Journal Volume 4

Jim, I am enclosing copies of two original documents which we were able to copy while at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The first is dated June 22, 1777 and reads as follows:

“22^nd June 1777

This is to certify that John Ewing enlisted as a soldier with me the 14^th of June 1776 for a term of one year. Now the time being expired I therefore discharge him from the service given my hand this day above written.

/s/ George Eliot, Capt.

The second is another hand written document for the War Department, dated January 8, 1830 rejecting a pension for John Ewing as he served on the Marine Forces of the State of Virginia and was not on the continental establishment.

Doing research on George Eliot in efforts to find where John Ewing might have joined the Virginia Sea service we found that John Ewing served under him on the “Safe Guard” Galley as a Landsman. This was a Row Galley, a ship propelled with sails and oars, this vessel was stationed at the mouth of the Potomac in February 1777. John Ewing is included in the payroll (from March 1, to June 16, 1777) in the 1^st Vol. Navy Papers and from the Navy Journal.

George William Ewing

Battle Creek, MI

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My family had documented information going back to my 5^th great grandfather, John Ewing, who was born about 1760 in Virginia and married to Alice Caswell. I’m positive that information is correct.

I now realize my information I gave you beyond John Ewing was incorrect. Another party had given me the information, and I blindly accepted it, without documentation. Oh, what an important lesson I learned!

As a side note, I saw George Ewing’s letter in your journal, and contacted him. As it turns out, he is my 4^th cousin twice removed. We are now corresponding, and my husband and I will be meeting he and his wife in February. I’m certain this will be a lasting friendship. I thank you for all you have done to make things like this possible. I look forward to meeting you in Nashville in June.

Janet Ewing Deaton

Madison, AL

~~~~~

Kudos for Volume 3, Number 4. We truly enjoyed, as always, the excellent Journal of Clan Ewing which you publish.

I especially enjoyed the article on page 9 [Vol 3 No.4] about William Ewing (1711-1781) taken from “The Ewings of Frederick County, Virginia by Evelyn Jones Ewing and James Earl Ewing, Jr., because he appears to be, from our research, the Uncle William Ewing who was named guardian of my Joshua Ewing, son of John Ewing., Jr., son of John Ewing of Carnshanagh.

On page 13, [Vol 3 No. 4] is the statement that perhaps William Ewing was on a list of Colonel George Washington’s company of local militia taken from a poll in Frederick County July 24, 1758. My Joshua Ewing appears to be the Joshua Ewing listed on a September 1758 militia list for Frederick County, along with John Jordan and others, including Hugh Stephenson who led the “Beeline March” to Boston during the Revolution. Hugh Stephenson was the son of Richard Stephenson, on page 15 of the Clan Journal, in the list of parties in the Hite versus Fairfax Suit. Hugh Stephenson was a step-brother of William Crawford, noted for surveying for Washington and other historical events, as well as Valentine Crawford.

Jean R. McClure

Columbia, Missouri

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My wife, Marilyn, and I just returned from another exciting trip to the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana and on to Pendleton and Bourbon Counties in Kentucky in search of more information on our John Ewing of Pendleton County. We were able to uncover the original marriage bond between John and Alice Caswell, dated March 10, 1794 at the Clerks office in Bourbon County, Paris, Kentucky. The most interesting document is a declaration filed by John Ewing dated 21 December 1829 stating he was 75 years old and had entered the Revolutionary War at Staunton, Virginia in June 1776. Staunton, as it is known today, is in Augusta County, Virginia and it would put the year of John’s birth as 1754.

After reading the article about William Ewing in the November 1997 Journal from the Ewings of Frederick County, Virginia which indicates that William’s oldest son John was born April 10, 1754 I’m thinking this might be the same John. If you or anyone you know has further information on this please let me know.

George William Ewing

Battle Creek, MI 49017

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I got your address from the Scottish publication “The Highlander” with hopes that you could assist me in a search for information of the Eagle Wing ships. It is my understanding that these ships were built, owned, and operated by Ewings.

I’m most interested in the Ship Eagle Wing that landed at New Castle, Delaware, on may 22, 1720. Members of the Finley family would have traveled on that ship. The four brothers, James, John, Samuel, and Andrew boarded that ship from Dublin, Ireland.

I’d appreciate any info you could pass on to me or leads to others who may know more about these ships and this particular voyage.

Diana L. Overly

Delta, OH 43515

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Page 183

THE BIG SPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

NEWVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA

(Extracted from History of the Big Spring Presbyterian Church,

Newville, PA 1737-1898

by Gilbert Ernest Swope, 1898)

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 1 - February 1998, pages 8-15]

Source: This article was furnished by Betty Carson, Lexington, South Carolina. Thanks Betty for typing and preparing this article for publication.

The settlement of the Cumberland Valley and the constitution of its churches, is directly traceable to that great providential movement which took place among the Scotch Irish Presbyterians settled in the province of Ulster, in the north of Ireland, which runs back to near the beginning of the 18th century, and which led to a steady and increasing stream of immigration from that Province to this country, and which added greatly to the strength and character of the Presbyterian Church in America. And this state of things in Ulster, was only a part of that wider movement which took place in Scotland, England, France, and Holland, as well as in Ulster. The history of Presbyterian colonization in America, is largely the result of papal and proleptic persecutions in Europe. By the act of uniformity passed in 1662, two thousand Presbyterian ministers were cast out of the Church of England. A considerable number of whom found refuge in this country, chiefly in New England.

The ejected ministers were prohibited from preaching or praying in public, even in fields or other retired places. To enforce these oppressive laws, exorbitant fines were imposed, torture was freely resorted to extort evidence, the prisons were filled with victims of oppression, soldiers were quartered upon defenseless families, and allowed the greatest license and many were massacred upon the public highways. It is no wonder that the Scotch Presbyterians abhorred episcopacy. In their views and experience, it was identical with oppression, despotism, and impiety.

Considering their long continued persecution, the wonder has been expressed, that they did not rise up en masse and forsake the country. The hope of overthrowing episcopacy and of regaining their liberties, constrained the majority of them to withstand their oppressors. Emigration from Scotland by reason of such oppression, while not so great as might have been expected, was yet considerable. Four thousand Presbyterians are reported to have come into New England prior to 1640, many of whom were from Scotland. In 1729 a church was organized in Boston, composed of Scotch and Irish Presbyterians. The First Church in New York City, composed chiefly of Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, was organized previous to 1716, and called the Rev. James Anderson, a Scotch Presbyterian minister from New Castle, Delaware, to become their first pastor.

The emigrants from Scotland to east New Jersey were many and influential. They came in such numbers, says Bancroft, as to give to the rising commonwealth, a character which a century and a half later had not effaced. But it was to Pennsylvania and the Carolinas, that a larger and increasing stream of emigration from Scotland and the North of Ireland came. The latter in much larger numbers than the former.

The Presbyterians in Ulster were rendered exceedingly uncomfortable by reason of the tyranny and exactions of their despotic monarchs, by the restrictions and penalties imposed by parliament, the intolerance and persecutions instigated by the Bishops and the rapacity and greed of the landlords. Among the laws enacted intended to harass and annoy them, was what was called the Test Act, which prohibited them from holding any office in Dublin or the province. This was followed by the Marriage Act by which they were forbidden to be married by their own ministers, and rendered liable to arraignment for immorality in the ecclesiastical courts for such marriage. Worse than all, what was known as the Schism Act, was passed in 1714, which would have swept the Presbyterian Church of Ireland well nigh out of existence, had not Queen Anne died before it could be enforced.

These and other like acts estranged the people from their country and caused them to turn their attention to the new colonies then being planted in America, where they might secure for themselves and families’ future homes, and the blessings of civil and religious liberty, denied them in their own land. The consequence was that as far back as 1713, both ministers and people began to come to America. Some six thousand Scotch Irish are said to have come in 1720. Later on they are reported to have come at the rate of twelve thousand from year to year. Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, which in the outset included Franklin, was chiefly settled by them. From 1736 onward, they crossed over at Harrisburg in great numbers and settled in this vicinity along the Conodogunit and the Big Spring more numerously than elsewhere, by reason of the junction of these two streams of water at nearly right angles. Out of these sturdy, rugged Scotch Irish people, the Big Spring Presbyterian Church was organized.

The lands in the “Kittochtinny,” or Cumberland Valley, were not purchased from the Indians until October 1736, and were not for sale before that time. But for several years prior to that period the agents of the proprietors knew the feelings of the Indians to be favorable had encouraged settlers to come hither, and had issued to them special licenses for the securing and settlement of such lands beyond the Susquehanna as might please them.

After the lands of the valley were finally thrown open to settlers, there was a great influx of emigrants, many coming from the old-settled counties of Lancaster and Chester, and many directly from Ireland. Most of the settlers being Irish and Scotch Irish, very few of other nationalities were found here until a much later date. These people first sought the land bordering on the streams of water and of timber which grew along the water courses. Thus we find that very soon after the land was thrown open for settlement, the inviting lands of this vicinity attracted a large population to the borders of the Conodoguinet Creek and the Big Spring. One of the first acts of our forefathers after locating land and building homes for themselves and families was to provide a spiritual home or place for the worship of God.

The Presbyterians who settled in the neighborhood of the Big Spring organized a congregation not later than the spring of 1737. On the 22nd of June the people of Hopewell petitioned Presbytery for their concurrence in drawing a call to the Rev. Thomas Craighead. About this time the name of this people was changed from the people of the Conodoguinet to the people of Pennsboro and Hopewell, the line having been run in 1735 from the north to the south mountain by way of the Big Spring dividing the valley. All east of that line was called Pennsboro and all west of it Hopewell. By the “people of Hopewell” referred to in the call to Rev. Craighead no doubt were included the congregation at Middle Spring as well as Big Spring. They were both known by the general name of “Hopewell” and individually Big Spring as Lower Hopewell and Middle Spring as Upper Hopewell. The congregation of Upper Pennsboro objected to the call to Rev. Craighead and the establishment of a church on the Big Spring as an encroachment upon their territory, as there was a rule of Presbytery not allowing congregations to be located within ten miles of each other. The Presbytery appointed a committee to look over the territory and confer with the people on the calling of a pastor and the location of a house of worship. This conference was held at the house of James McFarlane on the Big Spring in 1737. The committee reported to Presbytery in November of 1737, and notwithstanding the urgency of the congregation and the impatience of Rev. Craighead, action was deferred until the next year. On August 31, 1738, Presbytery appointed Mr. Alexander Craighead to install Mr. Thomas Craighead the second Friday in October and that he “send an edict to be published timeously before.” Mr. Craighead’s pastorate was a short one for he died the following year. At this time he was well advanced in age, but his mental powers continued in their full vigor. On one of these occasions near the close of April 1739, at a communion season in the Big Spring Church, when having preached until quite exhausted, he waved his hand being unable to pronounce the benediction and exclaimed: “Farewell! Farewell! and sank down and expired in the pulpit. Tradition says that his remains were buried beneath the present church edifice, but this is very doubtful as this church was not built until fifty years after his death. It is more probable that he was buried beneath the church he built and in which he preached, as was the custom at that time.

The Big Spring congregation was without a regularly installed pastor until 1742. They had been supplied during this time by Mr. James Lyon of Ireland, who was then under the care of the Presbytery of New Castle, and by others sent out by Presbytery of Donegal. On December 27, 1742, Rev. John Blair was installed pastor of the Big Spring Church in connection with the Middle Spring and Rocky Spring congregations. The sessional records of the Middle Spring Church (1742) show that the minister and elders of Big Spring, Middle Spring, and Rocky Spring, met at Middle Spring in order to settle the division of the minister’s labors among the three congregations. They agreed that the minister’s labors be “equally divided in a third part to each place, as being most for the glory of God and good of his people.”

The Glebe or land belonging to the church, consisted of 89 acres and some perches. A warrant for this tract was issued from the Land Office of the Province, March 2, 1744, to William Lemond, James Walker, Alexander McClintock, and David Killough, for the use of and in tract for the Presbyterian congregation of Big Spring. This trust was called “Reliance” and was held under the original warrant until the 23rd of September, 1794, when it was patented by the State authorities. The congregation built a stone parsonage on the glebe on the high ground on the north side of Main street near the Big Spring. The church was incorporated February 27, 1785, under the style and title of “The First Presbyterian Church in Newton township in the County of Cumberland.”

On September 9, 1790, the trustees met and laid off sixty lots of ground, sixty feet front and one hundred feet back. They instructed Mr. VanHorn to make a drawing of the same. The plan drawn consisted of one street, Main street, to run from the spring to the west, with Glebe alley running parallel on its south, and Cove alley on its north; to be crossed by the streets Corporation, High, and West; the former two to extend north to the boundary of the glebe. Building lots were laid out on these streets, and all the remaining land of the tract was divided into parcels of from two to five acres for pasture and tillage.

On September 16, 1790, the trustees met and agreed that the town should be called Newville and that the lots already laid off be disposed of by lottery, at a rate of six dollars a ticket reserving one and forty-four, which shall be sold at public vendue. That all the lots fronting on Main street be subject to a ground rent of ten shillings. No. 1 of the reserved lots to be subject to a ground rent of twelve shillings, and No. 44 to sixteen shillings and eight pence. That adventures pay one-third of the price of their tickets in hand, and give their obligation for the balance, payable in three months. Lot No. 1 was purchased by William McLaughlin, senior, for the sum of eighty pounds currency, and Lot 44, by George McKeehan, for the sum of eighteen pounds, twelve shillings.

Sixty lots were drawn at about three pounds each. On the 12th of December, six were sold for six dollars the lot. The balance of the lots were not drawn but were sold at private sale. The pasture lots were sold at from $24 to $27 per acres. About eight acres of the northeast corner was reserved for parsonage use, and subsequently sold to Rev. S. Wilson. The reason lots Nos. 1 and 44 were more valuable was their water privileges, they bordered on the spring. All of the lots were deeded in limited fee with a reserved incumbrance, which was to yield an annual six percent rent to the church. The incumbrance on the front lots, as given in the foregoing resolutions, was $22.22 each making an annual quit rent of $1..33; on the back lots, $17.90 each with a quit rent of $1.07; and upon the out lots, $13.33 per acres, with a quit rent of eighty cents.

The collection of these rents was always annoying and the records abound in different methods that were employed for their collection. Some were of a rather severe character and would hardly be tolerated today. On one occasion, we find that “Pews will be declared vacant and given to others if rent is not paid at the end of the year.” On another, “Resolved that all persons who are indebted to the congregation, be notified to pay in six weeks, or suit will be instituted for recovery of the same. Provided that in no case, suit be brought against any desolate or indigent female, or any other individual whom the trustees may consider from sickness, poverty, or like cause, to be unable to pay at present.” For many years the collectors of the church funds were given five percent of their collections for their trouble and to stimulate them to greater activity. The trustees of the church in 1836, resolved to abolish the quit rents by collecting the incumbrance and giving the owner of the property a deed in fee simple. Many took advantage of the offer, but some of the quit rents were held by the church as late as 1884.

It was also, “upon the motion of the elders of Big Spring, left to them, the people, and Mr. Blair, to converse among themselves in respect to the subscriptions of the Big Spring Congregation.” Mr. Blair during his ministry there resided at Middle Spring on a farm of two hundred and twelve acres the warrant of which bears date October 5th, 1743. It is said that “he and his wife, with their hired servants, lived in a style quite above their plain country parishioners.” Just how long Mr. Blair continued in this field of labor is uncertain. Webster in his history, and Sprague in his annals of the American Pulpit, who quotes from Webster, both give the date of his leaving the “Three Springs” as December 28, 1748. The last record in the session book kept during his ministry at Middle Spring is dated February 8th, 1749. All agree that Mr. Blair was driven from his field of labor by the incursions of the Indians. There were no Indian troubles in 1749, but after the defeat of Braddock July 9, 1755, and the retreat of Dunbar, this valley was swept by fire, sword, scalping knife, and the tomahawk of the cruel savage. Hundreds of people left the valley for the interior counties and others took refuge in the larger towns and forts of the valley.

A successor to Rev. John Blair was not called until 1759 when the congregations of Carlisle and Big Spring united in a call to Rev. George Duffield, D.D. Rev. Duffield was installed the third Wednesday of September, 1759. One third of his time was to be given to Big Springs and two thirds to Carlisle. In 1761, an effort was made by the Big Spring congregation to obtain one half of his labors. At the next meeting of Presbytery it was decided in view of Mr. Duffield not being physically able to endure the fatigue of giving one-half his time to Big Spring, that he should continue as agreed upon when he took the call. In 1769 his relationship to Big Spring was dissolved because of his promised salary being in arrears.

On April 9, 1777, Rev. William Linn, D.D. became pastor of the Big Spring congregation. In 1784 he resigned to become Principal of Washington Academy, Somerset, Maryland. This left a vacancy of three years in the pulpit. On the 21st of March, 1786, a call was extended to the Rev. Samuel Wilson and he was installed June 20, 1787. His pastorate was one of activity and prosperity for the congregation. Many accessions were made to the church, a new church building was erected, and the Borough of Newville laid out on the church lands. After a faithful ministry of almost thirteen years, Mr. Wilson closed his pastoral on March 4, 1799.

In Rev. Samuel Wilson’s call to the congregation of the Presbyterian Congregation of Big Spring, the twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, seven hundred and eighty-six, the following subscribers were recorded: John McKeehan, Samuel McCormick, Hugh Laughlin, David Ralston, Robert Patterson, John Bell, S. Cunningham, James Graham, Hugh Patton, Margaret McKean, Jno. Ewing, Solomon Lightcap, William Giffen, Robert Bovard, William Hodge, Charles Leiper, Wm. McFarlane, John Reid, John Hodge, Sr., William Duncan, James Irwin, John Brown, John O’Neal, William Douglass, Alexander Officer, James Officer, Thomas Espey, James Gillespie, Samuel Hawthorn, James Robinston, Alexander Leckey, John McFarlane, Richard Woods, James Johnson, Robert Bell, Alex. Laughlin, Sam’l Finley, Samuel Blair, Thomas Jacob, Thomas Buchanan, Joseph McKibben, John Allison, John Bell, Jos. Pollock, Jas. Laughlin, Robert Hutchison, Atchison Laughlin, John Mitchell, Samuel Mathers, William Wilson, Francis Donald, James McQuon, James Wilson, George Little, John Brown, Jarmon Jacobs, John Davidson, Alexander Thompson, Robert Shannon, Joseph Parks, William McCracken, Samuel Lindsay, Matthew Wilson, William Lindsay, John Whiten, Jr., Elizabeth McCullough, Thomas Grier, Ann Browster, John Lusk, David Lusk, William Lusk, Alexander McBride, Jr., William Milligan, Agnes Irwine, William Hunter, William Walker, Robert Walker, Robert Patterson, James Turner, Adam Bratton, Joseph Walker, William Hunter, James Huston, Catherine Brown, Margaret McClure, James Armstrong, Jared Graham, and Margaret McFarlane. Many of these people, Jno. Ewing subscribed the sum of 1 pound, were subscribers for the annual salary of Rev. Samuel Wilson in the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, Pennsylvania Currency in specie.

