The Craigs from county Cavan to North Gower and Goulbourn

As with all of the pictures, click to view full sized

The Irish coat of arms for the Craig family

     To call this family the Irish Craigs isn't entirely correct. Two brothers emigrated from Scotland in the early part of the 1700's. About a century later many would emigrate again to Canada, but there are still family members there so that is Irish enough for me.

 

     The early history of the family is from a book James Beverley Craig published in 1929 called "The Craigs of Goulbourn and North Gower". He recorded a lot of family stories, traditions and traced the various lines of the Craigs. If anyone knows of a copy, I'd love to have one or at least look at it. He also included many photos. My copy is a short .pdf so most of the pictures are completely ruined and unviewable(?).

County Fermanagh in red

     The two brothers, whose names are lost to time, originally settled in county Fermanagh in Ireland. About 1760, one of the brothers moved to the adjoining count Cavan with his wfe and two children. His two children, Thomas and Elizabeth are the beginning of our recorded family.

County Cavan in  dark green

     Elizabeth married John McMullen who dropped the Mc because of the Protestant belief it carried a Roman Cathlic taint. At the time of the book's publication in 1929, there were people who still remembered of Aunt "Betty" Mullen.

     Thomas married and settled on a rented farm in the townland of Monesk in the parish of Killinagh. His wife's name is unknown but they had nine children, four sons and five daughters.

Robert, married the daughter of Thomas Johnston of Kildernab. He emigrated to Red Stone, Pennsylvannia. Although he kept in touch, contact with him and his family stopped around 1856.

Hugh 1792-1849, married Frances Nixon and they had 9 children. He and his two brothers are the ancestors of the Craigs of Noth Gower.

William married Mary Gaw and they had seven children

Thomas  1793-1859 married Elizabeth "Bessie"  Moffat. They had 10 children

Susan married a Hassard and never emigrated.

Jane "Jennie" married James Ball.

Dorothy "Dolly" married James Fiddes. They did not emigrate, but some of the family did in 1852.

Elizabeth married a Nixon. They and their only child were killed when a tree fell on their house.

Mary married James Graham. They had five children.

     From what I can tell, the nine children were all born in Monesk and raised their respective families in the area as well.

     Friday, March 2nd, 1834 the first Craig party set sail for Canada on the ship Richardson under the command of Captain McVernon. The party was comprised of;

Hugh, his wife and seven of his nine children. His married daughters, Mary and Jane stayed behind, but Jane only temporarily.

William, his wife and seven children.

Mary, her husband and four of their five children. Her son, James Graham Jr, had emigrated with his wife to Oswego, NY five years previously

     The party arrived in Canada at the port of Quebec, seven weeks and three days later on the 23rd of June. They had two incidents of note on the voyage. The captain was knocked overboard and drowned making repairs during a storm. William's daughter, Mary Anne, was drowned in the St. Lawrence. While trying to draw water to cook breakfast, she was pulled over the side and never seen again. William would die two years later felling a tree.

     The second wave came over six years later, leaving Ireland around the first of April, 1840, on the ship Industry. This party consisted of Thomas, his wife and their ten children. Several of 'Bessie's" Moffat relatives came with them. No tragedy struck this party but Thomas's daughter Charlotte was romanced by the ship's captain. There is a poem immortalizing the incident called "The Romance of Aunt Charlotte". I'm not going to post it but I do have it if anyone is interested.

Thomas Craig and Elizabeth (Bessie) Moffat

     Thomas, Bessie and the family first settled on lot 12 concession 3 of North Gower (called Gower then, no north if you are looking for it in the records). They stayed about a year then relocated to lot 13 of Concession 2.

An old concession map of North Gower about 1865 showing the various Craig holdings

   Thomas 1793- Feb.4, 1859 and Elizabeth Moffat June 24, 1798-Sept.26 1880, (both are buried in the Methodist cemetery in Kars) had ten children all in Monesk, Ireland.

Robert Feb 18, 1818-Aug 13 1882

     married Eliza Smith

Hugh June 24, 1821-July 9,1894

     married Mary Jacob

Charlotte Dec.3, 1823-April 11, 1903

     married Henry Mitchell

Thomas Dec.17,1825-April 11, 1903

     married Deborah Smith

John June 23, 1829-June 1, 1906

     married Eliza Gehan

William J. Sept. 28, 1832-Oct.19, 1920

     married Eliza Carson

James Sept. 28, 1832-Aug. 27, 1912

     married Amanda Beaman

     married Mary Anne Henderson

     married Mary Trimble

Richard April 23, 1835-Dec. 2, 1897

     married Pheobe Barrows

     married Annie Eliza Shillington

George Oct. 2, 1837-March 16, 1918

     married Sarah Eastman

Mary Anne Feb. 23, 1840-Nov. 11, 1925

     married James Jamieson

     Hugh and Mary Jacob, 1819-Oct.29, 1893 had five children.

Thomas H. 1850-Oct. 15, 1924

     married Margaret Carson

William Henry Mar. 11,1852-Feb. 1, 1916

     married Lucy Anne Anderson

Samuel B. April 2, 1856-Aug. 12, 1947

     married Maria Hodgins

     married Harriet McEwan

Elizabeth April 15, 1859-Feb. 1948

     married James Carson

Hugh Jan. 20, 1860-July 22, 1937

          married Olive Nixon

     William Henry and Lucy Ann Anderson, 1855-1938, had eight children with six surviving. The family is the compilation of the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses and the family outline from Clan Moffat. There are two places where the information differs.

Harriet E. May 7, 1878-Nov. 25, 1879

Mary Emma Aug. 14, 1881-1949

     married Robert Johnson Sadler

Eliza Mabel Dec 15, 1884-April 15,1930

     married John McBryde and ended up in Calgary, Alberta

Charles H. May 18, 1887-May 18 1941

     married Delia S. Carson

Dorothy listed as 1/12 in the 1891 census not present in the 1901, not in the Clan Moffat family sheet

Eva May Feb. 28, 1891-1901 census lists Feb. 11

     married Bennie Brownlee in 1913

T. Milburn Aug.7, 1893-Jan. 1970

     married Ada Bower in 1917 and ended up in Florida

Dorothy Agnes Jan 29, 1898

     married Ernest Brownlee

     Mary Emma Craig and Johnson Sadler are my great grandparents, their daughter Beatrice Elizabeth, my grandmother and so ends my connection to this Craig family. For more information on this particular family see the post on the Sadlers, it has a lot more detail or look at the post for my grandmother. It would be something to find a link between the original two Scottish brothers of this family and my paternal Scottish Craig family.

     I know none of my Irish Craig family, I don't think I ever met any of them. Feel free to contact me, it would be great to connect and see what happened with the various branches of the tree. To get in touch, click on my profile on the right, About Me. It will take you to an email link. I look forward to hearing from you and swapping stories, pictures, whatever. Thanks for dropping by, Paul.