The Continuing Hunt for Alexander Cathcart

Discussed in this Article:

Alexander Cathcart
Born 3 Feb 1715, Ireland
Died 15 Apr 1780, Redstone Settlement, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA

Ann Gamble Cathcart
Born 28 Mar 1721, Graan Hill, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Died 20 Nov 1813, County Fermanagh, Ireland

David Gamble of Graan, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Born abt 1679 in Graan
Died 21 Oct 1763 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh


In my (thus far futile, but diligent) quest to discover the ancestry of Alexander Cathcart, who married Ann Gamble (daughter of David Gamble b. 1679, and Magdalen Happer b. 1698), I found the following information to be interesting, and it may be of help to others.

Alexander was often referred to as Captain Cathcart. He died in America 15 Apr 1780, while his wife remained in Ireland. She passed in 1813; the trail of her ancestry was quite clear. But not so for Alexander. I am aware of most of Alexander’s descendants, but have found the search for his ancestors to be unfruitful. He had an uncle named Andrew, born about 1679, and in a letter from his wife in 1774, she mentioned his “brothers and sisters” (plural) sending their love, but that is all I know (Sherrard, 1890).

According to Robert A. Sherrard (1890), Alexander was born in 1715. Alexander and Ann were married March 17, 1742-43. I have learned that it was common at that time for the wedding to take place at the church where the bride-to-be had been baptized, or her family’s church. Not yet knowing the church her family attended, I have tried to find the burial location(s) of Ann and her immediate family members because of the possibility that the cemetery could be associated with a specific church.

According to the research of Séamas Mac Annaidh (n.d.), Ann’s father, David Gamble of Graan, among many other Gambles, is buried at the Old Rossorry Graveyard, located at the top of Rossole Road in Enniskillen. There is no longer a church at that site, as it was demolished in about 1841, when the new, larger, Church of Rossorry or Rossorry Parish Church, was built at Mullanacaw (Rossorry Parish Church, 2014). Mac Annaidh states that “Old Rossorry” refers to “an old church at Ros Oirthir… associated with St. Fanchea”. And Rossorry Parish Church calls the old demolished church the “church of St. Fanchea” (2014). A list of monastic houses in Ireland at Wikipedia states that Ros-airthir and Ros-oirthir are alternate names for the Rossorry Monastery founded before the year 480 by St. Fanchae, and it is there that the Church of St. Fuinche (alternate spelling of Fanchae) was founded in 1084. According to the Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae blog (meaning “Of All Ireland”), Fanchae/Fuinche, refers to the fifth-century female saint Fanchae of Ross Oirthis, and her name has been spelled “Fanchea, Fuinchea, Fainc, Fuinche, and Funchea” (2013).

At this point, I am of the thought that since David and many family members are buried at Old Rossorry Graveyard, they likely attended the old church, which was called the Church of Saint Fuinche (or Church of Saint Fanchae). Any surviving records from this church may have been taken to the newer Rossorry Parish. Also, Sherrard (1890) states that Ann was Presbyterian and Alexander was Episcopalian. It is not yet clear what church/churches they may have attended. I have researched many church cemeteries in Fermanagh and thus far, I have found no record of where Ann Gamble Cathcart is buried.



References

Mac Annaidh, S. (n.d.)
Rossorry Parish Church. 2014. A Brief history of Rossorry Parish Church. Retrieved from http://www.rossorryparish.com/history

Sherrard, R.A. (1890). The Sherrards of Steubenville. Jas. B. Rogers Printing Company.

List of Monastic Site in Ireland http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_abbeys_and_priories_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae Blog
http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.com/2013/01/saint-fanchea-of-ross-oirthir-january-1.html

Saint Fanchae of Ross Oirthir
http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.com/2013/01/saint-fanchea-of-ross-oirthir-january-1.html



UPDATE

28 JAN 2014:

Sherrard (1890) states that Mary Cathcart (daughter of the Alexander named above) was a member, along with her "father's family", of the Established Church. For those who might not know, the Established Church during that time was the Church of Ireland (also called Anglican Church of Ireland). According to Saint Michaels Parish Enniskillen (n.d.), the parish of Enniskillen belonged to the Clogher diocese. I also found a great post made by a researcher named Viola Wiggins in 2013 (view post here). She suggested to look for Protestant records when looking for marriages which took place in the Church of Ireland/Established Church; to look for "marriage bonds" for the Clogher diocese; and that Enniskillen Townhall records may have been moved to Belfast.

This may help.


References and Links


Diocese of Clougher
http://clogher.anglican.org

Saint Michaels Parish Enniskillen
http://www.st-michaels.net/theparish.htm

Steven Coerten Van Vorhees

 

Possibly drawn by Steven Coerten Van Vorhees himself, this map of Nieuw Amersfoort, Nieuw Netherlands (Now Flatlands, New York) also shows the ship he immigrated on, the Bonte Koe. (Image credit: Geoffrey & Kristen Bronner, http://cerebus.dartmouth.edu/genealogy/wp01/wp01_304.html)

 

The following is said to be written on a commemorative marker in Brooklyn:

 

Steven Coerten, born 1600, migrated with his family in 1660 from the manor of Voor-hees, Province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, to the village of Amesfoort, now Flatlands, Kings Co., NY, and settled near this site. He served his church as Deacon and Elder, and the community as a magistrate, patentee in the Nicills Charter of 1667.

 

 

 

Van Voorhees Park

Columbia St., Hicks St. Bet. Congress St. And Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn

 

"This park honors Tracy S. Voorhees (1890-1974), an attorney and decorated World War II veteran, and his family’s early contributions to the City.

The Van Voorhees family traces its lineage to Steven Coerten Van Voorhees who settled in Brooklyn in the mid-17th century. He established himself in the neighborhood of Flatlands, became a magistrate, an elder in the Dutch Reformed Church, and the head of a formidable clan. His ten children bore 20 grandchildren. The grandchildren amassed 85 children themselves, among them Tracy Voorhees, to carry on the family name. The “Van” was eventually dropped from the name."

 

Retrieved from http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/vanvoorheespark/history