D. L. Logan - The Smith Story: From Ireland to Western Pennsylvania Volume 2 of 2

The Smith Story

From Ireland to Western Pennsylvania

Compiler: D. L. Logan

White Butterfly Press

A White Butterfly Publication

Published by White Butterfly Press 2017

Copyright @ D.L.Logan 2017

This book is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the hard work of theseSmiths who compiled the information.

All rights reserved under International andPan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United Statesby White Butterfly Press.

Researched by Susan Kiley, Lois Larry, Jenny Magoon, Phil Gilmore,Hugh Long and Deborah Logan.

THE IRISH NAME Mac an Ghobhann means son ofthe Smith. The families with variations of this surname are alsocalled: MacGowan, Smithson, Smyth and Smith according to Ida Grehanin the Dictionary of Irish Family Names.[1]Smith is the fifth most common name in Ireland, and thus, one ofthe most difficult to track. It is likely that our Smiths were partof a "plantation" in Ireland, coming from Scotland or the north ofEngland originally. If they were Scots, they most likely spokeGaelic as a first language.

Edward MacLysaght tells us that the nameGoing is also associated with Mac an Ghobhann, although thatversion probably came from the French Gouin.[2]

This is the story of the John and AnnMitchell Smyth extended families who came first to York,Pennsylvania(perhaps between 1755 and 1775) and later memberstrecked (between 1794 and 1800), over the mountains, to MercerCounty, Pennsylvania. Like other early immigrants from Ireland,they persisted in their goal to get to Pennsylvania, despitehazardous travel and the pain of leaving some of their familymembers behind.

This history of the Smiths is dedicated to myniece, Megan Kilgour, who asked me to help her with a schoolproject twenty years ago. Her teacher wanted her to start a familytree. And so we did. It is also dedicated to the tireless SusanKiley(Harry McElwaine Smith line), who has spent thousands of hoursporing over Smith land records; and to Lois Smith Larry(HarryMcElwaine Smith line), and to Jenny Magoon (the Smith-Andersonline). It is dedicated to Vivian Smith Martin, who has left us, butshe and her brother Donald Smith (Ransom Smith line) helped meimmeasurably. Last, to the irrepressible C. Phil Gilmore, whohelped me with the Gilmores over the years, and passed away inJanuary of 2017.

I started the Smith history with a list of people typed on a manualtypewriter by my mother and by my grandmother Lillian McKay Smithin the 1950s.

As a child growing up 100 miles north of Pittsburgh in ruralWestern Pennsylvania, I had heard the adults speak of Ireland andScotland at the annual family reunions. I had no real conception ofwhere those places might be nor my connection to them, but Ivividly remember walking along the wind-swept frozen marsh landspretending to be on the bogs of Ireland or the moors ofScotland.

I have done nothing remarkable with my life:have written no symphony; built no real estate empire; made nofortune. Instead my energy has been consumed in determining whothey were, why my family acted and spoke and interacted the way itdid. It was a harsh and unforgiving childhood, Calvinist and notthe least bit introspective. People just got on with their tasks:no joy was expected and none received. The ancestors wereever-present. So, now, before I die I will try to record what Iknow and what I learned about the Smiths.

Because the database program I used to collect the Smith data is"patrilineal," you will see some of your relatives repeated in eachfamily grouping. In other words, if your ancestor had a Smithancestor and a Long ancestor, then you will see the samegenerations repeated in the Smith and Long chapters.

Dear Ancestor,
Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone
The name and date are chiselled out
On polished marble stone
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh and blood and bone
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.

Dear Ancestor,
The place you filled
One hundred years ago Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved

I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot
And come to visit you.
--Author Unknown

"...remember that earthly felicity is ofshort duration and also very imperfect and insubstantial. " OldJohn Smyth, 1822, advising his son William.

Descendants of James Long

Generation No. 1

1. JAMES1LONG - Birth Place:Ireland

Children of JAMES LONG are:

2. i. JAMES2 LONG, b. 1738,Ireland ; d. April 16, 1830, Mt. Blair Cemetery, Route 86 &Route 198 - Pa..

ii. COOKSON LONG, b. 1750, Captain FifthCompany Rev.War 1776; m. REBECCA MCNIGHT, September 09, 1765,Carlisle, Pa., Presbyterian Church, Property: 1762, ConodeguinetCreek, Cumberland.

Generation No. 2

2. JAMES2LONG (JAMES1) was born 1738 inIreland, and died April 16, 1830 in Mt. Blair Cemetery, Route 86& Route 198 - Pa.. He married NANCY. She was born 1740, anddied December 12, 1817 as reported in Crawford WeeklyMessenger.

Notes for JAMES LONG, from Hugh Long:

"For many years we have been searching theorigins of the family of James LONG, b 1738 at Carlisle, Pa, d 1830in Crawford County, Pa. His tombstone reads: In Memory of JamesLong, born AD 1738. He was a revolutionary soldier & was Clerkof a Regt. cotrold by Gen Wayne under the illustrious Washington.he died April 6th 1830 in the 93rd year of his age. A photo ofthis beautiful tombstone is available. James served with The PaLine, Fourth battalion in Capt Persifor Frazers company underGeneral Wayne during the period of 1776/1777. He was promoted toCorporal Feb 2, 1776.

He had at least one brother, Cookson Long,who also served in the Revolution as a Colonel and is mentionednumerous times in various publications. Several books state thatthis family is from Irish descent, but we have yet to find anydocuments proving this to be so. Because of the intermarriage intoIrish or Scots Irish by this family, and the people with whom theyassociated, we believe they are Irish or Scots Irish, but we haveno proof. We have searched the National Archives, Pa StateArchives, Pennsylvania Archives, LDS records, land records, manycourt records, military records, several church records and countyhistories, all to no avail.

Headstone in Mount Blair Cemetery, Crawford,PA. Inscription on Headstone of James Long (Jennifer Johnson addedthis on 4 Sep 2013) In memory of James Long born A.D. 1738. He wasa revolutionary soldier, was clerk of Regiment commanded by Gen.Wayne under the illustrious Washington. He died April 6th 1830 inthe 93rd year of his age. Source: In the handwriting of andpersonal family history papers of James Long Johnson, Jr, bornFebruary 19, 1921, died November 24, 2010. As found by and recordedon this site by his daughter, Jennifer. " Hugh Long