I am a decendent of a Higgins in Ireland that came to America around the 1790,s to 1810. My great, great, great grandfather was Leonard HIggins and he married a Betsy C. They had a son who was named Ruel which seems a quite unusual name for Ireland, but I was told they were probably from County Sligo since it had some Spanish settlements. I don't know if this makes any sense but I would love to find out if anyone knows anything about Ruel Higgins who was born in 1827. Leonard was probably born around 1805. Let me know if you can help me. Thanks, I really appreciate it. My name is Lawrence Hollister Higgins III and I was born in Minnesota in 1943 and I don't have much time left to find out these answers so please help me.
Thursday 12th Jun 2014, 09:00PM
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Daer Lawrence
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!
I have had a quick look on www.rootsireland.ie but I cannot see a marriage record for a Leonard or any detail about Ruel. As you say it is not a common first name but that is something to our advantage.
You may find that this is as much information as you will be able to locate. As you probably know, civil registration of births, deaths and marriages began in 1864; prior to this we are dependent on church records. Most of the records for parishes in Co. Sligo begin in the 1830-1850s for Roman Catholic records. The Church of Ireland records start quite late in Sligo and some are lost. There are some sources for the time period you refer to but they are not available online and are limited to certain townland areas in the county. These are:
1795-1797: Voters List for Co. Sligo (transcribed from the (NLI,) National Library of Ireland, Dublin), Sligo County Library
1796: Spinning Wheel Premium List (available at the NLI and LDS Family History Library)
1760-1786: Strattford Estate Records (NLI, Dublin Ms Number 10223)
Let us know if you manage to find out any more about Leonard
Best wishes
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Tuesday 17th Jun 2014, 01:39PM