Hector McLean 17751775

Hector McLean 1775

County Antrim
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Place of migration
Migrated to /Born in Canada

I am seeking information on my ancestor, Hector McLean, born in County Antrim (possibly in Darragh, Finway Parish) in about 1775. He married Catherine McCoole (born about 1776). Some of their children were born in County Antrim: John (1802), Cornelius (1809), Mary (1815), Thomas (1816). There were also other children (Elizabeth, Susan, Anne), but I do not know if they were born in Ireland or not. The family left for Canada in either 1828 or 1829. I cannot find any records for any of them on rootsireland.ie.

On ancestry.com I found a passenger list for a Hector McLean, wife Catherine, and daughter Mary, to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1828. I know that the family was in Gore, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as Mary McLean married Patrick O'Connor there in 1839, with Hector and Catherine (McCoole) McLean named as Mary's parents (ancestry.com). From there some of the family came to Wisconsin. I have found a Hector McLean (1775-1853) buried in Stockbridge, Calumet County, Wisconsin. Cornelius McLean is also buried here (1809-1879). I found a Catherine McLean (1776-1849) buried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (where some of her children lived for a time). Her tombstone says "wife of Hector." Other children are buried in Brown County, Wisconsin (ancestry.com and findagrave.com and bayareagenealogicalsociety).

Mary McLean and Patrick O'Connor's daughter, Bertha (1842-1902), married my great grandfather, Thomas Dillon (1844-1917) in 1868. They lived in De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin, on a farm, and then in Wauceda, Wisconsin, then in Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan, where both are buried along with their children. 

I realize that any records prior to 1800 are scanty. I am just hoping that there might be something out there. The family were all Roman Catholics.

Susan Dillon Murphy

Additional Information
Date of Birth 1st Jan 1775 (circa)
Date of Death 6th Jul 1853
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Comments

  • Hello Susan

    My name is Karen Coatsworth and I am writing to you from Australia. Like you, I am searching for my Irish ancestors. I see your ancestor is Hector McLean born in County Antrim. I have found my ancestor, John McLean born 1775 in County Antrim- I believe in Ballycastle or nearby. I have tried to google Darragh in Finway parish but cant find it to see if the two places are close by to one another. In any case I am wondering if your Hector and my John may have been brothers or cousins? My understanding so far is that John moved to County Mayo, was married but I dont know who to. Had 5 boys I know of- John 1790, Robert 1797, William 1799, James 1800 and Patrick James 1810. Robert married (I think) Jane Walsh and had John 1821 and I think Elizabeth, Robert and Patrick. John married Hannah nee Murphy and they had Patrick, Michael, John and Anthony before moving to England where Hannah was born. They settled in Newcastle upon Tyne. Their son John 1856-1930 married Catherine Lambert and they had-John, Mary, Anthony, my great grandmother Hanorah 1889-1945, Martin, William, Catherine, Margaret, Agnes May and Leo. Hanorah married James Cormack McEntee and they had Catherine, my grandmother Hanorah 1914-1975, Agnes, Josephine, John Patrick, James Cormack and Anthony. My grandmother married James Campbell Coatsworth and they migrated to Australia in 1945 with my father James, Gerald and Brenda. I have a brother Darryl and sister Helen.

    I have recently been in contact with another distant cousin who traces his roots back to John McLean in Antrim. We have discussed the probability that his father or earlier came from Scotland as the spelling McLean is from there. This likely happened during the plantation of Ulster. Catholics were then driven out of Ulster in the 1700's and this is likely why my family moved to Mayo. 

    Have you taken a DNA test? I have with Ancestry and am thinking of uploading my results to other companies that are suggested on this site to see if I get any other matches, particularly in Ireland.

    I would be very keen to hear your thoughts on all I have written. It would be great to have a connection!

    I hope you and yours are well and safe at this crazy time

    With best regards

    Karen.

    Karen

    Friday 20th August 2021 07:59AM

  •  

    Hi, Karen! So good to hear from someone searching McLean's in County Antrim! First of all, I did a DNA test with 23andme. I don't know if you can hook into that or not with your DNA test. I never knew just where Hector McLean was born. My great aunt kept a journal of the Irish family comings and goings. She mentioned that my great grandmother (Bertha O'Connor Dillon) was born in The Gore, York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I found her birth record, then her mother and father's marriage record: Mary McLean married Patrick O'Connor in The Gore in 1839. The marriage record lists Mary McLean's parents as Hector McLean and Catherine McCoole.They came to Canada in 1828. I have wondered why they left Ireland. Perhaps it was Catholic persecutions? My great aunt also mentioned that the McLeans came from County Antrim. I found an obituary for Thomas McLean (1816-1902), son of Hector and Catherine, that says he was born in Durrah, County Antrim. Like you, I cannot find such a place. There is a birth record for a Thomas McLean on rootsireland.com that says he was born on 20 Nov 1816, Parish of Finway Town, Darragh, Antrim. There is a hamlet of Finvoy; also Doagh, a village and townland in Antrim; and Derriaghy, a townland and civil parish. I have tried to think of other possibilities, wondering about the pronunciation of "Durrah." The name "John" recurs a lot in my McLeans. I remember finding a note about a Hector McLean coming from an island off Scotland. The McLean clan had been there for a long period of time. Then one of their clan bought the island, or the rights to the land, and kicked the rest of the clan off the island. He wanted to raise sheep. I'll see if I can re-discover this note. It would be wonderful to figure all of this out! Do you have access to rootsireland.com? If not, you can find records from the Catholic Church through the Irish National Library site. I'll do some searching and see if I can come up with anything. My home email is utahmurph@aol.com. You are welcome to contact me there. All is well here with my family in these crazy times, although the US seems to be divided into two definite camps where COVID is concerned. Stay safe!  

    Sue Murphy

     

     

    Susan Murphy

    Friday 20th August 2021 11:24PM

  • Hi there. There is a dirraw road in knockans, finvoy, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. That's were my great grandfather lived at start of 1900s and a lot of my McLean ancestors are buried in finvoy presbyterian graveyard.

    Daryl McLean

    Sunday 10th October 2021 09:50PM

  • Hi there. There is a dirraw road in knockans, finvoy, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. That's were my great grandfather lived at start of 1900s and a lot of my McLean ancestors are buried in finvoy presbyterian graveyard.

    Daryl McLean

    Sunday 10th October 2021 09:50PM

  • Hi Daryl

    Thanks for this! How interesting! Have you done a DNA test before? It would be great to make a genetic connection as well as the name and place... I have done a DNA test with Ancestry and am thinking of doing another with 23andme as Sue (the lady from Canada who wrote the original post) has done a DNA test with that company. 

    Any other information you can share would be greatly appreciated. I have a public tree on ancestry- if you have access to it please view it.

    Kind Regards

    Karen.

    Karen

    Tuesday 12th October 2021 11:11PM

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