The elders in 1790 and during the ministry of Rev. Samuel Wilson were: William Lindsay, John Carson, Robert Lusk, John Lusk, William Bell, Thos. Jacob, Samuel McCormick, Robert Patterson, John Robinson, Hugh Laughlin, John Bell, John McKeehan, David Ralston, John Caldwell, and William Stevenson.

Occupants of Pews in 1790

1. Rev. Samuel Wilson

2. John Davidson, Andrew Patterson

3. Robert Patterson, Andrew Patterson

4. James Graham, Jared Graham

1. Samuel Woods, William Woods, Joseph Pollock

6. John Lemond, Thos. Glenn, W. Woods

7. John McKeehan, James Huston

8. Alexander Officer, William Douglas

9. Matthew Davidson

10. Samuel Blair, William Mitten

11. William Clark

12. Benjamin McKeehan, George McKeehan

13. William Given, William Wilson

14. Thomas Johnson, John Boyd

15. Joseph Connelly, John Connelly, William French

16. John McDonald, John Davidson, A. Leckey

17. James McCune, William Auld, John Monroe

18. Thomas Espey, James Johnson

19. William Brattan, John Brattan

20. John Ewing, William Ewing

21. James McFarlane, Widow McFarlane

22. William McFarlane, Alex. Buchanan, Alex. Boyle

23. James Laughlin, William Laughlin

24. John Hays, James Woodburn

25. James Graham, Samuel Lindsay

26. George Lafevre

27. Samuel Reauge, Mary Reauge, R. Beard, D. Crawford

28. John Espey, George Espey, John McDowell

29. John Beale, James Johnson

30. John Rippet, John Shannon

31. Widow Cummins, James Kirkpatrick

32. Richard Woods, Gabriel Glenn

33. David Stevick, James Nicholson

34. James Irwin, Matthew Ramsey

35. Thomas Jacobs, David Ralston

36. Paul Martin, Thomas McGuffin, I. Dearborough

37. Robert Hutchinson, John Patton

38. James Turner, John Turner

39. Samuel Mathers, Joseph Mathers

40. John Reid, W. Hunter, A. Brown, D. Gallespie

41. James McKeehan, Jarman Jacobs

42. William Lusk, John Caldwell

43. Matthew Walker, Samuel Finley

44. Jere McKibben, Benjamin Stewart, James Brown

45. John Brown, James McCulloch

46. Robert McClure, James Laird, Matthew Wilson

47. John Huston, Thomas Norton, Alexander McBride

48. William Bryson, Hugh Allen

49. John Carson, Samuel Emmett, Joseph Parks

50. John McCune, Samuel Wier

51. Hugh Laughlin, Alexander Laughlin

52. Robert McFarlane, William Thompson

53. Samuel Morrow, Samuel McCormick

54. Robert Mickey, James Jack

55. Robert Shannon, William Stevens

56. Solomon Lightcap, Daniel McLaughlin

57. Robert Walker, James Walker, Samuel Wilson

58. James McGuffog, William McGuffog, John Robinson

59. John Work

60. Nathaniel Roberts, ____ Gillespie

61. Alexander McClintock, Adam Carnahan

62. John Morain, Dr. Laughlin

63. Adam Bratton, George Gillespie, Thomas Gillespie

64. Robert Mickey, Andrew Mickey, ___ Carnahan

65. Thomas McDonald, William McDonald, William Hunter

66. James Mickey, William Kilgore

65. Joseph Vanhorn, John Kelley, Joseph Kelley

66. William Duncan, John Doyle, Henry Clark

69. Alexander Elliott, Thomas Mathers

70. Samuel Walker, ___ McCune

71. Wm. Walker, Andrew Walker, D. Walker, Robert Officer

72. Thomas Kennedy, John Bratton

73. Samuel McElhenny and sons, John Morrow

74. Joseph Wilson, Jesse Kilgore, Robert Kilgore

75. Andrew McElwain, John Bell

76. John Purdy, David Ramsey, John Walker

John Brown, Widow Walker

LXXV. John McFarlane, John Mitchell, Samuel Mitchell

LXXVI. Alexander Thompson, William Thompson

80. James W. Appleby, James McCurdy

81. Robert McElwain, Nellie Stewart

82. David Williamson, Andrew Thompson

83. Robert Beale, Andrew Beale

84. James Hamilton, Robert Lusk

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Page 191

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 1 - February 1998, page 16]

Source: The following was taken from Physics Today, March 1997, pp 105-106

Calculating Women Had Major Wartime Roles at Los Alamos

We thoroughly enjoyed reading Robert Heidel’s article on the origins of scientific computing in the AEC labs (October 1996, page 33). Although he mentions several women involved in the later history of computing in the labs, he fails to take note of two women who played major wartime roles in setting up and operating the IBM machines at Los Alamos.

Naomi Livesay (later French), a young mathematician with experience using IBM machines at Princeton Surveys (an organization that collected and analyzed survey data on the costs of state and local government), was hired in February 1944, about three weeks before the machines arrived at Los Alamos. As the only member of the group with actual experience performing calculations on the machines, she helped set them up and supervised the team of GI’s and civilians running them and carrying out the hand calculations used when the shock wave hit an interface between two materials.

By late August 1944, pressure to complete the shock wave calculations had increased to the point where Livesay needed an assistant. So she hired Eleanor Ewing (later Ehrlich), then teaching mathematics at Pratt and Whitney.

The two young women supervised the crews carrying out the calculations and organized the day-to-day work. They shared an office with John von Neumann and gave him his first lessons in operating the IBM machines. One problem they faced was the risk of calculation errors being caused by the machines’ interaction with dust from the unpaved New Mexico roads. Fortunately, an IBM repairman had been drafted and was thus on call 24 hours a day!

Ruth H. Howes

Ball Sate University

Munice, Indiana

Caroline L. Herzenberg

Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne, Illinois

Editor’s note: Mrs. Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich is a member of Clan Ewing in America.

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Page 192

THE TRAIN

by Keith Brister

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 1 - February 1998, pages 17-19]

[Editor’s note: Katie¹⁰ Brister (Vickie⁹ Baker, Betty⁸ McMichael, Gertie⁷ Ewing, James⁶, James⁵, James⁴, Alexander³, John², Alexander¹, Robert^A) is the daughter of Rev. Keith and Vickie Brister and a great niece of your editor.]

Last spring our family moved to Duncanville, Texas (a suburb on the southwest corner of Dallas). God called us to this new place and we knew He would bless us in many, many ways. Our daughter, Katie, received one very special blessing that none of us could have ever imagined. We’ve shared this story with many, and now you. We hope it will bring a smile and a little encouragement to your day. You never know when a little thing will be a big blessing.

In April of ‘96, we moved into our new home. Some would say we made a mistake, moving in on “the wrong side of the tracks”. I guess that would depend on which side of the tracks you wanted to live on. Never the less, what they really meant was that we bought a house “on the tracks”, and that wasn’t good. Well, not actually on the tracks, (we’re doing a little better than that) but right beside the railroad tracks.

It’s really not quite as bad as it sounds. Our train, (there is only one) came twice a day, 10:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. Like clockwork. That’s it, six to ten cars, (no caboose - technology you know!) Slowly creeping by. The distant “toots” reminds us, it’s almost ten or almost four and its somewhere between Sunday and Saturday.

Surprisingly, from day one, we liked our train. My first impression was about the size. It was huge! That may be part of the magic. It is big, yet it would gently and sluggishly glide by, rocking, popping and rattling lazily to and from town. As a family, we all liked the train, but Katie fell in love with her train.

Katie, a fourth grader at the time, appears in every way to be the typical ten year old. Typical yes, but not ordinary. Katie shines, a smile and spirit that brightens all around. From our first day of residence, Katie made it her personal business to meet and greet the train, everyday. During the school year it was only in the afternoon, but during the summer, coming and going Katie was there. Perched on the porch she daily was found waving and smiling to the conductors and engineers, and watching her train. Like clockwork! Whatever she was doing, when the train whistle called - she went. Rain or shine, hot or cold. She had a “wave” appointment.

The whole “wave thing” was kind of contagious in the family. Whether shooting the basketball, working in the yard, or sitting on the patio, we would all follow Katie’s lead and locate ourselves where we might give and get a “wave”.

As the weeks evolved to months, the consistent greetings of Katie, the Train Lady, brought more and more response. Not only the waves from all the train crew, but very personalized air blast from brakes, and the ultimate. . . a tiny “toot” from the mighty whistle. Katie loved it. We all did.

One afternoon in the fall, six months into our ever deepening train relationship, Katie burst through the back door screaming and running frantically through the house. Vicki, the Train Lady’s mom, not having a clue as to what catastrophe had just befallen our family, finally got the scoop. There had been a major communication breakthrough. A grandpa aged conductor and daily wave friend had flashed Katie a sign, a cardboard sign. “HI! MY NAME IS BUD”. Katie’s heart rate and happy feet were only outraced by her mind. Tomorrow, Bud would receive a response. A friendship was being born.

The next day Katie was ready. She had prepared it all night. A return cardboard sign, every letter colored with love. HI! MY NAME IS KATIE! Other side. HAVE A NICE DAY! She could hardly wait. The distant whistle wasn’t needed today. She was pumped.

As the huge train rolled by, Katie presented her greeting with all the wave and smile she could muster. (I know for a fact that that’s a lot of smile!) The message was received and returned with equal vigor. I’m almost sure Bud didn’t hit his back door that evening running and screaming through his house as Katie had done, but we would soon learn how he, too, had been blessed.

Katie awaited her train and Bud the following day, but nothing today could ever match the excitement of the last two. Until. . . the train began to stop. Katie went crazy with excitement and was met half way down the hall by her equally excited Mother, who all of the sudden became more than a little anxious at this unexpected call of a train driving beau.

It takes more than a few seconds to stop even a train of our size. It was skillfully stopped right at our backyard. With engine idling and hissing, and sitting still, it looked bigger than ever.

Mom and daughter, arm in arm, timidly walked to the six foot wooden fence. Bud approached from the tracks. Their fears were quickly calmed by the smiling face and sweet conversation with this new friend. Bud presented Katie with a beautiful Christian card and gift. The card and conversation expressed the heart felt thanks for the little blonde-headed smile, that had become a daily highlight of the long twelve hour shift, for Bud and his crew. The daily “smile and wave” ministry of my daughter had been shared with coworkers, family members and even neighbors of Bud, in his nearby city. Her kind and consistent acts of kindness had not only blessed one but many. Bud simply wanted to return the love, and did so, with the gift of a special handmade wooden train whistle.

I would suspect that this special gift will always be a treasure to my daughter, but not any more so, than the sweet memories and moments given to Bud through the smile and the hand of a little one.

Of course, the train doesn’t stop daily, (It may not suppose to stop at all. Shhh...) But on special days and seasons they manage a quick stop. Cookies and cards are exchanged. Bud’s famous peanut brittle is shared, but mostly hearts are warmed by the occasional treat of a short personal visit. They are always enjoyed. Like clockwork.

The train stopped recently and a couple of Bud’s buds delivered the message that he had hurt his back on the job. He would be out of the train business for several months. It’s been over six now. Letters and cards keep us posted of Bud’s condition. Whether or not he’ll ride the line again, I guess is still up in the air, like a lot of things in life. But this one thing I know, small acts of love and kindness are never really small. They are actually huge things in disguise.

The train still runs. Katie still waves. Always hoping for Bud, but ready for a new friend. The train has become a prompter for me. It reminds me to pray regularly for our friend Bud, at least Monday through Friday, 10 and 4. It also serves as a reminder of this great truth. A little, in the hands of God, can do much. Even stopping trains, like clockwork.

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Page 195

CHARLES COCKE WAR PENSION REQUEST

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 1 - February 1998, pages 20-22]

[Source: Mrs. Pearle C. Woods, Rural Retreat, VA sent an artice from the Southwest Virginia Ancestors, Clintwood, VA, Vol. 1, Summer, 1987, #2, which was the pension request of Charles Cocke.]

Editor's note: This article tells us something about the living conditions for the people for the period of time that Col. Cocke performed military duties. This pension request gives us two birth dates that were not known before. His own birth date and the birth date of his brother-in-law, William³ Ewing, (John², Alexander¹, Robert^A).

The pension records have been filmed with two sets of data. One film consist of selected records from the individual pension files. The other film contains all of the items in the pension file. The pension films contains many valuable pieces of information. Sometimes, the applicant tore the birth and death pages from the family Bible to use as support for their claim.

For those of you that have used the pension files as a source, we would like to have copies of the files that give us information about the individuals at the times they lived. This is a good source for those that have not used these film records. Ask at your library. Read all of the records for the names that you are searching.

Charles Cocke married Eleanor Ewing a daughter John Ewing (d. c 1788). William Ewing (1764-c 1852) is a brother of Eleanor and William of Lee County, Virginia.

THE PENSION FILE OF COL. CHARLES COCKE

At a Court begun and held for Lee County, at the Courthouse thereof on the 15^th day of January 1838. The following declaration was made in order to obtain the pension benefits of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.

State of Virginia, Lee County, to wit:

On the 15^th day of January 1838 personally appeared in open court, before the Court of Lee County; now sitting, Col. Charles Cocke, resident of Clarke County in the State of Arkansas, aged eighty-eight years the 12^th day of November next, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.

That about the month of July in the year 1780, he was commissioned by the Governor of Virginia as a Captain of Militia, in the then county of Washington in the said State of Virginia, over a company of Rangers in the Regiment at the time commanded by Col. Arthur Campbell, the number of which, the declarant has now forgotten. That he was stationed, with the company under his command, during the balance of that year, and in 1781 at the Rocky Station Fort, in the then county of Washington, but now county of Lee, on the old Kentucky Trace, on the Southwestern frontiers of Virginia.

That during that time, which embraced a period of about eighteen months, the declarant with some part of his command, was in constant service, either in acting as Spies, in pursuit of the savages, or in guarding the fort. That being himself very active and enterprising, and from his infancy accustomed to the woods, and well acquainted with the Indian character and wily arts, he always himself, when spying was to (have) selected two or three men of his command, on whom he could most depend for that service, and with them acted himself as a spy, entrusting the protection of the fort to his subordinate and the majority of the company. That during this service, the declarant several times pursued the savages when they would make incursions into the settlements, murdering the inhabitants and stealing their Property, and on several occasions he was engaged in bloody skirmishes with the Indians; and can say with certainty that he killed several of them himself on those occasions. That he too, was many times in the most imminent danger, when sometimes alone, and at other times with but one or two individuals in company, and but for his activity and his thorough knowledge of the Indian habits and character, he must often have fallen a victim of their savage ferocity. This mode of life, and duty continued from the year 1780 until Sinclair's defeat which the declarant thinks was in 1790. but his duties were not so incessant after 1781, as the settlements were growing more populous, other Stations were erected, and Major Andrew Lewis, Captain Hawkins and others were sent out with aides. Major Lewis with his Command visited this declarant's Station in 1782, which was the only aid he received before the close of the Revolution in 1783. When Major Lewis was here in 1782 the declarant joined him in an expedition some distance down in what is now the State of Tennessee, toward the Cherokee towns, but although they were often in the immediate vicinity of the savages, they had at that time no engagement with them. But the declarant has but little doubt that this boldness and show of increased strength intimidated the savages and made them more cautious, and less frequent, in their incursions to the settlements. So that subsequently up to the end of the Revolutionary War, although the declarant was continued in his command as a guard at the fort, yet his duties were not so laborious, as previously, nor duties still continued for some years, during which, he had several active, short campaigns, previous to his appointment to the command of the Rocky Station Fort, he was on an expedition of about six weeks against the Tories on New River who were about embodying to destroy the lead mines. This service he performed as a Private soldier under the command of Captain Henry Campbell, and previous to this, he was on an expedition against the Northwestern Indians in a company commanded by Capt. Williams Herbert, in a Regiment commanded by Colonel, then Major Christian.

Col. Christian with his command was near to Point Pleasant, at the mouth of Kanawha, when Col. Lewis defeated the Indians at the place. This service was performed in 1774 as well as the declarant now recollects, and he was engaged about six months or upwards, commencing in May, and ending the latter part of November following. For this last service the declarant supposed the act of Congress made no provision, and he mentions it, for the purpose only, of showing that his early life was one of activity and danger. But he also suppose that from the time he took command of the Rocky Station Fort, about the 1^st of July, 1780, to the end of the Revolutionary War, he will be entitled to a pension as a Captain which rank he held during that time, commanding at the same Fort.

The declarant hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State. His post office address is Greenville, Clarke County Arkansas.

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year first before written.

Charles Cocke

Teste: W. S. Morrison, D. C.

Virginia, Lee County, to wit:

This day William Yeary personally appeared before the Court of Lee County and made oath that his father, when the affiant was about ten years of age, moved to Rocky Station Fort, then in Washington, but now in Lee County, Virginia, in the year 1780. That Col. Charles Cocke was then a Captain over a company of Rangers, in command of the said Fort, in which he continued for many years. And was then, and has ever since been reputed to be, a brave and vigilant officer. That it was then said he was in many Indian skirmishes. That he himself had killed several Indians, and was a most cunning and active spy. The affiant was born on the 4^th day of February, 1770 and now resides in the said county of Lee and further saith not.

William Yeary

Sworn and subscribed in open court on the 15^th day of January, 1838. Teste: W. S. Morrison, D. C.

Virginia, Lee County, to wit:

On this 15^th day of January, 1838 personally appeared William Ewing in open court, before the Court of Lee County, and made oath in the year 1782 he came to the Rock Station Fort, then in Washington, but now in Lee County aforesaid, at which time Col. Charles Cocke was then in command of a company of Rangers at said Fort as a Captain, for several years after the affiant came to it, and that the affiant was in several expeditions with his, against the Indians. The said Cocke was always esteemed a brave and vigilant officer, and although in command, a vigilant, unremitting and active spy. The affiant is now nearly seventy-four years of age, being born the 18^th day of June, 1764 and has resided in the county of Lee ever since its establishment. And further this affiant saith not.

William Ewing

Sworn to and subscribed in open court on the 15^th day of January, 1838. Teste: W. S. Morrison, D. C.

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Page 198

EWING PORTRAITS

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 1 - February 1998, page 24]

[Source: Thanks to Alicia Towster for the sending the information about these Ewing portraits and where they are housed.]

The museum of the Vernon County Historical Society houses two almost-life-size monochrome Ewing portraits. The first, a photograph, is of Dr. Finis Y. Ewing; it is inscribed: Finis Y Ewing, M D, Co C 4^th Regiment, Arizona Brigade CSA. (He was a son of Washington Perry Ewing, one of the sons of Rev. Finis Ewing.) The second, probably a charcoal sketch, is inscribed: E A Ewing, Sheriff, Vernon county, 1898. I have no other information on him, but several Ewings, including descendants of both Chatham Ewing and of his brother Rev. Finis Ewing, migrated from Lafayette County, Missouri, to Vernon County, Missouri, after the Civil War.

The museum is called the Bushwhacker Museum (although it contains many other types of memorabilia, too) and is located at 231 North Main Street, Nevada, Missouri 64772.

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Page 199

LETTERS & E-MAIL

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 2 - May 1998, page 2]

The Journal article about “The Big Springs Presbyterian Church in Newville, Pennsylvania” was a nice surprise, since the William Ewing in pew 20 was my ancestor.

Robert H. Johnson

Erie, PA

