A 2006 Letter from Ireland I Cherish!

The anticipation that comes from waiting for DNA results can be overwhelming LOL. I am currently waiting for results from a Y DNA test and a MtDNA test. I'm also waiting for the Gedmatch site to catch up with their backlog so we can do more comparing of results. In the mean time I am doing more scanning. Below is a cherished letter from a resident of my Great-grandmother's  townland, Pollaturick, in Ireland. I appreciate this person taking the time to write this and help me to confirm what I found in other records. The elderly are our greatest sources for information, as this letter affirms. The family of a distant cousin of mine had visited this relative, so they wrote her a letter for me asking about my family. This is in regards to my Mullen/Huvane  family. Some of the Huvane's use the alternate spelling Huane, as used in this letter.

Concrete Proof of Relationship

Jane Sharp/Rawlins statement on paper (somewhere?) naming her relations got me to thinking about our documentation for the Forgey family. What documents do we have for the early Forgeys directly naming parents, children or other relations?
The earliest mentions of the Forgeys in America would be on Tax Lists. The tax man (as today) seldom missed anyone. Land was cheap in early times so we find them in the deed records. Native American Warfare was a constant in early days so every male generally served in the Militia at some point so we find them in those records. Many of the 1790 Census records have been lost and Eastern Tennessee doesn't have Census records until 1830.
The above records were 99 percent male. Females would be taxed if there were no males over 21 in the household, and they were head of the household. The same held true for the Census.They could appear in Dower releases on deeds so they were better represented here. They were not allowed in the Military so never mentioned there.
The place where we find entire families listed are first and foremost wills and adminstrations. Second would be bible records. The third would be church records, and then County Histories.
Here is some of what we have:

Andrew Forgey of Hawkins County, TN names his family members

\

James Forgey of Hawkins County gives us info about his parents in his bible and names his children

Hugh Forgey Crawford names his Forgey Uncles and their children in a Journal he kept

Samuel Forgey of Rowan County, North Carolina's Children (James is also mentioned in the will)

Hugh Forgey of Bourbon County, KY's  children in Will

This father son relationship is not clearly stated but assumed since they are together on this 1780  Cumberland County, PA Tax List

In 1785 we no longer see John Forgy we now instead see Widow Forgy

Here we have Robert Forgy of Mifflin and Mary Forgy of Washington County, PA. I assume they are  mother/ or stepmother and son

The John Forgey Family of Clark County, Ohio. I am no longer certain this is  Robert Forgy of Mifflin County, PA's brother?

Church Record naming Andrew Forgey and Elenor Randall's Children

Andrew Forgey's inventory contains his childrens names and wife's name

Alexander Forgey of Indiana Bible record

Andrew Forgey and Anna Roller Family as recorded in a Family bible

Analysis of a Family Tree Gone Wrong

A tear in Samuel Forgey's will is symbolic of the missing pieces we need to reconstruct  in the family history in general

Seems like when ever Nan has an autosomal DNA match we find a problem with the old version of the Family Tree. The old verison I'm talking about, mainly, is  the one that appears in Lucille Wallace's Forgy, Forgey in America. The book written in the 1950's contains a few errors due to the fact so much of the information about these families was not as easily accessible as now. So much is being digitized and easily searchable now old trees are undergoing massive revisions. The authors of the old family histories didn't want to upset families with short lineages and tried to make connections, where no proof existed, with older longer lines. You can see them trying to fit people, without proof of parentage, into existing lines. This is sort of inferential genealogy without enough foundation for a conclusion.

Nan had a low level Autosomal DNA match with a descendant of Elizabeth Forgy. When I took a look at her line I noticed some problems. Several trees posted online have Samuel Forgy and Sarah of Rowan County, North Carolina as her parents. A researcher named Bert Rawlins did extensive research on Jane Sharp/ Rawlins family (she was Elizabeth's daughter) and came to a different conclusion (this is a link to a PDF with some of Bert's research http://www.rawlins.org/bert.rawlins/frost.research.2007.pdf.
Our problem is who to believe?

1. We have some believing that Samuel and Sarah of Rowan, North Carolina are Elizabeth Forgy/Sharp's parents.
2. We have a statement on GenForum that Jane Sharp recorded the names of Elizabeth's parents in 1844 as John and Rachel Forgy
3. At the same time in 1844 she recorded the names of two uncles John Forgy and Adam McPherson and two aunts, Jane McPherson and Rachel Forgy.
4. The researcher Bert Rawlins came upon a GenForum post regarding a John Forgy and Rachel White. He recognized the fact that Jane's uncle Adam McPherson was married to a Jane White (a maybe sister of Rachel?)
5. Elizabeth Forgy was married to Robert Sharp who appears with Adam McPherson in Washington County, PA in the late 1700's, and is found with him later in Bourbon County, Kentucky. This may link  Elizabeth's family with the family of Hugh Forgey and Sally Evermen who were also residents of Bourbon County, KY
6. We then see an Adam McPherson with a John Forgy in Clarke County, Ohio in the early 1800's. They both belong to the same Presbyterian Honey Creek Congregation in New Carlisle.
7. On the flip side, in support of Samuel and Sarah as parents, a Sharp was named in Samuel Forgey's will
8. Samuel and Sarah did have a daughter named Elizabeth as recorded in Samuel's will.
9. Elizabeth named a daughter Melinda. A named used in Samuel Forgy's family
10. After Samuel's death his family did migrate from North Carolina to Kentucky

