Graham, Johnston, Levingston, Jordan families from Clones and Drum districts

Marriage cert of Thomas and Maria 1874, note that this was a second marriage for Thomas , he is listed as a widower.

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Birth of Thomas 1883

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Birth of Johnson 1890

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Birth of Eliza Jane 1878

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Hello Eliza,

I wasn’t clear from your post to Ireland Reaching Out if you have a transcription of George Livingston’s birth, an index of his birth, or a copy of the actual civil registration birth record for him

This prompted a search at the free irishgenealogy.ie website to look for George’s 1866 birth record. Birth records were recorded by the government in Ireland from 1864.

I found his birth record showing he was born in the townland of Aghareagh, County Monaghan, on 3 January 1866. His father is William, employed as a, “Labourer.” He was living in Aghareagh at the time of the birth. George’s mother is Mary Anne Livingston, formerly Jordan. Mary Anne was also living in Aghareagh, and reported the birth to the district registrar, John Taylor, who recorded the birth in the Cootehill Registration District on 24 January 1866.

Mary Anne signed the birth register with, “her x mark,” signifying she could not write.

You can access a copy of the original birth record at the following link: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1866/03540/2302967.pdf

I next wanted to see if George had any siblings born in 1864 or 1865, or after 1866. I looked for these siblings in the Cootehill Registration   District at irishgenealogy.ie for the10 year period from 1867 to 1877, and uncovered one birth record. This is for William. William Levingston was born in the townland of Killynenagh, County Monaghan, on 18 December 1868. His father William is a “Labourer,” residing in Killynenagh. His mother is Mary Anne, formerly Jordan. The person who reported the birth to the registrar was Ellen Livingston, of Drum. She signed the birth register with, “her x mark.”

William’s birth is the second entry in the register, number 183, at: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1868/03418/2253839.pdf

The Ellen Livingston who reported the birth may have been the midwife present at the birth. She could have been the father William’s mother, or his sister, or perhaps his sister-in-law.

Not having found the birth records of any of William and Mary Anne’s children after 1868, I suspected the parents had children born before George in 1866, an also before 1864, the year births were first recorded by the government. This means they may have had children any time in the 1860s before civil registration of births. Depending on when they were married, they may have had children born in the 1850s.

Civil Registration actually began in Ireland in 1845. But at this time, only Protestant and civil marriages were recorded by the government. Catholic civil registration marriages weren’t recorded until 1864.

After reading Eileen’s reply to you, where she found the 1874 Church of Ireland marriage of widower Thomas Graham, and Maria Johnston,

I suspected that William and Mary Anne belonged to the Church Ireland.

I looked for their civil registration marriage record at the irishgenealogy.ie website but didn’t find it.

I then went to the free FamilySearch website where I discovered a transcription of the marriage, showing that William “Levinston” and Mary Ann Jordon were married in Cootehill, County Cavan, on 6 December 1860. William’s father was James Levinston. Mary Ann’s father was John Jordan:

Name William Levinston

Sex Male

Father's Name James Levinston

Father's Sex Male

Spouse's Name Mary Ann Jordan

Spouse's Sex Female

Spouse's Father's Name John Jordan

Spouse's Father's Sex  Male

Event Type Marriage

Event Date 06 Dec 1860

Event Place Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland

Cite This Record "Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGV8-LSJ1 : Mon Mar 04 16:57:15 UTC 2024), Entry for William Levinston and Mary Ann Jordan, 06 Dec 1860.

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From prior experience with Family Search I knew that Cootehill was likely the registration district where the marriage was recorded, rather than having actually taken place in Cootehill, which was a registration district that spanned portions of County Monaghan and County Cavan.

Records from FamilySearch can be accessed at: https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-states/

With the marriage transcription from FamilySearch I went back to the irishgenealogy.ie website where I looked for the marriage under William “Levinston.,” and found it.

William and Mary Ann were married in the Drum Church of Ireland, Parish of Currin, County Monaghan, on December 6, 1860. At the time of marriage, William was a “Widower,” of “full age,” meaning 21 years old or older. His occupation was, “Labourer.” His residence at the time of marriage was Aughareagh, where son George was born in 1866. His father is James Levinston, also a “Labourer.”

Mary Ann Jordan was also of full age, but a “Spinster,” when she married. No occupation is recorded for her. Her residence at the time of marriage was Cortubber. Her father was John Jordan.

They were married “after Banns” by a priest whose name looks like Rob Robotham. After Banns means the wedding was announced in church for three successive Sundays before the marriage took place.

The witnesses to the marriage were Alex Moore and Benjamin Madill.

William Levinston signed the marriage register with “His x mark.”

Mary Ann Jordan signed the marriage register with “her x mark.”

A copy of the marriage record can be accessed at: https://tinyurl.com/4svb6bn5

Church of Ireland marriages, like Catholic marriages, traditionally take place in the bride’s parish, and so the Drum Church of Ireland would have been Mary Ann’s place of worship. Being that Drum is close to Aughareagh, it may have also been William’s parish church. There is always that possibility that William and Mary Ann met at church.

