The McCrearys

In the 17th Century King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) took over Ulster Province in North Ireland, but this was followed by great unrest and disloyalty there to the Crown of England. At the same time the Presbyterians of western Scotland were not happy because they did not like the rule of bishops and wanted to govern their churches in their own way. They were persecuted for their beliefs and there was much fighting with those who did not believe as they did. James I decided to encourage or force them to move to North Ireland to settle in that recently acquired area. This was tactically brilliant since it provided him with subjects in North Ireland who would be loyal to him while at the same time easing the religious friction in Scotland. As a long term strategy, however, the result was a disaster for the people of North Ireland as they fought among themselves over religious and cultural differences for the next 350 years or more! As this is being written, a recent peace agreement is being sorely tested. It is believed that our McCrearys were among the Presbyterian Scots who settled in North Ireland. These were the lowland Scots, not to be confused with the highlanders of bagpipes and kilts. This travel of people between the Isles was not new. Over previous centuries there had been frequent migration in both directions as one area or the other would become less favorable as a place to eke out a living. After all, the required voyage across the North Channel of the Irish Sea was only 12 miles at the closest points. McCrearys have been found in most of the counties in Ulster Province, but it is believed our ancestors settled near Strabane in the northwestern part of County Tyrone. The Scots-Irish, or Ulster Scots as they are called in Ireland, coexisted with the Irish Catholics for several generations although there was frequent fighting. Finally, in the 18th century the bloodshed, religious bickering, tithing for the Anglican Church that they didn't attend, and the promise of better opportunity in the New World all contributed to the start of the massive Scots-Irish emigration. There were several McCrearys who came to America in the 1720s and settled in Pennsylvania. For our line, one story has it that three young McCreary brothers named Thomas, William and John, sons of John McCreary of County Antrim in North Ireland, arrived in America in about 1720. They moved into York County where in 1728 Pennsylvania's proprietors authorized the first white families to settle west of the Susquehanna River. They were part of a great migration of German, Scots-Irish and English settlers into that area. Two of the earliest were William and Thomas McCreary and early records show that in the spring of 1740 those two owned land just south of Gettysburg near Greenmount. However, the first really verifiable ancestor of ours in the McCreary line was Thomas, who was born about 1730 and in 1759 bought land in Mount Pleasant Township in what is now the eastern part of Adams County. The McCrearys were Presbyterian but we know from later sources that some of them became Quakers. There were Quaker families in the area and if a man met a Quaker girl and wanted to marry her, he would have to join her church or she would be "disowned". One story has it that Thomas became a Quaker when he married Sarah Edwards in about 1755. In 1769 Thomas turned his property over in trust to his children, among whom was David McCreary: Family of Thomas McCreary Thomas McCreary born abt. 1730 in Lancaster Co., PA, died bet. 1771-1779 in Mt. Pleasant Twp, York Co., married to Sarah Edwards who died bef. 1803 Children: 1. Jonathan McCreary 2. John McCreary 3. Thomas McCreary, Jr. born 1754 in York Co., PA, died 7 Jul 1829 married to Mary Garretson born 6 Nov 1760 4. Amos McCreary born abt. 1830 in Napier Twp, Bedford Co., PA married to Hanna Whinnery born bef. 1830 in Napier Twp, Bedford Co., PA 5. Rachel McCreary married 14 May 1788 in Manchester Twp, York Co., PA to Joseph Hughit born in PA 6. Jane McCreary married to Peter Fleck 7. David McCreary born 18 Dec 1759 in Conewago Twp, York Co., PA, died 25 Mar 1828 in Straban Twp, Adams Co., PA, married 20 May 1803 in Menallen Twp, Adams Co., PA to Alice Wright II born 16 Feb 1779 in Menallen Twp, died 6 