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They Sure Liked the Name Hugh, Didn't They?
by Joan M. Kay
I've seen where the rumor may have started 60 or 70 years ago.
On a research trip a few years back, there it was, in some genealogical quarterly, the assertion in a query letter, that Hugh McLaughlin (Bath County, Virginia), husband of Jane Wiley, was a Revolutionary War soldier who was also an orphaned fourteen-year-old in 1772.
A good deduction, but it's just not true, and many researchers have figured that out. But a whole slew of them haven't yet. So the rumor goes and grows. And who knows, I may have even passed it around myself when I first started researching.
That's because there are so darn many Hugh McLaughlins, pardon my French.
Let's get them straight so we know who we're supposed to be researching.
There's:
Hugh #1 turned up on the Virginia Coast in 17431, running from the Navy's HMS Cruizer. He was also impressed onto the ship in Virginia, so he may have been a resident of a coastal or shipping town. I don't know what happened to him after that. (My novel has him running to the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains to become Hugh #2. Fiction, I know. It's a novel--I had fun with it.)
Hugh #2 who in 1757 had connections to or lived in Pendleton County, (W)VA2; and either died or ran away from his family in 17723,4, Augusta County, Virginia, leaving the children Hugh (jr) and James.
Hugh #3 was the son of Hugh #2. He was born around 17573, 4; apprenticed to be a currier3, 4; joined the Revolutionary War in 17775, held prisoner where he learned to become a tailor, lived in Bath County, Virginia, working for tailor Wilson. He married Agnes (Nancy) Gwin in 1789. He died in 17986,7. He had currier's tools (or "tools for dressing skins") in his "estate" inventory7. Seems common enough. But a scouring of the inventories of a span of 50 years in Bath County showed only one other deceased owning currier's tools8.
Hugh #4 was most likely from Bedford County, Virginia, or surrounding area, judging from his enlistment in the Revolutionary War. He died in the war in 17779.
Then there's:
Hugh, born around 1767
Hugh, born in 1798
Hugh, 1801
Hugh, son of William, Pocahontas County, WV
Hugh from Greenbrier County, WV
and then, of course,
"H.P."
All of which I'll get to next time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Footnotes:
1British Admiralty. PRO (Public Records Office) Class ADM 36/681, HMS Cruizer, 1742-1743. Repository: The National Archives (PRO), Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU [UK]. [Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444]
2Morton, Oren F. A History of Pendleton County, WV Baltimore: Regional Publishing Co, 1974; p 37. Repository: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Call no 975.491 H2M 1974 FHL US/CAN. [Viewed in 2002 at the National Archives, Washington, DC]
3Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia; Volume I, Order Book XIV, pp 166. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
4Augusta County, Virginia. Order Book XIV, p 329. (17 Mar 1772, at issue, Hugh McLaughlin, orphan.) Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
5"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 69, Gist's Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
6"Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800 to 1900" National Archives Publication. Entry for the soldier Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M804 roll 1684. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
7Bath County, Virginia. Wills Book 1, p 125-126. (15 Oct 1798, at issue, Hugh McGloughlin Estate Appraisal). Repository: Bath County, Virginia, Courthouse; Warm Springs, VA.
8 Bruns, Jean Randolph. Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County,Virginia, 1791-1842, (Baltimore, Clearfield Company, 1995) Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD
9"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McLaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 906, (E-O) Virginia 1st Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
I've seen where the rumor may have started 60 or 70 years ago.
On a research trip a few years back, there it was, in some genealogical quarterly, the assertion in a query letter, that Hugh McLaughlin (Bath County, Virginia), husband of Jane Wiley, was a Revolutionary War soldier who was also an orphaned fourteen-year-old in 1772.
A good deduction, but it's just not true, and many researchers have figured that out. But a whole slew of them haven't yet. So the rumor goes and grows. And who knows, I may have even passed it around myself when I first started researching.
That's because there are so darn many Hugh McLaughlins, pardon my French.
Let's get them straight so we know who we're supposed to be researching.
There's:
Hugh #1 turned up on the Virginia Coast in 17431, running from the Navy's HMS Cruizer. He was also impressed onto the ship in Virginia, so he may have been a resident of a coastal or shipping town. I don't know what happened to him after that. (My novel has him running to the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains to become Hugh #2. Fiction, I know. It's a novel--I had fun with it.)
Hugh #2 who in 1757 had connections to or lived in Pendleton County, (W)VA2; and either died or ran away from his family in 17723,4, Augusta County, Virginia, leaving the children Hugh (jr) and James.
Hugh #3 was the son of Hugh #2. He was born around 17573, 4; apprenticed to be a currier3, 4; joined the Revolutionary War in 17775, held prisoner where he learned to become a tailor, lived in Bath County, Virginia, working for tailor Wilson. He married Agnes (Nancy) Gwin in 1789. He died in 17986,7. He had currier's tools (or "tools for dressing skins") in his "estate" inventory7. Seems common enough. But a scouring of the inventories of a span of 50 years in Bath County showed only one other deceased owning currier's tools8.
Hugh #4 was most likely from Bedford County, Virginia, or surrounding area, judging from his enlistment in the Revolutionary War. He died in the war in 17779.
Then there's:
Hugh, born around 1767
Hugh, born in 1798
Hugh, 1801
Hugh, son of William, Pocahontas County, WV
Hugh from Greenbrier County, WV
and then, of course,
"H.P."
All of which I'll get to next time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Footnotes:
1British Admiralty. PRO (Public Records Office) Class ADM 36/681, HMS Cruizer, 1742-1743. Repository: The National Archives (PRO), Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU [UK]. [Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444]
2Morton, Oren F. A History of Pendleton County, WV Baltimore: Regional Publishing Co, 1974; p 37. Repository: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Call no 975.491 H2M 1974 FHL US/CAN. [Viewed in 2002 at the National Archives, Washington, DC]
3Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia; Volume I, Order Book XIV, pp 166. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
4Augusta County, Virginia. Order Book XIV, p 329. (17 Mar 1772, at issue, Hugh McLaughlin, orphan.) Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
5"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 69, Gist's Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
6"Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800 to 1900" National Archives Publication. Entry for the soldier Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M804 roll 1684. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
7Bath County, Virginia. Wills Book 1, p 125-126. (15 Oct 1798, at issue, Hugh McGloughlin Estate Appraisal). Repository: Bath County, Virginia, Courthouse; Warm Springs, VA.
8 Bruns, Jean Randolph. Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County,Virginia, 1791-1842, (Baltimore, Clearfield Company, 1995) Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD
9"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McLaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 906, (E-O) Virginia 1st Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.
posted by ResRev | 11:27 AM
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