Looking for Irish Ancestors Antrim, Ireland
James McCullen Gordon Hutchinson Was born in Antrim County, Ireland, on 03 Nov 1790. I have not been able to find any information on his parents, or a more detailed decription for his birth place, christening or emigration to America.
Several family trees seem to have him confused with someone else born to Samuel Hutchinson--but in those records, Samuel is born in Massachusettes and shows up with his wife on a census in New England in 1790--clearly--not the father of a man born in Ireland the same year.
I hope someone can help me find him. He is my great-great grandfather, through a long line of sons. My maiden name is Hutchinson as well.
Best Answers
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Unfortunately, Irish genealogy is quite difficult pre-1800. There are four main reasons for this- religious persecution preventing churches from keeping records, a lack of variety in both given- and sur-names, the 1922 burning of the National Archives, and a tendency for Irish emigrants to not state their precise place of origin on records.
It is extremely helpful to know his religion, as church records are the main source pre-1864. All three main religions- Catholics, Presbyterians and Anglicans have gaps in their records. Persecutions against Catholics made it dangerous to keep records in smaller towns and rural areas pre-1828. The majority of Anglican records burned in 1922. Many Presbyterian records are still in local ownership and not online.
County Antrim is a very populous county since it contains Belfast, and Hutchinson is reasonably common- there were 410 families with that name in the mid-19th century (https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=Hutchinson).
It is possible to access church records on the internet- both Ancestry and FindMyPast have Catholic records, and RootsIreland is a good place for records for other religions. Hopefully you can find a James Culloden born exactly on 3 November 1790.
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He was Presbyterian, by my understanding. This is what is said in an article written towards the end of his life or after his death. I've just signed up for rootsireland and I think I found him. But can I ask why I should be searching for a James Culloden?
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I meant James Hutchinson.
I don't know the typical age of baptism. There were many different Presbyterian denominations; you would have to research the one in whose records you think you've found him.
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Ireland has extraordinarily high rates of emigration during the 19th century. Leaving alone at age 20 was not at all uncommon. After the potato famine of 1845-1852, about half of the people who survived to adulthood emigrated, due to persistently poor economic conditions. During the 18th and early 19th centuries many Protestants from what is now Northern Ireland emigrated to the United States, I believe that was due to economic weakness in the linen and weaving industries.
The unfortunate reality of Irish genealogy is that tracing back before the early 19th century is usually impossible. I have more than 10 end-of-line Irish ancestors from between 1800 and 1830, and despite much research it is unlikely I'll ever be able to find their parents.
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Also, what age was the typical child at the time of baptism in these churches?
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We are trying to update the list of resources for this page and you could do worse than periodically check the resource list for Co Antrim to see if more record sites have been added to this list.
But for now -
Re Northern Irish Parish Records the following PDF from PRONI will tell you where each church record is, its dates, and how it can be accessed (probably in person only - not what you'll want to hear - apologies)
If and its a big if - there MAY be a parish record -1750 is right on the start of record keeping - but you will need to know which parish. Many parish records do not exist for 1750, as they were not kept that early and in 1922 there was an explosion at the main record office in Dublin in 1922 which destroyed many of the early church records. HOWEVER, there is a major effort taking place to digitally recreate as many as possible of these early records and this site is due online later this year. Keep an eye on that site as it MAY provide an answer for you.
If you found him on rootsireland do post and let us know the answer. I'd love to hear you had success with this and where he came from.
Thanks David
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Thank you David. It turns out that I did not find him. The age was right and there were so many clues that fit-then (this is embarrassing!) I realized that I was 100 years off. I felt like I hit a wall when I read about the records being destroyed in the fire and that the digital records through the PRONI site only wen back to 1860 or so. I just don't know how I am going to find his Irish family!
Thank you so much!
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@kknudsen3908342 100 years out eh! I've done that myself only it was online - oops. Don't worry too much about the records in the fire - hopefully it will be a good reconstruction.
Was McCULLEN his mothers name?? John Grenham shows us this
Have a look at that - its rather interesting. Just dont give up - keep looking.
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I'm going to keep looking. I believe there had to be a reason that James McCullen Gordon Hutchinson left Ireland at 20 years, alone (as near as I can tell--possibly accompanied by a Thomas, but right now I can't remember where I saw that). He turned 21 at sea, landed somewhere in 1811--and was married by 1812 to a woman from a very established family in New Jersey by 1812.
I just think that perhaps his parents had died and siblings were either older and married or younger and taken in by other families--leaving him alone. But I have not found any stories about anything prior to 1811. I just think that despite establishing a large family in Illinois, he must miss his father, mother, sisters, brothers--surely he wants to be sealed to them. I just think for all of the family trees that branch from him--someone, somewhere must have some stories. Some true history.
Thank you for the encouragement. I was truly feeling discouraged last night.
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Oh, that is so sad. Well, God knows. I guess it's time for fasting and prayer. Thank you for everything. Please let me know if you ever come across anything relevant.
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