Feb 1855 in Menallen Sources show our ancestor David McCreary in several places in eastern Adams County. He was 17 years old in 1776 and there is a record of a David McCreary who served in the Revolutionary War, appearing on the muster roll of a Captain Doudel. This would not square with our David being of the Quaker faith and may be another David. In 1801 he is shown on Tax Assessment lists as having property worth $3,156. It is possible he may have married twice since we show him at age 44 when he married Alice Wright who was 20 years younger and they had 11 children, two of whom were twins who died at birth. Alice Wright's 2nd great-grandfather on her mother's side was Daniel John Ferree, a wealthy French silk manufacturer. His father, Jean La Verree, is said to have been descended from Robert Ferree, a Norman nobleman from Forchamps going back to the year 1265. Daniel was born in France in 1647 and married Marie Warenbur in 1675. Marie was also born in France in about 1653. Her family had operated a winery in France for generations. The family of Daniel and Marie grew and prospered in French Flanders. But there was one problem: they were Huguenots - Protestants in a very Catholic society. Officially, they were living under the Edict of Nantes, a decree giving partial religious freedom to the Huguenots proclaimed by King Henry IV in 1598. It ended the series of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants that ravaged France from 1562 to 1598. But the provisions of the Edict were never fully carried out. By the time of Louis XIV's reign, persecution of the Huguenots resumed, particularly after 1681. Daniel and Marie's third child Mary Catharine, our ancestor, was born in 1683, and when the Edict was revoked two years later, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots were forced to flee France and take refuge in Protestant areas. Daniel and Marie fled with their family to Steinweiler in the German Pfalz, coincidentally just four miles south of M�rzheim, where our Heckmann family lived. But the Pfalz was not immune to conflict, and fighting soon broke out. Daniel was killed by a group of Catholics. Marie feared she would be next so she changed to a German form of her maiden name, Warrenbauer, for protection. In 1708, she fled to England with her six children. She became an English subject and had the good fortune to meet up with one William Penn in London. He requested that Queen Ann grant letters of patent to this desperate widow for 2,000 acres in Pennsylvania, and the good Queen did. Marie and her children immigrated to America, arriving in New Paltz, New York in 1709. Two years later, they left for Pennsylvania where she founded the first distinct colony of French immigrants in America in the Pequea Valley, Lancaster County. Her 2,000 acres were located in Paradise, a town now on Route 30 between Philadelphia and Lancaster. They first tried to grow grapes for wine, as in the old country, but the attempt failed and they had to revert to tobacco. There is now a women's club in Paradise, PA that is named after Marie. But returning to the McCrearys, in 1828 David died while still with young children and his will, written 9 days before his death, reflected that: "... my Executor shall sell as much of the farm I now live on as will pay all my debts, ... my wife Alice McCreary shall have the house I now live in and all the remaining part of my farm to raise and school my children until my youngest child arrives at the age of twenty-one years, ... my wife Alice shall have as much of the household and kitchen furniture as she may think proper to ... my wife Alice to have as much of the stock and farming utensils as she may think proper to keep for her own use. And when my youngest child arrives at the age of twenty-one years or within the two years after my Executor shall sell the remaining part of my real estate and divide the proceeds of the two thirds thereof between my nine children, namely Benjamin, Thomas, David, Sarah, John, Jesse, Martha, Samuel and William McCreary ... the other one third to be paid yearly to my wife Alice during her natural life and at her decease all the residue of my estate to be equally divided between my children ... if my wife Alice should decease before my youngest child arrives at age of