House of Alexander

ABSTRACT: This article may be of particular interest to those who may have had antecedents in Kintyre, Scotland, between 1505 and 1710. The focus is on the Kintyre Rental Lists that pertained to lands held from the Crown by the Earl and later the Duke of Argyll.

While traveling in our motor home on a mid-winter vacation, my husband and I stopped to visit the LDS Family History Center Library in Salt Lake City. We were graciously greeted and directed to the British Isles. I stepped up to the counter and explained that I was looking for my MacAlister ancestors in Scotland. A stately gentleman smiled and said, “We just happen to have a missionary named MacAlister with us today–let me get him.” He was there in a flash and walked us over to their reference section, where he pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to me. What a pleasant surprise I had in store!

The book was titled, Kintyre Rentals, 1505-1710. It had been an “Argyll Colony Plus” Newsletter Project in Dallas, Texas, which was printed in book form in 1987. The original documents had been transcribed to English by A. I. B. Stewart and Andrew McKerral of Campbelltown, Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland, and mailed to Dallas, Texas. The two of them had been very active in the Kintyre Antiquarian Society for many years. The Table of Contents contain these titles: Crown Lands of Kintyre 1505; Assedation and Rentals of Crown Lands in Kintyre in 1541; From “Papers Relating to Kintyre;” Acts and Descreets of the Lords of Council; List of Kintyre Tenants, Holdings, & Rents in 1619; List of Kintyre Tenants, c. 1636; Kintyre Rentals of 1636; List of Kintyre Tenants in 1653; and Kintyre Tacks to 1669.

I soon discovered it was a store-house of the same surnames as those who settled in America! Those who had been named were all tacksmen who rented from the Campbells. At that time, the Crown lands of Kintyre were held by the Earl of Argyll of Clan Campbell. He then rented the land, also known as tack to the individuals who were named in these lists. They were known as the tacksmen. These tacksmen further divided and rented to tenants. Not only did I find the MacAlister surname as one of the first to be enumerated, I also found McNeill, McKay, McMillan, Campbell, Stewart, Reid and many others. Then after 1650, I found the surnames Moore, Hamilton, Cunningham, Montgomery, and many more. The derivation of each recorded name indicated that person’s origin at the time he acquired land in Kintyre.

For example, John Dubh of Clan Donald who was the last Lord of the Isles, had become known as John of the Isles. In succession, each one of the descendants on his patrimonial line inherited the same suffix, “of the Isles.” When John Dubh of Clan Donald was forfeited in 1476, the land which he had held in Kintyre passed back to the Crown. John Dubh, had taken the name of McAlister after his father, Alisdair of Clan Donald. After John Dubh died in 1498, part of his former land in Kintyre was re-issued to Angus of the Isles between 1502-05. Wow! There was a genealogical connection right before my eyes!

Since I found my whole line of MacAlisters (Alexanders) in Kintyre, Scotland, before their exodus to Ireland, it is my hope that these lists will be of help to those of you who are trying to find your “Alister antecedents.”

Link: http://gentod.com/genweekly.mv?id=548

Source: GenWeekly, 03/Mar/2005

ABSTRACT: This article presents a brief review of some of the different types of family history records and what one may or may not find in each.

First of all, as used in this article, KISS stands for "Keep It Super Simple." When dealing with genealogical records of any type, it does the researcher well to first have some knowledge of what the parameters for each may be. This article presents a brief, and hopefully useful review of some of the available categories of family history records, and what one may or may not be able to find in each. I have learned from experience through some "hard knocks" along the way that taking this approach can be extremely valuable, both in time and money spent. If you are like me, living in our time of "economic woes" and trying to pursue what we really love to do, this is not an easy matter!

For our immediate ancestors, birth certificates and death certificates at the state level can yield a tremendous amount of information. They may include date of event, city, county, sex, birth or death location, father’s surname and/or mother’s maiden name. Other information may include time of event with age, address, occupation, race, and hospital name where the event occurred. However, policies do vary from state to state, and some states will only issue a birth certificate to the living person for whom it was recorded. Other states will only issue a birth certificate for a named individual if there is proof that the person is no longer living and, in some cases, only to a member of the immediate family. Prior to the late 1800s and early 1900s, the majority of births and deaths occurred at home, and no official records were kept of these events. Therefore, it is important to consider the timing of the events which are related to your ancestors before "plunging ahead." To secure these documents, I contacted the Bureau of Health, Division of Vital Statistics in the birth states of my ancestors, which was the most economical way to go.1

Federal Census records which are now available were first taken in 1790 and every ten years thereafter, but are available only through 1930. To protect those who are still living, more recent records are not available to the public. Not a great deal of information is given in any of the census years prior to 1850. Prior to 1880, probably the most inexpensive way is to search county and state indexes, but it does take considerable time. Census records for the years 1880 to 1930, except for 1890 when all the records were destroyed by fire, give a great deal of information on individuals including those who migrated from Europe during that period of time. Addresses, relationship of each individual to the head of the house, date of birth, age at last birthday, mother of how many children, number of living children, place of birth of each person and parents, citizenship, occupation, education, home ownership and year of immigration or naturalization are the types of information that can be found.

