man.Well done!

As for the origin of his name and baptism records, you need to check the Roman Catholic church records firstly as the major creed in Ireland. All my ancestors from Northern Ireland were RC, including those from Co. Tyrone, as are their descendants living in Ireland today.

I would have thought the shepherd would have reared the child under his own surname.

DNA today, provides you the resources to locate 'missing' ancestors. I have identified two 'unknown' grandfathers for 2 different cousin. Going back to 5th to 8th cousins makes it a much larger task, but if the DNA-tests are available you will pick up the trend that points to DNA-cousin whose ancestors were in Ireland around your target years of mid 1700s.  Given the emigration of many Irish to Canada and the US was ongoing when your ancestor was born, it is possible his parent(s), (half)siblings or aunts/uncles emigrated. This means the perennial problem of Ireland's scarcity of records does not affect finding his parents' identities.

 

andrewhanlon00…

It's good that you traced him as a Tyrone man.Well done!

As for the origin of his name and baptism records, you need to check the Roman Catholic church records firstly as the major creed in Ireland. All my ancestors from Northern Ireland were RC, including those from Co. Tyrone, as are their descendants living in Ireland today.

I would have thought the shepherd would have reared the child under his own surname.

DNA today, provides you the resources to locate 'missing' ancestors. I have identified two 'unknown' grandfathers for 2 different cousin. Going back to 5th to 8th cousins makes it a much larger task, but if the DNA-tests are available you will pick up the trend that points to DNA-cousin whose ancestors were in Ireland around your target years of mid 1700s.  Given the emigration of many Irish to Canada and the US was ongoing when your ancestor was born, it is possible his parent(s), (half)siblings or aunts/uncles emigrated. This means the perennial problem of Ireland's scarcity of records does not affect finding his parents' identities.

 

andrewhanlon00…

Hi again, I just found this on a Family Search site.  I thought the email addresses might help.  

https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/records-to-digitize-in-…

 

Kathy Nevin 1 year agoRecords to digitize in Killyman Parish, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland I visited County Tyrone, Northern Ireland last month and found that St. Andrews Church, Killyman Parish has their original records (going back to the mid-1700's) in their safe. They intend to digitize the records themselves, but I think they would be receptive to a FamilySearch team doing that for them. Their contact information is as follows: Parish House Tel - 028 8772 2324. email - killymancoi@outlook.com. The Rectory Tel: 028 8772 2500. email - killyman@armagh.anglican.org. Thank you so much. If possible, could you let me know if you have success? Kathy Nevin - kathy.nevin@gmail.com

Good luck.
Kathy Atkins

Kathy from Oz

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