With information from this marriage you now have four locations in Monaghan that you can visit if time permits when you travel there.

These places are Aughareagh, where George was born in 1866, and where his father was living at the time of marriage in 1860; Killynenagh, where son William was born, in 1868; Cortubber, where Mary Ann Jordan was living when she married, and Drum, the location of the Church of Ireland where William and Mary Ann married.

The Google Map at the link below shows the locations of Aughareagh, Killynenagh, “Cortober,” and the Drum Church of Ireland:

https://tinyurl.com/bvut3p4f

Here is a Google Street View of the Drum Church of Ireland and graveyard: https://tinyurl.com/y2zu5kj2

According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, the Drum Church of Ireland was constructed in 1828. For an architectural description of the church and for photos of the exterior and interior of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland site at:

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41402209/drum-church-of-ireland-cortober-monaghan

If your arrival is at the Dublin Airport, the distance to the Aughareagh/Killynenagh area is a little over 80 miles. See the Google Map: https://tinyurl.com/3ydn6mve

It’s possible that William and Elizabeth had two or perhaps even three children between the time they married in 1860, and the time of the birth of their son George on 3 January 1866. As noted earlier I didn’t find birth records for any of their children in 1864 and 1865. But, there may be baptism records in the Drum Church of Ireland for their children.

The subscription website RootsIreland has transcriptions of the Currin, Drum, Monaghan Church of Ireland baptisms from 1812 to 1913, marriages from 1829 to 1862, and burials for the year 1842, and the years 1875 to 1913.

You can obtain a one day, one month, six month or one year RootsIreland subscription to search the Currin, Drum, Monaghan Church of Ireland baptisms and marriages. The home page for RootsIreland is: https://www.rootsireland.ie/

RootsIreland has transcriptions of the baptisms, marriages, and burials, not copies of the original. But the Drum Church of Ireland may hold copies of the original baptism, marriage, and burial records.

RootsIreland also has parish registers for the Currin (Scotthouse) Church of Ireland, but this is a different church.

Attached to this reply is an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period, showing the location of the Drum Church of Ireland and the nearby townland of Cortober. The map is from the GeoHive website at: https://www.geohive.ie/

On the map, the Church of Ireland is just labeled as, “Church,” located toward the lower left-center of the map. You’ll also see the location of Drum on the left-hand side of the map.

The marriage record for William and Mary Ann shows that William was a widower when the marriage took place in 1860. With this information I looked for his first marriage at irishgenealogy.ie and found it.

William Livingston and Margaret Madill were married in the 2nd Presbyterian Church of Drum, Civil Parish of Currin, on September 10th 1855. At the time of marriage both were of “full age.” William was a “Bachelor” and Margaret a “Spinster.” William’s occupation was “Labourer.” No occupation is recorded  for Margaret.

At the time of marriage William was living in Aughareagh, Civil parish of Ematris. His father is James Livingston, a “Farmer.”

At the time of marriage Margaret was also residing in Aughareagh. Her father is Thomas Madill, also a “Farmer.”

The first name of the minister who married the couple by “License,” is John. I could not make out his last name in full. The witnesses to the marriage were Adam and William Stuart.

William Livingston signed the marriage register with “his x mark.”

Margaret Madill signed the marriage register with “her x mark.”

You can access the marriage at: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1855/09488/5438424.pdf

In this marriage the 2nd Presbyterian Church in Drum would have been Margaret’s church.

I knew I had seen the name Madill before. Going back through the records in this reply, I saw that Benjamin Madill was one of the witnesses to the marriage of William and Mary Ann Jordan in 1860. It is feasible to think that Benjamin was related to Margaret Madill.

There will not be a civil registration death record for Margaret, as she would have died sometime before William remarried in 1860. As noted earlier death records were not recorded by the government in Ireland until 1864.

But I had also seen the name Madill one other time. I then recalled that when going through Levingston birth records, I had found the birth of a Mary Jane Levingston, who was born in the townland of Drumgaze, on 19 September 1867. No father is recorded for Mary Jane, but her mother is Mary Anne Levingston. The person who was present at the birth and who reported the birth to the registrar was Elizabeth Madill.

The birth is number 418 in the register. See: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1867/03463/2271682.pdf

I do not know how the mother, Mary Anne Levingston, was related to William, but I suspect that Benjamin Madill, Margaret Madill, and Elizabeth Madill were all related to one another.

I’ll close here Eliza. Have a fantastic trip to Ireland.

Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Eileen and Dave, thank you so much for the replies and all the information.  I tried to reply while I was in Ireland but found it awkward from a phone.  I tracked down places of interest and now I'm back in Scotland with access to my laptop, I'll follow up the links you have given me.

Regards

Eliza

You're welcome Eliza,

Dave