Although these government records are housed at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC and at their regional offices, they can be readily obtained at public libraries. Some libraries also offer subscription sites such as Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest.com. Local Family History Centers which are located all across our country also offer superior service.2 During my years in genealogy, I have obtained census records from all of the above named sources for very little cost, if any!

The original location of legally binding marriage and divorce records can be found at the county and state level, sometimes in the loose records if they were not officially recorded. One major problem in finding these records is that some couples who married at home or in churches never had their certificates recorded. Subsequently, they were lost or forgotten by family members, and remember that "back in those days," a divorce may not have been accepted, discussed or ever acknowledged by those closest to the individuals involved. Another thing that sometimes happened was the destruction of courthouses during war time, which consequently destroyed many records. I was able to find the marriage records for all of my ancestors, except for those who married near the time of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.

In conclusion, this is just a sampling of the records which are in the public domain, free to all and they cannot be copyrighted! I just came across an online source for one of my records which listed at $75.00. It was the exact same record for which I covered the cost of copying and mailing for a small fraction of that amount, somewhere in the neighborhood of $10.00. There are people out there who will charge you a lot of money for what is readily available for considerably less. I guess that is just the “Scotch” in me! It is also part of my definition of KISS as used in this article. However, if “money is of no concern,” then more power to you!

1A helpful resource for learning about record holdings and where to write for vital records in the U.S., see Where to Write For Vital Records at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm.

2 To locate a Family History Center near you, visit http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp/

Source: GenWeekly, 21/Oct/2004

ABSTRACT: A brief historical review and understanding of the events which led up to a movement of individuals from Scotland and England to Ulster, Ireland, during the early 17th century may help reseachers find their own ancestry.

This article presents a brief historical review of the events which led up to a movement of individuals from Scotland and England to Ulster, Ireland, during the early 17th century. In understanding migrations during this period of time, researchers are more likely to find the names of some of their own ancestors recorded in the land grant and muster roll records, likened to “putting the man on the land.”

Back in the early 1500s, the Native Catholic Irish rebelled against King Henry VIII of England when he tried to introduce the Reformation into Ireland. While Queen Elizabeth was Queen of England in 1573, she sent the Earl of Essex over to Ireland to put down the rebellion in Ulster. Although the Earl of Essex lost, the revolt was finally put down, and King James I, who succeeded Queen Elizabeth to the throne in 1603, accepted the surrender of the O’Neills. Although there was great cruelty on both sides, it was through English devastation of villages and inhabitants that laid waste to Munster and Ulster! Gaelic control ended there, and it was not until 1914 that Ireland became free with its own government.

After Hugh O’Neill, Hugh O’Donnell and Conor Maguire sailed to Europe from Lough Swilly, County Donegal, which was known as the "Flight of the Earls" in 1607, King James I declared them traitors and took over their land. In 1608, Sir Cahir O’Doherty, the last Gaelic Overlord, rebelled and destroyed Derry. After he was killed in Donegal, the rebellion collapsed, and his lands were confiscated.

From that time England was "boss" and the rebellion gave a pretext for confiscation of land in the six counties of Ulster which were Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone. James I, formerly James VI of Scotland, as the first Stuart king was expanding his empire. In addition to Ulster, he also reached out toward North America, where a fort appeared at Jamestown, Virginia. (Jamestown was named after King James I, and Virginia had already been named for the "virgin" Queen Elizabeth I.) "As the Protestant colony grew, Gaelic-speaking Catholics were pushed back toward the Shannon, as the Indians of America were pushed back toward the Alleghenies" (Joseph Judge, "The Trevail of Ireland" National Geographic, April 1991, p. 439).

Actually, the plan of King James I was to "grant" the land to those individuals who had been loyal to the Crown. Former soldiers could get free land, and Loyalists could purchase rights to the land. However, a new plan enabled "undertakers’ to become owners of land. They were a type of real estate broker who could buy lands from the Crown and lease them out to be farmed. By 1642, these new "Lords" owned three million, out of the entire three and a half million acres of the Province of Ulster. The entire population of Ulster was 100,000, of which only 10,000 were either English or "Scot." (Queen Elizabeth originally named those from Scotland the "Scotch-Irish" which is historically and genealogically correct. However, some now seem to feel that since this group was made up of Protestant folks from Scotland who replaced some of the Catholic folks in Ireland, and usually did not intermarry, the "Scotch-Irish" designation is not appropriate! In addition to that, there are those who say, " I am a Scot who drinks my Scotch!")

