The Douglas Archives

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North American immigrants

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North American immigrants

We are researching early immigrants to the USA and Canada.

Members: 32
Latest Activity: Nov 19

Early arrivals

Many Canadian and American families can be traced back to early arrivals in 'America', but making the connection across the pond is often not so straight forward.

I am keen that we should use this forum to identify those key people, and then work together to trace their ancestors back to Scotland (or Ireland, or England). In some cases, families arrived via the West Indies. It would be good to identify them as well.

A starting point is the list in The Douglas Archives of 'Early Douglas settlers in America'. Suggestions for additions to this list would be very welcome.

Please make your contributions as full as possible, with dates and places included, as appropriate.

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Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on March 16, 2015 at 11:13
Comment by Patti Oldham Pinkley on March 16, 2015 at 0:31
I have a download of that chapter and the entire book. I am a direct lineal female descendant of the daughter of Archibald that is mentioned at the bottom of page two of Chapter 7. She married Conrad Rutter who came on the ship America in 1683 as a member of Daniel Francis Pastorius entourage, Pastorius being agent for William Penn and the Frankfort company.
Everything on that page is all a part of original documents and family lore passed down to me from my female line. I can conclusively document that the Douglass sister/daughter was Conrad's wife. However, I am still working away on the pre- marriage connection, especially since Conrad was purportedly from the Duchy of Kleve.
I am proud that my mother's family has lived in Lancaster County's Earl Township from Conrad Rutter's time until the death of my Grandmother in 1991. That's a very long time for an American family to maintain its position and holdings continuously in a single community.
Comment by William Douglas on March 15, 2015 at 14:47

Patti, that is very interesting.

You might light to look at this Saunders Family History

Comment by William Douglas on March 15, 2015 at 14:35

Russell,

Is Judith Moorman's husband John Bruce Douglas (1698-1761)?

Comment by Patti Oldham Pinkley on March 15, 2015 at 14:04
I just rediscovered a letter from James C. Douglass to his first cousin, Hannah Douglass Saunders from the mid 19th century. They are all Douglass's of Mordington of Delaware and Virginia, now West Virginia.
His letter provides information on the Douglass's of Nova Scotia.
From that info I realized that the connection is through Sir Robert Douglass of Glenbervie and his son William, 2nd Baron of Glenbervie and Baron of Nova Scotia. The James Douglass mentioned in the James C. Douglass letter appears to be Sir William's first cousin, James Douglas/s 1st Lord Mordington, son of Sir William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus, and Elizabeth Oliphant. Sir William Douglas, 11th Earl of Angus, 1st Marquis Douglas was his older brother.
James C. says in this letter that James Douglas/Douglass came to America with William Penn in 1682 and formed an ironwork partnership called Douglass, Vaughn and McMooter In Philadelphia.
James C.'s father, Walter, bought an iron mill in Delaware and renamed it Mordington Mills after the family's ancestral Scottish home of Mordington.
James C. was in possession of a family crest with "Jamais Arriere" which he said was of the Scott-Douglass family who owned large estates in Nova Scotia. Their Douglas ancestry (Douglass name was the American version to distinguish between themselves and their Scots family) "being through Sir William Douglas espoused to the daughter of James Douglas" whom he styled as Baron of Ardit "who died 1660-1685 during the reign of Charles the 2nd".
The Sir William mentioned appears to be the 2nd of Glenbervie who married Anne Douglas, the daughter of James Douglas of Stoneypath and Ardit, who became one of the 1st barons of Nova Scotia on May 30, 1685.
This letter is an original document copied and a part of a genealogical book on the Saunders Family of North America. Later another portion of the Canadian family went on to Australia.
I rediscovered all of this information because of a new free website providing access to over 40,000 genealogy books, gengophers.com.
Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on March 1, 2015 at 22:22

"Douglass, John 1698 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, , Scotland 1761 - Barboursville, Orange, Virginia, United States"

husband of niece of wife of 6th great grand uncle
wife of John Douglass
father of Judith Moorman
father of Charles Moorman
daughter of Captain Zachariah Moorman
husband of Sarah "Sallie" Anne Moorman
father of Micajah Clark
son of Michael Clark
son of Francis Clark
son of Rev. Francis Clark Sr.
son of James Clark
son of Joseph Carter Clark Sr.
son of Lee Harrison Clark
son of Joseph Anderson Clark
daughter of Levi Crowder Clark
 the son of Gladys Marie Clark 
Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on February 6, 2015 at 14:37

http://douglashistory.ning.com/photo/albums/john-douglas-wayside


 
Part1
The Slaying of John Douglas at Little Moccasin Gap
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~varussel/indian/15.html
The Slaying of John Douglas at Little Moccasin Gap
By Emory L. Hamilton

From the unpublished manuscript, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell, and Holston Rivers, pages 28-30.

