History of Robert Elliott's (1695) Family

History of Robert Elliott's (1695) Family

Memoranda of My Ancestors,

Also of Their Descendants

My paternal grandfather was Robert Elliott. He emigrated to this country from Enniskillen, Fermanagh County, Ireland, about the year 1737. On his arrival in this country, he purchased a farm a few miles north of Carlisle, Pa., on which he resided during the remainder of his life. He was twice married. By his first wife, whose maiden name I do not know, he had several children, two of whom, John and Edward, purchased land and settled on it in Sherman’s Valley, near to where my father afterwards settled. Their descendants are mostly gone to the west, although a few of them remain near their native home. The name of my grandfather’s second wife (my grandmother) was Mary Rainey. By her, he had six sons and four daughters. Their relative seniority of birth I am unable to state. The names of the sons were James, Thomas, David, Charles, William and Robert. The names of the daughters were Mary, Margaret, Ann (the name of the other, I do not know) (It was Grisel).

My grandfather died at his home at the age of about 85 years. My grandmother lived many more years after the death of her husband, and died at my father’s house in Sherman’s Valley at the advanced age of ninety years, or upwards. It is one of the earliest recollections to have seen her, after, through infirmity, she was confined to her bed. Her appearance was that of a very tall woman, of fair complexion, and placid countenance.

Thomas Elliott, my father, sometime during, or near the close of the “French and Indian War,” purchased a farm of between three and four hundred acres of land, in Sherman’s Valley, about twenty miles north of Carlisle, Pa. Being married to his first wife (for he was twice married) about that time, he removed to his farm. His wife’s maiden name was Catharine Thomas (daughter of William Thomas) of York County, Pa. She was of Welsh descent. By her, he had several children, all of whom died very young, except two, Mary and Charles, of whom hereafter.

Sometime after the death of his first wife, my father married again. The name of his second wife, (my mother) was Jane Holliday. The exact date of their marriage I do not know, but believe it to have been about 1779 or 1780.

My mother was a native of Ireland. Her birthplace was Rothfriland, County Down, and the date of her birth July 5, 1746. She was the granddaughter of Adam Holliday, and Jane (Maconson) Holliday. Her own father’s name was Samuel Holliday. He was twice married. His second wife, (my grandmother) was Janet Adair. Grandfather and his wife were both members of the Secession Church, and had for their pastor, the Rev. Thomas Main.

My grandfather has been represented to me as an honest, reputable and pious man. My grandmother’s character was equally good. She lived to the great age of ninety-seven years. My mother was first married in Ireland to a cousin of her own (Joseph Holliday) son of her father’s brother. Sometime after their marriage they emigrated to this country, accompanied by her only brother, William Holliday, then a young man. They landed at New York, and after remaining for a season in Phila. with an uncle, they came on to Sherman’s Valley and settled in the vicinity of my father’s residence, There her husband was removed by death, leaving her a widow with two children, a son and a daughter. After the days of her mourning were ended, she and my father, as already stated, were married, each having two children, a son and a daughter by the former marriage. Of these hereafter.

At the first of their marriage to each other, my father and mother had four children, viz: Catherine, Robert, Thomas, and David (myself). Catharine, the eldest, married George Williams, a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church at Bellefonte, Center County, Pa. and brother to the Rev. Joshua Williams, D.D. of Newville, Pa. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Their son, Robert E. Williams after completing his Collegiate and Theological studies went as a Missionary to northern India, under the direction of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. After laboring there about eight yrs. He returned to this country. At this writing, he is residing in Pittsburgh, but owing to certain constitutional infirmities he does not preach. (not married) His sister, Catherine Ann, married James Elliott, a distant relative of her own, who owns a farm near Newville, Pa. on which they reside. My sister, Mrs. Williams, who had long been a widow, resided with her son in law and daughter, and died at their home March 14, 1862 in the eighty-second year of her age.

Robert, my eldest brother, was born Oct. 28, 1784 and died November 24, 1881. Thomas, my next elder brother, was born December 28, 1784 and died June 14, 1815. David, (myself) the youngest of our family, was born February 6. 1787 and at the writing of these memoranda, is in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and the sixty-first of his ministry.

Here I notice the children of my father and mother by their first marriage. 1st of my father, Mary, the eldest, married Andrew Patterson, a respectable farmer in Tuscarorn Valley, Mifflin, now Juniata County, Pa. Many years ago, they moved to the state of Ohio, where there are still some of their descendants.

Her husband has long been dead, and she died at the home of her eldest daughter in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, on the 3rd of September, 1854 in the eighty-eighth year her age. Charles, her brother, married Ann Linn, daughter of William Linn, a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church at Center, Perry Country, Pa., of which his brother, the Rev. John Linn, was the pastor. By her, he had a number of children.

Two of his sons reside in the state of Indiana. One of them, Samuel, in the City of Lafayette, the other, Robert, on a farm near that city. The others are dead. Samuel is a Ruling Elder, and has a son in the ministry, Samuel Wilson Elliott, who is laboring in Woodburn, Iowa. By the death of his first wife, Charles became a widower and married as his second wife, Jane Mitchell, by whom he had several children. She died in the state of Illinois, at the home of a daughter, on the 28th of March, 1864. (Daughter, Martha Elliott, married to Samuel Milligan).

Their son, Mitchell Elliott, is a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church where he resides. Charles himself, after remaining a large portion of his life at his native place, sold his property and removed to the State of Ohio, and purchased property near Piqua, where he died September 23, 1846, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He had been a Ruling Elder in the church of native place for many years, and after his removal to Ohio served the church of Piqua in the same office until his death.

2nd, of my mother by first marriage. Samuel Holliday, her son, after arriving at manhood, married an excellent young lady, a Miss Irvine, in our native neighborhood. Shortly after their marriage they removed to Ohio, where his wife died, leaving one son, as I recollect. Her husband married again, but not equally well with his first. I have lost sight of his family. He died many years ago in Ohio. The date of his death, I do not know. Jane Holliday, my mother’s other child, being her first marriage, continued to reside in my father’s family as one of his own children. She lived to the age of forty (or thereabout) years, and died at my father’s house May 22, 1813. She was a pious, excellent woman, whom we all loved, she was never married.

Of the exact date of my father’s birth, I am not informed. But having often heard him say that he was seven years of age when his father came to America, which was in 1737, this would place the time of his birth in the year 1730. His death took place June 30th, 1815 at his residence in Sherman’s Valley. He was in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His body lies in the grave-yard connected with the Center Presbyterian Church. I was not present at his death having been at his house several weeks shortly before, on a visit to my brother Thomas, who lay upon his death-bed, and had left for home some eight or ten days before father took sick. His sickness being of short duration, I was unable to be present. My brother died on the 14th of June, and my father on the 30th of the same month, A.D. 1815.

My father was a man of good personal appearance. He was five feet ten inches in height. Altho’ not corpulent in the largest sense of the term, he had a good portion of flesh, and his whole form was regularly and symmetrically shaped. It was often remarked by those who knew both, that, in his features and the outline of his face, he bore a striking likeness to General Washington. Forming my own judgement from some of the portraits of the General, there was in many points a strong resemblance. His manners were easy, and according to the rules of good breeding in his day, when he met, or exchanged courtesies with others, he always raised his hat from his head. He had an active and vigorous mind, and altho’ his library was small, it consisted chiefly of solid and instructive works, many of them of a religious character, such as Boston’s Fourfold State, Willison’s works, Marshall on Sanctification, Firmin’s Real Christian, Ambrose’ Looking into Jesus, Burkitt on the New Testament, with some Historical Works, etc. These with the bible, formed the staple of his reading, and he had evidently read them with much attention from the facility with which he could give an account of their contents.

On the political event of his day, he kept himself well informed, and took a great interest in whatever related to the welfare of the country. He belonged to the old Federal Party in politics, and in the ardent party contents for the Presidency about the commencement of the present century. I recollect how he would read to his neighbors the speeches of leading member of Congress, as reported in the newspapers. His worldly circumstances were easy, and his sons attended to the business of the farm. He was punctual in his attendance on the public worship of God until prevented by the infirmities of age, and in exactly the same family. He was a strict observer of the Sabbath, and enjoined the same on his children. Although I have heard him praying when alone, he did not lead his family in worship, nor did he ever make a public profession of religion by going to the Lord’s Table. In his general deportment, and in many particulars, he acted like a Christian (always asked a blessing and returned thanks at our daily meals), but the above omissions were important ones, and his example in these respects I cannot approve and dare not recommend.

Of my mother’s origin, birth-place and the date of her birth, I have already spoken. I add here, that according to my recollection, she told me herself that she was a communicating member in the church to which her parents belonged, before she left Ireland. But after she came to this country she became a member of the Presbyterian Church and died in her communion. Her death took place on the 10th of October, 1833, at the old homestead in which our father died, and in which they were all born. She was in the 88th year of her age. By a kind and special providence her three surviving children, (Robert, with whom she resided, Catharine, who lived some fifty miles distant, and myself, at a distance of near two hundred miles) were all present to witness her last moments and close her eyes in death. She passed away without a struggles or a groan, as one falling into a gentle sleep. Her remains repose in the graveyard with those of our father, near the Center Church.

The character of my dear mother I cannot recall, but with the deepest feelings of affection and veneration, of the depth and sincerity of her piety, I have no doubt. Her devotedness to our early religious instructions, especially on the Lord’s Day, her affectionate concern for our welfare, her parting prayer that “ God would bless us” when we were going abroad, and her continued anxiety that we should please and honor God, have embalmed her memory deep in my heart.

She was an unaffected, modest, retiring woman, of a meek and amiable disposition and good common sense. She was exceedingly tender of the reputation of others and never indulged in unfavorable remarks on their characters, or encouraged others to do so in her presence. Living in a part of the country somewhat secluded, she was not known far abroad, but was greatly beloved by her neighbors, and those who had the opportunity of knowing her worth. In cases of sickness and death, in the neighborhood she was always in demand. Indeed in the early settlement of the country, without a physician nearer that twenty miles, she had often to act the part of both physician and nurse among her less intelligent neighbors. These acts of spontaneous kindness and love greatly endeared her to the community in the midst of which she lived. As to her bodily appearance, she was of medium stature, and in the junior period of my life she was quite fleshy, but as to her age advanced she became spare in the flesh, and continued so until the end of her life. Her complexion was dark and her eyes and hair black. The ordinary expression of her face was that of gentleness and love. During her youth and middle age, according to traditional accounts, she was considered handsome. And I can testify from my own personal knowledge that she was a model step-mother, who, by her kindness and discretion, won the love and confidence of her step-children, who always felt and acted toward her as though she had been their own mother. She and they and her own children all lived together in the greatest harmony, as though the children had all had a common parentage.

Having thus given this memoranda of my ancestors and their descendants in a regular lineal succession thro’ my father and mother, I will now state some facts respecting some of the collateral branches of our family connection.

James Elliott, my father’s brother, already named, inherited his father’ farm, where he spent his life and on which he died at the age of ninety years. While at College at Carlisle and after I was licensed to preach, I visited him sometimes. He was a large man, six feet high, and of great strength. In feats where great physical power was required, and which were common during his early manhood, he is reported to have excelled most of his contemporaries. He had a vigorous mind, which he had improved by reading, of which he was fond. The farm on which he died is now owned by one of his grandsons. (Abram Elliott). His children, so far as I know, are all dead.

David Elliott, another brother of my father, owned and lived upon a farm a few miles from Carlisle. I know little of him personally. According to my recollection of him, he was of medium stature, well-proportioned bodily frame, of easy manners, and a pleasant expression of face. The following obituary notice, taken from a Carlisle paper of Oct. 5, 1804, will give some idea of his character. “Died on Saturday, the 22nd of September, 1804, David Elliott, of Middleton Township, Cumberland County, Pa., in the 73rd year of his age. He had, thro’ life, supported an excellent character. He was remarkable for a meek and gentle temper, was a kind husband, an affectionate father, and a steady friend. He was a Ruling Elder in the church, and gave the most pleasing evidence - - - particularly in the near view of another world . . . of his steady faith in the Redeemer, and his hope of eternal life.” I believe his family are all dead.

William and Robert, Of these brothern of my family I know nothing personally. Their names appear in my grandfather’ s will as legatees, and I have reliable information that they emigrated at a very early period, either to North or South Carolina. But whether it was owing to the difficulty of communication, in those early times, or from some other cause, all intercourse between the families seems to have ceased, as far as I know.

Charles Elliott- The youngest brother of my father, was killed by the Indians. An incursion had been made by a party of Indians into Tuscarora Valley, where they murdered a number of persons. A company was raised to go over to the Valley to bury the dead, of which company Charles was one. Having accomplished their object, they were returning, and were surprised by a party of Indians an Charles Elliot and one or two others were killed. He was a young man, unmarried.

Mary Elliott- My father’s eldest sister, married John Irwin, of Tuscarora Valley, Mifflin (now Juniata) County, Pa. They had two sons, James and Robert. By the death of her husband, she became a widow, and married again, and with her husband and her son, Robert Irwin, removed to Kentucky, where she died. From Kentucky, Robert moved to Ohio and settled near Hamilton, In that state. The Rev. Robert Irwin of Muncie, Indiana, is a son of his, and the Rev. Robert Irwin Jr., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, his grandson.

