Meet the Family

The next four blog posts are going to be by my mother.

Yes, my mother is taking over the blog while I am on vacation.

My mother has so much to share. This time for the blog takeover her focus is on her experiences in tracing our family history.

She loves Geneology. She loves her family. She will no doubt love blogging and have her own blog soon…just wait!

So here we go, the first day of my mother blogging….enjoy!

Deuteronomy 22:7 – “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations”

As a child my Aunt Mamie told me the stories of our family. She faithfully kept track of everyone updating her book with new marriages, births and deaths. She stirred this interest in me, and I decided that when I was old I would put together all the family information I had accumulated over the years to pass on to my children.

One day, I decided I had better get moving on this project, because I wasn’t getting younger. The internet has greatly expanded my information base. I began my work with the first generation of the Fulton family in America (my paternal ancestor).

In 1772 many Scotch-Irish families filled with a passion for liberty and religious freedom left Northern Ireland. My paternal 4th great grandparents were Abraham Fulton and Margaret Guthry. Abraham Fulton was 60 years old when he and his family left Articlave, Derry County, Northern Ireland and joined the westward migration to America to start a new life never to see their native home and land again. On June 25, 1772, they sailed with their seven children on the ship General Wolfe and landed in Baltimore, Maryland seventeen weeks later on October 29, 1772. “Three hundred passengers left Ireland and 80 of these passengers died at sea. Part of the time the food allowance was ½ a biscuit and ½ a pint of water a day per person. They arrived mere skeletons, so weak they could hardly walk, most of them without money for their support.”

Quoted from the “New York Journal”, Oct 29, 1772, Virginia Oct 19, 1772.

The Fulton’s brought with them a “Certificate of Good Standing” from Dunboe Presbyterian Church. There is hardly a Fulton descendant who has not seen a facsimile of this letter issued to Abraham Fulton before leaving for America.

This letter states:

“Whereas Abraham Fulton and his wife and family are now removing from this country, to the continent of America – This is to inform whom it may concern that they were born and lived until the date hereof in of parish and behaved in a sober and Christian manner and now leaves us free of any public scandal or church censure. Certified at Articlave in the Kingdom of Ireland this 26th day of May 1772.
By William Knox, D. V. M.
Elders: ? Caldwell and Robert Guthry”

The “Treaty of Peace” ending the French and Indian war was signed assuring that the land was owned by the British. Western Pennsylvania was opening up for settlers and the Fulton family set out to this wilderness territory. Their journey to Western Pennsylvania was an arduous and perilous journey. They had to cross the Allegheny Mountains and the only means of transportation was on foot or horseback. The roads they followed were the trails created by General Forbe’s and General Braddock’s armies used in the French and Indian War (today’s Rt. 30 or Rt. 40).

The family settled in Derry, Westmoreland County named after Derry, Northern Ireland. They built log cabin homes, raised their family and farmed the land. They served their new country in the Militia, were involved in the “Whiskey Rebellion” the Revolutionary War, and dealt with Indian raids. They lived a pioneer life, worshipped in log structures, and are buried in area church graveyards.

My information regarding this generation of our family is correct according to the data I have accumulated. My ancestors prepared the way for my family. They knew when the time was right to leave their homes and family and move to the new world so their descendants would have a better life. They sacrificed their lives in wars for our freedom beginning with the French and Indian war. There is a common thread throughout my family history. They were people whose priorities were family, education, faith in God, service to others and hard work. What they invested in matters.

Our relationships are eternal and it is our responsibility to pass our story to the next generation.

Books regarding the Fulton family can be found in the Pennsylvania Room of the Carnegie Library in Oakland, Pittsburgh and on the internet. One place I discovered and visited is the Derry Area Historical Society, New Derry, PA. What makes this special is that the society is located in a log cabin that belonged to Robert Fulton then James Fulton, son and grandson of immigrant Abraham Fulton.

Resources for information on the Abraham Fulton Family:

“History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men” Edited by George Dallas Albert. Published 1882. I purchased a CD of this book on Ebay. It can be read on line at the Digital Library of the University of Pittsburgh.
http://www.library.pitt.edu

“The Fulton Family of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania 1712-1772-1940” by Ernest S. Craighead, self published 1940. This book is a genealogy of the Fulton family beginning with Abraham Fulton who immigrated to Westmoreland County in 1772. I bought a reproduction and CD of this book on the intenet. This book can be found on the internet at www.irishgenealogy.com/fulton.htm

Internet – Ancestry.com

Article on the ship General Wolfe, October 29, 1772 – From “The New York Journal”, Oct 29, 1772 Virginia Oct 19, 1772 ” www.irishgenealogy.com/fulton.htm

Derry Area Historical Society – www.derryhistory.org

I can be contacted at susanfish1 AT verizon.net

As always, I have a freebie for you today and each day my mother takes over the blog duties. Over the next four posts I will give away four quickpages made by NibblesScribbles (aka MrsMandaK on Twitter).

Here is the full kit “Fresh” which Amanda used to make the quickpages..you can pick it up by visiting my boutique at Digital’s:

http://digitalscrapbookpages.com/digitals/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=15828

And here is the first of four quickpages…

Remember, personal use only. This is my gift to you, not my gift to cyberspace. Please don’t share it with the world, send friends here to download. And comments? They remind me that you were here, that you received my gift. So comment! I read them! I love them!

DOWNLOAD

Have a great Tuesday!

Best,
Cyndi

History is herstory, too. ~Author Unknown

History is a novel for which the people is the author. ~Alfred de Vigny, Réflexions sur la Vérité dans l’Art

The challenge of history is to recover the past and introduce it to the present. ~David Thelen

History is never antiquated, because humanity is always fundamentally the same. ~Walter Rauschenbusch

Take from the altars of the past the fire – not the ashes. ~Jean Jaures