Daniel McAninch 1770s to 1790, Pennsylvania |
|
This is the early story of Daniel McAninch working his way westward across Pennsylvania, from |
colonial times, through the time of the American Revolution, and to the first U.S. census in 1790. |
Daniel lived in Cumberland County, 1770-1786, and married Mary Smith there, on 11 June 1776. |
|
Daniel McAninch was born ca.1748-1749 (b.bef.1750) [Note 1], in (northern) Ireland [Note 2]. |
The exact birth date and place are unknown; nothing is known about his parents, nor any siblings |
(if he had any brothers or sisters), and nothing is known about his early years in (northern) Ireland. |
|
During the 1700’s there were many large scale migrations of Ulster-Scots to America [Note 3]. |
At that time, the British Crown ruled the entire island of Ireland, and our original 13 Colonies in |
North America. Daniel probably crossed the Atlantic to colonial Pennsylvania in the late 1760’s |
probably through Philadelphia’s port, although no records have been found there (yet) [Note 4]. |
|
Daniel McAninch and Surname Spellings |
McAninch(ck) McNinch McNench(McNeneh) McNisch (McNinch,McNisah) (and not McC~’s): |
At that time in history, our names were spoken (almost certainly in Gaelic), and then hand-written |
by educated, English-speaking people, including ministers, tax clerks, court clerks, and judges. |
Of course, these people wrote down our surnames phonetically, according to what each person |
thought they heard at the time, leading to numerous variations in the transcriptions of our names. |
|
Multiple McCamish / McCarni(sh/sk), McCannish, McCandish / McCandlish, McConaughey, |
and McConne(l/ll) family names are found on the tax lists in this area, always written as McC~’s; |
their first names include Adam, John, Joshua, Samuel, and William, but not Daniel (nor David). |
So, there is no confusion among the various McA/N~ or McC~ entries on the township tax lists. |
Also, a Daniel McEntire appears on the Bedford County Tax Lists, 1781-1782, in Turkeyfoot |
Township (present-day Somerset County); the name is clearly written McEntire, not McA/N~, |
and, at the same time, our Daniel McAninch is over the hill in north-eastern Cumberland County, |
in Hamilton Township (1779), and then in Rye Township (1785, and 1786) [Note 5] |
|
In the 1770’s, Daniel McAninch McNinch McNench(McNeneh) McNisch (McNinch,McNisah) |
is of the right age (on the "Freemen" tax lists, and for a first marriage in 1776), and Daniel is in |
the right places (Cumberland County, Bedford County, and Westmoreland County), on track |
moving westward with the Ulster-Scots (Scotch-Irish) on the frontiers of colonial Pennsylvania. |
|
______________________________________________________________________ |
Daniel McAninch 1770s to 1790, Pennsylvania Copyright 2019, Frank McAninch |
McAninch Family History Newsletter v.XXVII n.1 June 2019 p.2019-03 |
|
Table of Contents for this Year First Page of this Issue Previous Page Next Page |