twenty-one years then my Executor shall sell all the residue of my Estate and divide the proceeds between my nine children ... to my son Benjamin McCreary the mare he now claims. ... to my son Thomas my bay mare and to my son David my colt." In the Inventory taken after his death, the usual household furniture is shown: 7 beds, two saddles, barrel of salt, 7 cows, 1 calf, 1 bull, 15 sheep, 19 pigs, one bay horse, one gray mare, 2 plows, one harrow and sled, one wagon, one old wagon, one gray mare bequeathed to Benjamin, one bay mare bequeathed to Thomas McCreary, one gray colt bequeated to David McCreary, one lot of corn, one lot of rye, one lot of oats, grain in the ground, and some promissory notes from George Knous payable in the next year or two. He and Alice are buried 10 miles due north of Gettysburg in The Old Quaker Cemetery, which dates back to 1825. It's now called Friends Grove Cemetery, and the front part has Dunkard burials while to the rear are the Quakers. Family of David McCreary David McCreary born 18 Dec 1759 in Conewago Twp, York Co., PA, died 25 Mar 1828 in Straban Twp, Adams Co., PA, married 20 May 1803 in Menallen Twp, York Co., PA to Alice Wright II born 16 Feb 1779 in Menallen Twp, died 6 Feb 1855 in Menallen Twp Children: 1. Benjamin Wright McCreary born 7 Jan 1804 in Straban Twp, Adams Co., PA, died 5 Mar 1873 in Linn Co., IA, married 23 Dec 1829 in Adams Co. to Maria Brinkerhoff born 9 Sep 1809 in Straban Twp, died 17 Apr 1887 in Linn Co., IA 2. Thomas McCreary born 14 Mar 1806 in Adams Co. 3. Twin 1 McCreary born 21 Sep 1807 in Adams Co., died 21 Sep 1807 4. Twin 1 McCreary born 21 Sep 1807 in Adams Co., died 21 Sep 1807 5. David McCreary born 11 Dec 1808 in Adams Co. 6. Sarah McCreary born 3 May 1811 in Adams Co. 7. John McCreary born 7 Oct 1813 in Adams Co. 8. Jesse McCreary born 12 Feb 1816 in Adams Co. 9. Martha McCreary born 15 Aug 1818 in Adams Co. 10.Samuel McCreary born 3 Jan 1822 in Adams Co. 11.William McCreary born 6 Jun 1825 in Adams Co. Benjamin Wright McCreary was born in 1804 and on 23 December 1829 records reveal a marriage: "On Wednesday Evening last, by Rev. David McConaughy, Mr. Benjamin McCreary to Miss Maria Brinkerhoff daughter of Mr. Garret Brinkerhoff, both of Straban Twp." Benjamin was from a Quaker family and Maria's family was Dutch Reformed, so it's interesting to note that David McConaughy was a Presbyterian minister! Apparently, this was evidence of the breaking away of Benjamin from the Quaker Church. When they later moved to Bedford County, his daughter Rebecca married a man whose family were Quakers but there has never been any evidence found that either of these families returned to the Quaker faith. The Brinkerhoffs were a Dutch family that had come to New York and New Jersey in the middle of the 17th century. The line has been traced all the way back to a Dirck Brinckerhoff born in the Netherlands in 1575. His son Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff was the immigrant who arrived in New York in 1638. Family of Benjamin Wright McCreary Benjamin Wright McCreary brn 7 Jan 1804 in Straban Twp, Adams Co., PA, died 5 Mar 1873 in Linn Co., IA, married 23 Dec 1829 in Adams Co., PA to Maria Brinkerhoff born 9 Sep 1809 in Straban Twonship, Adams Co., died 17 Apr 1887 in Linn Co. Children: 1. Jane Elizabeth Magdaline McCreary born 7 Dec 1830 in Schellsburg, PA, died 6 Jun 1904 married to ____ Ellis. 2. Sarah Alice McCreary born 13 Oct 1833 in Schellsburg, PA, married in 1852 in Napier Twp, Bedford Co. to Abel Smith 3. Martinah Brinkerhoff McCreary brn 1 Aug 1836 in Schellsburg, PA, died 28 May 1917 in Pasadena, CA, married to ____ Stoudnour. 4. Rebecca Ann McCreary born 3 Aug 1840 in Schellsburg, PA, died 8 May 1915 in Linn Co., IA, married on 15 May 1859 in Bedford Co. to Eli M. Garretson born 9 Aug 1836 in Bedford Co., died 14 Mar 1882 in Linn Co. 5. Anna Maria McCreary born 4 Dec 1847 married ____ Timmons. 