This incident has perhaps suffered more abuse as to correct date than any event on the frontier. L. P. Summers, in his History of Washington County, has John Douglas and William Benham chasing the Indians who had captured the wife and children of Capt. Isaac Newland, near Abingdon in 1789, thirteen years after young Douglas had been killed. Just what age John Douglas was when slain is unknown, but he must have been a fairly young, unmarried man, yet, old enough to have served in the militia as a Sergeant under Capt. William Cocke, August 5, 1774. (1)

Captain William Russell Wrote to Colonel Preston, on July 7, 1776, (2) saying:

Dear Colo. - I wrote you yesterday in great haste intendent to send of the express immediately, but he, being disappointed, shall enclose that one in this. I omitted giving the account of two men (no names Given), being killed at Blackmore’s Fort last week, and since I left Fort Chiswell, poor John Douglas got killed in Little Moccasin Gap, on his way to Clinch. Captain Daniel Smith saw his bones yesterday (July 6th) arriving over here.

Part 2 below 

Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on January 26, 2015 at 21:56

As evidenced by Captain Russell’s letter, John Douglas was probably killed either on July 5th or 6th. Tradition has it that Douglas was accompanied by his friend William Benham, and that they, as was customary of most people traveling from Abingdon to the Clinch settlements, had stopped in Little Moccasin Gap, and were seated on a large flat rock, eating their lunch when a rifle cracked and Douglas was killed. A bronze plaque has been placed on the rock, probably by the D. A. R., and just east of the spot a wayside has been built, known as the "John Douglas Wayside", perpetuating the memory of this incident.

It has been written that John Douglas was living in the vicinity of Abingdon at the time, but of this I can find no confirmation. He, at the time, was a young unmarried man, and his parents, Edward and Sarah George Douglas were living on a 400 acre tract of land on both sides of Clinch River at the Flour Ford in Scott County, VA, where they had settled in 1776. The Douglas family and that of Captain John Blackmore had intermarried. Sarah Douglas, a sister of the slain John, having married Thomas, a son of Captain John Blackmore, and Almore Douglas was married to a daughter of Captain John Blackmore to the Nashboro settlement when he rafted down the Clinch to that place in 1779.

There was a connection between the Douglas, Benham and Hobbs families which may account for John Douglas’ friend William Benham being with him at the time of the slaying. For the foregoing data I am indebted to Gordon Aronhime, of Bristol, VA.

A man named John Benham settled on the north side of the North Fork of Holston River in 1769. William Benham was likely his son. He, the elder Benham owned about a thousand acres of land along the Holston River, about four miles or less below the village of Holston. John Benham was evidently a brother-in-law of the elder Vincent Hobbs. Benham had a son named Vincent, and the Benhams and Hobbs lived next farms to each other, coming to the area about the same time. John Benham (died 1800) had a fort between those near Saltville (that of Jeremiah Harrison) and the Anderson Blockhouse near Big Moccasin Gap. Benham had built his fort before the Revolutionary War. William Benham married Mary Kendrick.

John Douglas had probably been visiting with his friends and kindred, Benhams and Hobbs over at Holston, and was returning to the Clinch, along with William Benham when he was slain.

At a court held for Washington County, VA, on September 30, 1777, Edward Douglas (his father) was granted administration of the estate of John Douglas, deceased, with his securities being William Wilson and Richard Stanton, the latter living on Stanton’s Creek, below Dungannon, in Scott County, VA. The appraisers of the estate were John Blackmore, Blackmore’s Fort, Andrew Davis who lived at the mouth of Stoney Creek, near Blackmore’s Fort, and Alexander Ritchie, Sr., who lived on Clinch River, below Dungannon in Scott County.

Who were the two men that Captain Russell says were killed at Blackmore’s Fort?

(1) Shelby Family Papers, Vol. I, Item 412, Library of Congress
(2) Draper Mss 4 QQ 53.



This file contributed by: Rhonda Robertson

Comment by Russell Lynn Drysdale on January 12, 2015 at 21:53
Comment by Bob Henry on December 24, 2014 at 12:58

Hey, Russell, you've been busy with this one!

Have a nice Christmas,

Bob.

 

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Making conections

The more information you can give about the people you mention, the more chance there is of someone else connecting with your family.

Dates and places of births, deaths and marriages all help to place families.

Professions also help.

'My great-grandmother mother was a Douglas from Montrose' does not give many clues to follow up! But a bit of flesh on the bones makes further research possible. But if we are told who she married, what his profession was and where the children were baptised, then we can get to work.

Maybe it is time to update the information in your profile?


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