James, the other son of John and Mary Irwin, was born 1756, and removed from Tuscarora to the state of Ohio in 1795, and purchased a large body of land about twenty miles north of Cincinnati, on which he resided and where he died Feb. 10, 1847, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He has a son, Robert, residing on part of that property, who is a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church of Mason and Pisgah, of which church the Rev. A.B. Lowes, my son-in-law, is pastor. He has also a grandson (the son of a daughter) who is a Presbyterian minister, and is at preserve, the Principal of the Preparatory Department of Wooster University, Ohio. His name is James A. I. Lowes, and he is a half-brother to the Rev. A.B. Lowes, above named.

Margaret Elliott- father’s sister, was married to William Clark, who resided a few miles north of Carlisle. One of their sons, Robert, was, for many years before his death, a Ruling Elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, Pa. Her grandson also, the Rev. Joseph Clark, a son of Robert, was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Chambersburg, Pa. a man of fine talents and an acceptable preacher. He died at Chambersburg June 2, 1865.

Joseph Clark, a brother of Robert, married, but had no children. Their oldest sister (Margaret) married Hames Fleming of the vicinity of Carlisle. Robert’s first wife was James Fleming’s sister.

Ann Elliott- another sister of my father, was married to Samuel Mitchell of Mifflin, now Juniata County, Pa. They had two sons and three daughters. One of the sons, William, married, and had a daughter, his only child, who, with her grandmother and Aunt Ann removed to Greenfield, Ohio. There, both Aunt and niece married husbands whose names were Smith. Samuel M. Smith M.D. of Columbus Ohio, is the son and only child of that niece, who died shortly after his birth. The other son of my Aunt led a wandering life, and is dead. The oldest of the daughters, with whom I was acquainted, was Jane, who became the wife of my half-brother, Charles Elliott, as already mentioned. The old lady, my aunt, died at Greenfield at a very advanced age, being more than ninety years old.

The other sister- whose name I do not know, married a Mr. McMin, of Mifflin Co. (Grisel Elliott)

William Holliday, my mother’s brother, who came with her from Ireland, married and immigrated to Kentucky towards the close of the last century, where he died in the year 1812. Of his children I am not informed, but the late Rev. William A. Holliday, of Indiana, was his grandson. He has a great-grandson (son of Rev. W.A. Holliday) in the ministry, whose name is also William A. Holliday, and who is pastor of a Presbyterian Church at Salisbury Mills, State of New York.

Written at Sligo, Clarion County, Pa. David Elliott, Aug. 17, 1872.

This note was added that was not written or included in David Elliott’s Memoranda. See below.

Thought you might like a copy of Dr. David Elliott’s Memoranda. This is an exact copy, as far as it goes. I have not added the West family records.

You cannot help seeing that the brothers and sisters of Thomas Elliott as described by David Elliott, his son, are the children of Robert Elliott of Middleton Township, and the brothers and sisters of my great-grandfather James Elliott, brother to Thomas Elliott. It is plain as day,that Thomas Elliott, father of Dr. David Elliott, was not a son of Robert of Hamilton Twp.

David did not know the name of one of the sisters, Grisel, but he said she married a Mr. McMin. Grisel married Joseph McMin. It is in the old will.

David says Charles was his father’s youngest brother. History says he was a son of Edward Elliott, and Edward’s descendants claim him. He was killed in 1783, and David was born in 1787, and he could very easily be mistaken, but I’m not saying he was, only the question is not quite settled. Father always said that his grandfather, James Elliott, was the youngest of the family, and the same story is in all the families. He was born in 1733, and was four years old when they came in 1737. His age is in our Bible. David was next youngest, born in 1731. Died in 1804, as given by Dr. David, his nephew, so his age would be 73. In the Carlisle Paper which Dr. Elliott quoted, his age was given as 57. (Not correct.)

Father also said it was one of the Perry County Elliotts, as we call them, who was killed by the Indians. Charles and Major John Elliott were brothers, and John was in the fight too. Robinson, a survivor, wrote the story of the Indian Massacre, he had a brother killed also. Before Robinson died, he gave his gun to John Elliott, and said, “If ever in peace or war, you have an opportunity to shoot an Indian with it, do so for my sake.”

You will notice Mary Elliott Irwin went to Kentucky, and died there. The Edward Elliott descendants say William and Robert went to Kentucky. They may have gone when their sister Mary went. It could be possible.