~~~~~

It’s been a while since I wrote you last, but I’m making considerable progress in my family search. I’ve located ancestors back to New Jersey in 1773.

However, there is one person I’ve found no trace of and the strange part is that he is one of the few that I remember seeing as a child in 1923. The missing person is my Uncle Charley Ewing. He was the son of my grandfather, James Ewing and Susan B. Clifton, born January 19, 1866 in Ewing, Indiana. His mother died nine days later and was buried in what is now Brownstown, Indiana.

I’ve found no trace of Uncle Charley in the census records and feel that he may have been given up for adoption. His father moved to Jefferson County, Nebraska shortly after that and remarried Eliza A. Givens.

The only other knowledge I have is that he worked for a railroad and came to visit us in California on holidays and birthdays. I don’t know what railroad, although his brother James worked for the Wabash Blue Line that ran to St. Louis from Illinois. James lived in Decatur, Illinois.

Clyde Ewing

824 South Cascade Drive

Woodburn, OR 97071-3026

~~~~~

A recent visit to the courthouse in Winchester turned up some interesting original documents including the bond dated Sept. 3, 1782, (published in Clan Ewing in Nov. 97) and two deeds signed by a John Ewing and Ester Ewing dtd June 1791. I made copies of these and sent, along with the marriage bond between John and Alice Caswell from Bourbon County and a deed signed by John in Pendleton County, to hand writing expert, Lawrence M. Farmer . . .

The following opinion from Mr. Farmer. It is his opinion that the John Ewing who was married to Ester are not the same, but it is his opinion that our John Ewing and the John Ewing who signed the bond to settle the estate of William Ewing of Frederick County, VA is the same person. This would indicate that our John is the son of William Ewing of Frederick County who was the son of John Ewing of Carnshanagh. We will be seeing another opinion but feel this is correct.

While in Virginia we visited Staunton trying to find out why John Ewing would join the sea service so far inland. At the library, reading a history of the city, it stated that Staunton was the center of naval operations and was located in this remote area as it was far away from the British. The Scotch Irish settlers in the valley provided the flax and wove the cloth needed for the sails.

George Wm. Ewing

Battle Creek, MI

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Page 201

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 2 - May 1998, page 3]

There are almost as many theories on the origin of the name Ewing and on the development of today's various branches of the family Ewing as there are and have been spellings of our name. A new one recently came to my attention when I read an account of the ancestry and descent of one group of Ewings which began with the statement that the history of the Ewing family can be traced back to Germany and that the original spelling of the name Ewing was Juen. Don't ask me where that theory came from because I don't know, except that I am told that one group of Ewings in the western part of the United States was raised by Germans and that more than one of the Ewing men in that group married German women.

Of course, many of us are familiar with the long-lasting controversy over the relationship, if any, among the Scottish highland Ewings/MacEwens/MacLachlans and the lowland Stirling/Loch Lomond Ewings. All the Clan directories list the Ewings as a sept of the MacLachlans, but several years ago my brothers and sister and I were summarily dismissed from the front porch of Dame MacLachlan, the head of that Clan, with the assertion that we should go down the road to the MacEwens, as we were no part of her Clan. Apparently there are Ewings who are survivors of one or both of those Clans, but there are also many of us who believe we are descendants of a group of Ewings who came from the lowland areas around Loch Lomond. The founder of Clan Ewing in America, Ellsworth Ewing, following previous Ewing historians, attributed the lowland Ewings to the Celtic Scots who populated what is now southwestern Scotland from Ireland, as opposed to the Picts and Caldonians (northern Europeans), who inhabited the highlands and were gradually driven out or absorbed by the Scots.

There are also numerous Ewing families in Ireland today. Whether they are descendants of some of the Scottish Ewings who fled to Ireland during the periods of unrest in Scotland in the 17th century or trace their lineage to other lines, they have a coat of arms of their own which is quite different from the one with which the lowland-Scot Ewings have become familiar.

Come to Nashville next month and swap stories, tall and otherwise, about your forebears and your own family adventures. You need not be a dues-paying member of Clan Ewing to attend, so bring all your relations. All Ewings and Ewing relatives or descendants are invited. Come one; come all! The details about dates and registration are elsewhere in this Journal. I hope to see many of you there.

Joe (Neff) Ewing

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Page 202

A Texas Teacher Remembers

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 2 - May 1998, pages 8-13]

Louella Kate Smiddy in collaboration with Jerry Smiddy Wilson (her daughter)

Source: William M. "Bill" Ewing, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Bill writes: "I recently received an autobiography of my first cousin, once removed, Louella Kate Smiddy. Her mother was Ida Kate⁶ Ewing [John⁵, Wilson⁴, Edley³, Andrew², William¹. That is William Ewing of Rockingham.] Louella is now over 100 years old and is a missionary in Ecuador, South America. She and her daughter decided in 1988 to devote the remaining years of their lives to spreading the Gospel in Ecuador. Both ladies were widows and retired school teachers. They sold their homes in Texas and do not plan to ever return to the USA.

A young woman asked me recently what I considered the major point of contrast between teaching in the early 1900's and now. The idea that came immediately to mind was the handling of stereo-typed sex roles in today's schools. I didn't know how to express the concept verbally in those days, but I distinctly recall a definite demarcation in the distribution of chores. The boys went outside the [to] perform such delightful tasks as dusting the erasers in artistic patterns on the schoolhouse walls, chopping and stacking firewood, and collecting snakes, toads, and lizards for the natural science class. The girls stayed (another hour) to sweep the floor, dust the furniture, wash the chalkboard, and straighten the books. In recent times some of these inequities have been eradicated, or at least blurred. We now know that it's all right for little boys to cry and for little girls to be strong.

Let me wander back now, in memory, to the year 1898 when, as an orphaned child of four, I came to live with my Uncle Boaz and Aunt Effie Ewing [Bill Ewing's grandparents] in the small community of Peerless, Texas, about ninety miles southeast of Dallas. They had just lost their little daughter Lasca, also four years old, and the family felt that having a child of about the same age in the home might ease their loss.

My uncle, a moderately prosperous storekeeper, provided me with the best schooling available in those parts. In a one-room schoolhouse on the edge of town I finished grades one through eight at the age of eleven. My family was not willing for me to go away to school yet, so the teacher in Peerless let me "hear" the lessons of the younger children, thus giving him time to instruct me in the advanced courses of algebra, physical science, history and geography. (This last course included the whole universe in those days.)

Finally ready for high school, I rode the dray wagon fifteen miles into Sulphur Springs every Monday, carried on my studies while living with relatives during the week, and then rode the wagon back home on Friday afternoon. The Saturday night spelling bee-open to any and all--provided a dramatic background for my language skills. I always "spelled down" the children, the adults, even the schoolteacher. This, perhaps, convinced my uncle that he had not wasted his investment in my schooling.

At the age of sixteen, after two years in high school and a six-weeks' training course at North Texas State Normal School in Denton, I took the certification examination and obtained a "second grade" certificate which in 1911 authorized me to teach in grades one through eight. (A "first grade" certificate qualified you for grades one through twelve.) The school board in Peerless customarily offered each hometown beginning teacher a job for one year to give them experience. I could not take advantage of that offer because my uncle was one of the trustees, and nepotism was strictly prohibited. However, through a longtime friend and customer of my uncle's general store and cotton gin, he secured a position for me in a "prairie school" several miles from any town. This friend, Gus Campbell, served as a trustee of the prairie school, and he offered to provide my room and board for eight dollars in cash and piano lessons for his three oldest daughters. The schoolhouse stood on a piece of property that Mr. Campbell had donated for that purpose. All the school children except his had to pass in front of his house to get to the school. If on a bitter cold day none of the students appeared, I simply held class for the young Campbells in their own parlor.

Speaking of winter, some diligent mothers sewed their offspring into their long underwear, and it might not come off until spring. Since this practice precluded a complete bath, the children just washed the exposed skin-maybe. To ward off pneumonia and flu, a small cloth bag containing a malodorous resin which everyone called "assafiddity" (really spelled asafetida) hung from a string around the child's neck. In the colorful language of my Aunt Effie, they "stunk worse'n c'yarn" (her word for carrion).

A teacher rarely continued in a school for more than one year. Either the people of the community became dissatisfied, or the teacher did, or both. After one year on the prairie, I decided to seek a position that paid more than forty dollars a month. I finally secured one that paid fifty dollars and promptly went out and splurge two dollars on a pair of soft gray kid, high-topped, buttoned shoes.

During this year (1912-1913) I lived at home and rode my small sorrel mare three miles to school. She waited patiently all day, tied in the shade of a sycamore tree. My two dogs, one a small fluffy, yellow dog name Goo-Goo, and the other a large back mongrel called Pup, often came along to keep the mare company and to enjoy the attention they got from the students. At the end of the day, my arms loaded with all the objects I carried back and forth, I faced the awkward problem of getting on my mare to ride home. This mare must formerly have belong to a Pony Express rider, because she had the irritating habit of taking off like a shot the minute she felt my toe touch the stirrup. If I didn't get a firm hold on the reins and settle into the saddle quickly, she left for home without me. Three or four times that year I overheard the animated recounting of the spectacle witnessed by the townspeople as the mare galloped into view, her saddle either empty or, better still, hanging under her belly from bucking as she ran. The narrative went something like this: "We was standing in front of Goaz's gin, don't you know-looked up and seen Miss Loueller's sorrel mare comin' round the curve licketty-split, right up to the porch, with ole Pup at 'er heels. The, 'bout half a minute later, her comes little Goo-Goo bring' up the rear. Tom Graham says, 'Looks to me like Miss Loueller got left at the school agin. I'm goin' that way. I'll take the mare back to 'er so's she can git home tonight.'"

I had another riding problem. This one had to do with the long, divided skirt that women wore in order to sit modestly astride the western saddle that had recently replaced the side saddle in Texas. One Sunday afternoon Claude Smiddy, the young man who would later become my husband of fifty-eight years, came by to take me horseback riding. Upon trying to mount, I realized that I had inadvertently put both my legs into one side of the voluminous skirt. Not wanting to admit my embarrassing mistake to Claude, I quickly told him that I had forgotten something and scurried into the house to make the necessary adjustment, leaving him none the wiser.

The roads between towns were rough and often muddy, making the distances seem even longer on horseback or in a buggy, so Claude and I saw each other only on rare occasions for the first few years of our acquaintance. The time came, however, when friendship ripened into love, and in 1917 we were married. (By that time I had taught six years in five different schools.) Just a few weeks after our wedding, Claude was drafted into the armed forces to fight in World War I. He was sent to France where stayed until the end of the war. Upon returning in December of 1918, he decided to help his father on the farm, and I settle down to the life of country wife and mother. We soon learned that the cotton industry was not as lucrative a business as it had been during the war when cotton was used as wadding in the bullets, so Claude went on the road selling Conoco products. Not satisfied to be away from his family so much of the time, he went into the grocery business in 1923 in Commerce, Texas. We lived near the campus of East Texas State Teachers' College. By that time we had two little girls, Claudia and Adele, and while they were in kindergarten I enrolled in interesting conveniently scheduled college classes. At first it was just a hobby, something to pass the time while the girls were away, but later I decided to fill the requirements for a degree, and in 1927 I earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Spanish. At that time I had no thought of teaching again because male teachers abounded and most school boards preferred them. (Editor: Here you may or may not insert a loud "Harumph!" with fists on hips.)

Shortly after the beginning of World War II, my husband decided to go to Galveston to seek a job in the new ship-building industry. I joined him there with our third daughter Jerry, our post script who had been born in 1933 during the years when I was not teaching. A severe shortage of teachers had developed because thousands of men had been sent overseas in the armed forces. I applied for and obtained a position in one of the county schools in Port Bolivar, a small fishing community on the peninsula just across the channel from Galveston. Surrounded by a chain link fence, the weathered frame schoolhouse stood in a sandy yard dotted with a few tufts of salt grass. The county Superintendent who hired me gave my job description as "teacher, principal, bus driver and custodian" of the two-teacher school. The other teacher taught grades one through three, and I taught grades four through eight. Those students who continued in school after the eighth grade were bused to Ball High School in Galveston.

My most memorable, and sometimes harrowing, experiences during those two years centered around the school bus. Everyone called it the "Silver Goose." It resembled an elongated hearse painted silver and was about fifteen years old. I had complete charge of the bus and kept it parked in front of my house at night. Every school day at 6:00 A.M. I drove the bus onto the ferry that crossed and recrossed the channel twelve times a day. After driving into place and setting the emergency brake, I sometimes sat and dozed or sipped coffee from my thermos. The crossing took about twenty-five minutes, so on a fine, clear day I might get out, climb the metal stairs to the upper deck and watch the sunrise and the porpoises rolling through the sluggish, green water. About halfway across, we always passed an island that had been a leper colony in the late nineteenth century. Comparing my life with the loss and misery of those desolate souls somehow seemed to lighten my load.

One morning, when the fog over the island was as thick as buttermilk, the ferry got off course and stuck on a sandbar. For over two hours we sat listening to the bells on the invisible buoys and the harsh blasts of the foghorn as it warned other ships of our potentially dangerous position.

In fair weather or foul, the clank and thud of the ferry's bumping to the landing was my signal to start the motor and get ready to drive the bus onto the mainland. Waiting in the long line of exiting cars, I always felt an eerie premonition that the ferry was going to lurch free of its moorings and dump the Silver Goose and me into the water.

On leaving the ferry, it took about thirty minutes to drive up the peninsula and back down again, picking up the children in front of their homes, most of which sat up on tall posts to keep high water from invading them during hurricanes. At the end of the day I made the run again, returning the students to their homes and recrossing the channel to Galveston.

One of the Port Bolivar students stands out in my memory. He was nicknamed Hotshot, and his baggy, ragged clothes bespoke the deep poverty of his family. After the Christmas holidays the other students came to me with startled expressions and exclaimed, "Mrs. Smiddy, Hotshot says he's gonna shoot Santa Claus 'cause he didn't bring him no presents!" Their

horror of this idea was tempered by their sympathy for his plight. Although they were all poor, each one had received at least one present. Their feelings toward him turned savage, however, after the trick he played on them at Easter time. Several mothers had come to the school on the day before the holidays to hide beautifully decorated Easter eggs in the sparse grass and under little piles or rock. Hotshot had stayed away that day, and apparently he was watching from a hiding place as the ladies hid the eggs. When the mother came inside the schoolhouse for refreshments and a short program, Hotshot sneaked over and loaded every available space in his baggy clothing with these delicious treasures. As we all filed out of the building for the egg hunt, we saw Hotshot galloping away, holding up his sagging pants with one hand, and stuffing eggs into his mouth as fast as he could with the other.

I'm proud of one accomplishment in that drab, antiquated school. Most of their children worked hard with their parents during after school hours, and the girls, with only one or two exceptions, took little or no pride in the clothes or personal appearance. So I decided to initiate an eighth-grade graduation exercise and encourage all the students to dress up. Somehow the idea took hold, and all the girls, even the poor ones, acquired a long dress. Every boy was able to get together some semblance of a suit. This being the first graduation exercise the school had ever held, the students and their parents glowed with pride . . .

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Page 207

ANDREW EWING

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 2 - May 1998, pages 19-26]

Source: Clerk Andrew Ewing - His Book compiled by Katherine W. Ewing, 1942 et seq., Nashville, Tennessee. Thanks to Mr. Pete Hamilton, Buena Vista, Virginia, who made us aware of this book and was able to furnish a number of the pages from the book. All of the errors in spelling have been left as they appear in the book. The footnotes are indicated as they appeared in the book. However, the pages of the book that Mr. Hamilton has does not contain the references for the footnotes.

Chapter 7

1788 Mission to Mc Gillivray

In Davidson County Will Book No. 1, at page 66 there is the following interesting heading to a five years delayed in

"Cumberland River State of N^o Carolina

"Know all men by these Presents that I Daniel Dunam of Cumberland and State Affs^d Am held and finally bound unto Isaac Johnston of the State and place Affs^d in the Sum of One thousand Pounds . . .

18 Ap^l in the year of our Lord 1783 . . ." Bond to make a deed for 320 acres of Land it being half the preemption which s^d Lunam has obtained as Assignee of Peter Caffrey . . .

Proved by James Mulheim Ap^l 9^th 1788

Test Andrew Ewing c DC"

Emissaries of the British and Spanish governments had been busily engaged in machinations and mischief to the Western settlements for many years prior to 1788. The stationers on the Cumberland were during that in situations naturally and politically separated by mountain barriers and virtually cast off by the parent State, so that they were compelled to act very independant parts. The Creek and Cherokee Indians waged war against these settlements. "But why should they be induced or provoked to travel the distances to, and seek the destruction of, the settlers who had never disturbed them? There was no land on this side of the Tennessee River to which they had ever had any claim or right. These settlers had done no act, except in self-defense, by which the Creeks had been damage."

Robertson and the other leaders strongly suspected the hostile designs of the Spanish officers, having long distrusted the honesty of professions which had been repeatedly and lavishly bestowed. The Cumberlanders now resolved to send a joint letter and by a full embassy, composed of two distinguished citizens; not to a Spanish officer, but to the chief and most potent agent of the Spanish officers among the Souther hostile tribes of Indians. Therefore, they addressed a letter to Alexander McGillivray, the Chief of the Creek Nation, and entrusted it to the hands of Captain James Hogatt, a man employed in the service of the county, and to ANDREW EWING, the Scribe, with the purpose of enquiring the cause of continued Creek hostility.

The father of McGillivray (whose name appears to have been coined from the Scotch McGill, and the French, "Vrai") was a Scotsman of good family and his mother was a half-blood Indian squaw, whose father had been a Spanish officer. In appearance, Alexander McGillivray was tall, slender, handsome of feature; a fine scholar of superior mind, educated by his uncle, a Protestant clergyman; a polished gentleman in manners. This blending of blood brought forth tendencies to combine the cool judgment and shrewdness of a Scotsman, with the self-conceit and duplicity of a Spaniard, and the treachery and ferocity of an Indian.

A more detailed description of his physical and mental characteristics is given below for the better understanding of the man with whom the Cumberland settlers were force to deal:

"McGillivray . . . was about forty years old and extremely handsome. His face was brown with a faint bluish cast, and his hair a glossy blue-black. On the right side of his forehead were two blemishes, copper-colored, the size of half-pennies, and below his eye, on the same side, was a large copper-colored mark. They looked as though an Indian had places a thumb and two fingers against his face, and lost the copper color from his finger tips. His dress was almost startling, for he wore pantaloons of bright red flannel, a tunic of white-striped pale blue calico bound at the waist with a red-yellow sash, and a turban of thin red cloth so tied that an end hung down over an ear.

" . . . The quoting of Latin . . . was a habit of McGillivray's. Another was to give strangers, at the first opportunity, and with seeming humility, a brief resume of the reasons that had made him head of the Creek nation . . . he did it with good reason, for it was both disconcerting and disarming to hear perfect English, quotations from Horace and Seneca, and abstract speculations falling from the lips of an apparent savage.

" . . . he had thirty-seven slaves, a twenty-room white clay house filled with furniture and silver purchased in Savannah, and a herd of nearly sixteen hundred shaggy-haired horses running loose on the plateaus of the Georgia mountains."⁵¹

Throughout the War for American Independence, McGillivray had been devoted to the measures of England. At the close of the war, however, he had entered into close alliance with the Spanish authorities of Florida and Louisiana, and it is claimed that the Spanish leaders had made a treaty with him, promising him the regular pay of a Spanish General, if he would keep the Indians at war with the Cumberland settlers and the other advancing western posts. Thus the crafty, part-blood Indian remained in his Georgia headquarters, pretending to be a friend to both parties, while drawing his pay and provoking the depredations of his tribesmen.

Historians, while failing to disclose the contents of the first missive to McGillivray, carried by "Mr. Hoggatt and Mr. Ewing" do give the complete reply which follows, in part:

" . . . I will not deny that my nation has waged war against your country for several years past, and that we had no motive of revenge for it, nor did it proceed from any sense of injuries sustained from your people; but being warmly attached to the British people, and under their influence, our operations were directed by them against you, in common with other Americans. After the general peace had taken place, you sent us a talk, proposing terms of peace, by Samuel Martin, which I then accepted, and advised my people to agree to, and which should have been finally concluded in the ensuing summer and fall.

"Judging that your people were sincere in their professions, I was much surprised to find that whilst this affair was pending, they attacked the French traders at the Muscle Shoals, and killed six of our nation who were trafficking for silverware. These men belonged to different towns, and had connections of the first consequence in the nation. Such an unprovoked outrage raised a most violent clamor, and gave rise to the expedition against Cumberland which soon after took place.

"But as that affair has been since amply retaliated, I now, once again, will use my best endeavors to bring about a peace between us. Indeed, before I received your dispatches, I had given out strict orders, that on the return of all hunting-parties, none should go out, on any pretence, until the first general meeting, which I expect to hold in May next, when all my influence and authority will be exerted in the manner you wish. I shall take leave of this subject, referring you to Mr. Hogatt, to whom I have freely explained my sentiments . . .

"As I abhor every species of duplicity, I wish not to deceive. If I were not decided in settling and terminating the war, I would not now write . . ."⁵²

It became the duty of Colonel Robertson, as leader of the colony, to reply to this letter of the Man of Probity, who redskin murderers not five days after Robertson's receipt of the above letter had killed one of the finest settlers of the Colony and Robertson's close friend, Colonel Bledsoe, at his own door-step.

"How to do so, and not expose his (The Chief's) 'duplicity'; how to do so and not reproach him and his savages with wilful murder of one of the best citizens who he had just then addressed in terms of friendship; how to do so, and not aggravate the troubles then almost past endurance, were questions of exceeding difficulty. Colonel Robertson held a long consultation with his 'cabinet officers.' The two 'Ministers to Tallassee, EWING and Hoggatt', were consulted as to the character of this influential chieftain; Messrs EWING and Hoggatt had studied his words and scrutinized his conduct attentively. The conclusion to which EWING arrived was unfavorable; he did not believe in his exemption from 'duplicity,' nor in his indifference to presents. After due deliberation it was agreed that ANDREW EWING, 'late Plenipotentiary to the Creek Nation,' should, as 'Secretary of State of the small Estates on Cumberland' draw up the important document.

"At the 'Cabinet meeting,' colonel Robertson remarked, that in the joint letter addressed by Colonel Bledsoe and himself to the Creek chief, the then recent murder of his son, Peyton (Robertson), was mentioned, and lamented; but 'we uttered no threats of vengeance . . . My heart could have given him up as a sacrifice, to secure permanent peace. It should have been enough: I could have given my own, if due to atonement for wrongs we have done them; but they have waged an unprovoked and bloody war against us. And now they have killed our best citizen, and they constantly seek my life.'

" . . . Mr. Ewing fully concurred with Colonel Robertson, that there was a close intimacy and understanding between McGillivray and the Spanish Governors. He said that McGillivray was a well-educated man, and he thought very shrewd, seemingly bold and frank yet evidently cautious and guarded. Mr. EWING prepared the following reply, which was approved and signed by Colonel Robertson, and forwarded to McGillivray.⁵³

The language used in the letter to the Creek chief is a masterpiece of delicasy and wisdom, quite complimentary to his intelligence and foresight. Andrew Ewing, by this one stroke alone, should be ranked as a real diplomat, clever in his choice of words, brilliant in his consummate tact, wise in his understanding of human behavior.

The original draft or copy is in the archives of the Tennessee Historical Society, Box Mc I, No. 26, "in the peculiar handwriting of the Master-Clerk and Amanuensis, Andrew Ewing, General Robertson being but a very indifferent scholar and penman."⁵⁴

Nashville, August 3, 1788.

"SIR:- I received your favors by Messrs. Hoggatt and Ewing, which have given great satisfaction. I transmitted copies to Governor Caswell, and have since seen them published in the Kentucky Gazette.

"The Indians still continue their incursions in some measure, though trifling to what we experienced in the spring. I imagine it must be the Cherokees, or some out-lying Creeks, who are not acquainted with your orders.*

"Colonel Anthony Bledsoe was killed by a small party, about two weeks ago.**

"It is reported that the inhabitants of Holston and the Cherokees are at war, but we have not received any account that may be depended on; nor whether you and the Georgians are likely to terminate your disputes.

"From Mr. Hogatt's account, we have expected some of the Creeks in from you, but none have yet arrived. ***

"I have provided a gun, which Mr. Hogatt thinks will please you.**** I have caused a deed, for a lot in Nashville, to be recorded in your name, and beg you will let me know whether you will accept of a tract or two of land in our young country.

"I could say much to you concerning this same country, but am fully sensible you are better able to judge what may take place in a few years than myself. In all probility we cannot long remain in our present state; and if the British, or any commercial nation, who may be in the possession of the mouth of the Mississippi, would furnish us with trade, and receive our produce, there cannot be a doubt but the people on the west side of the Appalachian Mountains will open their eyes to their real interests.

"I should be very happy to hear your sentiments on this matter.

"Myself, and the inhabitants of this young country, return you our most grateful thanks for your very polite treatment of Messrs Hoggatt and Ewing, and shall always be happy to render you any service in our power.

"I hope you will honor me with a correspondance, and shall do myself the pleasure of writing by every opportunity.

"I am, Sir,

With great esteem, your most obedient

JAMES ROBERTSON

"Hon. Alexander McGillivray."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Footnotes, embodied in the text of the above letter, as printed in Putnam, explain certain of the passages:

* "This reference to the 'incursions in the spring' is made without any harsh expression, without manifestation of revengeful feeling, although it included the murder of his son, Peyton Robertson," and others

"We presume neither the writer," Andrew Ewing, "nor Colonel Robertson had much confidence that McGillivray had given any orders, or that they were of such an authoritative character as to have restrained his savages from their 'incursions.'

** "Had we not witnessed the calm self-control of Colonel Robertson in his first letter, written a few days after the slaughter of his son, we should be amazed that he could now mention the murder of Colonel Bledsoe without threats of vengeance. 'Keep your temper, but don't be idle,' was one of Andrew Ewing's sayings. It was observed in the preparation of this letter.

*** "Mr. Ewing, in writing this letter, omits his own name in reporting 'an expected visit from some of the Creeks' on a friendly mission. It is from 'Mr. Hogatt's account,' and not from 'Hogatt and Ewing.' This is in further confirmation of the inference we have derived from various small items, that Mr. Ewing 'did not believe in McGillivray or the Indians' and that 'if the Creeks came, it would be but to kill and to steal, to burn and to destroy.'

**** "A gun in that day was no insignificant present, even to an Indian chief. Mr. Ewing and Mr. Hoggatt concurred in the opinion that the Creek chief would not be offended by the offer of some tokens of good will, which he could see and handle. And as he had manifested some better liking for Mr. Hoggatt than for Mr. Ewing, it was prudent to have the gun recommended by the former. In fact, Mr. Ewing was of the opinion of Castleman and Rains, that there were only two things which should be given to Indians, 'something to eat and a whipping.'"

It is evidence of character, training, hardihood and courage of the patriot, Andrew Ewing, that he journeyed through a wilderness of more than five hundred miles of hostile Indian territory, with all the dangers and hardships incident to such a mission. He was led as well by his zealous desire to curtail, through peaceful overtures of negotiation and conference rather than blood-shed, the loss of life and bitter enmity between the settlers and their red-skinned antagonists, as by his strong sense of duty and responsibility to those settlers, all of whom were his friends and neighbors. He watched and studied the character and actions of the Chief, all the while realizing the craftiness and duplicity of his foe, and host, who with one command could destroy the two defenseless ambassadors. During the negotiations, he allowed no utterances of the bitterness of his emotions, but held himself aloof and apart from the apparent friendliness of the treacherous quarter-breed Indian, permitting his fellow-emissary, Hoggatt, to assume the air of cordiality and genialty which he could not force himself honestly to wear.

The fact that McGillivray had "manifested some better liking for Mr. Hoggatt than for Mr Ewing" seems to indicate that the chief sensed the antagonistic feeling which the Clerk strove to control and conceal but was unable to subdue.

Gilmore says, "It is observable, in McGillivray's letters to Robertson that he alludes solely to Mr. Hoggatt, and makes no reference whatever to his companion, Mr. Ewing. I hence conclude that these sentiments, if spoke at all, were not expressed by the latter gentleman. He was a man of prominence, and decidedly outspoken, but no one of his recorded utterances accords with those attributed to the Envoys of McGillivray."⁵⁵

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An interesting example of confused names and identities is found in official North Carolina records, regarding the McGillivray expedition:

"Wednesday 26^th Nov^r 1788

. . . On the Memorial of Mary Bledsoe, accompanied by a deposition of Colo James Robinson, setting forth that the Estate of the late Colo Anthony Bledsoe and the said Colonel Robertson had become bound and liable to pay to James Hackett and Alexander Ewing the Sum of Two Hundred pounds for Services by them performed in carrying dispatches to the Creek Indians.

"Your Committee are of opinion that the Said Sum of Two Hundred pounds ought to be paid Out of the Public Treasury and that His Excellency the Governor be requested to grant a Warrant or Warrants for the same . . ." (Vol. 20, 1785-8, p. 551, State Records of North Carolina, by Clark)

Coincident with the mission to McGillivray, discussion of the Chief's doubtful protestations of peace, composition of letters to him, and other details incident to the tense situation of 1788 were being deliberated and executed, the development of a County and the evolution of a City were progressing.

"The first volume of records of land-titles was not opened in the small, uniform handwriting of Andrew Ewing. The town was no longer in the open woods but 'under fence': buffalo and deer did not race through the streets."⁵⁶

The October 6th Court record reads that "Mr. Josiah Love Esqr At the Request of the court Agrees to Act as Attorney for the State in the court of Davidson." ("A", 242)

On October 9th, the venerable "Ephraim McLane Through Age and Infirmity Resigns his commission As a Justice of the peace." (Ibid., 256)

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Page 214

LETTERS & E-MAIL

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, pages 2-3]

I have been away from the house for several days but arrived back home yesterday to find that a package from you had arrived. This is wonderful information and loaded with material that I did not have. It's going to be a lot of fun sorting all this out.

Previously I had only names and dates from some of the my Ewing line. I have already found information that has answered several of the questions that I had. Margaret Ewing Fife has done a superb job in pulling all this information together.

Although the data answers many questions I was pleased to find that it also raised many questions and suggested new leads for future work on my part. I was happy to see several references to Sally Jamison who had taken possession of information on the Ewings that had passed down thru the family. Sally was much loved and respected by all. I visited her grave this summer and found that her grave stone simply said "Aunt Sallie Jamison". I had spent most of the past two years researching the Jamisons and found that the Ewings and Jamisons were very close and often traveled together. The data you sent me will allow me to identify many of the Ewings that I ran across and it will give me the opportunity to put everything in a better perspective.

I was also very pleased to receive the information for Malcolm McMichael’s family. As I mentioned previously, I had almost nothing on this family and that segment which pertained only to the McAfees was enjoyable to read as well.

Again, I would like to thank you for your willingness to take the time to assemble all this material for me. It is greatly appreciated.

Bill Kerber

Tallahassee, Florida

