Notes for ? WOODBURN:
Unless otherwise noted, information on the Woodburns was furnished by Stephen Woodburn Johnson, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (Note to File - Janet Houston Rhein)
The name Woodburn is apparently of Scottish origin. It comes from the Scottish term for a small stream--"burn"; hence, wooded burn or tree-lined stream. Woodburn, then, was probably the name given to people living in such an area. The main connection appears to be with the Ayrshire and Dumfries areas of Scotland. There, a George Woodburn was shot for being a Covenanter (Scottish Presbyterians in the 17th century who subscribed to various conservative covenants) in 1685. It was not unusual, however, for people from Scotland, in times of religious persecution, to flee to Ireland and England. Thus, for example, there are a number of Woodburns in Pennington Hall, Ulverston, Cumbria County, England. There, a Robert Woodburne, in 1654, served as the attorney for George Fox, founder of ther Quakers, in acquiring land for the first Quaker cemetery. In Ireland, Carrickfergus County has an area and a police station bearing the Woodburn name. Despite these connections to England and Ireland, the original Scottish connection seems indisputable.
A Woodburn family lived in Ballintemple, Ireland before the seige of Londonderry in 1689 and it is this family with which we are concerned here. Ballintemple is located in County Derry, two miles southwest of Garvagh. The townland occupies 759 acres in the parish of Errigal, Barony of Coleraine.
How the Woodburns came to Ireland is a matter of speculation. In the early 1600's, English King James I, who was Protestant, attempted once and for all to subjugate the recalcitrant Ulster Catholics. He coloninized the area with English and Scottish loyalists (perhaps including the Woodburns, who were largely Protestant, resulting in the Protestant majority that exists today in Northern Ireland. These so-called Plantations of Ulster included the rebuilding of the city of Derry. The city was renamed Londonderry. In the 1630's, the city had only 2,000 inhabitants, but it was the largest city in Ulster.
The Seige of Derry began on April 15, 1689, when deposed English King James II, who was Catholic, and French and Irish forces loyal to him, attempted to secure a base in Ireland from which he could attempt to regain the English throne. The Protestants in Ulster supported King George and Queen Mary and they barricaded themselves in the city and refused to surrender. The seige lasted 105 days and was broken when a relief ship made its way to the city, but the seige left a mark on the city that survives to this day. (Source - Woodburn Family Genealogy)
Due to the close relationship among the Houston (Huestan, Hueston and Huston), Wilson, Young, Boice (Boyce), Dunlap, Gilmore and Woodburn families, the following summary is inserted in the Notes Section of the first individual listed in each of these family lines.
HUSTON/WILSON/YOUNG/BOICE
John Huston and Isabella Wilson and their three children arrived Port of New York May 14, 1850, on the William Rathbone, from Liverpool. Accompanying them on that voyage were Isabella's sister (a) Martha and her husband Hugh Young, and (b) Mary J. Young, a sister of Hugh Young,and her husband, Hugh Boice, and their five children. They all settled in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
On October 19, 1854, John Huston, Hugh Boice and Hugh Young each purchased a 1/3 interest in Lots 28 and 30, Range 4, Section D in Mount Union Cemetery (later Union Dale Cemetery), Pittsburgh, from the Trustees of The First Associate Reformed Church. On October 29, 1874, Hugh Boice sold his 2/3 interest, having purchased earlier the 1/3 interest of Hugh Young, to James Wilson Houston. There are 10 individuals listed as buried in these lots and all have been associated specifically with the existing families, except Nannie Boyce, buried on August 12, 1870.
William Wilson, brother of Isabella, Martha,and Nancy (see Wilson/Dunlap following), married Nancy Young, sister of Hugh. William and Nancy remained in Ireland and are buried at Desertoghill Parish Burying Ground, Barony of Coleraine, County Londonderry.
WILSON/DUNLAP (DUNLOP)
Nancy Wilson, a sister of Isabella, Martha and Mary, married Hugh Dunlap in Ireland about 1843. In a letter dated December 3, 1867, Pittsburgh, to her brother James Wilson Houston, in Plumer, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Hannah Isabella Huston, age 14, states that they (presumably her mother, Isabella, and her sister, Ellen Jane) went over to visit Uncle Hugh and Aunt Nancy Dunlap. She says... "Aunt Nancy is Mother's sister ... and the oldest child is James Dunlap and he is about 23 years of age". Hugh and Nancy apparently came to the United States after 1852 and sometime prior to 1859 as Hannah Huston, sister of John Huston who remained in Ireland, sent in the late 1850's two thimbles to the Pittsburgh area, one for her niece Ellen Jane Huston and one for Elizabeth Dunlap, who is believed to be a daughter of Hugh and Nancy. I have been unable to locate a High Dunlap (Dunlop) Allegheny County on any census for Pennsylvania for the years 1860 or 1870. It may be that Hugh Dunlap never applied for citizenship. Further, I have been unable to locate Hugh, Nancy and James Wilson Dunlap on any ship's records detailing their arrival in the United States.
As seen from the inscriptions from the gravesite marker at First Garvagh Presbyterian Church, below, Hugh Dunlap died in Ireland on March 1, 1905, age 88 years and his wife Nancy died October 18, 1867, age 47 years. Assuming that Nancy died in Pittsburgh on October 18, 1867, I am unable to account for the discrepancy in the dates in the letter and the date of death on the gravesite marker.