If John Forgy is Elizabeth's father we find several in Pennsylvania who could be candidates. There is a John Forgy on the 1773 Penny Tax list for Lancaster County, PA. We know that the White and McPherson familes came from there. Hugh Forgey of Bourbon County, KY also originally settled there. We have a John Forgey who was naturalized on Westmoreland County, PA in the late 1790's according to an  Ancestry.com database. We also have a John who was a bondsman for Mary Forgey in 1800 Mason County, KY. We have another John Forgey who seemed to be a long time resident of Westmoreland County, PA. He first appears there in the early 1780's on Tax Lists and Militia lists (not sure whether this was the same man who was naturalized?). The John in Mason County may be the same as either the long time resident of Westmoreland or the one who was Naturalized in the late 1790's or a different person all together? Mary Forgy (probably widow of John Forgy of Mifflin County, PA) died in the early 1800's in Washington County, PA. I assumed that she may have went there with one of her children, and assumed it could have been a John? 

The marriage bond for Mary Forgey was for a marriage to John Everman. This would point to a connection with Hugh Forgey who was married to Sally Everman. Hugh did have a daughter Elizabeth. Could she have been named after his sister Elizabeth Forgy/Sharp?

We really need a copy of the 1844 document with the names of Jane Sharp/Rawlins relations.

Elizabeth named as a daughter of Samuel

A William Sharp is mentioned in Samuel's Will

Could this Elizabeth named as a daughter in Hugh's will be a namesake of Elizabeth Forgy/Sharp?

Youtube Histories Provide Inspiration

Being a caregiver for my Mom has restricted me to the house lately. I've spent my down time here at home watching history based YouTube videos which led me to do more genealogy research. Events and names mentioned sparked a new round of research. The History of Canada series gave me the most inspiration. The History of Scotland series also led me to some additional research. Episode 6 of The History of Scotland mentioned the Scottish Covenants signed by 60 percent of Scotland's population. I found a Scottish Convenant index at Ancestry.com. David and Jean Forgie, who were signers of the Covenant, could be relations of my Forgey family?. This episode was so interesting. I had no idea that the early Presbyterians were so radical. Government by law was a positive idea introduced in the Convenant. Otherwise the Presbyterian radicals were a jihadist style group advocating a holy war.
The French Canadians were a much more docile group in general. Not advocating over throw of the King, or Catholic church they were not religious militants. According to what I've been reading about the early settlers they did not leave for religious or political reasons. Most of the early settlers were young men looking for adventure, and hoping to advance themselves economically. Others were looking to escape justice, and creditors.

The name Boucher, mentioned in the History of Canada, struck me as a familiar name.  Pierre Boucher was featured as a very influential person in early Quebec. His father was Gaspar Boucher. I got out my pedigree charts and found a Marin Boucher, he was thought to be a relative of Gaspar, and appears in a court case with him. Pierre Boucher started out his career in Huronia as a servant to the Jesuits who were Missionaries to the Native Americans living there. He later became an interpreter, and a Governor of Trois Rivieres after he concluded a peace treaty with the Iroqouis. He went to France in 1661 to represent Quebec, and request aid to fight the Native Americans. This was a very successful trip. Louis XIV provided the needed aid, and the crown took control of Quebec making it a French colony governed by French officials. Boucher was made a Noble by Louis XIV. Pierre Boucher also wrote a book on the Flora and Fauna of Canada.
Another outcome of Pierre Boucher's trip to France was a commitment by the King to send eligible females to the Colony. He would pay for wards of the state to go to Canada to in order to marry, and increase the population in the Colony. These women were called Filles du Roy. After watching this portion of the documentary I got out my French Canadian research folder and looked up my potential Filles du Roy. They all seem to come from St. Sulpice Parish in Paris. I'll have to do some research to see why? So far I have found 3 Filles du Roy in my family tree. They were Elisabeth Aubert, Catherine Clerice, and Anne Perrault. Elisabeth Aubert had her own dowry of 200 livre, and also received a 50 livre dowry from the King. I may have more of these women in my family tree? I'll have to do more research.
Catherine Clerice's husband, Jacques Lussier also came from Paris. His parish church was the beautiful Gothic St-Eustache.

The research I began on Elisabeth Aubert's husband, Aubin Lambert, led me to an interesting discovery. I had known that many of the Canadian settlers came from the same region of France. I did not know that many came from one particular church parish Saint-Aubin de Touvourvre in the Perche region of France. The earliest baptism I could find record of on the web was the 1598 baptism of Marguerite Gagnon. Aubin Lambert was baptized there in 1632. Another ancestor Robert Giguire was baptized there in 1616. Nicolas Rivard may also be an ancestor?  I have not been able to get a exact date as to when the Church was built. Someone had posted that it was built in the later half of the 15th Century? I plan on going to France some day and will definitely visit the Church which is 150 miles from Paris.
Another fact that came to light while researching is that Robert Giguere's wife, Aimee Milville's father was from Switzerland. Pierre Milville was born in 1602 in Fribourg, Switzerland. So it sounds like he and Abraham Martin may not have been French (Martin was likely Scottish).

Facade of   Saint-Aubin de Touvourvre                                                        

Interior  Saint-Aubin de Touvourvre

Plaque Commemorating those who migrated to Canada

Plaque in Church for ancestor Robert Giguere

Window in Church commemorating Canadian Migration

Baptismal font

Plaque in Church to Honor the Gagnon Family 

One of Giguere Homes in Canada