~~~~~

I was delighted to find your e-mail address in this new issue of "Journal of Clan Ewing." It, as all the others have been, is excellent and contains much of interest and help to Ewing descendants.

I was especially interested in your "Clan Ewing in America - Lineage Table," the "Message from the Chairman" about unverified Ewing traditions, "An Open Letter," "Journal of a Voyage," "On the Internet" for your 3-mail address, and "A Texas Teacher Remembers" [because it reminded me . . .], and "Loch Lomond to Become Scotland's First National Park." I remember my son Tom's telling me of his visit to Loch Lomond on a "misty, moisty morning"--a typical Scottish morning, I've been told.

When my mother went to summer school in Silver City, NM, the summer of 1921 when I was 11 and 12, I was in an eighth grade arithmetic class with young women who would take certification examinations as soon as the summer session was over and hope for teaching positions in New Mexico rural schools. The Carlsbad, NM, bank cashier had told my mother that one of the first Red Bluff, NM (near TX - NM line) school boards had determined that they would employ no one as a teacher who could not read and write.

After I send my Dillard material to the Rabun County Library so that it will be available to researchers who attend this year's reunion at Dillard, GA, 20 June, I'll try to send you articles about my children's Ewing ancestors, John R. Ewing and his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Ewing, to consider for the Journal. I'll not be in Nashville in June, but wish you a great gathering of the Clan! The Clan would be foolish not to insist that you continue as editor of the Journal!

I doubt if more Irish research would really verify ancestors of the American Ewing immigrants. What you are doing to help Ewings discover the American Ewing families is very important.

Dorothy Dillard Hughes

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Page 216

Nashville, June 26-30, 1998 Report

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, pages 10-11]

Clan Ewing held its latest Family Gathering in Nashville in late June. It was attended by about 90 members, who all had a good time according to the reviews. At our business meetings the following officers were elected for the Clan:

Chancellor Joseph Neff Ewing, Jr.

Chancellor Emeritus Margaret Ewing Fife

Chairman Jill Ewing Spitler

Secretary Robert Hunter Johnson

Treasurer James R. McMichael

Jim McMichael was re-appointed Editor of the Journal and also Clan Genealogist. Margaret Fife was appointed co-Genealogist. An Internet Committee consisting of CarolSue Hair, Chair; Barbara and Tom Powell; and Jim McMichael were appointed to create, handle and oversee our new Website at http://members.xoom.com/ClanEwing/ClanEwing.htm. Bob Johnson was appointed Chairman of the Membership Committee.

It was decided that the next Gathering will be held in southeastern Ohio in 2000 or 2001, and Jill Spitler was designated to develop a committee to organize it. After extended discussion about the best time of year to hold it, the members present directed the officers to conduct a mail poll of all the members to see if there is a consensus among them on when to hold it.

As for the fun parts of the weekend, we started Friday evening with supper and a brief discussion of what to expect in the next 2 1/2 days. Saturday morning we boarded buses for a trip which stopped first at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville for excellent presentations by famed, local historian Ridley Wills, a distant Ewing relation, on the history of the church, with which various Ewings have been associated since its founding over 200 years ago, and on the part played by Ewings in the history of Nashville. (A copy of that talk is reprinted in this Journal.) We then inspected the replica of old Fort Nashboro (1780) on the river front and reboarded the buses for lunch on the lawn and a tour of the house known as Woodlon Hall, which was built by Alexander Ewing in 1822. On the way back to our hotel we had a tour of some of the scenic and historic parts of Nashville and of the City Cemetery, where several Ewings are buried.

Saturday evening we had an early supper, and more than 50 of us attended the 6:30 program at the Grand Ole Opry -- the mecca of country music fans.

Sunday morning we had two interesting and provocative talks. First, Jim McMichael described some of the genealogical work he is doing and some of the principles he has discovered or developed in that work. (Jim will probably have an article on that talk in a later issue of the Journal.) Then Coleman Ewing and his daughter Michelle collaborated on an analysis of historical data which they interpret to show that the father of the immigrants Nathaniel and his half-brothers could possibly have been Patrick.

Sunday afternoon we took a bus trip to drive by the former home of Dr. Andrew Ewing and visit Carnton, the former home of Randall McGavock, whose family had numerous intermarriages with various Ewings over the years. We also learned about the Civil War Battle of Franklin, which took place in that area.

Interspersed with those talks and trips were family stories; inspections of the various pictures, charts and other memorabilia on display; and getting to know our "cousins". Among the treasures on hand were many old photographs and family records and charts. Wally Ewing brought an intriguing scroll which rolled out to 15 or 20 feet in length and was covered with a handwritten chart of, mostly, the Nathaniel line of Ewings.

Among the Ewings in attendance were three Andrews (Pleas Andrew, Jr.; Andrew, Jr.; and Andrew, III), two Johns (John E. and John Kirby) and two Williams (William C. and William M.). Many from the Nashville area were there, as well as Hazel Daro from Fairbanks, Alaska; Ann and Frank Nugent from Bellingham, Washington; and Barbara and Tom Powell, who had traveled over 7000 miles in their motor home since leaving their fixed home in California.

We hope to see you all at our next Gathering in Ohio. It probably will be scheduled for the fall of 2000 or the spring of 2001. The approximate time is expected to be fixed in time for announcement in the November 1998 issue of the Journal.

Joe (Neff) Ewing

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Page 218

WILLIAM A. EWING 1896 LETTER

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, page 12]

Co. 23. Nat. Mil. Home, Ohio

Milton A. Ewing, Esq. } May 2. 1896

Neoga, Ill. }

Dear Comrade.

It is so long since I have heard from you that you may have forgotten me. Left Chicago July 5^th 1895. Spent two months in Harrisburg, Lancaster, York & Adams Co’s. Pa. & Cecil Co. Md., Phil^a & New Jersey, looking up early Ewings in Wills, Deeds, Bible, Graveyard, &c/., and visiting old farms. My correspondence has become voluminous, & has enabled me to connect most of the branches, & am satisfied your line runs back to Joshua, Am^a 1725; his four sons Patrick b. Feb 1737, Robert, Samuel, & Nathaniel, b. 1741; (Nathaniel was g- grandfather of A. E. Stevenson, Vice Prest. U.S. and lived Iredell Co., N.C., but died in Christian Co. Ky. 1822.); Patrick lived & died on homestead Cecil Co. Md.; Nathaniel to N.C. & Ky., Robert & Samuel I think went to Va. But have no data_. A. B. Ewing, Lewisburg, Tenn. (Uncle of Capt. Jas. A. Ewing.) Sent me information which shows that your grandfather, James Ewing, was youngest brother of his grandfather, Samuel Ewing who came to Am^a (he says) about 1760; I send a diagram which you will see varies some with you’re a/c. As to names; but it’s the same family. No doubt he is wrong when he says James died unmarried. Are you sure their father was Alexander & not Samuel? Am Capt. Of Co. 23. Are you going to G.A.R. encampment? Cant you stop here?

Very Cordially,

W^m. A. Ewing

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Page 219

HAVE I SEEN YOU BEFORE?

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, page 13]

As much as we enjoyed our first “Clan Ewing” reunion, we nevertheless were grateful to return home and enjoy moderate Michigan temperatures in the mid-seventy degree range–and low humidity! Aside from expanding our rather narrow view of Ewing origins, the reunion also confirmed our suspicion that members of the Ewing clan are special people–upstanding, outstanding, and usually understanding, if not always understood. Aren’t we lucky to belong to such a wonderful group.

In addition to being introduced to Nashville, learning more about the Civil War, and meeting dozens of cousins over the four-day reunion weekend, I was especially amazed by two “isn’t it a small world” occurrences. On Friday night, at the opening dinner, I reviewed the list of attendees and discovered there was one other Ewing from Michigan. I resolved to meet Bill and his wife, and after dinner I went to his table and said Hello. Being another one of those friendly Ewings, he said Hello right back, thought a few seconds, and then asked me if I had been a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training program during my college years. “How would he know that?” I wondered to myself, and answered in the affirmative. “Didn’t you serve on the destroyer escort H. J. Ellison on one of our summer cruises?” Bill continued. My astonishment escalated, and again my answer was yes. “Well, you know you and I were on that ship together back in 1951. We met then, talked about our families, and discovered that we had different forebears. As I recall, you were attending the University of Wisconsin at that time.” Bill was right on all counts, and I guess this little incident reveals what amazing memories some Ewings have! Unfortunately, that gene didn’t make it into my pool.

The second coincidence came to light at our final meal. At the breakfast table I conversed with Evelyn Niehaus Sooy and found out that she hails from Del Mar, California, just north of San Diego. “That’s interesting,” I said. “You may be familiar with a history of Del Mar that my sister wrote about 11 years ago, just before she died. I believe she went by her unmarried name of Nancy Ewing.” “I don’t recall the book, “ Evelyn replied, “but I sure remember Nancy. We knew each other quite well!” (Nancy, by the way, was the family genealogist. She and Barbara Powell had become acquainted, too, and Barbara finished the genealogy of Pocahontas James and his descendants after Nancy’s death.)

So out of the 80-some people in attendance, I had direct links with two of them. I would consider those chance meetings an important fringe benefits of attending the Clan Ewing reunion. Who knows what relationships will be unveiled at the next reunion?

Wallace K. “Wally” Ewing, Ph.D.

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Page 220

EWINGS PROMINENT IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, pages 14-26]

The following is a speech by Ridley Wills to the attendees of the Clan Ewing reunion in Nashville, Tennessee. A little about the speaker. He is married to Irene Jackson Wills and they have three grown sons. He is a retired Vice-President of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company; a local historian, and Adjunct Teacher of History of Nashville at Belmont University since 1984; Board Member, Vanderbilt University since 1988; Board Member, Monteagle Assembly Endowment Fund Corporation, since 1995; Chairman of Historic Marker Committee, Williamson County Historical Society since 1990; and Elder, Downtown Presbyterian Church, Nashville.

Good morning and welcome to the Downtown Presbyterian Church, which was established in 1955 when the First Presbyterian Church, which had been located on this site since 1816, voted by a 2/3 majority to move to the suburbs.

I grew up in The First Presbyterian Church and regularly attended Sunday School in rooms on the second floor of this 1918 addition. With other members of my family, I decided to continue worshiping downtown when First Church left downtown in 1955. Today, I have the honor of being the Clerk of the Session of the Downtown Presbyterian Church.

When I was born in 1934, there were ten Ewings who were on the active roll of the First Presbyterian Church, including attorneys and brothers Andrew and John Marshall Ewing, who were the father and uncle respectively of Elizabeth Ewing Stanford, who so graciously introduced me. Andrew and Marshall were also direct descendants of Susannah Shannon Ewing, one of the seven founders of the First Presbyterian Church, when it was organized at the Davidson County Courthouse on November 14, 1814. Mrs. Ewing was born the day after Christmas 1737 in Philadelphia, the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Thomas Shannon of Virginia. She married Andrew Ewing in “Cumberland Country,” then still part of North Carolina, in 1780, from Rockingham County, Virginia. Susannah out-lived her husband by five years, dying in Nashville October 31, 1818 at age eighty.

Susannah’s husband, the first Andrew Ewing to live in Nashville, was born in 1740 in either Bucks County, Pa. Or Buckingham County, Va. His father was William Ewing, an immigrant who was born in County Londonderry, Ireland about 1710. Andrew had an older brother, Henry, and three younger siblings-John, Elizabeth and Nancy. Henry moved to Kentucky where he died. From early childhood, Andrew lived in Augusta County, Virginia.

Andrew and Susannah Ewing are among the founding families of Nashville, having come in the flotilla of boats led by John Donelson in 1780. Mr. Ewing was a signer of the Cumberland Compact in May, 1780. This was our first system of government. He was elected first clerk of the Committee of the Cumberland Association on January 7, 1783. As chief scribe, he did most of the public writing for what was then the westernmost American settlement in North America, as well as much for private individuals, under the temporary form of or the government which preceded the establishment of Davidson County in 1783. That year, the first court was organized in Davidson County. Matthew Talbot was elected clerk. When he failed to make bond, Andrew Ewing was elected the next morning and continued to fill the office until February 1, 1813 when his son, Nathan, qualified as deputy clerk. Andrew resigned as County Court Clerk in April 1813 and was succeeded by Nathan.

In 1787, Andrew Ewing was one of 372 white males over 21 years of age who were living and paying taxes in Davidson County. Two years later, he received a license to keep an ordinary in Nashville. That same year, as County Court Clerk, Mr. Ewing ordered the county surveyor to lay off the lots and streets in the town of Nashville.

A year earlier, in 1786, Andrew Ewing and James Hoggatt served as ambassadors for James Robertson in taking to the Creek Indian Chief McGillivray a communication from Robertson that indicated the “manifest destiny” of the western settlements was to obtain supremacy over the Mississippi Valley and that he “appealed directly to his interest in maintaining the most friendly relations with them.” Ewing and Hoggatt penetrated the wilderness more than 200 miles to deliver this message and were praised for the courage with which they handled this dangerous assignment.

Andrew Ewing died April 30, 1813 at his farm four miles south of Nashville. He was buried in the Ewing family graveyard on the farm which disappeared in the 20^th century. Andrew’s children were Andrew Ewing, Jr., who married Sarah Hickman; Margaret Ewing, who married Andrew Castleman; William, who married Margaret Love; Amelia, who married Moses Speer; Nathan, who married Sarah Hill; and Elizabeth, who married Thomas Shannon.

Following Andrew Ewing’s death, citizens of Nashville erected a granite shaft in the Court House square in his memory. After the City Cemetery was established in 1822, his remains were moved there. You will visit his grave later today. A historian, writing in 1959, wrote that Andrew Ewing was “from the beginning, wise in council, excellent in working, a scholar, a penman, reliable as a friend, determined as a patriot, the man for who we are indebted for more information of those interesting and eventful times than to any other. . . .” In about 1960 a bronze plaque was erected on the first floor wall of the Davidson County Courthouse honoring Andrew Ewing.

Andrew and Susannah’s son Nathan was born February 17, 1776. Nathan became as prominent in Nashville as his father had been, succeeding him as County Court Clerk and serving from 1813 until his death in 1830. Considered one of the best educated men in Davidson County, Nathan was a trustee of the University of Nashville. He also was one of a group of four people, including Mrs. Felix Grundy, who established the first Sunday School in Nashville. Now going back to his duties as County Court Clerk, let me give you two examples of the diversified duties Nathan Ewing had when he held that office. In 1820, Nathan promulgated rates for whiskey, wine, brandy, breakfast, dinner, and supper served in Nashville ordinaries and inns. He also set the rate for “stabling horses and single fee.”

Nathan and his wife, Sarah Hill Ewing lived in a house at the corner of Church and Cherry streets. His property extended up Church Street to the First Presbyterian Church. By 1816, they moved to a farm on the Middle Franklin Pike (today’s Granny White Pike) just beyond Curry’s Hill. The Ewing family graveyard at 1014 Woodmont Blvd. Is where Nathan and other family members are buried. To the best of my knowledge, urban development has obliterated any physical evidence of their graves. Nathan and Sarah Ewing had six sons. They were:

(1) Dr. John Overton Ewing, a Nashville physician who married Miss Lemira Douglas of Kentucky and who died prematurely at age twenty-five; (2) Henry Ewing who married Miss Susan Grundy, sister of Hon. Felix Grundy. Henry followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by becoming Clerk of the Court of Davidson County, Tennessee. When his service as clerk ended, Davidson County had enjoyed the benefits of three generations of Ewings as county clerks spanning fifty-three consecutive years. Henry later moved to Philadelphia. (3) Albert G. Ewing married Miss Jane Campbell, of Wheeling, Va., the daughter of the famous reformer the Rev. Alexander Campbell. His second wife was the former Mary Jane Marsilliott. A Campbellite minister, Albert moved to Illinois. (4) Orville Ewing married first Milbrey Williams, daughter of Josiah Williams of Nashville. A banker, Orville was president of the Planters Bank of Nashville. His second wife was Susan C. Avery, a widow, in Groton, Connecticut. He died at Gainesville, Fl. (5) Edwin Hickman Ewing was a Murfreesboro lawyer who was considered one of the greatest in the state. He also was a member of the United States House of Representatives (1845-47). He served by special appointment as Judge of the Tennessee Supreme court, and was involved in the founding of Peabody College. He married Rebecca P. Williams, daughter of Josiah Williams December 20, 1932. (6) Andrew Ewing, the youngest son, married Miss Margaret Hines daughter of Andrew Hymes (sic). She had one son and died. He afterwards married Rowena Williams, a daughter of Josiah Williams. Andrew was a lawyer, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Colonel in the Confederate Army. Just before Nashville fell, he used his fortune to build a gun factory. A forceful and eloquent speaker, and a man of great public spirit, he opposed secession but went with his people. During the War Between the States, he was a judge on General Bragg’s Military Court.

When Nathan Ewing died on May 1, 1830, members of the Nashville Bar Association, justices of the Davidson County Court, and the officers of the court wore crepe for thirty days as evidence of their respect for their colleague.

I want to speak a little more about Nathan’s two sons who most distinguished themselves in life-Edwin and Andrew.

Edwin H. Ewing was born in Nashville on December 2, 1809, the fifth of six brothers. He gained a “profound and extensive knowledge of the law, graced by classical and belles-letters scholarship: and served as “an example to the younger generation of lawyers.” Edwin graduated from the University of Nashville in 1827 with an A.M. degree. He next studied law without a preceptor, using the books of an older brother who had studied but did not practice law. Francis B. Fogg, a distinguished Nashville attorney, gave him much helpful advice and counsel for which Edwin was always grateful. Mr. Ewing obtained his licence to practice law in 1830, a year before he was admitted to the bar. He practiced with James P. Grundy. In December, 1832, he married Miss Rebecca Williams. In January, 1837, he dissolved the partnership with Grundy and formed a partnership with his younger brother, Andrew Ewing, who I will talk about in a minute.

Edwin became a Whig during the Presidential campaign of 1836 and actively supported General William Henry Harrison in the ensuing 1840 campaign. A year earlier, in 1839, he was elected a trustee of the University of Nashville, his alma mater. He was elected as Whig member of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1842, where he gained a reputation as an able speaker. In the presidential campaign of 1844, he actively supported Henry Clay against James K. Polk. On the fourth of July 1845, Edwin H. Ewing was the orator at the ceremony at which the cornerstone of the state capital was laid. Clayton described his address as “eloquent,” which was not surprising as Mr. Ewing was considered one of the best orators in the state. In 1844, Edwin’s wife, Rebecca died. He would remain a widower the rest of his life. In late 1845, he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Nashville District in Congress. He served two sessions in Congress from December 1, 1845 until March 3, 1847. He might have been reelected but did not run for re-election having “a distaste to a seat in the House.” Alexander H. Stevens of Georgia, his room-mate said his speech on the 1846 tariff was the best delivered on the Whig side. Mr. Ewing made several other memorable speeches in Congress.

Meanwhile Edwin H. Ewing’s reputation as a lawyer increased. He frequently sat as a special judge on the State Supreme Court. The law partnership with his brother also prospered. By 1850, Edwin had made a lot of money on real estate. As he was now independently wealthy and in somewhat impaired health, he dissolved his law partnership and in April 1851, at age 41, left on an extended European tour. He returned eighteen months later to resume the private practice of law. In 1852, he delivered an oration in Nashville on the death of Daniel Webster that drew favorable acclaim. From 1856 until 1860, he lived in Murfreesboro with one of his daughters. When she moved to Nashville in 1860, he came with her. In the winter of 1860-61 he again moved to Murfreesboro to live with a son, but kept his official residence in Nashville.

In the election of February 1861, he spoke and voted for the Union. After Lincoln’s proclamation in April, he reluctantly sided with the South but in late 1863, realizing the futility of the Confederate cause, he advised the people of Tennessee who were at home to support the Federal Government. This brought him many enemies and cost him a seat on the Tennessee Supreme Court.

After the war, Mr. Ewing formed a partnership and practiced law in both Rutherford and Davidson counties. He participated in a number of important cases, including serving as counsel for the defense in the impeachment trial of Judge Frazier. In 1875, while a resident of Rutherford County, Mr. Ewing served on the State Board of Education. That year, the Board of Education was empowered by the State legislature to bring into being a state normal school or schools. As a result of this legislation, Peabody Normal College was opened on December 1, 1875.

Late in life, the University of Nashville awarded Edwin an honorary L.L.D. degree. In his old age, he attended University of Nashville board meetings, continued to be a voluminous newspaper writer, an omnivorous reader of books, someone fond of metaphysical studies, and a popular public speaker.

The next Andrew Ewing and a grandson of Andrew Ewing, the first Clerk of the County Court of Davidson County. Andrew II was born in Nashville in 1813, graduated from Nashville University in 1831, admitted to the Bar Association in 1835, and formed a partnership with his brother Edwin in 1837. The two brothers, Andrew a Democrat and Edwin a Whig, did not discuss their political differences while working together as law partners.

Andrew married a Miss Hines. They had one son, Robert Ewing. After her death, he afterward married Rowena Williams. I presume it was Ewing’s second wife who had a daughter. The daughter married Henry Watterson, the outspoken editor of the Louisville Courier Journal for fifty years and a 1919 Pulitzer Prize winner.

Beginning in 1844, Andrew Ewing became sought after across the state as a political speaker. In debate, he feared no opponent and had few equals. He was very popular both with his own party members, and also with Whigs. In 1846-47 when his brother was in Congress, he paid attention not only to his law practice but to the chancery branch of law, which was his brother’s field. The partnership lasted until 1851 when Edwin went on a trip to Europe. In 1848, the governor appointed Mr. Ewing as one of the commissioners of the new Tennessee Hospital for the Insane. Just as his brother Edwin was, Andrew was a speaker of great persuasiveness. “He grew in knowledge, wisdom and ability” as long as he lived. He was an earnest, moderate and liberal Democrat and an excellent case lawyer. From December 3, 1849 until March 3, 1851, he represented Tennessee in the House of Representatives. In July 1852, he gave an oration in honor of Henry Clay who died that summer.

At the 1853 Democratic political convention which nominated Andrew Johnson for governor of Tennessee, Andrew Ewing was first nominated by acclamation but declined. The reason he did so is interesting. Sometime earlier, Ewing agreed with a remark made by someone else that Andrew Johnson ought to be made governor as a rebuke to the Whigs who had gerrymandered Johnson’s district so that the Democrats in it were in the minority. Ewing really had no intention of committing to Johnson, but the latter learned of the thoughtless expression and held Mr. Ewing to it at the convention. Ewing, a scrupulous gentleman, arose and said that his sense of delicacy forbade his being any longer a candidate and withdrew in Johnson’s favor. Thereupon Johnson was nominated. Andrew Ewing was also an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senator in 1860.

Mr. Ewing gave a speech at the unveiling of a statue to Andrew Jackson in Memphis for which he received acclaim. In 1851, he was elected a trustee of the University of Nashville, joining his brother on that board. Andrew served as trustee there until his death.

In 1851 Andrew Ewing formed a law partnership with Hon. W. P. Cooper which lasted until 1861, when Mr. Cooper was elected a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court. He then formed a partnership with John Marshall of Franklin. Mr. Ewing was not a successionist and supported the Union vigorously. However, after President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the insurrection in South Carolina, Mr. Ewing sided with the Confederacy and retreated South with the Southern army. He was appointed one of a permanent court martial of lawyers, which sat until near the war’s end. He died in Atlanta in 1864 worn out by disease, exposure, anxiety and excessive work.

Edwin and Andrew Ewing had a first cousin I want to tell you about now. His name was Andrew B. Ewing. He was born on July 27, 1796 at Barton’s Station, a blockhouse on Brown’s Creek one and one half miles south of Nashville. He was the oldest child of William and Margaret Love Ewing. William Ewing was a brother of Nathan Ewing. Andrew was the first native Tennessean to practice medicine in the Nashville area. He was also one of the best educated physicians in the state. Being well educated seems to have been common denominator for so many members of this family. In his early years, Andrew studied under the eminent Gideon Blackburn, the first headmaster at Harpeth Academy in Franklin. He completed his general education at Cumberland College in Nashville after which he studied medicine under the tutelage of Dr. James Roane, the second governor of Tennessee. In 1819 and 1820, Dr. Ewing studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City. The college was considered one of the finest medical training grounds in the country and had facilities which were the envy of most. Dr. Ewing was the first Tennessean to receive an M.D. degree from that eminent university.

Following his graduation from medical school in 1820, Dr. Ewing set up a medical practice in Franklin, Tennessee. He also courted Eliza McDowell McGavock, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Hugh McGavock of Wythe County, Virginia. Late that year, he proposed to Eliza who evaded an answer to his question by referring him to her parents “who wishes she deems it her duty to consult.” Mr. And Mrs. McGavock gave their consent to the marriage which took place on May 1, 1821 in Max Meadows, Virginia. The couple lived in Franklin until 1823 when they moved to Nashville where he set up a medical practice with Dr. John Overton Ewing, his first cousin. Their firm name was Drs. “J.O. & A.G. Ewing.” Andrew and Eliza’s first two sons, William Ewing and Hugh McGavock Ewing were born in 1823 and 1824 respectively, in Nashville. As I mentioned earlier in this paper, Dr. John O. Ewing died in 1826 at age twenty-five, survived by a young widow and his parents. His death caused Andrew much pain and anguish. Following the unexpected dissolution of the partnership, Andrew decided to return to Franklin to practice. He would remain there for the rest of his long and fruitful life. Eliza and Andrew had six more children-all born in Franklin: Margaret Ewing, Randall Milton Ewing, Andrew J. Ewing, Sarah Amanda “Sallie” Ewing, Susan Mary Ewing, and Ann Eliza Ewing. Randal grew up to marry Mary Ellen McGavock, a cousin. During the Civil War, they were very helpful to their aunt, Elizabeth McGavock Harding, the mistress of Nashville’s famous Belle Meade Plantation.

During his medical practice, which spanned more than half a century, Dr. Andrew Ewing took an active interest in many young medical students. At least eight physicians served their precentorship under his guidance. Several of these doctors made their own medical marks in Williamson County. A physician’s life was not easy. In 1838, he wrote his brother-in-law, Hugh McGavock that he was writing in haste “under the influence of much fatigue and heavy professional engagements and have barely time to give you the . . . . tidings.” Dr. Ewing was also very competent. He twice served as president of the Medical Society of Tennessee. Dr. Ewing and his family lived on a farm on the Nashville Turnpike a mile and one-half north of Franklin. The typical Tennessee farmhouse has two floors with a central hall on each. Named “Creekside” it still stands a short distance west of U.S. 31 and about the same distance south of Mack Hatcher parkway. You will see it tomorrow.

A note scrawled in longhand summarized the career of Dr. Andrew B. Ewing. He was “one of our most studious, respected and beloved early doctors. . . . Retired from practice after fifty years and died May 1881 in his 85^th year.” Andrew B. Ewing was Elizabeth Ewing Stanford’s great, great grandfather.

Now I’d like to jump to another branch of the Ewing Clan that also made a strong impact on Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Captain Alexander “Alex” Ewing was born March 10, 1752 in Maryland. His father was John Ewing and his paternal grandfather was Alexander Ewing (1677-1738/9), an immigrant to America in 1727. When Alex was about ten years old, he moved with his family to southern Virginia, in what became Wythe County. There young Alex grew to manhood during the final years of English rule. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he received a commission as a lieutenant in the Continental army. He served at that rank from 1777 until 1782 when he was promoted to Captain. At the end of the war, Captain Ewing was serving as aid-de-camp to General Nathaniel Green. Wounded at Guilford, North Carolina, he earned his nickname “Devil Alex” and 2,666 acres. Alex was an early settler of N.W. Davidson County, arriving in 1786. In 1787 he was one of three taxables in his family in Davidson County, Tennessee. In about 1788, Alexander married Sarah Smith who was born August 12, 1761.

Before the Indian wars were over in 1795, Alexander and Sarah had become the parents of four children. Alexander was 43 when he bought a tract of land on White’s Creek in 1795, and the last of his eight children, which included seven boys, were probably born on the farm. There he built and owned one of the first brick plantation houses in the area, near present-day Ewing Drive at Knight Road. In 1798, the Davidson County Tax Roll listed Ewing as owing thirteen slaves. During the last decade of the eighteenth century, Captain Ewing added to his land on White’s Creek by acquiring other land in Middle and West Tennessee, including property near Franklin. As evidenced by the two imposing homes he built, Alexander Ewing enjoyed prosperity following the Indian wars and weathered the economic crisis of 1819 without becoming overextended. Shortly before his death in 1822, Ewing built a mansion at present-day 5101 Buena Vista Pike. He and his wife, Sarah, are buried in the Ewing Plantation Cemetery north of Ewing Creek at the corner of present-day Ewing Drive and Knight’s Road. Their children included Alexander C., James, Randal M., William B., and Lucinda.

A valuable portion of the Stump property was transferred to Alexander’s sons, William B., Alexander C., and Randal M. Ewing. The Federal style Plantation built by Captain Ewing was left to his son, William Black Ewing. It then passed to William’s son, Randal Ewing, who died in California in 1853. Before Randal left Tennessee for the California gold fields, he sold his grandfather’s former home to Cornelius Waggoner. In 1880, the house was owned by Waggoner’s son, Benjamin F. Waggoner and his wife. The house, Woodlon Hall, and two outbuildings still stand today. My impression is that you will see the house later this morning.

The last Ewing I will talk about is Sallie Ann Ewing Gault. Sallie Ann was the daughter of Alexander C. and Chloe Saunders Ewing and a granddaughter of Captain Alexander “Devil Alex” Ewing. She was born July 12, 1826 at her parents’ home, Ewingcrest, on the Murfreesboro Pike just outside Franklin, a place which had been given to her grandfather in 1787 for his services in the Revolution. Because her parents died when she was young, Sallie Ann was reared by a relative, Sallie McGavock, at nearby Carnton Plantation, another home you will visit this weekend.

At age fifteen, Sallie Ann married Boyd McNairy Sims, whom Williamson county historian, Virginia Bowman, described as “a rich and prominent young planter who had not yet received his majority.” Boyd was twenty years old when he married Sallie. Three children were born to the young couple before Boyd died in 1849 at twenty-seven. He was buried in the Hightower family cemetery near Brentwood, Tennessee. The reason for this is that Sallie Ann Ewing Sims’ grandmother, Sarah Smith Ewing, was a sister of Nancy Smith Hightower whose husband, Richard Hightower, was a brother to Sarah Clements Hightower. Richard and Sarah Hightower grew up at the Hightower homestead on the Harpeth Turnpike. Nearby was the Hightower family cemetery. Sarah Hightower and Oliver Bliss Hayes were Adelicia Acklen’s parents. Adelicia and Sallie were both friends and “kissing cousins.” They had common traits. Both were beautiful, quick witted, and vivacious. They enjoyed each other. Both were widows soon to remarry-Adelicia to Joseph A. S. Acklen in 1849 and Sallie to Joseph W. Carter of Winchester, Tennessee, a short time later. Sallie and Joseph, who was a member of the State legislature, had two children before he died in about 1856.

In 1860, Sallie and her children moved from her portion of her father’s farm to a house at 118 Third Avenue North in Franklin. When the War Between the States broke out, Sallie and her friend Adelicia were both strongly committed to the Confederate cause. Adelicia was a member of the Soldier’s Friend Society of Nashville. The organization had as its purpose “to make up clothing for our soldiers, to prepare lint, bandages, and whatever else may be required to promote the comfort” of Tennessee volunteers. The members pledged themselves to give their all in support of the South’s glorious cause and to regard it and it only as “our country.” Sallie was said to have raised the first Confederate flag in Franklin, one she made and unfurled at the front of her home the same day a Confederate flag was first raised over the State Capitol in Nashville. After Franklin fell to the Federals in1862, Sallie gave valuable information to Confederate officers in the neighborhood whenever she could.

When her cousin-in-law, Adelicia Acklen’s husband died in Louisiana in 1863, her huge cotton crop was in danger of being burned by the Confederates to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Federals. Adelicia was desperate. She confided with Sallie Carter, then thirty-seven. Sallie agreed to go to Louisiana with Adelicia to see if they could somehow save the cotton. The two widows undertook the dangerous and seemingly impossible task in early 1864, traveling through the lines of both armies to reach Adelicia’s Angola Plantation. Adelicia’s strength failed after they reached Louisiana in March, but they found an elderly gentleman who was willing to act as Mrs. Carter’s guide. After traveling 150 miles over mud roads in a mule-drawn carriage seven or eight times in an effort to get Confederate authorities to give her a permit to remove Adelicia’s cotton to the river and from there to ship it to New Orleans. There, the new Orleans firm of W. A. Johnson sold 1,118 bales for $353,743 while the remaining bales were shipped to Liverpool, England where the Rothchilds bought them. Adelicia and Sallie returned to Nashville via New York having spent eight months in Louisiana and eight days at sea. The trip was well worth it, at least to Adelicia. She supposedly received $960,000 in gold for her cotton crop.

On November 30, 1864, soon after her return to Franklin, Sallie Carter found her hometown flooded by the officers and soldiers of General Scholfield’s Federal Army. Their presence was the cause of great trepidation to Sallie and her fellow townsmen nearly all of who were ardent Confederate supporters and many of whom had sons and brothers in The Army of Tennessee, then assembling on Winstead Hill, two miles to the South. That afternoon, Mrs. Carter’s daughters and several of their friends climbed through a trap door in the roof of her house to watch the Federal army make preparations to receive the onslaught by John Bell Hood’s army. Two of the young ladies were sitting on the roof while others were standing on the attic steps with their heads above the opening when several Yankee soldiers across the street told them that if they did not go back in the house they would shoot them. Those standing on the steps fell backwards while the two girls on the roof tumbled down on top of them.

Early that same day, two Federal officers on handsome bay horses stopped and asked Mrs. Carter for breakfast. She told them that she had no flour since the wheat she had sent to the mill on the Harpeth the day before had been taken from her servants by Federal soldiers. The officers identified themselves as quartermasters who could sell her a barrel of flour for $10. She agreed and they returned with it shortly. She invited them to a late breakfast, which they accepted. After their second departure, they returned in the afternoon to tell Mrs. Carter that their plans to evacuate Franklin had been canceled because of the rapid advance of Hood’s Army and that there would soon be a fight.

When the battle began, Mrs. Carter and her family retreated to the cellar. Mrs. Carter, nervous about so many friends and neighbors being in danger, came out of the cellar repeatedly to check on the progress of the battle. Shots and shells seemed to be flying everywhere. The morning after the battle, her home was filled with famished friends and wounded soldiers, some Federal but mostly Confederate, the Federals having retreated to Nashville late the previous night. Soon the barrel of flour disappeared into biscuits eagerly devoured by the hungry multitude. General Hood stopped by the house before he led his decimated army north toward Nashville. As it was difficult for him to dismount because of having only one leg and one arm, he requested that Mrs. Carter come out and speak to him. She did so and found him in a good mood. He seemed to believe that the Confederates had won the fight despite their appalling losses. He told Mrs. Carter that his army would defeat the Yankees at Nashville. When he returned to Franklin a few weeks later, after the disastrous defeat in the hills south of Nashville, he again made a brief stop to call on Mrs. Carter. This time his face revealed his sorrow and torment. After a few minutes he rode off down the snowy street to lead his men to the Tennessee River and winter quarters in North Mississippi. Within a month, at his own request, Hood relinquished command of what was left of The Army of Tennessee.

Left with Mrs. Carter were wounded Confederate and Union soldiers. Some would remain with her for several months. To help care for them, Mrs. Carter was assisted by Dr. J. D. Wallis, a Franklin physician.

In 1875, after being a widow for 19 years, Mrs. Carter remarried for the third time. Her last husband was Judge John M. Gault, a prominent Nashville lawyer. John and Sallie lived in Nashville until his death in 1895, when she returned to Franklin to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Marienne and Robert N. Richardson in the same house she had lived in from 1860 until 1875. Here, Sallie organize, on October 28, 1895, the Franklin Chapter No. 14 United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1899, this chapter erected the Confederate Monument in Franklin’s town square. Sallie also was active in the early days of the Ladies Hermitage Association and with other patriotic organization. Described by Virginia Bowman as “a woman of great beauty and vivacity, beloved for her wit, generosity, and sparkling personality,” she enjoyed, in her twilight years, telling the fascinating stories of her long and interesting life to her grandchildren. Sallie died in 1912.

I have talked about eight members of one of Middle Tennessee’s most distinguished families, starting with Susannah and Andrew Ewing, who came to the Cumberland Country in 1780 as one of the “first families of Nashville.” The next to arrive was a distant cousin Alexander “Devil Alex” Ewing, a Revolutionary patriot, who came seven years later when Indian wars were still raging in what was then considered “the Old Southwest.”

In the next generation I talked about Nathan Ewing who in every way lived up to the sterling reputation his father had earned. Considered one of the best educated men in the community, Nathan saw to it that his six sons received the best educations available. Two became lawyers, one a physician, one a county court clerk, one a banker, and one a preacher. Remember, this was in a period of our history when most Tennesseans were farmers. Nathan’s nephew, Dr. Andrew B. Ewing, was the first Tennessean to receive an M.D. degree from Columbia University in New York City. He twice served as President of the Tennessee Medical Society and practiced medicine in Franklin for half a century. The last person I talked about, Sallie Ewing Gault is a woman who lived in an era when women were not noticed or written about. Like Susannah Ewing, one of the founders of First Presbyterian Church, and Adelicia Acklen Sallie was a noteable exception. One of the characteristics she shared with her grandfather “Devil Alex” Ewing was courage and guts. She also had another trait that is characteristic of every Ewing I’ve ever known They are all smart. I have yet to meet a dumb Ewing and I’m proud to say that I am kin to Elizabeth Ewing Stanford and her brother Andrew, who helped plan this event but could not be here.

Time will not allow me to speak about other Ewings who lived in Middle Tennessee. One you should know about is Finis Ewing, a founder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. A replica of the Rev. Sam McDow’s log cabin where the church was founded in 1810 is open to the public at Montgomery Bell State park, thirty miles or so west of Nashville. Last year, my wife and I visited the Red River Meeting House in Logan County, Ky. Where Finis Ewing preached and where the Great Revival of 1800 started. In the graveyard there, we found an entire section belonging to the Ewing family.

I am going out of town and will not be able to go with you on your tours today and tomorrow. However, just to prove that I’ve been to Fort Nashborough, here is a photograph of my mother, my brother and my little sister at Fort Nashborough in February 1940. Have a good time in Nashville and come back.

~~~~~~~~~

The following is a letter received from Bill and Norma Ewing of Tulsa, Oklahoma which adds to a comment made by Mr. Wills in his presentation.

I would like to pass along some additional material on a statement made by Ridley Wills at the Downtown Presbyterian church during the gathering in Nashville. Ridley mentioned that one of the Ewings was baptized in that in that church in the early 1800s by the reformer, Alexander Campbell. Alexander was a native Scotch-Irishman who came to America at the age of twenty. He was chiefly responsible for the development of the largest religious body of American origin, the Christian Church, Disciples of Chris. It is interesting to note that Presley Kittredge Ewing states in his book that the Ewing clan was allied with the Campbells. Alexander Campbell’s daughter, Jane, married Albert G.⁴ Ewing (Nathan³, Andrew², William¹), a Campbellite minister. After Jane’s death, Albert Ewing remarried and moved from Tennessee to Illinois where he was one of the founders of Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, the alma mater of Ronald Reagan. In fact, Ronald Reagan gave his first political speech in the Chapel of Eureka College. Albert had a granddaughter, Annie Ewing Davidson, who donated the family homestead to the college to be used as a library. The Ewing name still lives on at Eureka College. The present chaplain of the college is Rev. Dr. Terry M.⁹ Ewing (William⁸, Milam⁷, William⁶, John⁵, Wilson⁴, Edley,³, Andrew², William¹), the same line as Albert Ewing.

So far we have been unable to obtain the given name of the Ewing or his line who Ridley Wills mentioned in his talk as being baptized by Campbell. It would add much to the genealogical record if the Ewing was related to Albert Ewing.

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Page 232

BUTTERCUP GIRLS

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, pages 27-31]

By Margaret Jackson Young

After publishing the article in the last journal about Andrew, I looked at the May 1997 Scottish Journal again and look over the following article. Since this article is about an Andrew Ewing and mentions a McGillvray, I could not resist including the article in this journal. We really appreciate the Scottish Journal allowing us to reprint the article from their magazine. At the end of the article is information about a subscription to Scottish Journal.

Remember butcher shops with the carcasses hanging at the door and the floors sprinkled with saw-dust to keep the place looking respectable? And the bakery shops in summer, with lazy wasps poking about on top of the rhubarb tarts, and just that strip of brown, sticky paper dangling in the window to let you know the shopkeeper was doing his best in the interests of hygiene? Or the milk carts going their rounds with measuring cans swinging cheerfully on hooks and quite exposed to air, dust, insects and whatever else?

That’s how things often were in the early years of this century. But there was at least one chain of shops in those days that was considerably ahead of its time in terms of cleanliness, style, and marketing techniques. This was The Buttercup Dairy Company, founded in Leith around 1909 by Andrew Ewing.

Born in 1869, Andrew Ewing was the son of a farmer from the Stranraer area. At the age of Fourteen, he was apprenticed to a local grocer. It must have been obvious from the start that this was no ordinary grocer’s boy. Ambitious and hard working in all aspects of his trade, the lad was soon to realize a particular talent for window dressing. He was often to be seen, long after his day’s work was over, busy in the window, working on the display.

Not surprisingly, he eventually set up in business for himself, a venture that was to turn out full of bright, forward thinking ideas. His shops were spotlessly clean and beautifully fitted out and decorated in a fresh, country style with female assistants always in smart, white overalls. There were eye catching displays both in the window and inside, and a commitment to real service, based largely on the motto, “The customer is always right.”

Ewing achieved his ideals and in time built up a chain of some two hundred and fifty shops throughout Scotland and Northern England. The design of the shops was an asset to the many High Streets in which they appeared. As for the window displays, these were ongoing works of art and the time and patience involved in setting them up must have been considerable. The arrangement always had to be according to company policy and had to be regularly changed.

Mrs. Jenkins, who started work at the Buttercup in Hamilton, in 1917, tells me, “On a Saturday night, the window display was cleared completely and the first thing on a Monday morning, a new display had to be done. An inspector would visit the shop approximately every two weeks to see that all was in order.”

Mrs. Ellison, who now lives in New Zealand, particularly enjoyed Saturday nights, in spite of the extra work. She writes, “The time I liked best in the shop was Saturday evening when we changed into our clean, white coats and everything was so clean and shiny and people walked up and down the streets. We girls could watch them coming through the mirrors on each side of the window.” Then she adds, with no sign of complaint, “We opened until nine.”

However, Mary Lynch (an appropriate name in the circumstances) manageress in the Biggar shop in the late thirties, had cause enough for complaint. Brian Lambie remembers her on the scene “when I attempted to take the bottom half pound of butter from a tower display and the whole thing collapsed!”

Judging from the many pictures that seem to have been taken, one gets the feeling that the Buttercup girls gained a good deal of satisfaction setting up their displays. Passerby were very impressed by their work. Miss Burns, from Edinburgh, talks of her delight when, as a schoolgirl in Falkirk, she found on Easter morning that the Buttercup had incorporated live chicks in their window decoration.

All of the shops doorsteps had a mosaic pattern. Some still survive. The marble step had a pattern of buttercups wreathed around the company monogram. If anyone was reminded of pictures of flooring in old Italian villas, it’s not surprising. An Italian firm had carried out the work.

On the wall just by the doorstep was what is surely, even today, the best known Buttercup tile decoration, the little girl in the blue sunbonnet. She holds a bunch of buttercups in her white pinafore and offers one of the flowers to a big, friendly looking cow. This, and the rest of the tiling in the shops was made by T. and R. Boote, Ltd., of Burslem, to designs supplied by James Duncan Ltd., of Glasgow. The blanks were colored and finished by Duncan who also did the tile laying.

In the words of Mr. Snowden of Ontario, Canada. “The inside was spectacular.” As a boy in the twenties and early thirties, he knew the Crieff Buttercup very well. He continues, “ . . .Gleaming clean, large white tiles on the walls and counters, green tiled borders to enhance the effect.”

Handsome shops, outside and inside, in the early days they sold seven products only - butter, eggs, cream, margarine, cooking fat, tea and condensed milk. That list was to grow considerably, of course, as time went by.

And what about those white aproned young women who worked so hard to keep up the high standards of the Buttercup shops, as well as serving behind the counter? Once a Buttercup girl, always a Buttercup girl, it would seem, judging from the letters I have received. Mrs. Roberts, from Dundee, tells me that she began as a message girl in 1924. Her daily work was, “To scrub the floor, wash the lovely tiles and deliver the orders.” By the age of twenty-one, she had reached the position of manageress, “responsible for dressing the window with butter and margarine in decorative shapes to attract the customers.”

Mrs. McGillivray, now living in Kilwinning, was first a message girl in Kilmarnock. She was just fourteen. Every morning before eight o’clock, she collected the can of cream for the shop at Kilmarnock Station. Then the orders were to be taken to “the big houses.” Later she, “learned the art of butter-patter and got to know the various butters and margarines by texture and taste. Each pound or half pound was wrapped in brown paper and tied with string - different from the plastic bag of today.”

“It was always so clean in the shop,” says Mrs. Robb from Falkirk, who started out as a message girl in Stenhousemuir and had to, “do deliveries on a cycle with a huge basket back and front.” She goes on to say that the shop rules were very strict. “A company motto was framed and hung in the back shop. It was an Egyptian scene on a black background and said even though it is black, black as Egypt’s night the customer is always right. Sadly for me, this turned out to be true. A customer called at the shop to complain that I hadn’t called for her order. I had, but couldn’t get a reply.” The end of the story is that the little message girl was dismissed on the spot.

Along similar lines Mrs. Rankin, from Stonehaven, comments, “I don’t think staff of today would put up with what we had to do.” She tells how she had to go round with the van, canvassing for customers, in Inverbervie, Gourdon and Johnshaven. Then each Saturday night there was a big stock taking job, everything having to be written down in triplicate.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Rankin put in eight and a half years with the Buttercup, until she was twenty-two. Indeed, most of the girls remained with the firm until they left to be married. Although work was hard and discipline firmly enforced, these were interesting shops to work in. All the decorative displays gave plenty of scope to girls artistically inclined. Any new product was always specially featured. When decaffeinated tea was introduced, not only was there a display, but the new tea was served to the customers who were asked to give their opinions as to how they like it. The children were catered for too. Cardboard whirligigs and “crackers” (which, as the name suggest, gave a sharp crack as you flicked them through the air) were given as free gifts, much to the delight of bairns shopping with their mothers in the late twenties and thirties.

“The work’s largest and most up to date poultry farm.” Surely quite a distinction. It was Andrew Ewing’s next enterprise.

During the twenties, his chain of shops were having to import Danish and Polish eggs at a cost of over 180,000 pounds a year. But eggs are fragile and don’t “keep” easily. Home production would help to overcome those problems and, in addition, Buttercup customers could then be offered eggs invitingly stamped “Buttercup Poultry Farm - New Laird.” There is no doubt that Mr. Ewing, “The Boss” - was fulfilling all his early promise as businessman and entrepreneur.

A spanking new, ultra modern poultry farm was established at Clermiston, Edinburgh. So impressive was it that according to Mr. Christie of Lauder, the World Poultry Congress arranged to hold its 1929 meeting in Edinburgh so that its members could have the opportunity to study the farm and its methods.

It covered a hundred acres and there were six and a half miles of tar macadam roadways. Laying sheds and breeding pens were on either side of the roads with the runs behind them. There were food stores, plucking sheds, garages, offices, rest rooms, and dining rooms for the staff. No wonder that someone writing at the time said, “The first impression one gets on approaching the farm is that of a formally arranged town, with rows and rows of wooden houses, numerous roads and electric light standards.”

As in his shops, Mr. Ewing required orderliness and cleanliness. He preferred to employ women workers. There was a Lady manageress in charge of about a hundred girls at the farm. Some of the girls were appointed supervisors. Each supervisor filled in a daily form noting the number of hens in her section, the number of eggs laid each day and any comment regarding the health or behavior o her flock. Every week, these forms were sent to the office and checked against the actual number of eggs received. The average lay per hen was worked out and the supervisor who could show the highest average was paid a bonus. Results were displayed on a large notice board in the girl’s dining room, the winner being indicated by a gold star.

There were rewards, but there were penalties too. Eggs were eventually packed at one of the several packing stations. Graded and stamped, they were placed in twenty dozen felt lined boxes. In each box went a slip with a number, the date, the packer’s initials. Woe to the packer should any complaint come back from the shops about the condition of the eggs, their size or cleanliness. Here again, the customer was always right.

Considering the business acumen and drive of the owner, the wonder is that The Buttercup Dairy Company and The Buttercup Poultry Farm did not endure for longer than they did. Around 1933, the farm was showing signs of running down. In 1949, the shops were all sold off.

By then, Andrew Ewing was eighty years old. It has been suggested that the main problem had been Mr. Ewing’s unwillingness to delegate. He was one of those men who like to do everything himself. Without a doubt, there were many excellent people in the company but no one had been trained to take over from “The Boss” when the time came.

But that is not the whole story. Andrew Ewing himself insisted that the entire business was to come to an end. A kind and generous man all his days, he was also deeply religious. So closely did he try to follow the teaching of the Bible that he would take no profit from eggs that happened to be laid on a Sunday. These were collected and donated to various hospitals in the city. Mr. Ewing decided he would not die a rich man. The business would be sold and the money dispersed. These were his beliefs and he stuck to them.

As far as I know, nothing remains of the farm. The acres at Clermiston are still covered with houses, but houses for people, these days. The shops are gone too, or at least changed beyond recognition, although remnants can still be seen, if one knows where to look. It’s around fifty years since the shops of The Buttercup Dairy Company enhanced the appearance of our High Streets, with their bright, fresh frontages and beautiful decoration. A lot of people, even now, remember them with pleasure.

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Page 237

PATRICK EWING (1737-1819)

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, page 32]

Received approval from Daughters of the American Revolution, 16 July 1998, to place the memorial stone to our Revolutionary Ancestor, Patrick Ewing at Nottingham Cemetery, Colera, Maryland. Before the names of his two spouses and dates of marriage can be put on stone, the dates have to be certified and sent to the Daughters of the American Revolution. A letter was sent immediately to Clerk of Court at Elkton, Maryland to see if they can send the information or if they have the information. Otherwise, will have to just put their names which I do not want to do.

We are so excited about this. Will be sending you further information regarding this when received. We hope to have the ceremony in October 1998 if at all possible. Our daughter, Andrea is Alaska State Regent, Daughters of the American Revolution, and she has to attend a meeting in Washington D.C. in October so it would be an ideal time to have the ceremony.

Hazel Ewing Daro

Editor’s note: If any members can help Hazel establish the correct dates that can be certified to the DAR, please sent the information to Hazel.

If the ceremony is in October, we will not be publishing another journal before the ceremony takes place. When Clan Ewing gets additional information, we will post a message on the Clan Ewing home page on the Internet giving the necessary information about the ceremony. Also, if anyone is interested in attending the ceremony and you do not have access to the Internet, let me suggest that you send Hazel a self-address stamped envelope telling Hazel that you are interested in the date of the ceremony so she can send you a copy of the information.

For anyone that served in any of the wars, a headstone or marker can be obtained from the Veterans Administration.

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Page 238

QUERY RESPONSE

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 3 - August 1998, page 33]

The following letter was in response to a query in the May 1998 journal.

Dear Rev. Smith:

Just finished reading the current volume of Clan Ewing in America and noted your query on page 27. I may have some information for you. The William Ewing you speak of was my great great great grandfather. I only recently found him in my family tree research.

He was indeed born in County Derry in 1732 and married Sarah Eldridge. She was born November 8, 1738 (don’t know where) and died on November 11, 1811 in Cape May, NJ. Have not found their date of marriage.

Their one sone James Ewing, my great great grandfather, born in 1773 in Cape May, NJ, married Sarah Marie Stites in 1797. She was born November 11, 1781 in NJ and died May 19, 1845 in Brownstown, IN.

Their children were:

William H. Ewing, b. May 7, 1798. Died Sept. 19, 1875.

Thomas Ewing b. Feb. 11, 1800, died July 29, 1811.

James S. Ewing b. Aug. 9, 1802, died Mar 9, 1860.

Stites W. Ewing b. Jan. 7, 1805, died Feb 1868.

Eliza P. Ewing, b. Jun 15, 1808, died Nov 12, 1866.

Sarah Summers Ewing b. May 25, 1813, died Aug 16, 1857.

Thomas L. Ewing b. Apr. 2, 1816, died Nov 25, 1883.

There is much more to this story and if you can tell me what your relationship to the Ewings is, I may be able to send you more. Wm. H. Ewing was my great grandfather and one of his children was my grandfather James of Brownstown, IN

I have been writing a family history as this search proceeds with copies to several members of my family so the story can be carried on to future generations. In the process, I have located my father Clyde Ewing, Sr. who left us when I was five; two half-brothers several cousins and a number of nephews and nieces.

Sincerely,

Clyde Ewing

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Page 239

OMISSION

In the November 1998 Journal on page 26, we gave the source of the information that was being presented but we failed to recognize Mrs. Marlene Love, Green Valley, Arizona as the person that found the article and forwarded it to us for publication. She is also looking for the book about the Life of Robert Blair.

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Page 240

LETTERS & E-MAIL

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, page 2]

I have been recently researching my ggg grandfather, John Ewing of Pendleton County, KY., trying to find from where he came and who his parents were. This research led me to Frederick County, VA and his father William Ewing who was the son of our immigrant ancestor John Ewing of Carnshanagh.

I have enclosed some of the things, a brief history on John of Pendleton County, thought it might be of some interest to you.

Again, Jim, I want to thank you and Clan Ewing for all the help I have received on this journey of our family.

George Ewing

Battle Creek, MI

Ed. Note: Please see the article in this issue for John Ewing, Sr.

~~~~~

Thank You for the Journals and the Yellow pages, etc. It is a great Journal for the Ewing Clan. I read them both front to back. I sent you, along with my data, a short story of Rebecca Ewing...CarolSue Ewing Hair may want to elaborate on it and perhaps you could someday include it in your Journal should you run out of things. I have found her [Rebecca Ewing] son John Steward Wood at Andersonville Prison in this last week and have sent for his Military record. I am sending for Henry and Samuel's also. These could be added to the article..as the boys died after Rebecca and Gideon Wood. You are a busy person...won't take up your time...just wanted you to know I received your information and have been enjoying it. Hope you can keep getting members to keep up the Ewing Journals, etc. It is "well worth" the membership costs...!!!

Bon in Florida

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I recently sent you a letter telling you I had found my link between my Ewing ancestors and our Ewing emigrant, based on pages from Mrs. Fife’s book which you had sent me last December. I also sent you a suggested article for the Clan Ewing newsletter.

I was so excited to find the link that I wrote before I had really pored over all the material I have. I have now discovered the link I’ve been wondering about for about 30 years, based on another chapter from Mrs. Fife’s wonderful book which you sent me some time earlier. So you can alter the footnote I put on my article about Kitty Ewing–I now know I am her first cousin six times removed.

I have not sent in the card asking for choices as to time of the next Clan Ewing reunion, as it doesn’t matter to me what time of the year it is, but you can be sure I will make every effort to be there to meet my many far-flung cousins!

Kay Hutchinson

Worton, MD

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Page 242

CHANCELLOR'S MESSAGE

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, page 3]

A lot has been going on within your Clan and with your Chancellor the past three months. Peggy and I have just returned from over three weeks in Scotland and are full of tales about our travels and our searches for the homesteads of her early Murray ancestors in the Borders Region and for the haunts of the early Ewings. The Murray searches were very successful and the Ewing ones less so, mainly because there are so few details known about the Ewings in the 17^th century and so few records regarding them.

Our Ewing search took us first to the Cowal Peninsula, on which are located the site of the MacEwen Castle and the remains of Castle Lachlan , both on the shores of Loch Fyne. Needless to say, many present-day Ewings are descended from members of the MacEwen Clan and many claim allegiance to Clan MacLachlan, which absorbed a goodly number of the MacEwens after that Clan broke up by the middle of the 15th century.

Peggy and I also spent two days in Glasgow, and our first visit was to the Cathedral, which is on the site of the church built by Saint Kentigern (popularly known as St. Mungo), who himself had Ewing connections, and where a Ewing coat of arms is prominently displayed in one of the stained glass windows.

The final week of our trip was spent on an Alumni College program sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, where I went to law school. We stayed for the whole week at a hotel in the old part of Stirling just two blocks from the Castle, near which the ancestor of many of us, the fabled William of Stirling, is reputed to have lived. During that week one of our side trips was to the Loch Lomond area, another locale of some of our Ewing ancestors.

In the next issue of the Journal I will cover each of these adventures in much more detail. Suffice it to say now that the trip was a completely satisfying and very memorable time in both our lives. Scotland is truly amazing --- such sights and sounds and experiences, and such nice people (only 5 million of them in the whole country!).

I expect that our Clan Chair Jill Spitler’s report in this Journal issue will cover the plans for our next gathering in Ohio in September 2000, so I will say only that plans for it are shaping up well and that, God willing, I hope to see all of you there.

Joe (Neff) Ewing

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Page 243

A CHAT WITH JILL

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, page 4]

Dear Cousins

Thank you for electing me your chairman, I will do my best to carry out the ideals of our genealogy family. I'm sorry so many of you missed our gathering in Nashville, it was a wonderful time and a well put together four days. A big "Thank you" to all who helped.

I went to Cecil County, Maryland to the dedication ceremony for a tombstone for Patrick Ewing. It was a very moving experience and the descendants of Patrick did a wonderful job. He came to Cecil County in 1728 and was in the Revolutionary War. If you went to the 1990 Reunion you saw his home and land, now owned by Dallas Green. Thank you Hazel Daro for inviting me, it was great.

The next gathering will be in Lancaster, Ohio Thursday evening, September 21, 2000 to September 24^th, Sunday AM. Some interesting places regarding our Ewing Heritage have been suggested. We have had several suggestions but we are open to more ideas.

Besides the normal reservation for a block of rooms, the motel will hold a small block of rooms available for those that want to come in early, Wednesday, and/or stay a day longer, Monday. Plans are in the making to have some interesting items for some research for a day before and after the reunion. If you have any ideas about how to use this extra time for research and family visiting, they would be welcomed.

As ever,

Jill Ewing Spitler

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Page 244

JOHN EWING (4 Oct 1754 - 25 Apr 1832)

by George Ewing

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, pages 6-8]

John Ewing, Sr. was born in Frederick County, Virginia, April 10, 1754 the eldest child of William and Elizabeth Thorp Ewing [also identified as Elizabeth Tharp Bakle by some]. He enlisted as a member of the Virginia Sea Service on June 14, 1776 at Staunton, Virginia and served as a Landsman on the “Safeguard” Galley under the command of Captain George Eliott. This ship defended the coast and capes of Virginia against the enemy until June 16, 1777. (1^st Vol. Navy Papers page 11, original, Virginia Archives.) After serving his one year enlistment, John was discharged on the 22^nd of June 1777 at Yorktown, Virginia (document signed by George Eliott, Capt. On file in Rev. War pensions National Archives Washington D. C.) & declaration in Kentucky book of abstracts.

John and Ester Cook were married in 1778, the marriage ended when Ester eloped from John in 1792. John was a resident of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) at the time of his father’s death in 1781 and was given the task of dividing up his father’s property. (Frederick County Deed Book 19, p. 327). John and Alice Caswell, a native of Pennsylvania, were married in Bourbon County, Kentucky on March 10, 1794 (Marriage Bond on file in Bourbon County, Kentucky Clerks Office). They settled near Falmouth, Kentucky, in what is now Pendleton County. John was appointed a trustee of the town of Falmouth on April 12, 1794 and was also a large land owner in the Pendleton County area in the late 1700's and early 1800's. At the time of his death in 1832, John owned a 166 acre farm on Fork Lick Creek, which is west of Morgan, in southwest Pendleton County, Kentucky.

Known children of John and Alice Ewing:

1. Samuel died in Missouri, married in 1838 Mary P. Courtney.

2. William died in 1834 in Missouri, married Elizabeth _____.

3. John, Jr. died in 1838 in Missouri.

4. Elijah born 6 May 1797, died 21 Sep 1869 in Missouri, married Elizabeth Makensan and they had eight children:

Addie Hammon; Nancy E. Bibb; Mary Ewing Trout; Susan Ellis; John; Captain William B.; Robert; and Hubbard.

5. James M. born 12 Apr 1799 died 16 Jun 1881in Rush County, Indiana, married Mary McKenny 24 Dec 1822, They had eight children:

Nancy; Lauretta; John; Elizabeth; James; Mary; William J. (born 1842 Rush County, Indiana, died 26 Feb 1879 Rush County, Indiana, married Minerva Kirkpatrick); Margaret; and Martha.

6. Mariah married Henry H. Fugate 1 Feb 1825 (a son of Martin Fugate).

7. B. Taylor married Eleanor Fugate, a daughter of Martin Fugate).

8. Milton married Nancy Brann 10 Mar 1834. She was born 6 Jan 1816 and died 10 Jul 1884.

After John Ewing’s first wife Alice died, he married Mary McCann, widow of Lantry McCann, 3 Sep 1825. Mary died 5 Oct 1838. They had two children:

9. William Dodd born 1826, died 1886 buried near Ewing, Lewis County, Missouri. William Dodd Ewing and wife had six children:

Samuel Taylor; William Newton; Joel “Polk”; John Milton; Ann Dee (Smoot); and Thomas.

10. Elizabeth.

John Ewing, Sr. died at the age of 78, April 25, 1832, intestate, (without a will), James Ewing was named the administrator of John’s estate. John is said to be buried near Ruddels Mills, Kentucky.

John Ewing, Sr. must have been one of the most interesting members of the Ewing family, from his service on a row galley, defending the capes of Virginia, in the Virginia sea Service during the Revolutionary War 1776-1777 on the ship ‘Safeguard’, being the eldest son was named administrator of his father’s, William, estate, posting a 1,000 pound bond in Frederick County, Virginia on September 3, 1782. John was a resident of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1782. Fayette County, Virginia, now Kentucky, Land entries, show John Ewing purchasing two 500 acre parcels on Prettys Run on 4 Dec 1782 and two other entries show a Ewing & Barker purchasing two 11,000 acre parcels in 1784 and 1785, he later purchased land which was known as South Fork on Licking Creek in what is now Pendleton County, Kentucky. A marriage bond on file in the county clerk’s office in Bourbon County shows John posting a 50 pound bond with the clerk for his marriage to Alice Caswell on March 10, 1794. John was appointed a trustee for the town of Falmouth, Kentucky at a meeting of the trustees on April 12, 1794. In April 1805, excerpt from county court records show John Ewing, Esq. Produced a Commission for the Governor of the Commonwealth appointing him sheriff of the county. In May of 1811, entered into a bond for $333.1/3 (sic) and was granted a license for a tavern. John, Sr. raised eight children by his first wife, Alice. After she passed away, he and Mary McCann, widow of Lanty McCann, were married on September 3, 1825. John would have been 71, and fathered two more children prior to his death at the age of 78. A copy of the inventory of his estate at the time of his death shows he owned seven Negro slaves, in addition to his household goods, farm animals, tools and land on Fork Lick Creek, all of which had to be sold to settle his estate.

A list of his debts, at the time of his death, indicated he had some unusual ones, including a bill for whiskey. Several members of John’s family, including his second wife Mary, later settled in Missouri and founded Ewing, Missouri which is in Lewis County. Milton stayed in Kentucky and James M. Ewing became an original land owner in Rush County, Indiana.

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Page 247

PATRICK EWING (1737-1819)

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, page 8]

Source: Cecil Whig newspaper, Friday October 9, 1998, p. C1. Thanks to Jill Ewing Spitler for sending the article.

“Heroes may come and go, but they are never forgotten. Especially when their commendable efforts helped win the country’s freedom.

“Cecil’s revolutionary War Patriot, Patrick Ewing, is that kind of hero.

“His tombstone has remained on the outskirts of the county’s old Ewing farm since his death in 1819, battling wind, rain, and the intense heat of summer. It has remained untouched, except by the elements–until recently.

“On the property adjoining the farm, construction placed the historical marker in danger of being destroyed. The farm’s present owner saved the stone and presented it to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

“The group has made an effort to preserve Ewing’s memory.

“This Sunday [October 11] at 2 p.m., the DAR will commemorate this patriot at West Nottingham Presbyterian Church with a grave marking ceremony. In honor of his memory, a new memorial stone and plaque will be erected for all generations to see and remember.

“Ewing’s services to his country ranged from Cecil County’s Assistant Commissary of Purchases and Justice of the Peace, to service in the Maryland Provincial Convention.

“As the son of an Irish immigrant [Joshua], Ewing, born in 1737, married Jane Porter, fathering 10 children. After his wife died, he married again to Elizabeth Porter, Jane’s younger sister, fathering two more children. . . .”

Hazel Daro and other members of her family were the driving force behind getting this new stone set by the DAR and arrangements of the Ceremony.

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Page 248

EWING FAMILY:

[Journal of Clan Ewing, Vol 4 No. 4 - November 1998, pages 10-29]

by Jim McMichael

My presentation in Nashville has been edited to just deal with the possible relationship of the earliest Ewing families.

Since our reunion in Malvern, Pennsylvania in 1995, Clan Ewing has gotten a number of new members. It appeared to me that it might be a good idea to try to explain the possible relationship between some of the Immigrants. Therefore, I approached our Chairman with my idea.

After suggesting to our Chairman, Joe Neff Ewing, Jr. that I do a part on the program about our Ewing ancestors, I began to think about what I was going to include in this portion of the program. Then, I would ask myself, why did I volunteer to do this.

Then, I began to think about why are we here in Nashville? In one way or another, we have, or we are married to, or we are related to someone that has some Ewing blood. No doubt this kinship to our cousins from our Immigrant has a lot to do with us being here, and/or the near kinship to the descendants of the other Ewing immigrants draws us together.

In some places, the residents and visitors to the area can view the ocean, walk the beach, or swim in the ocean. But, sometime places like the area around San Francisco, the waders and swimmers have to be aware of the undertow since it is strong and can pull them in the water.

Most likely there is some type of undertow that pulls us together at these Ewing reunions. This being the fifth reunion. The first being in Vincennes, Indiana in 1988, Cecil County, Maryland in 1990, San Antonio, Texas in 1993, Malvern, Pennsylvania in 1995, and now Nashville.

In Malvern, we had about as good of accommodations as you would want. In San Antonio, we stayed in a college dorm and shared bathrooms with our neighbors. In Cecil County, we roughed it at a Boy Scout camp using a dorm for the ladies and a dorm for the men plus a few small cabins that handle four people. I am sure that our roughing it was not even a two on a scale of 100 as compared to what our ancestors went through for the first seventy-five years or so they were in America.

THREE POINTS

1. I hope that you gain something from this presentation.

2. I would like to get some of you to loosen up your grip on the information that you have always known that pertains to your family line and be open to new information when it is found.

3. For you to consider how we can correct the past errors and to prove or dis-prove the kinship of some of the older Ewings.

We will try to give the relationship between a number of the early Ewing families. As indicated in the Journal of Clan Ewing, our members generally are descendants from several immigrants before 1776 (actually 1740) and a few immigrants after 1776.

One of the things that I want to touch on is why so many of us think that we are kin to more of the Ewing immigrants than just our own immigrant. Before getting into the information for the immigrants, I would just like to check on a few people that are cousins based on an immigrant. First, lets check on the descendants of Alexander and Rebeckah Ewing. That is my line. Please hold your hand up if you know that you are a descendant or married to a descendant of Alexander Ewing. Thank you.

Those of you that are descendants or married to a descendant of Ewing please hold up your hand. Thank you.

For those of you that are descendants or married to a descendant of Patrick Ewing the son of Joshua. In this case I just want the descendants of Patrick and not all of the descendants of Joshua. Please hold up your hand. Thank you.

For all of those that raised their hand and you did not already know it, we are all cousins and our common grandparent is Robert Ewing the father of Alexander. The name of Robert’s wife is not known. Remember, Robert Ewing is the grandfather of Rachel Porter and James Porter. Patrick Ewing the son of Joshua was married to two of the daughters of James Porter and it is through the Porter family that you are related back to my Ewing family.

Based on the Burt Congregation in Ireland church records recording baptisms, we know that Robert Ewing had two daughters and a son, Alexander. Elizabeth was baptized on 17 November 1678 a daughter to Robert and we do not know anymore about her. Margaret was baptized on 26 March 1678, a daughter to Robert.

Also, from the Register of Derry Cathedral 1642-1703, we find on the 20^th March 1661, Jennett Ewing gossip to Josia Porter, son of William. Jennett Ewing was the god parent of Josia when he was baptized. This Josia Porter married Margaret Ewing the daughter of Alexander. Gossip in Galic means god parent and not like a person in America that gossips.

From the baptism record of Josia, we also know that Jennett Ewing was most likely a relative. She could have been a woman married to a Ewing or an unmarried Ewing. It is my guess that she was most likely a Porter that was married to a Ewing. This is not the Jennett Ewing that was married to John Ewing of Carnshanagh. How do you pronounce Carnshanagh, my effort is “Karn sha no”.

We know the names of two children that Josia Porter and Margaret Ewing had.

One being Rachel Porter the wife of Nathaniel Ewing.

Second being James Porter who married Eleanor “Ellen” Gillespie.

Jane Porter, a daughter of James and Ellen Porter married Patrick Ewing a son of Joshua. After Jane died about 1784, her sister Elizabeth Porter married Patrick Ewing. Mary Porter, a daughter of James and Ellen Porter married George Ewing a son of Nathaniel and Rachel Ewing. With the above relationships, we know that a good number of us are cousins.

Before looking at the family of some of the early immigrants, lets take a minute to look at a couple of errors. How do we correct the errors of the past? Even when new evidence is found that corrects an error and that information is published, people will continue to publish or use the errors over and over.

There may be a possibility of getting the information in front of researchers without everyone having to publish a book or articles about their ancestors. It appears that the Internet or World Wide Web gives us an opportunity to make the correct information available. I will deal with this in another portion of our program here in Nashville.

Unfortunately, the desire for someone to get a membership into an organization, sometimes, creates a trail of research that leads others down the incorrect family path. One specific application for a membership into the Colonial Dames of the 17^th Century comes to mind since it took my immigrant’s family, Alexander Ewing, in the wrong direction. Sometimes, we are just too anxious to make a match with information and do not give our subject the proper research or analysis of the data.

Today, we can find several books authored by the same person where some of the information is incorrect and it is repeated in future printing of books under a different name. Once the information is published incorrect, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get the future generations to use the correct information after it is published. That author, Worth S. Ray, for example, identifies Rachel Ewing, a witness to the will of my immigrant, Alexander Ewing, as the wife of Alexander. For the ones that are familiar with the family of Nathaniel Ewing know that Rachel Ewing was the wife of Nathaniel and she is in fact the niece of Alexander Ewing. A little logic here helps to see the error made by Mr. Ray. If a witness to a will was allowed to benefit from the will, we would most likely have a few forged wills.

In the research of many, the closeness of the Ewing families of Cecil County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania was based on kinship and not the location of where they lived. However, the relationship between some of the families can be proved, but we have not been able to tie some of the families together.

Before we look at some of the information about several of the early Ewing families, I would like to tell you about a story I read sometime ago. We might say that even though information is cast in stone it is not always true.

To make a long story short this individual was researching his family and he traveled some doing his research. He had, in his mind, determined and established where this one family was from and where they lived. However, in a different area, he had found a tombstone for what appeared to be the ancestor he was researching but the dates were different from what he had established from his research. Eventually, he tracked down the individual who had the tombstone set and he went to see him. That individual indicated that he had just estimated the dates and he had the stone mounted in honor of his relative. That researcher has a “rubbing” of the tombstone hanging on his wall with a note attached that says “even when it is carved in stone it can be wrong.”

This same researcher was using the information from the obituary of a relative and the information did not all agree with his other findings. After he realized that a sister of Mrs. ____ should have been a sister of Mr. ____ then a lot of his research fit together.

NAMING OF CHILDREN

I would like for you to keep in mind how our ancestors named their children. Very seldom do we find enough information to prove if they followed the naming of children to the “T” or they deviated from the procedure. Generally, I would say they modified it to some degree. But, we will look at the names of William, James, John, Samuel, Joshua and others. We will be able to understand why the same name was used over and over again. In many families there is a period of 4 to 6 years between the known children and it is possible that additional children were born and those names could be the solution to some of our questions.

The first son was named after the father’s father. (In other words the paternal grandfather.)

The second son was named after the mother’s father.

The third son was named after the father.

The fourth son was named after the father’s oldest brother. (And continued after other brothers.)

The naming of the daughters followed the same procedure.

The first daughter was named after the mother’s mother.

The second daughter was named after the father’s mother.

The third daughter was named after the mother.

The fourth daughter was named after the mother’s oldest sister.

THOMAS EWING

The first known Ewing for our group in America is Thomas Ewing born about 1690-95 in Ireland and died about 1747 or 48 in New Jersey. The year about 1695 is generally given as the birth date and later we will explain why some think 1690 is a more accurate date.

In 1718, Thomas Ewing came to America entering this country on Long Island.

Tradition says that he came with two brothers.

What happened to these brothers? They appear to have been lost until recently.

The family of Thomas Ewing is well documented beginning with his arrival on Long Island and his trip to New Jersey and his marriage to Mary Maskell. Several members of Clan Ewing trace their family lines back to Thomas and Mary Maskell Ewing.

John Gillespie Ewing, one of the early researcher for the Ewing family is a descendant from Thomas Ewing.

In 1858, a record of the Thomas Ewing family was published. In this account, we find this statement:

The Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, says that two brothers came with him [Thomas], and that they all at first located on Long Island: that these two afterwards went to the South; and that from them sprung the South-Western Ewings. Of these I have no further information, and of course pass them by.

The following statement is added to the 1858 record as a footnote:

Since writing the above, I have received a statement from Amos Ewing, Esq., of Cecil County, Maryland, in regard to four brothers of the name who settled in that county. As they came from Londonderry; as they arrived some years before Thomas; as they left several younger brothers behind them; as Maryland was South, and, at that time, quite far South of Long Island; and as several of their descendants afterwards removed to the West; it seems highly probable that these were the brothers above alluded to. At any rate, they bore the good old family name, and I must not pass them by. The statement in substance is as follows:

“About the year 1700, four brothers, John, Alexander, Henry and Samuel Ewing, emigrated from Londonderry, leaving several younger brothers at home, and settled in Cecil County, Maryland.” This statement continues with some information about each of the four brothers.

Let’s look at a portion of what he says about Alexander:

“Alexander settled in East Nottingham, near the place now called Ewingville. He had a large number of children, of whom five were sons, viz: William, George, Alexander, James and his twin-brother John. John was born June 21, 1732; graduated at Princeton College in 1752 . . . .”

From what I just related about the four brother, we know that several errors are contained in what was published in 1858. However, there must be some truth in what is published. Let’s assume that some brothers did emigrate to America and that they may have had some younger brothers that stayed behind. We will deal with this a little later.

The information about Alexander Ewing, mentioned above, is incorrect. We know from additional research and information that is Nathaniel Ewing and not Alexander as indicated. When John is indicated as being born on the date given and he is a twin to James it is pretty easy to know which family is being identified.

When a great granddaughter of Dr. John Ewing, mentioned above as being a twin of James, wrote a book about Dr. John Ewing she identified her great grandfather as Alexander Ewing based on a statement contained on page 1 of her book. [Dr. John Ewing and Some of His Noted Connections by Lucy E. Lee Ewing, 1924] She must have accepted the statement printed in 1858 as fact without any additional research.

Mrs. Margaret Fife has spent twenty or more years researching the early Ewing families in America. In 1995, she published 200 copies of her book, Ewing in Early America. In her book she lists the children of Finley Ewing and Jane Porter based on baptism records for the Burt Congregation just outside of Londonderry. These baptismal records were first obtained by Elbert William R. Ewing and published in his book Clan Ewing of Scotland in 1922. A short time after he obtained the records from Ireland, a lot of Irish records were lost in a fire. The children identified are:

Ffinley, Jr., Jean, William, James, Thomas, Robert, & Mary Ewing

The records of New Jersey appear to indicate that besides Thomas Ewing coming to America his three brothers William, James, and Robert were also immigrants to America. We do not have time to go into details about these possible brothers.

Mrs. Fife states on page 34 of her book:

One controversy that needs to be pointed up is the birth date of Thomas Ewing “son of Finley and Jane Porter Ewing.” Ewing Families by Rev. Joseph L. Ewing on page 13 states Thomas “was born in Londonderry Ireland in 1695.” The tombstone of Thomas and Mary (Maskell) Ewing is 24 inches tall and was erected after she died 17 December 1784 at age 84. It says . . . Thomas died 28 February 1747/8 age 52 years. The stone was cut almost 100 years after Thomas was born and had been there over 100 years when Rev. Joseph L. Ewing saw it.

Your writer [Mrs. Fife, that is] believes Thomas Ewing was born in 1690 and that he was about 58 years old when he died. An examination of the script of that day shows that the figure “8" and the figure “2" are exceedingly alike.!

The 1690 birth date agrees with the Baptism date found in the Burt Congregation records.

Another quote from the 1858 book about Thomas. On page 90, we find:

There is a record of a “Ewing Settlement” at Hopewell, New Jersey, about the year 1700. Here lived James Ewing, where he reared a large family. His son William removed in 1722 to what is now Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He and his son-in-law, Robert McClelland, founded the third Presbyterian Church in the State of Pennsylvania. . .

The above reference is to the family of Margaret Ewing Fife, Laura Dingle Ewing, and Robert Hunter Johnson.

JAMES EWING OF HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

This James Ewing was in Hunterdon County, New Jersey by 1722 and died in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1740. He was married to Margaret ________ and they had six known children:

Thomas, William, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jane, & Rebecca

So far, this James Ewing has not been connected to any of the other Ewing immigrants nor to a family in Ireland or Scotland. This James Ewing is not the James identified as a brother of Thomas previously discussed.

After writing these notes for this talk, I have corresponded with Brenda Wallace a descendant of Elizabeth Ewing who had married Robert McClelland. I received additional information for the McClelland - Ewing line.

A GAME PLAYED

Before I got married, we would sometimes play a game at a Youth Fellowship after church. Some of you may have played the same game, where someone starts the game with a story and that person whispers the story to the next person, that person tells the next person and that continues around the room until the story gets back to the person that started the story. The story never gets back the same way that it started.

Sometimes that is what happens to genealogy information. The tradition of something might over years have a word or two dropped from the original story or maybe a word or two added. Therefore, it is very important to verify all of the information that can be verified.

Recently, I was reading about documentation and the evidence of information. The author was making a point about accepting the stated or printed information. He used the example that a father is listed on the birth certificate for a child of the mother. The fact that the father is named does not prove that he is the actual father.

So far, we have:

Thomas and his brothers in America by 1718

James Ewing and family in America by 1722

ABOUT 1725 TO 1727

We appear to know a good bit about some of the families that came to America about 1725 to 1727 based on the records in Clan Ewing of Scotland written by Elbert William R. Ewing published in 1922 and later proved in more detail with additional research.

The author of Clan Ewing of Scotland makes it pretty clear that two ships, Eagle Wing and Rising Sun, were used to transport the Ewing, Gillespie, Porter, Caldwell, and other families to America. How many different trips were used to get the families to America is not known. No doubt there were other families that were involved and associated with the Ewing families that were not recorded in the Clan Ewing of Scotland book. Some of the records for these other families may hold the solution to some of the unsolved mysteries in the Ewing family.

We know from other sources the ship Eagle Wing started transporting people to America as early as 1636. This ship Eagle Wing was built to carry 140 passengers. “In New England, a group of 140 Irish Calvinist had arrived from Belfast as early as the year 1636, on board an immigrant ship nicely named Eagle Wing.

The trip across the ocean at that time would take six weeks or longer to complete. In one case, we know about the ship, Eagle Wing, returning to its port after being on its trip for several days before turning around due to bad weather to return to its original port.

There is some evidence and tradition that the Eagle Wing and other ships stopped at the port of New Castle, Delaware on the Delaware River and then proceeded up the river to Philadelphia.

The trip from New Castle, Delaware to Cecil County, Maryland and the state line would be a fairly short trip of about fifteen miles. After reaching Cecil County it would be about 20-25 additional miles to the area where some of the early Ewing families settled.

The fact that the different Ewings were able to purchase land a short time after their arrival tells us a little bit about their status. Apparently they were able to pay their own transportation cost to America since we do not find any of them identified as indentured servants. When you research a number of deeds, you nearly always find that the Ewing men could sign their name. And, most often, the wife would sign her name with a mark. This one example appears to indicate the importance placed on the men being schooled and the women not being schooled.

NATHANIEL EWING

On 2 March 1721/2, Rachel Porter, a daughter of Margaret Ewing and Josias (Josiah) Porter, married Nathaniel Ewing. Nathaniel died intestate on 6 September 1748 in Cecil County, Maryland. The intestate record for Nathaniel gives the ages for his younger children. Therefore, it is possible to estimate when those children were born. Rachel’s mother is Margaret the daughter of Robert Ewing.

Nathaniel is identified as being the only child of his father, and his father’s first wife. Nathaniel’s father had several children by his second wife and the known children emigrated to America. From various records, the birth of the half-sister and -brothers of Nathaniel can be estimated fairly accurate. The following names are based on research:

John Ewing was born about 1695 and settled in Queens Anne County, Maryland.

William Ewing was born about 1700 and settled in an area of Amelia County which later became Prince Edward County, Virginia. Joshua Ewing was born about 1704 and settled in Cecil County, Maryland. Samuel Ewing was born about 1705 and settled in an area of Amelia County which later became Prince Edward County, Virginia. Ann Ewing was born about 1707/08. James Ewing was born about 1712 and settled in an area of Amelia County which later became Prince Edward County, Virginia.

George Ewing was born about 1715 and lived in Virginia, North Carolina, and died in South Carolina.

We should note it is certainly possible for another child or two to have been born between John and Joshua. We know only about William being born in that nine year period, 1695 to 1704. And, it is possible for a child to have been born between James and George.

Generally, it is believed by the descendants of the above children that William is the father. From all of the evidence that is available, William being the father of Nathaniel and the other children is based on a statement made by a great grandson Nathaniel (10 April 1772 - 4 August 1846). He states that “my great grandfather, whose name, I believe, was William, was twice married.

On page 182, in Clan Ewing of Scotland, we find:

To recapitulate a second, we recall that (2) William Ewing and second wife, Eliza Milford (if that were her maiden name) Ewing, had (2a) Joshua; (2b) William; (2c) James, who located in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and who gave to Nathaniel whose sketch was published in the Courier-Journal information when about eighty; [years old] . . . . We will discuss Eliza Milford more later.

It is indicated above James gave Nathaniel (the grandson) information that Nathaniel included in his sketch of the family. We should consider the fact that James apparently died in 1788. Or, at least, that is the only date given so far. James was about 76 years old when he died. However, Nathaniel was only 16 years old at that time. This one point can generate a number of questions but we will not get into them now. How involved is a sixteen year old, or younger, in recording the family genealogy records?

Nathaniel and Rachel Ewing’s third child, Anne, was born at sea on their way to America. Knowing the date of the marriage of Nathaniel and Rachel, based on the old calendar, and three children being born to them can help us estimate a date they came to America. And to me, it appears, to be closer to 1727 than it does to 1725 which is the date used by many. The old calendar was still being used at this time. The first day of the year 1722 was only 23 days after Nathaniel and Rachel married. March 25^th being New Year’s Day.

If Nathaniel and his half-brothers emigrated in 1725, James would have only been 13 years old and George would have only been 10 years old. That appears too young for “men” to emigrate. In all of the Ewing accounts that I have seen nothing has been said about James and George being orphans and being raised by their brother or brothers. With George being younger than James, it would appear that they may have emigrated a few years after their older brothers. Remember the earlier statement that some younger brothers were left behind.

A deposition given in Cecil County, Maryland dated June 1736 gave James’ age about 24 years. (Fife p. 222) This would indicate James would have emigrated to America by 1735 or early 1736. He would have been about 23 or 24 years of age when he emigrated.

A brother, Samuel, purchased land in Amelia [later became Prince Edward] County, Virginia on 17 May 1744.

Nathaniel, his half-sister, and half-brothers, a total of 8 people, had 53 children between them that we know about. The name Nathaniel is only used twice; once by Joshua and his 4^th son was named Nathaniel which we can say is correct based on the naming convention, naming after the oldest brother. Anne Ewing Gillespie named her 6^th son Nathaniel. Of the 53 children:

William was used 6 times; Samuel was used 6 times; George was used 3 times; Alexander, James, John, Robert and Thomas were used two times.

I have often wondered how did Nathaniel get his name, who is he named after. One of the best known pieces of information about Nathaniel is he is the only child of his father and his first wife. Is it possible that another child was born before Nathaniel and only lived for a short period of time. If that is possible, then maybe Nathaniel is named after the mother’s father.

This speculation is certainly nothing that you can hang your hat on, but, when we are researching a family, we need all of the clues that we can possibly get.

Now we have identified 10 immigrants.

ALEXANDER EWING

In 1727, Alexander Ewing, Rebeckah, his wife, and their three children, Eleanor, James, and John, came to America based on a note found in a Bible that Alexander Ewing had purchased before leaving Ireland for America.. Apparently, they lived in Chester County, Pennsylvania for awhile after arriving in America and then settled in Cecil County, Maryland on a farm next to James Porter, a nephew, and the farm owned by Nathaniel and Joshua Ewing. This Alexander is a son of Robert Ewing and Alexander is an uncle of Rachel Porter Ewing, the wife of Nathaniel. Alexander died in Cecil County, Maryland in May 1738.

Over the years a number of books have been printed that contained information about this family that was incorrect. However, a number of documents do exist that properly identify the wife and children of this family. Eleanor, the oldest daughter, apparently died within two or three years after she married Andrew Porter. The other children moved to Virginia.

On Tuesday, February 7, 1939 an article was published, titled “Old Bible Proves to be one of Most Interesting ‘Finds’, in the Southwest Virginia Enterprise, Wytheville, Virginia newspaper. That article publishes a numbers of dates, names, and comments from the Bible. A note in the Bible indicated Alexander purchased the Bible in 1727 before departing for America.

The extracted comments from the Bible and published in the article appear to establish 1727 as the year Alexander and his family emigrated to America.

WILLIAM EWING OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA

By 1728, William Ewing of Rockingham was in America. Some accounts indicate William was born about 1696. Others, show this William as being the son of another William.

In 1728, we find where William had signed a “Petition of Inhabitants” of West of Sadsbury for a road. (Chester County archives Vol. 1. Page 8, 9 Township School and Election District.)

On 8 June 1734, Warrant #3 was issued for 150 acres in Plumstead township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania to William Ewing in Plumstead township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

On 17 November 1761, William Ewing of Augusta County, Virginia purchased 708 acres of land from John, James, and Moses Green of Culpepper County, Virginia.

It is important to keep in mind the counties of Virginia as well as other states as to when they were organized. Augusta County, Virginia at one time included what is now West Virginia, Ohio and other areas. Migration created new counties and additional states.

In the August 1995 Journal, I published an article “Who is William Ewing of Rockingham?” based on the information that I had received from several members about this immigrant but the information was a little different concerning the earlier generations.

This is not a family line that I plan to research or try to correct. However, it does present a couple of good questions. Who is the father of William and who is the first wife of William?

One set of information received, showed that a William Ewing born about 1665-70 was married about 1687 to 91 in Bonhill, Scotland to Eliza Milford. This does not appear to be correct because at this time in Scotland the name Milford did not exist. And from further research the name Milford appears to be an Irish name. There is a Milford, Ireland which is not far from Inch Island and the other areas where the Ewings lived. That information further states that a son William was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland and he is the father of William Ewing of Rockingham. With this later William being born in 1710.

On page 271 of Clan Ewing of Scotland, we find:

Eliza Milford Ewing, born December 24, 1807, married James G. Dunaway, January 3, 1828.

Eliza Milford Ewing is listed as the sixth child of William Ewing and Margaret Love who had married in 1795. William is the son of Andrew and Susannah [Shannon] Ewing. Andrew Ewing who married Susannah Shannon is the son of William Ewing of Rockingham and was the first clerk of Davidson County, Tennessee.

On page 280 of Clan Ewing of Scotland, in another letter I find this:

A memorandum made in 1865 from information given me by my paternal aunt, Eliza Milford (Ewing) Dunaway, states that she was named after her great-grandmother whose maiden name was Eliza Milford. This was William’s first wife.

Lets follow that comment backwards with names:

Eliza Milford Ewing, daughter of William Ewing and Margaret Love, a granddaughter of Andrew Ewing and Susannah Shannon, and a great granddaughter of William Ewing of Rockingham and Eliza Milford.

If the statement that Eliza was named after her great grandmother is true and accepted as truth, it answers several genealogy questions which I do not plan to go into at this time.

On page 279 of Clan Ewing of Scotland, we find:

Mrs. Maria Ewing Martin, one of the intelligent genealogist of her branch of the family, a daughter of General Thomas Ewing, who was a son of the Hon. Thomas, says, in a letter written a few years ago, that she was convinced that her immigrant ancestor, Geo. Ewing, was either a brother or a cousin of William of Rockingham. She adds: ‘It is a matter of family tradition that two brothers, William and Robert, came with him (her immigrant ancestor) and went to the West or Southwest.’ (Letter of May 9, 1903).

My intent is not to solve the differences in the records of this family today, but to point out a fact or two that might add some light to another family.

JOHN EWING OF CARNSHANAGH

By or in 1729, John Ewing of Carnshanagh [ Karn sha no] with his children emigrated to America.

In the February 1995 Journal, an article written by Dr. William S. Ewing of Orlando, Florida about John Ewing of Carnshanagh [Karn sha no]. In that article, we find:

There are two important family letters. The first was written by Robert Ewing (Robert⁴, Robert³, Samuel², John¹) in August of 1827. It was based on family information he received from his aunt, Elizabeth Ewing Jamison, in July of 1820. Elizabeth Ewing Jamison was the daughter of Samuel and the granddaughter of John Ewing. Robert sent a letter with this information to his cousin, Sallie Jamison, who was Elizabeth’s daughter. This letter names most of the sons and daughters of John’s second marriage and goes on to say that “John Ewing Senior was of Scotch descent and born in the North of Ireland about the year 1660. Married, name of first wife unknown, about 1685. Fought the Irish Armies of James II. The letter continues, John Ewing Senior, then married his second wife, Janet McElvaney, and embarked to America in the year A.D. 1715. The 1715 would be consistent with the well-known statement that his youngest son, James, was born in America.

The second letter was written by the above Sallie Jamison to her niece Catherine (Reily) Cochran and was dated 26 May 1875. Sallie Jamison, the great granddaughter, writes He (means John Ewing) was an old man when he came to America. He fetched his family with him. He bought land in Chester County, Pennsylvania in Nottingham Township on Octarira (sic) [Octoraro] Creek. (No evidence has been found that John owned land.)

An additional account is given in the History of the Epler, Oldwiller, Huckleberry, Carr and Ewing Families compiled by Emma Epler Knudson. From this source we have the quotation, He (John) immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1729. His sons with their families wished to come to America, but their father being 81 years of age. . . Unfortunately, this genealogy is flawed. There is no record or evidence to support the theses that John Ewing was 81 years of age when he came to America. However, I have examined an old book entitled Confession of Faith. This book was handed down through the Ewing and Walter family lines. In this book is the inscription, John Ewing has departed this life September 23^rd 1745 in the 97^th year of his age. If he were 97 when he died, he would have been born about 1648. If he were 81 when he came to America, he would have arrived about 1729. The earlier birth date and later arrival in America have been accepted and handed down through a number of the family.

In an old Ewing cemetery near Stevens City, Virginia there are headstones that have been uncovered belonging to early family members. This location is where William Ewing, a son of John, settled. Most notable are the partial stone of William and Samuel’s headstone. William and Samuel are sons of John. The stone of Elizabeth Ewing Jamison, daughter of Samuel, has also been found there. . . .

John apparently came to America with eight of his children and the families of those that were married.

JAMES EWING OF INCH ISLAND

In correspondence of John Gillespie Ewing, we find a letter dated 14^th March 1919, and he writes the following about four brothers:

About 1730 four or possibly five brothers came to, and settled in Nottingham township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. They were as is supposed the sons of one James Ewing of Inch County Donegal, an island in Lough Swilly, about ten miles west of Londonderry in Ireland. They were supposed: John, Henry, Samuel, Alexander, and possibly Thomas. His widow Ann, and his son John Ewing had letters of Administration of his estate granted the 23^rd of July 1752.

CHARLES & ROBERT EWING

Somewhere between 1735 and 1740 or so, Charles and Robert Ewing emigrated to America. They have always been referred to in the past as brothers. However, some of the current day researchers question Charles and Robert being brothers.

In 1919, Presley K. Ewing published The Ewing Genealogy with Cognate Branches and on page 8, we find the following written about Charles and Robert:

Charles and Robert Ewing who were brothers, were born in County Londonderry, Ireland, probably at or near Coleraine, about 1715-1725, and emigrated thence to America about the period between 1735-1747.

They [Charles and Robert], were cousins of the emigrant Nathaniel Ewing, and on their arrival in America, they first went to his home, in Cecil County, Maryland, but shortly after accompanied their cousin, the emigrant James Ewing, Nathaniel’s half-brother, to what became Prince Edward County, Virginia, and later they joined a new adventurous colony and settled near the peaks of Otter, in Bedford County, Virginia, where they remained until they died.

Assuming that Charles and Robert are cousins of Nathaniel, it would indicate that some of the brothers of Nathaniel’s father did not emigrate to America and one or more stayed in Ireland.

MOVEMENT TO VIRGINIA

A large number of our ancestors and relatives moved to different areas of Virginia and were living there when the American Revolution started in 1776.

After the war, we find that new areas were being opened up. The soldiers of the war got land for their services and patriotism. The obtaining of large tracts of land took them to other areas that later became states.

A number of Ewings settled along Cripple Creek in what became Wythe County, Virginia of today. Cripple Creek runs east and empties into New River. As you stand at the point where Cripple Creek meets with New River, looking south you can see Ewing Mountain. A number of tributaries starting in the Ewing Mountains empty into Cripple Creek.

New River begins on the boundary line of Ashe & Alleghany counties in North Carolina. New River is one of a very few rivers in North America that runs North. If you follow the flow of New River, you will find that eventually the water empties into the Ohio River.

I have often wondered, if some of our early Ewings in Tennessee may have traveled down New River, then down the Ohio River to the Cumberland River and on to the settlement of Nashborough or Nashville, Davidson County.

QUESTIONS

Now, we can mention a couple of questions about the relationship of the early families in America. It is stated that in Clan Ewing of Scotland that Nathaniel married his cousin, Rachel Porter. We do not know how they are cousins. Also, we find in that book Anne Ewing, a daughter of Nathaniel and Rachel Ewing, married James Breading, her cousin. Again, we do not know how they are related.

P. K. Ewing in his book, says Charles and Robert are cousins to Nathaniel. How, Charles and Robert were related to Nathaniel Ewing is not known. Accepting the fact they were cousins and visited in Nathaniel’s home brings up a question in my mind. Is it possible that James Ewing and George Ewing, half-brothers of Nathaniel, might have traveled to America with Charles and Robert Ewing? If so, they would have come about 1735 and that would put Charles and Robert in the Cecil county area for several years before going to Virginia.

SOME ADDITIONAL IMMIGRANTS

Besides the above immigrants, members of Clan Ewing have identified:

Alexander Ewing (1730-1790)

James Ewing of Pocahontas County, Virginia (born about 1720 -)

James Ewing (1733-1825)

James Ewing ( ? - d.1776)

John Ewing of East Nottingham Twp., Chester County, Pennsylvania (b. C 1698/9-1753)

John Ewing (1703-1735)

John Ewing of York County, Pennsylvania (1705-1768)

Samuel Ewing of West Nottingham Hundred, Cecil County, Maryland (b. C 1701-1772)

Also, additional immigrants are identified in Margaret Fife’s book.

There must be others that I am not aware of.

There is a definite undertow of information and tradition that pulls me in a certain direction and belief. Although, I can not prove all of my beliefs, I will keep an open mind and will welcome new information.

COAT OF ARMS

In the August 1996 journal, I edited an article about the Ewing coat-of-arms. The coat-of-arms is made from a description of the items to be included on the coat-of-arms rather than from a drawing, you will see the same items presented in a little different manner. Those items appear in what I call the shield, and they are the flag, two stars, the sun, and what might appear to be two stairs (based on the earliest shield) meeting at a point in the center of the shield.

The coat-of-arms presented in that article were for the families of:

Dr. John Ewing, a son of Nathaniel Ewing an immigrant.

A coat-of-arms in Joe Neff Ewing’s family, again the Nathaniel line.

Maskell Ewing a son of Thomas Ewing, an Immigrant.

A coat-of-arms found in the book by Presley K. Ewing, for the family of Robert Ewing.

All of the above coat-of-arms contains a shield that is very similar to the coat-of-arms identified as “Ewing of Craigtown”.

From the article in the journal, we find:

Spooner, the American genealogist, says: “The arms of the Ewing family show several variations, but there is a substantial uniformity in those borne by the Scottish branches.” This uniformity means common origin; and, taken in connection with our traditions, establishes the fact of family descent from the family to which the arms earliest belonged.”

Again from the article:

“A Ewing tombstone dated 1600, in Bonhill Churchyard, [in Scotland] has upon it these arms: and McEwen supposes that this stone marks the grave of one of the Ewings of the Craigtown family. Ross tells us that Bishop Ewing found upon a Ewing gravestone in the old Ewing burying ground on the banks of Loch Lomond, in the midst of our old clan lands, believed to be the stone of the grave of the bishop’s grandfather’s cousin, “the family coat of arms.” (Ross, Memoir of Alexander Ewing, p. 101)

When I was doing the article about Andrew Ewing for the May 1998 journal, I found an interesting bit of information that made me think more about the overall Ewing family relationship.

On page 7 of the book Clerk Andrew Ewing – His Book compiled by Katherine W. Ewing, in 1942, we find:

In the year 1742 is found the first documentary evidence of the residence of William and his family in Plumsted township, in Bucks County [Pennsylvania]. On a legal paper, an indenture of mortgage relative to his property, there is William’s beautifully written signature, and the ancestral seal attached to the instrument. The seal is impressed in red wax and depicts a fabled, winged creature, surmounted by a “rising sun in splendor,” which is an outstanding bearing, or charge, of the Ewing coat-of-arms, wherever found.

At this period, illegal or improper use of a coat-of-arms, crest or seal in the Mother Country was likely to produce dire consequences; thus it can be safely assumed that careful attention to rightful ownership and authentic use of the Arms was employed by family members recently arrived in the New World. (Emphasis added) The “Sun in Splendor,” taken from the Ewing family arms and carved on a seal for witnessing legal papers, was used by William Ewing of Plumsted [later in Rockingham County] and appears to establish a definite link to the Baron of Craigtown. The arms are also found on tombstones in Bonhill Cemetery, Scotland, mentioned above.

To me, the coat-of-arms used by the different families before 1776 is a definite indication that they may have a common heritage.

The above images were taken from Clan Ewing of Scotland and regarding the shield (top image) the author states: “To a casual eye the first letter of the name might be taken for a capital I; but without exception the Scotch and other authorities read it E.

ONE LAST ITEM

Over the years, I have seen a few accounts of brothers mentioned in books and articles about Ewings. We know that somewhere there had to be several brothers that quite possibly produced a number of descendants that are members of this organization.

Also, we can read different accounts of migration of people to and from Scotland to Ireland. From tradition, we know that some of the Ewing families came from Scotland to Ireland. What we do not know is when a certain family came to Ireland from Scotland and how long the family was in Ireland before coming to America. Was it the same generation, the next generation or the next.

From the book Our Ewings in America, page 7, we find the following:

“Dr. Gilbert A. Ewing, great grandson of James, (that is James of Pocahontas) in a letter written in 1891 recounts the long recognized tradition in our branch of the family that six stalwart Ewing brothers, being on the losing side in an insurrection in Scotland, fled to Ireland and settled in Londonderry. During the religious war between William of Orange and James II, when the prize was the throne of England, these brothers were said to have been among the civilian defenders of the city of Londonderry when it was besieged in 1689 for a period of one hundred and five days. This barbaric siege was lifted just when the beleaguered inhabitants of the starving and disease-ridden city were at the point of surrender. The forces of James II withdrew suddenly when they sighted several ships sailing up the Foyle Estuary, each loaded with reinforcements dispatched by William of Orange to relieve the city.”

“This legend of the six Ewing brothers has many versions, but there is general agreement that James was born of Scottish parents in the city of Londonderry in the year 1720.”

Is it possible that the six brothers might include:

John Ewing of Carnshanagh (Karn sha no)

Robert Ewing the father of Alexander

Finley Ewing the father of Thomas

James Ewing of Inch Island

William Ewing, if that was his name, the father of Nathaniel.

Maybe an Alexander Ewing.

And maybe the brother or brothers to the father of the six stalwart brothers should be included in this family.

Hopefully, you are not too confused and maybe there is a closer relationship between the Ewing immigrants than we first believed. We have a lot that we can work on.

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