John Collins on the go. On 2013-07-24, at 3:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 16:36:41 +0100 > From: "Marion Shephard" <[email protected]> > Subject: [CoTyIre] An intriguing puzzle. > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hello everyone > > I wonder if anyone can help me solve this puzzle. I have a copy of my great great grandfathers will from PRONI, and have used it as a starting point to discover quite a lot about my family. He was William McCay of Rabstown, Urney and left his farm to his son William, a hefty sum to his unmarried daughter, who had recently given birth to my grandfather and in addition he left various smaller, bequests to family members, including two to his two sisters who had emigrated to Pittsburg and Philadelphia. I have managed to track down these two and their subsequent lives, but there is still one bequest that intrigues me. He asks his son 'That he also pay to Mary Nelson, of Pittsburg,US, the sum of five pounds for the benefit of the child of Martha Esther Boyd' > > I found a document in the parish records for Urney Cof I - 'Notes on Parishioners' from the 1870s, which lists households in the parish. William Sen is listed as a widower, with his son William and daughter Mary Anne. The two older sisters have emigrated by this time and another has married. There is also a Martha listed but with no indication of surname. Could this be Martha Esther Boyd, I wonder, or is it an extra daughter I have not come across before. > > Any Suggestions?? > > Regards Marion Shephard > > ------------------------------ > Hello Marion How about Martha being a servant (in service) and William or his son having fathered a child by her? Her maiden name could be Boyd or that might be her married name. Continuing the speculation, I would ask who Mary Nelson might be. Is she one of the married daughters who went to the US? She might be a friend or daughter of a friend who had migrated from the same community and knew the whereabouts of Martha and the child. I could see the reluctance of having a family member make contact of this sort. Another thought, was Martha still alive? Has she perhaps died and the child was attached to the family of Mary Nelson? This and other speculations can lead to ideas to be checked out. They are not, in and of themselves, any form of proof. Good luck on your search John Collins chasing the name COLLINS in the Cookstown & Stewartstown areas in the early 1700-1735 period.

Thanks for your comment John. I did come up with a similar senario and have been trying to find connections to Boyd and Nelson families in Urney and Pittsburg. I suspect I won't come up with anything definite but will be on the lookout for links. Regards Marion ----- Original Message ----- From: "John M. Collins" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 4:59 AM Subject: Re: [CoTyIre] COTYRONEIRELAND Digest, Vol 8, Issue 196 > > > John Collins on the go. > > On 2013-07-24, at 3:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > >> ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 3 >> Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 16:36:41 +0100 >> From: "Marion Shephard" <[email protected]> >> Subject: [CoTyIre] An intriguing puzzle. >> To: <[email protected]> >> Message-ID: <[email protected]> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >> >> Hello everyone >> >> I wonder if anyone can help me solve this puzzle. I have a copy of my >> great great grandfathers will from PRONI, and have used it as a starting >> point to discover quite a lot about my family. He was William McCay of >> Rabstown, Urney and left his farm to his son William, a hefty sum to his >> unmarried daughter, who had recently given birth to my grandfather and in >> addition he left various smaller, bequests to family members, including >> two to his two sisters who had emigrated to Pittsburg and Philadelphia. I >> have managed to track down these two and their subsequent lives, but >> there is still one bequest that intrigues me. He asks his son 'That he >> also pay to Mary Nelson, of Pittsburg,US, the sum of five pounds for the >> benefit of the child of Martha Esther Boyd' >> >> I found a document in the parish records for Urney Cof I - 'Notes on >> Parishioners' from the 1870s, which lists households in the parish. >> William Sen is listed as a widower, with his son William and daughter >> Mary Anne. The two older sisters have emigrated by this time and another >> has married. There is also a Martha listed but with no indication of >> surname. Could this be Martha Esther Boyd, I wonder, or is it an extra >> daughter I have not come across before. >> >> Any Suggestions?? >> >> Regards Marion Shephard >> >> ------------------------------ >> > Hello Marion > > How about Martha being a servant (in service) and William or his son > having fathered a child by her? Her maiden name could be Boyd or that > might be her married name. > > Continuing the speculation, I would ask who Mary Nelson might be. Is she > one of the married daughters who went to the US? She might be a friend or > daughter of a friend who had migrated from the same community and knew the > whereabouts of Martha and the child. I could see the reluctance of having > a family member make contact of this sort. > > Another thought, was Martha still alive? Has she perhaps died and the > child was attached to the family of Mary Nelson? > > This and other speculations can lead to ideas to be checked out. They are > not, in and of themselves, any form of proof. > > Good luck on your search > > John Collins chasing the name COLLINS in the Cookstown & Stewartstown > areas in the early 1700-1735 period. > ------------- > Our community web-site: http://cotyroneireland.com/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >