Hi Patti, Archibald is a different line of McMaths. There has been some speculation that Archibald was related to our Daniel McMath but I haven't seen any documentation about a connection. My great-aunt, Elizabeth McMath, corresponded with Frank McMath while he was writing his second book and I have some of those letters. I also have some letters from a Daniel C. McMath to my great-aunt. Daniel had done a lot of research after Frank wrote his 2nd book in the hopes of publishing a 3rd McMath book but he never completed it. Here is my attempt at a theory based on his letters to my great-aunt. Like I say in the paper, it is only theory with no documentation to prove any of his assumptions. Theories Regarding the Colonial McMath Families By Mike Gifford, based on the research of Daniel C. McMath I have received copies of some correspondence between my great-aunt, Elizabeth McMath, and Daniel Cary McMath (b. 24 Feb 1880, d. aft 1961). Daniel worked diligently on gathering McMath information in order to publish a follow up book to Frank McMath's second book on the McMath family. Apparently Daniel had gathered the necessary information to publish a book but was unable to gather the funds to do so. He has presented some interesting theories regarding some of the colonial McMath families and I thought I would summarize some of these theories in the hopes that we can prove or disprove them. The earliest records of McMaths in the United States are John McMath of Virginia, Joseph McMath of Georgia, and William and James McMath in Pennsylvania. According to family history, John McMath left a brother in the north when he traveled to Virginia where he is found by at least 1730. John was a reader for at least two or three Episcopal Churches in Virginia who had no pastors. Joseph McMath of Georgia seems to be a different Joseph McMath than the one born in Pennsylvania and who participated in the Revolution. This Joseph McMath was born in Scotland in 1699 and died in Georgia in 1789. William McMath of Pennsylvania had a servant in his home which generally indicates a person of importance and James McMath was an inn keeper whose successor obtained license to continue in 1742. As these names are all common in the McMath family who had a custom of naming their children after relatives there is a good possibility that these individuals may be related, possibly brothers. During the 1750's we have the second Joseph McMath of Georgia being born, possibly in Pennsylvania. Daniel had received several letters from descendants of this Joseph who were convinced that Joseph was born in Pennsylvania. Daniel thought that Joseph might be a son of William McMath in Pennsylvania who may have been related to Joseph McMath of Georgia (the one born in 1699). Thus the Joseph born in 1750 may have went to Georgia to join up with his uncle, Joseph, already there. Also in the 1750's we have the arrival of Alla McMath and Daniel McMath to Chester County, Pennsylvania where William and James listed in the previous paragraph were known to have lived. Alla McMath was the son of Archibald McMath who was born in Scotland, went to Ireland and married there and had three children, Daniel, Alla and Mary. Archibald and his son Daniel (a seminary student who died at age 20 in Ireland) had died prior to 1750 when Alla and Mary started for the colonies. Mary died aboard ship during the voyage. Daniel arrived later in the 1750's also settling in Chester County, PA. Daniel C. was a descendant of Daniel McMath as am I. He had some interesting theories regarding the relationships between Daniel and Alla and some later McMath arrivals to the United States. His theories are based primarily on letters from other McMath descendants though he may have had documentation. Since it is unknown what type of documentation Daniel C. may have had I am considering his views theory only until some supporting evidence may be found. Daniel C. was of the opinion that Daniel McMath may have been an uncle or first cousin to Alla McMath. A little history about Daniel and his family according to Daniel C. may be necessary to see this connection. Daniel McMath was probably born about 1717 in Scotland. The most likely location for his birth is Dumfriesshire or Ayrshire Scotland. He apparently left Ayr, Scotland in 1758 for his voyage to the United States with his wife, sons William and Daniel, Jr. and several daughters who are unnamed. Daniel left two of his sons, John and Samuel, with his brother Thomas who was a linen merchant in Ireland. Samuel married Ella Baxter from Dublin, Ireland and he and his wife and young daughter Nancy joined his father, Daniel, in Pennsylvania sometime between 1767 and 1772. John remained with his Uncle Thomas in Ireland and joined him in the linen business. John had a fairly large family in Ireland with sons named John, Jr., Alexander, William, Matthew and George. John, Jr. was a blacksmith who immigrated with his brother Alexander between 1780 or 1789. John, Jr. married Rebecca Simpson who was an aunt of Ulysses S. Grant about 1789 and lived with his family in Pennsylvania. Alexander settled in Plum Township, Allegheny County, PA and still has descendants in that area. William, Matthew and George are all believed to have come over together at another date and settled in North Carolina probably in Chatham County, NC where there were already some McMaths. A descendant of William indicates that three brothers came over together from Ireland and that they have McMath and Clark Revolutionary War ancestors. As Daniel was the only known McMath to have fought in the Revolution and to have descendants in Ireland this helps to lend weight to the theory of Daniel C. Matthew remained in Ireland with his father John and joined him in the linen business but a son of his, James, settled in Meadville, PA where he was a brick and stone mason. He lived in a large stone house in the 1840's and 1850's with several children some of whom were Martha, Mattie and Richard. This stone house was a frequent gathering place of Alla McMath, II and his brother Michael, by Rev. Robert McMath, and Judge Jesse McMath from Cleveland. The high number of visits from descendants of Alla McMath seemed to Daniel C. to indicate some relationship between the families of Alla and Daniel McMath. Daniel C. had received a letter from Alma McMath of Rochester, NY in which she related a visit to her mother, from two McMath lady cousins of Meadville, who presented her mother with a fancy linen shawl. These lady cousins were Martha and Mattie and Daniel C. thought that they indicated a relationship between the descendants of Alla and Daniel McMath and some relationship to Thomas McMath of Ireland. There is also the interesting naming of Archibald McMath's oldest son of Daniel. Daniel C. is a descendant of Daniel through his son James who was the only of the Daniel's children to be born in the United States. James' descendants can be found primarily in the state of Ohio. -----Original Message----- From: pahuntin-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:pahuntin-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Patti Hobbs Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 4:58 PM To: genealogy@giffords.org Subject: Re: [PAHUNTIN] McMath - Waters I just checked out that McMath book on Heritage Quest and I found it interesting because it seems to be a totally different family than our western Pennsylvania McMaths even though there are some common given names. I'd be interested to hear what Mike Gifford knows of that family and how and if they relate to the Samuel McMath family of Franklin/Huntingdon County, PA. Patti On Feb 25, 2008, at 11:43 AM, Kathryn M. Doyle wrote: > indeed the son of John McMATH (1787-1880) and Catherine WHITE > (1801-1864). > > I found a book of the family on Heritage Quest: > "Memorials of the McMath family: including a genealogical account of > the descendants of Archibald McMath, who was born in Scotland about > the year 1700," John Mortimer McMath, Detroit: Speaker Print. Co., > 1898-1937, 570 pgs., heritagequest.com. > > I noted a couple more of your recent posts and think I have more for > you. > > Later, > Kathryn > _ > Kathryn Doyle > > check out my new blog for the California Genealogical Society > http://calgensoc.blogspot.com/ > > For information about subscribing, unsubscribing, and to search or browse the PAHUNTIN mailing list archived messages, visit http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/PA/huntingdon.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PAHUNTIN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message