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Greetings,

I am researching a family, specifically that of a John Garrett b. 7 Sept 1786, in Lisburn, to Wm. And Margaret Garrett. John Garrett had two brothers, Hugh and James, and the three brothers emigrated from Lisburn to Pennsylvania, USA, about 181, and later migrated south to Harrison County, Virginia.

John Garrett was a founding member of the First United Presbyterian church in Clarksburg, Virginia-located in present day West Virginia. John Garrett presented the church with a certified letter from James Birch (Clerk and Mod) dated 12 May 1816, Dromara, stating that John Garrett was in good standing with the church. After doing some research, I determined that Rev. Birch was the pastor of First Dromara Presbyterian Church at that time.

This letter that John Garrett presented to the Clarksburg Presbyterian Church from his home church in Dromara, leads me to believe that John Garrett, possibly his parents, William and Margaret, as well as his brothers were all members of the First Dromara Presbyterian church. I am trying to track down these parish records. I contacted the Reverend at the church, and he is understandably too busy to assist, I have checked Familysearch’s catalog and they do not have much, if anything in regards to Lisburn records on film. I have emailed the Northern Ireland Family History Services twice, but have not received a response.I have contacted PRONI via email but have not received a reply back from them either.  I am hoping you will be able to assist me with this research and advise me as to what I need to do in order to obtain or discover records pertaining to this family, church or civil.

I am contacting you from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, so any assistance and direction you provide is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Warm regards,

Marianne McCalip

Mari5199

Thursday 12th Sep 2013, 05:12PM

Message Board Replies

  • Marianne,

    You have mentioned Lisburn as being where John originated but then mention his letter from Dromara  1st Presbyterian Church. Dromara is not actually Lisburn. It?s a separate town some 6 or 7 miles away. Lisburn has several Presbyterian churches of its own. So you need to be certain which records you are enquiring about.  If it?s John?s baptism that you would like to trace, then obviously what matters is where he was born, rather than the church he or his family attended later. (They may have moved).

    As far as I am aware, the originals of 1st Dromara Presbyterian records are held by the church; there?s a copy in PRONI and another in the Presbyterian Historical Society, in Belfast. I am not aware of any other copies in the public domain, nor of the records being on-line anywhere.

    If the Minister won?t assist you by looking up the originals then you have choice of paying PRONI (they will reply in due course) or getting someone (eg a researcher) to go to PRONI or the PHS to look them up for you.

    You could try e-mailing PHS but I am not sure whether they will undertake any research for you. http://www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com/ Be prepared to wait  a few days. Not all these organisations necessarily have the resources to deal with the volume of genealogical enquiries they now receive. The PHS library is only open 2 or 3 days a week.

     

    Elwyn

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Thursday 12th Sep 2013, 06:06PM

  • Elwyn, 

    Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the clarification on Lisburn/Dromara. Looking at the map, I see it is separate-figured Dromara was maybe a suburb or something. 

    I have emailed the Presbyterian Historical Society and PRONI, so hopefully I'll hear something back shortly. 

    Thanks again for your help and assistance,

    Marianne

    Mari5199

    Thursday 12th Sep 2013, 09:38PM

  • Hi Marianne

    I am researching John Garrett and Margaret MacMachen Garrett and came across your postings.  I wondered if you ever found a link between this John and the Robert Garrett/John Work Garrett line?

    Thank you!

    Saturday 5th Jul 2014, 10:33PM

  • Hi Marianne

    I am researching John Garrett and Margaret MacMachen Garrett and came across your postings.  I wondered if you ever found a link between this John and the Robert Garrett/John Work Garrett line?

    Thank you!

    Saturday 5th Jul 2014, 10:35PM

  • Hi, 

    I believe there is a connection, after speaking with another researcher, but unfortunately we have no hard evidence to substantiate it at this time. 

    As far as we can guess, the immigrants Robert Garrett and John Garrett were first cousins, and John Work Garrett and John Garrett (the immigrant) were second cousins. We think Robert Garrett's father, John and John's father, William were brothers. Lots of Johns! Lol. Does any of that make sense? 

    John Garrett>Robert Garrett>John Work Garrett

    William Garrett>John Garrett

    Hope this helps! 

    Marianne

    Mari5199

    Sunday 6th Jul 2014, 02:31PM

  • Yes, thank you! We come from the Andrew Garrett line. I believe I've made the connection that Andrew and John were most likely brothers in Ireland per a reference in a book about Mary Elizabeth, John Work's daughter. It's been fun searching! Thank you!

    Sunday 6th Jul 2014, 02:39PM

  • I'm researching this family living in Lisburn c1680. Daniel who married Elizabeth the daughter of Rev. Josiah Wilkins, Rector of Lisburn and Dean of Clogher. Any information or advice would be appreciated. Thank you. GMcC

    Saturday 21st Feb 2015, 05:27PM

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