Thomas Alexander and wife Jane Bridget Clark or Clarke Alexander

Debbie,

Perhaps the townland that your ancestors came from (Fany) is Fawney? Looking at Griffiths Valuation (1858) there were 2 Alexander farms there then. Plot 7 held by James and plot 8 by William (so likely related). On the modern Taboe Rd. Fawney is in the parish of Donagheady.

The 1901 census lists 1 farm there held by William Alexander b c 1827 (who may be the person in Griffiths).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Ballyneaner/Fawney/1749921/

The William in the 1901 census seems to be the son of James Alexander of Fawney. William married in 1851:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1851/09418/5412001.pdf

James Alexander died in 1881 aged 85. Perhaps a brother to your Thomas?

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1881/06440/4850461.pdf

If your Alexander's family was Presbyterian and lived in Fawney then there 4 Presbyterian churches nearby. (Which you attended was a matter of personal preference).  Donagheady 1st has baptism and other records from 1875, Donagheady 2nd from 1838, Donemana from 1856 and Magheramason from 1878. So sadly none of the Presbyterian churches in that area has baptism records for 1801 or thereabouts.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Thank you for your information Elwyn. 

I double checked the information I have from the Canda, Immigration and Settlement Correspondence and Lists 1817-1896 and it said Thomas Alexander was from County Tyrone, Parish Donahaily, Town Fany. I know from other census, sometimes the spelling of names were incorrect. So Donahaily is really Donagheady I'm assuming. Maybe the same for Fany was Fawney?  

Other census say he was Catholic not Presbyterian though Jane Bridget Clark was Protestant but later adopted the Catholic faith.

Another document says they entered Canada (New Brunswick) in 1822. 

I have done my DNA with Ancestry already, I'll submit my raw DNA to Family Tree DNA and see what I come up with. Thank you for the suggestion. If there are others out there with Alexander, please reach out. I also have a lot of other Irish family members: James Sr. and Rose McGill their son James married Ann Deary from Northern Ireland-married in Louth, Johnn Moore Esq.(Moore Lodge, Mourne Park, Kilkeel, Cty Down who married Elizabeth Grier or Greer b. 1793 Killians, Cty Antrim  and John Chambers b. 1786 from Clara, Cty of Offaly d. 1858 in Ohio, USA, he married Sarah McCullough (she was born in the U.S.) but her father Sameuel McDullough was b. abt 1750 in Bellfast, Antrim, Ireland.  According to my DNA I'm 30% irish.

Thanks again Elwyn :)

Debbie (Swanson) Thornton  

Debbie,

Here’s a list of all the parishes in Tyrone:

https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/county_civil.php?county=Tyrone

As you’ll see there are 4 that begin Dona….. None named Donahaily.

Here’s a link to the Placenames NI site with a little information and a map of Fawney. The spelling of surnames and place names do vary and both were often transcribed incorrectly overseas if officials were unfamiliar with the words, and also lack of literacy was often an issue too. Donahaily could certainly be Donaghedy misheard.

You can see all the townland names in Tyrone on this site. I don’t see anything else similar to Fany but Fawney.

https://thecore.com/seanruad/

And there were Alexanders living there. Which is another pointer. Fawney is 357 acres of mainly agricultural land. In the 1901 census there were 12 houses there and a total population of 54 people. Most were engaged in farming or linen making plus there were 3 blacksmiths.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Ballyneaner/Fawney/

Regarding the family denomination, there are 271 people named Alexander in Tyrone in the 1901 census. 2 families, a total 10 people, were Catholic. The remainder were Protestant, mostly Presbyterians (reflecting Scots origins). Alexander is not a native Irish name and will have arrived in Ireland in the 1600s with the Scots settlers (huge numbers of whom settled in Tyrone). Statistically your Alexanders were most likely to be Presbyterian (and the 1 family in Fawney in 1901 was Presbyterian). The name Bridget is one mostly associated with Catholic families so if she was born with that name, I’d guess she was Catholic then. But I can’t be 100% certain. If it was a mixed marriage then in the 1820s they’d have married in the Church of Ireland. Neither the RC nor the Presbyterian church would allow mixed denomination marriages then, but the Church of Ireland would marry anyone, so that's where mixed denomination couples went then to marry. After 1845 they also had the option of a Register Office. Donaghedy Church of Ireland has the following records:

Baptisms, 1697-1723, 1753-65, 1818-19 and 1826-74;

marriages, 1697-1726, 1754-64 and 1826-44; marriage licences, 1817 and 1829-53;

burials, 1698-1726, 1754-7 and 1826-89; 

You are obviously looking for a marriage around 1821 (many couples emigrated shortly after they married). You will see that there’s a gap in that set of church records at the very time you need, so there seems little point searching them. Donaghedy RC parish has no records before 1854. So no help there re baptisms.

The flax growers records lists 4 Alexander households in Donaghedy in 1796: headed  by Robert, William, Andrew & James:

https://www.failteromhat.com/post1796.php

The Irish Linen Board published a list of nearly 60,000 individuals in 1796.  Spinning wheels were awarded based on the number of acres planted. People who planted one acre were awarded 4 spinning wheels and those growing 5 acres were awarded a loom. Donegal and Tyrone had the highest number of awards. Dublin and Wicklow were not included in this list. These extracts contain the name, parish and county. The barony was listed instead of the parish in a few of the records. Also known as the Spinning Wheel list or the Flax Growers Bounty. 

Thank you Elwyn, you are a wealth of information!!!

That was interesting they were paid in spinning wheels and looms how coool is that. The Alexanders and Clarks were both farmers (both names were on your list)  which I was also able to verify from Canadian census.       

My DNA states I'm  8% Scotch so maybe that's where my Scotch side comes in. 

I appreaciate all your info and now I have leads to look for other family members in Ireland as well.

Many Thanks!!

Debbie