Last but not least, I can definitely recommend two "free" Internet resources. Many family names are represented, and this is where I found information about my Scotch-Irish Family (Ulster-Scot) ancestors of long ago: (1) Lands Grants in the Prescinct of Liffer Barony of Raphoe and County of Donegal 1608 A.D at www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/county/donegal.html, and (2) Muster Rolls, Donegal 1631: Ulster Ancestry at www.ulsterancestry.com/ua-free-Muster_Rolls_Donegal_1631.html.

Source: GenWeekly, 14/Oct/2004

ABSTRACT: For services rendered during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, many veterans received land grants or bounty land.

The saga of American Frontier and the Westward Movement encompasses the very essence of our explorers and pioneers who “weren’t” around by the time the Civil War erupted. Many of the “gone but not forgotten” Patriots of the Revolutionary War, who were clad in buckskin or linsey-wooley, called themselves “militia.” They carried rifles and rode plow horses to get where they were going, but they fought on foot and not in the saddle. Up until that time, this was the dirtiest war to have ever been fought in that it pitted neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, and father against son! It was bitter and merciless right to the end. It took six long years of major fighting with another two for “mop-up.”

Although the militia was made up of a group of “ragamuffins,” many of whom were illiterate, they were rough-and-ready! The backwoodsmen of the South scorned the so-called pretentious society of the seashore, and came out in full force for a new country. It appears that George Washington may not have been able to reverse the course of the war without the valiant help of these determined individuals. England started peace negotiations in the spring of 1782. Following this, the North Carolina Legislature set aside a military reservation located in middle Tennessee. When the final peace treaty was signed in September of 1783, warrants were issued to Revolutionary War veterans that could be exchanged for land grants, most of which were located in the Cumberland region of Tennessee.

Then between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, there was the War of 1812. This one was waged against Great Britain for cutting off our trade to Europe, inciting the Indians to a Frontier War, and searching our ships and taking our seamen. This time, the sons of our Revolutionary War Patriots secured our freedom! In several states, free land which was called “bounty land” could be obtained by veterans of the War of 1812. “War of 1812 veterans, and later their widows and heirs, could . . . apply for bounty land under the act of May 6, 1812, and a variety of subsequent federal laws.” (NARA government publication, Genealogical Records of the War of 1812). In order to entice settlement, some states also made some low-coat land available to veterans of this particular war.

For example, here are some of the things I discovered about my family from these land records:

(1) After the Revolutionary War, my 3G-Grandfather, Matthew Alexander, was issued Voucher #5247 from the Salisbury District of North Carolina He made entry #1821 on April 23, 1784, Grant #284 was entered for him for 1,000 acres of land in the Middle District of Tennessee which was finally issued to him on December 17, 1794. (Tennessee State Library and Archives, Land Records, Nashville, Tennessee)

(2) In 1836, my 2G-Grandfather, James Alexander, utilized his War of 1812 record to obtain 240 acres of marginal land at a reduced rate in Gallatin County, Illinois. He received 80 acres of bounty land in 1852 and another 40 acres of bounty land in 1855, both of which were located in Wright County, Missouri. One son of James Alexander by the name of James Newton received 40 acres of land in the same manner. (Gallatin County, Illinois Land Records, Springfield, Illinois and War of 1812 Warrant Application and Records from the Old Military and Civil Records, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C.)

(3) Last but not least, another 160 acres of bounty land was obtained in Howell County, Missouri, through the Homestead Act under his War of 1812 record. The recipient of this parcel of land was his daughter-in-law, Mary Ann (Briggs) Alexander, second wife and widow of another one of his sons, George W. Alexander (my G Grandfather), a Civil War Veteran who died in 1874. (War of 1812 Warrant Application and Records from the Old Military and Civil Records, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

In conclusion, I was actually amazed at how much information was available from these records concerning the lives of my family members. It was all very inexpensive - it just took some time! What I gained also helped to solidify the genealogical connections as well as the current friendly relationships among my family members. As you continue to search, may you have the same good fortune!

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Dr. Sarah Alexander-Culton is the author and publisher of A Documentary of Scotch-Irish Alexander History: The People, places and Events Before 4000 B.C. to 2002 A.D. Third Edition, 2005.

For more information on her book visit: http://www.houseofalexander.com or www.houseofalexander.com.

Source: GenWeekly, 07/Oct/2004