Family accounts say the John Darby came from Dublin, was a second son, and when father died, and he was left with nothing, he emigrated to America, sometime in 1760's is best I can guess. Again, according to family lore, there was an aunt that inherited after death of his older brother, but I have no proof of that.
He would have fought in Revolutionary War, with the brothers of Susannah Welsh/Welch, and married their sister on Christmas Eve, 1793 in Pennslyvania and that record has him as a Derby. The family then went to Kentucky, where he is said to have died in 1814 while on a surveying trip. Cause of death was said to be "black tongue/cold plague".
None of us, who have this man as our ancestor, can find any mention of his people in Ireland, nor any mention of his exact age, and indeed, most family trees have him living to 100 or more, and not marrying Susannah until he was 83 and she only 18...and fathering children until almost his death.
While I know we are hardy lot, I just do not see someone of those advanced years, slogging through the land to survey it, nor do I see him fathering children at that age. His birth year is down as 1710 or 1713, but I really think we have just lost our Irish ancestors, due to him being so far from home in Ireland.
I really hope that someone can help, I know this is very vague indeed, but I have high hopes that someone can help me, and the rest of his descendents out.
Thanking you all in advance,
Melanie
Sunday 9th Jun 2013, 01:38AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Melanie,
Thank you very much for your message. I hope that someone with information on the Darby?s makes a connection with you and helps you with your research.
It may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin and also given the early birth year. You could try looking for some record on http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ Church records from Dublin City have been uploaded here free of charge. Some records from the city date as early as the 18th century so fingers crossed something may pop up.
Otherwise you could try contacting the Dun Laoghaire heritage centre in Dublin to see if they can be of any assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: cmalone@dlrcoco.ie
In the meantime some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/dublin/index.html
Family Search Links: https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ireland_Genealogy_Websites?goback=.gde_3030105_member_230205486
Dublin Heritage: www.dublinheritage.ie
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
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Yes, he’s an ancestor of mine I came across through research. I think some of the info is wrong too. It says he was born in Ireland but his parents and siblings are British. They then traveled to America right after he was born so my theory is he was born in Ireland on their way to immigrating to America. Good luck in your search!
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Meant to say English not British. Thanks