A plausible scenario is that Nancy died in Pittsburgh. Hugh remained in Pittsburgh until 1876 when he accompanied his son James Wilson Dunlap, Isabella Wilson Houston and her daughter, Ellen Jane, who was married or about to be married to James Wilson Dunlap, on the ship Indiana on their trip to Ireland and Garvagh. Further, that the remains of Nancy Wilson Dunlap were taken back to Ireland at that time, hence the inscription on the gravesite marker below. Further work will need to be done to resolve this.
Inscriptions from the gravesite marker of Hugh Dunlop-Garvagh at the First Presbyterian Church Graveyard, Garvagh, County Londonderry, Ireland as transcribed by Charles and Lavonne Bradfield and as listed at Bann Valley genealogy follow.
His father Andrew died on October 4, 1850 aged 72 years
His mother Jane on May 24, 1856 aged 67 years
His son James Wilson on June 17, 1844 aged 8 months
His wife Nancy died on October 18, 1867 aged 47 years
His son James Wilson Dunlop died November 18, 1876 aged 29 years
And the above Hugh Dunlop died March 1, 1905 aged 88 years
Also Ina Dunlop died 1912 aged 42 years
Also John Dunlop died July 7, 1937
Also Jemima Dunlop July 12, 1944
WILSON/GILMORE
Jane Wilson, sister of Isabella and Martha, married John Gilmore on August 20, 1845 at the Second Garvagh Presbyterian Church. They had four children. Daughter Mary Jane Gilmore married Thomas Cunningham and they immigrated to Australia. Sons James Wilson Gilmore and John Gilmore immigrated to Pittsburgh. James remained a bachelor and John married Annie (nee?) and had a daughter Laura. Jane's husband John died on July 6, 1856 as is buried at Desertoghill Churchyard, Parish of Desertoghill.
Jane married a second time to Hugh Gilmour (relationship, if any to John is not known) on October 3, 1859 at 3rd Coleraine Presbyterian Church. Jane and Hugh remained in Ireland and had two children.
HUSTON/WILSON/WOODBURN
John Huston's father was William Huston, born about 1790 in Tamnymore, Parish of Errigil, Barony of Coleraine, County Londonderry. He died about 1857. He married a Hannah Woodburn who died after 1857. William and Hannah were married on August 4, 1809 in the First Presbyterian Church in Garvagh. Both William and Hannah remained in Ireland and John Huston's letters refer to the death of his father and mother.
Isabella's father, John Wilson married Mary Woodburn on March 12, 1810 in the First Presbyterian Church in Garvagh. They also remained in Ireland and are buried at the Desertoghill Parish Burying Ground, Barony of Coleraine, County Londonderry.
Also listed on the ship manifest of the William Rathbone, arriving Port of New York on Mary 14, 1850, is an Isabella Woodburn, servant, age 17. There were no other Woodburn's listed on the ship manifest. She is believed to be the daughter of John Woodburn, born May 2, 1788, married to Mary Witherow, who came to America.
HUTCHESAN
In a letter, dated August 29, 1852, John Huston addresses a Mrs. Hutchesan as "Dear Cousin". He writes, "We received' your kind and welcome letter we are sorry for the delicate state of your health but glad that you are improving. Mrs. Woodburn left the letter for us and is some three miles out of the city in the Family her son James lives with". John Huston does not refer to Mrs. Woodburn as a cousin. The 1850 United States Census for Pennsylvania lists a James Woodburn, age 22, occupation laborer, residing in Baldwin Township, Allegheny County, with the Chambers family. It may be that Mrs. Woodburn came to the United States after the 1850 Census and was also residing with that family.
In his letter, John Huston inquires as to Mrs. Hutchesan's brother Matthew and sister Nancy. There is a William Hutchinson married to a Nancy from Edinban, who had a son William, born March 9, 1842, baptized June 13, 1842 in the First Garvagh Presbyterian Church. It is listed here for future reference.
B. AND E. WILSON, SISTERS OF ISABELLA, MARTHA, MARY AND NANCY
In an addendum to the letter dated, August 29, 1852, John Huston says "The former part of this letter was written some weeks since & we deferred sinding it waiting for a letter from Ireland to know if our sisters was coming Hugh Boyce has rec'd a letter from Br W Wilson Ballyagan date August 21st & he states that your sister Margaret & our sisters B & E Wilson & one of H Dunlap's sisters was to come by Partrush to Liverpool the next day and that H.D. or him intended coming to Liverpool with them so that if spared they will be with you in a few weeks, we think it would be as well for them to come by railway from Phila to Pittsburgh...
There is a high degree of probability that Mrs. Hutchesan's sister is Margaret Young and is the Maggie Young who died in December 1872 and is buried in Lots 28 and 30, Range 4, Sectin D, Union Dale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Sister E. is Elizabeth Wilson who is residing with Hugh and Martha Wilson Young in Pittsburgh in 1870. The given name of Sister B. is not known. She may have married a Smyth who immigrated later to the United States.
The given name of the Dunlop sister is not known. (Note to File - Janet Houston Rhein)
More About ? WOODBURN:
Education: Bef. 1689, Lived in Ballintemple, County Derry, Ireland.
Children of ? WOODBURN are:
