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Note: A descendant of James DRENNAN, namely Michael DRENNAN, has shared with me (Samuel Wm. Aylesworth) and other members of the extended family a 163-page report on the history of James DRENNAN and some members of the family of James. The report includes a careful summary of related key events of Irish History. Following is a very brief summary of some key findings and then a more extended summary, focusing primarily on details regarding James DRENNAN and his family.
A VERY BRIEF SUMMARY:
The following information about James DRENNAN was provided by a Michael DRENNAN in March 2013 to Linda SIMONETTA, also a descendant of the first James DRENNAN. Ms. SIMONETTA shared this information with myself, Samuel Wm. AYLESWORTH. All of us are working to confirm and expand upon this information. If you can provide any related detail, please contact me by email at saylesworth@shaw.ca
The very brief summary reads as follows (modified slightly by Sam Aylesworth):
"They were Presbyterian. The 30 acre (later 60 acre) farm is in townland Crawfordsland, parish Kilbride, County Antrim , Northern Ireland. In 1838 or 1839, [James and his wife] with 7 children, immigrated to Kitley township, Leeds Co. Ontario. There may have been [two wives] ...; the spacing of the children's births allows that supposition . [Perhaps] Sarah Oliver was the first wife of James, [and perhaps] the second wife was Sarah McLellan. Before 1851, James and Sarah returned to Ireland after establishing the children in Canada.
All seven of the Drennan children were born in county Antrim, Ulster (now Northern Ireland.) The children of James Drennan are:
'B7 Mary Drennan (1) Wellwood (2) Birmingham b. Oct. 1, 1818, d. Feb. 10, 1892, Manitoba, Canada.
'B7 Andrew Drennan b. Mar. 1, 1821, d. Feb. 12, 1865, Ontario
'B7 Elizabeth Drennan Curtis b. Jan. 12, 1824, d. 1899? or 1903?, Michigan.
'B7 Jane Drennan (1) Hill (2) Richardson b. Apr. 4, 1826, d. 16 Oct 1906 in Lynn Township, St. Clair Co., Michigan, USA
'B7 James Drennan b. Feb.15, 1829, d. July 16, 1866, Ontario.
'B7 Nancy Drennan Ward b. Nov. 13, 1831, d. Nov. 14, 1910, Michigan.
'B7 John Drennan, b. August 3, 1834, d. July 21, 1904 in Michigan. [See below for personal remembrances of this son John as recorded by his son George Washington DRENNAN.]
In 1867, Jane's brother John moved one mile away from her in Lynn township, St. Clair Co. MI The Curtis relatives immigrated a little farther north in MI.
In MI the family is Baptist and attended church in Brown city, Sanilac Co. MI
25 March, 2013 - 17:13
Signed: Michael Drennan
(This note was added on March 30, 2013 by Samuel Wm. Aylesworth, with thanks to Michael Drennan and to Linda Simonetta.)
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A MORE EXTENDED SUMMARY of the FAMILY HISTORY IN IRELAND, prepared by myself, Samuel Wm. AYLESWORTH, based on the report shared by Michael DRENNAN.
I am a descendant of James DRENNAN through his daughter Mary Ann DRENNAN who married (a) William James WELLWOOD and then, after the death of Mr. WELLWOOD, (b) Mary Ann married a Robert BIRMINGHAM. I descend through Sarah Ann WELLWOOD, daughter of Mary Ann DRENNAN and William James WELLWOOD. My ancestral line runs: James and Sarah DRENNAN ... to Mary Ann DRENNAN through her marriage to William James WELLWOOD ... to Sarah Ann WELLWOOD (who married Simon Ferguson LLOYD) ... to Sarah Charlotte LLOYD (who married William Perry AYLESWORTH) ... to Robert Wesley AYLESWORTH (who married Agnes Alice NICKLE) ... to myself.
(a) To establish the conclusions summarized above and below, extensive research was conducted for Michael DRENNAN for a fee by an experienced genealogist in Ireland, working under the auspices of the Ulster Ancestry. This involved the review of many primary sources and the preparation of three research reports. The findings were then incorporated by Michael DRENNAN into a lengthy report that included the findings fromUlster plus findings from his own direct research. For further information about Ulster Ancestry see http://www.ulsterancestry.com/
(b) Michael DRENNAN reports that a grandson of James DRENNAN, George Washington DRENNAN, was told by his father John DRENNAN that he, the father, had been born in County Antrim, in northern Ireland. Further, this same John DRENNAN remembered arriving in Canada from Antrim when he was 4 or 5 years old [page 43 in the 163 page report].
The research findings shared by Michael DRENNAN strongly suggest that prior to coming to Canada our James DRENNAN and his wife lived on a farm in Northern Ireland as tenants and that farm was located in northern-Ireland as follows: County: Antrim. Parish: Kilbride. Townland: Crawfords Land. County Antrim is located in the north-west corner of what became the Province of Ulster County Antrim is immediately north of County Down and immediately east of County Londonderry. Maps are included in the report which indicate precisely where the DRENNAN farm was located in County Antrim. See a copy of the maps in the Media Section for James DRENNAN. [Note to those who are reading this material on RootsWeb: I have added these maps within the Media Section of the posting to Ancestry.com.; unfortunately media can not be posted to RootsWeb.]
(c) Broader research suggests that the DRENNAN family may have early Irish-roots. At some point family members may have moved from Ireland to Scotland. Later generations then moved back from Scotland to Ireland. Earlier speculation was that James DRENNAN himself may have been born in Scotland, and moved to Ireland and the DRENNAN farm as an older teenager or young man. These possibilities were not confirmed and it now seems more likely thata James DRENNAN was born in County Antrim, and that his parents lived on the DRENNAN-farm. Family history prior to 1829 will not be pursured further in this summary. When we first find detailed information about the James DRENNAN we are tracking, in 1829, he is living on the DRENNAN-farm in County Antrim, Parish Kilbride, Townland Crawfords Land.
(d) A farm that is nearby was owned by a RobertMcCLELLAND. Indications are that our James DRENNAN married a woman named Sarah McLELLAND. Although the spelling for McCLELLAND and McLELLAN differ, it is thought likely that Sarah was a daughter or close relative of that nearby McCLELLAND family, further supporting our certainty that we have located the correct James DRENNAN in Irish records.
(e) In the third report from Ulster Ancestry to Michael DRENNAN, it is shown that in about 1650 a man named Patrick DRENNAN was living on a farm located near to what later became known as the DRENNAN-Farm. However, we do not know whether this Patrick DRENNAN was an earlier ancestor of our James DRENNAN, but speculation is that he was [see further, below].
(f) More clearly related findings from Ulster Ancestry in their third report indicate that in 1775 and again in 1783 a Malcolm DRENNAN was a tenant of the same farm in Kilbride where James DRENNAN would later live as a tenant. At this time it is not clear whether Malcolm DRENNAN was one or two generations older than our James DRENNAN. The report states "If [our] James was born about 1796, it is conceivable [but not proven] that James is Marlcolm's son but could also be his grandson." Further the report states "... Malcolm was established in Ballybrackan at least 14 years prior to the 1798 uprising [in Ireland] andthe Drennan family probably a lot longer than that." Also, the report states " ... it is possible [but not proven] that Malcolm is Patrick DRENNAN's grandson."
(g) Further, at the time James DRENNAN was living as a tenant on this farm, another man named Andrew DRENNAN was also living there, estimated to have been born in about 1803. Current speculation is that Andrew may have been a brother or a cousin of James DRENNAN [but this has not been proven]. Certainly we know that James DRENNAN and Andrew DRENNAN were of similar age, and we know that our James DRENNAN named his own first son Andrew DRENNAN, suggesting that he was somehow 'close to' the older Andrew DRENNAN living in Ireland on the same farm. More information about this older Andrew is provided below.
(h) Note that the DRENNANs are identified above as 'tenants' and not 'owners' of the what we have called 'the Drennan-farm'. We are referring to the farm as 'the Drennan-farm', but this is intended only to indicate that members of the DRENNAN-family lived there. The farm itself was owned by the Marquis of Donegall, who also had other very extensive land-holdings. These holdings were leased to tenant under a variety of leasing-terms over the generations. In 1824, the then Marquis of Donegall experienced certain financial difficulties and this led him to grant leases in perpetuity to tenants who were willing to commit to the payment of certain rents in perpetuity. The lease would remain in effect as long as they continued to pay him certain funds annually without default. The research report from Ulster Ancestry clearly determined that members of the Drennan-farm entered into such a perpetual lease. Consequently, members of the DRENNAN family continued to lease and farm the Drennan-farm until yet-another-Andrew-DRENNAN purchased the land outright sometime between 1903 and 1913. Sometime after 1930, this Andrew-DRENNAN sold the farm, and retired to the town of Ballyclare, where he still lived as of late 2012. In 2001 a DRENNAN-descendant sold the land, and its ownership transferred outside of the DRENNAN family. There is hope that some members of the extended DRENNAN-family in Canada and the USA may be able to contact Andrew DRENNAN, living in BAllyclare, to futher clarify the history of the farm and the family. The report from Ulster Ancestry concludes this matter by stating "I think the Drennan family farmed the same fields for 200 years [and] perhaps longer."
(i) Let us now return to the early 1830's, to the James DRENNAN and the Andrew DRENNAN who then lived on the same farm (be they brothers or cousins).
In the second report from Ulster Ancestry to Michael DRENNAN, firm evidence is provided that as of 1829, a James DRENNAN is the man who has the lease for the Drennan-farm and he is the man who pays the annual rent. We believe that this same James DRENNAN, his wife and their seven children emigrated to Canada in about 1836 or 1837, and they settled on an existing 200 acre farm located in Ontario, Canada (More about this farm in Canada and subsequent events in Canada later, below). Unfortunately, no records have survived as to who held the lease and paid the rent in Ireland while James DRENNAN was in Canada, but speculation is that the farm was managed and the rent was paid in Ireland by Andrew, the brother or cousin of James DRENNAN (not the son of James).
We believe that all the children of James and Sarah DRENNAN remained in Canada, but in about 1851 James and his wife returned to the Drennan-farm in Ireland. Certainly, Land Valuation documents from Ireland show that as of 1864 a James DRENNAN is again managing the farm-land and he has subleased some of the land to Andrew DRENNAN. Then we have a record of the death of James DRENNAN in 1865, at the age of 81, in County Antrim, Ireland. (Source: Ancestry.com. Ireland,Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864 - 1958 [database on line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Operations,Inc., 2011. Description: This database contains an index extracted from an index of deaths registered in Ireland. See FHL Film #101582. Ancestry.com accessed on April 4, 2014 by Samuel William Aylesworth.]
In the years that follow, the Land Valuation Documents list the manager of the Drennan-farm as: Andrew DRENNAN, then a later Malcolm DRENNAN [not the earlier elderly Malcolm who occupied the farm before James], then an even later Andrew DRENNAN who eventually purchased the land, some in 1903 and some in 1913. The land was sold by a DRENNAN descendant in 2001.
(j) Census records, baptism and marriage records, and Land Valuation Records, from the early 1900s, indicate that a number of families named DRENNAN came to live in areas near to the Drennan-farm. Considerable effort will be required to clarify what relationship, if any, we in Canada and the USA have with these families.
Now let us turn to a MORE EXTENDED SUMMARY of the DRENNAN FAMILY HISTORY IN CANADA, to clarify what happened to the children of James and Sarah DRENNAN when they settledin Canada AND to clarify what leads us to believe that these children directly descend from the James DRENNAN known to have lived in Country Antrium, Ireland.
This summary was also prepared by myself, Samuel Wm. AYLESWORTH, based on the report shared by Michael DRENNAN and also on other findings by myself and other members of this extended family now living in Canada and the USA.
(i) Michael Drennan writes as follows: "The entire family immigrated to Kitley township, Leeds County, Ontario, Canada probably about 1838 or 1839. An interest in Lot 16, Concession 6 is purchased. The property is a 100-acre lot (or half interest of that amount) with a dwelling, farm field and forested area. The region was not raw forested wilderness. Since 1802 settlers with land grants of 100-acre lots had lightly populated the area. In Canada, the Drennan daughters were soon married, the two youngest sons were apprenticed, and the oldest son [Andrew DRENNAN, who married Mary Jane MORRIS] was apparently given the half interest in the farm. The parents, James and Sarah returned to Ireland before the Canadian Census of 1851. "
Elsewhere in the report, Michael DRENNAN notes that when the Drennan family immigrated to Canada, say In 1838, James was 42 years old and the sons Andrew 17, James 9, and John 4. The ages of the daughters Mary, then 20 years old, Elizabeth 14, Jane 12, and Nancy 7.
An so the family became landowners in Canada. Michael continues "It appears that they purchased all (or perhaps only half) of Lot 13, Concession 6, Kitley township, Leeds County, Upper Canada (called Ontario after 1841.) The 100-acre property (as originally surveyed) had a dwelling (it is not listed as a log cabin, so it is probably a frame structure) and probably a mixture of cleared fields and forest. In 1851 the son Andrew Drennan (b. 1821) will own a half interest in Lot 13. Andrew´s farm has 2 milk cows, 2 horses, 20 sheep, and 4 pigs. He produced 500 pounds of butter, 100 pounds of cheese, and 200 barrels of pork. There were probably some cereal crops and hay fields. I suspect that in 1839, Andrew´s father James Drennan commenced raising pigs, probably in pens, but most of the pigs could have been free-range animals that would be collected in the Fall and slaughtered (some pigs in the wild would be lost to predators. There were wolves in Canada.) It is likely that after immigrating to Canada in 1838, the Drennan men supplemented the family income with day labor outside of the farm. ... The daughters may also have been employed either in domestic industry within the household or outside the home."
MORE TO FOLLOW.
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