I am looking for information on my great great great grandfather George Machesney. He was born in Ireland 25 February 1804 and died in Pennsylvania USA on 1 march 1861. I have been searching for the names of his parents for sometime without success and also travel details from Ireland to America. I know that George was first married to my ggg grandmother Mary Mitchell and had two children Mary and Martha. I believe Mary my ggg grandmother died in childbirth in 1828 in Ireland. George Machesney abandoned the children Mary and Martha and soon after married Sarah Conkley, born 26 april 1806 ireland and died 28 march 1864 in Pennsylvania USA. I think they married between 1830 and 1832. They had two children in Ireland, Eliza b 29 april 1832 and Charles b 23 march 1834. The family then left Ireland between 1834 and 1836 and went to live in Pennsylvania, USA. Any information would be greatly appreciated on either George Machesney, Mary Mitchell or Sarah Conkley. Thank you.
Aussie
Monday 9th Dec 2019, 09:35AMMessage Board Replies
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Aussie,
The events you are looking for are long before the start of statutory registration of births, deaths and marriage in Ireland (1864). Prior to that we rely on church records. However not all churches have records for the first half of the 1800s and of the records that do still exist, not all are on-line.
The surname Machesney is common in the counties of Ulster, and going by the 1901 Irish census, most of those were Presbyterian. You haven’t said what denomination George was but I’d suspect he was Presbyterian, and that fits with the counties of Ulster too as it’s where most Scots settlers went to live in the 1600s. (They brought Presbyterianism to Ireland).
Common variations of the surname in Ireland are McChesney & MacChesney, and Chesney of course, so you need to search under those variations too. I have searched the rootsireland site and did not find either of Georges marriages or the baptisms of the 4 children, but all that tells us is that if the records exist, they are not on-line on that site.
The surname Conkley isn’t found in Ireland at all (none in the 1901 census). I suspect the likely version in Ireland is Conkey. It is not that common and is almost exclusive to Counties Antrim & Down so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where the Machesney family originated too. Conkey were mainly Presbyterian but with some Church of Ireland and some RC. However there are an awful lot of churches in Counties Antrim & Down (probably 500 or more) and without some clue as to where in the counties they lived, it’s a large search. The most complete set of Presbyterian and other church records for that area is held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to search their records, but as I say, you need to have some idea of where they lived, otherwise it would be a huge task to go through all the possible records.
Mitchell is a very common name across Ireland with over 5000 in the 1901 census. However it is also common in the counties of Ulster, so that fits with the area I suspect the family lived ie Antrim or Down.
Regarding the date of their emigration to the USA, I see a tree on Ancestry (Nancy’s tree) which says George arrived in Allegheny in 1838. That appears to have been obtained from his naturalisation file.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 9th Dec 2019, 11:23AM -
Thank you for your detailed information. I will certainly follow your suggestions up. Your help is very appreciated. Kind regards.
Aussie
Tuesday 10th Dec 2019, 12:44AM