6. William David Clark McCreary born 13 Nov 1850 in Schellsburg, Bedford Co., PA, died 25 Feb 1927 in Linn Co., IA, married to Permealia Howe Smith married on 8 Feb 1874 in Linn Co., IA to Mary Virginia Brockman born 17 Aug 1856 in Linn Co., IA, died 5 Jul 1896 in Linn Co., IA. Benjamin and Maria's farm was in Mount Pleasant Township of Adams County, as shown by the census of 1830. But that fall they left for Bedford County and their first child, Jane, was born near Schellsburg in December. Their farm was in Napier Township, later St. Clair Township, where they had five more children, the last being born in November of 1850. Their fourth child, Rebecca Ann, was born in 1840 and in 1859 she married Eli Garretson. When Benjamin and Maria heard the stories of the Civil War battles back in Adams County in and around Gettysburg, they were no doubt glad that they had left the place. Family lore has it that "The Brinkerhoff or McCreary farm was one of the seven farms where the battle of Gettysburg was fought. At the time the battle started, the wheat was ready to harvest. After the battle, the ground was as bare as a floor." This no doubt refers to the large farm that was originally owned by Maria's grandfather, John Brinkerhoff and may have been the farm she was brought up on. It was indeed situated very close to Gettysburg, being just 3 miles northeast of the center of town. However, the massively destructive battles were more to the north, west, and south so the statement could be exaggerating a bit, although there were some minor skirmishes to the east. One of them was "The Fight for Brinkerhoff's Ridge" which took place on July 2, 1863, just east of Gettysburg and west of Low Dutch Road. In addition, the remains of a Confederate cavalryman killed in the fighting east of Gettysburg were removed from a burial plot on the "J. Brinkerhoff Farm" in 1871 and re-interred in Soldiers Lots, Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. There was also one burial recorded there with no record of removal. It is generally known that the John Brinkerhoff farm had a slave cemetery. Again, family lore says that "The Brinkerhoffs owned a plantation and had slaves whom he freed after the war. The slaves did not want to leave as he had been so kind to them always." It is not certain who the "he" was, since John and his son Garret died before the Civil War. One of the Brinkerhoff-McCreary descendants in Iowa at one time was reported to have a hand-woven counter pane spread that was handed down to her. The wool was said to have come from the Brinkerhoff flock with the slaves preparing the wool through all stages, from dyeing to weaving it into the spread. Since many relatives of the McCrearys still resided in Adams Co. in 1863, Benjamin probably heard stories of the Battle of Gettysburg like the following, as reported in Adams County History, 1860-1865: "Understandably, people kept off the streets as the battle developed. A Union officer rode up to the David McCreary residence on the southwest corner of Baltimore and West High Streets, and warned the group gathered there 'All you good people go down to your cellars or you will be killed.' As Albertus McCreary wrote later, 'we obeyed him at once. We did not dare to look out of the windows on the Baltimore street side since sharpshooters from Cemetery Hill were watching all the homes for Confederate sharpshooters and picking off every person they saw. From that distance they could not distinguish a citizen from a soldier. On the High street side we could stay out on the porch during the heavy artillery firing.' Rebecca and Eli Garretson moved to Linn County, Iowa in 1864, and in 1866 her parents Benjamin and Maria decided to join them, along with their four youngest children and their families. The two oldest, Jane and Sarah, stayed in Pennsylvania. Benjamin died seven years later and Maria lived until 1887. There was a rather nasty court proceedings in which some of the children had disagreements over the settling of her estate. It seems that one of the daughters felt that, since she had cared for Maria during her last years of ill health, she should receive some compensation for her hard work in the form of a larger share of the pie. The dispute ended when a settlement agreeable to all was reached. Later, the McCreary Reunion was held each summer in the Cedar Rapids area and still is to this day. Benjamin and Maria's graves are at the Dunkard Cemetery near Toddville. We've reviewed the story of the McCrearys and how it connected to the Garretsons, so it is now important that we show how these Dutch folks came on the scene all the way to Iowa and the Hickman connection.