Please let me have info on the books. My surnames of relevance are Alexander, Bell, Montgomery, Steele, Stewart/Stuart and Walker. At 02:41 PM 02/25/2002, you wrote: > >From Chapter 1 of Alexander Lecky's 1905 book, "The Laggan and its >Presbyterianism we find the following description of the district know as the >LAGGAN: > >"On looking at a map of the County Donegal, it will be seen that the >north-eastern part of the county, which is the most northerly part of >Ireland, is a peninsula washed on the eastern side by the waters of Lough >Foyle and on the western by Lough Swilly. This is Inishowen, a mountainous >and, to a large extent, a barren country. Immediately to the south of it is >a fertile and comparatively flat country, lying between the river Foyle and >the upper reaches of Lough Swilly, and extending in one direction from the >City of Derry to Stranorlar, and in another from Lifford to Letterkenny. >This is the district which in by-gone times was known under the name of THE >LAGGAN, and formed the most productive and desireable portion of the ancient >territory of Tyrconnell..." > >This is also where many of my ancestors and yours came from; Defenders of >Derry during the great siege, the defining moment in Ulster Protestant >history. To an Ulsterman the Siege of Londonderry is what the War Between >the States is to an American. Shortly after this event great waves of >Derrymen left for America, first settling in Pennsylvania and then moving >down the Valley of Virginia and into the Carolinas. This genealogical >connection between the families of those who fought at Derry and those who >settled in Augusta/Rockbridge counties Virgina and the Settlement of the >Northwest Carolina Frontier (Carolina Cradle by Ramsey) eventually reaches a >climax on a little mountain in North Carolina on October 7, 1780. This is >the area of history that myself and fellow researcher John Giocoletti from >Florida have always wanted to explore in detail. This June we will be >travelling to Derry and Belfast for some extended research into the family >histories of those names that appear both in the records of the Laggan and at >King's Mountain. > >Lecky's two books, "The Laggan and its Presbyterianism," and "In the Days of >the Laggan Presbytery," published in 1905 and 1908 Belfast, Davidson & >McCormack, North Gate Works, are a must for anyone wanting to discover their >Ulster roots. The books real value for the genealogist is in the Appendix >which is divided into several parts, the most important being the following: > >"The following are the names of men who attended the meetings of the Laggan >Presbytery between the years 1672 and 1700, as ruling elders or as >commissioners, together with the names of the congregations which they >represented. They were doubtless the leading men in the districts in which >they lived..." These lists are by Parish and I will give a couple of >examples: > >Taboyn: Matthew Lindsay, John Aikine, Alexander Houston, Robert Cowan, >Archibald Alexander, Robert Scott, Wm. Mackie, Wm. Bell, Robert M'Clellan, >Richard Armstrong, Richard Moore, John Kilgore, Wm. Inglis, John Gay, John >Harvey, David Paterson, George Brown, Robert Moore, James Marshall, John >Graham > >Raphoe: Joseph Henderson, Edward Hervies, William Mills, Michael Henderson, >Robert Anderson, Patrick Bell, Robert Dick, Alexander Stuart, William Ramsay, >James Laird, Robert Walker, John M'Clure, Robert Gray, John Sproul > >Londonderry: John Craig, William Cunningham, John Campsie, William Rodger, >James Fisher, Horace Kennedy, James Wilson, William Macky, James Lennox, >William Smith, John Cowan, Alexander Lecky, William Davidsson, James Wallace, >George Henderson, others > >In addition to the ruling elders there is a list of people from the Hearth >Money rolls of 1665 by Parish and TOWNLAND which places a person in an area >sometimes as small as a few acres. These lists are important when comparing >names with the early landowners of Augusta county or the Baptismal records of >the the Rev. Craig at Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church or the early >settlers of the Yadkin settlement in Rowan county, North Carolina. > >I will be willing to furnish copies of these two books for a limited time to >researchers who want to explore their Ulster genealogy. Many of you >purchased copies of Professor Hagy's thesis, "Castle's Woods; Frontier >Virginia Settlement" and I have received numerous e-mails about the quality >of that document. I believe these two books by Lecky are superior in the >information contained and if you would like a copy please contact me >privately at cscunc@aol.com for the details. > >Any information John and I discover specific to your surname will be posted >on the appropriate list after our return from Ireland. I will provide a list >of surnames that have "made the cut" so far, the requirements being that the >family is found in Derry and also found at King's Mountain. Any suggestions >for additional names will be considered as long as the request is >substantiated with a reasonable amount of documentation. > >Regards, >Robert Cowan >525 Harrogate Rd. >Matthews, North Carolina 28105 > >Names on the list so far: Alexander, Anderson, Bell, Black, Blair, Brown, >Buchanan, Campbell, Cowan, Craig, Cunningham, Denniston, Edmondson, Finley, >Fleming, Gillespie, Graham, Hamilton, Houston, Irvin, Kilgore, King, Knox, >Lindsay, McClure, Maxwell, Moffatt, Montgomery, Moore, Ramsay, Robinson, >Russell, Scott, Steele, Stewart/Stuart, Thompson, Walker, Weir, Young >spellings may vary > >John and I will stay in touch with the various lists as best we can. It will >not be possible to remain of all the surname lists all the time for obvious >reasons. Feel free to contact me at cscunc@aol.com if you have any >suggestions or questions. This may make a nice book one day. > > >==== STEELE Mailing List ==== >Boards > Surnames > Steele - post a topic below, defaults to the list! >http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames.steele > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237