Email From Gary Aden to Gary Aden
Email Dated 5/12/01

Old World Roots for William Allen and Elizabeth Barclay Allen: These two
individuals are my Allen branch progenitors and share a confusing and
contradictory written record relevant to their old world origins. Leroy
Parks Allen(12/10/1839 ?- after 10/27/1914 ? ), in his 80's and
recalling oral family history given to him, has composed the only known
written genealogy( Texas Pioneers, Brownwood Banner, Brownwood, Texas
1955) of this family.  As such, his contribution is revered and any
critical comments I may convey are in the spirit of trying to set the
record straight, rather than ridicule his effort. How does one reconcile
his declaration that Elizabeth Barclay was of Welsh descent with the
fact that no other genealogical researcher even mentions Wales in
connection with this family? We shall deal with the Barclay/Barkley
origins later, but a background discussion of the history of Irish
immigration in the pre-Revolutionary War colonial period  best initiated
with William Allen's roots are in order.

Following a rebellion of the Irish nobility and commoners in Ireland
against the King,  the British crown invited Scots to, mostly Calvinist
Presbyterians, to people Ulster province to break the Irish race and
Catholic church.The Scots got along well and prospered at first, but
eventually their success raised the ire of the native folks resulting
discriminatory laws and social policy, including questioning the
validity of Presbyterian marriage, holding no public office higher than
Constable, and high "rack rents." Crop failures followed and the first
wave of Irish immigration to the new world began with New England
settlements in 1638. A large wave ensued primarily entering Pennsylvania
in 1718 after the fifth successive year of drought in Ireland. This
latter wave of settlers were known as "Penn-Irish" at the time if they
went on to settle near the rivers and valleys of the Carolinas,
especially the Salisbury or Camden areas. South Carolina's novel bounty
payment plan(1731-1765) to stimulate settlement of her back country
which included covering the cost of passage to Charleston(about a year
of  farm laborer's wages), supplies and transportation to the new lands
and a ten year rent and tax exemption for 100 acres/famly and 50 acres
for each child under 16 or slave was so successful that neighboring
colonies had trouble attracting settlers. Those who came via Charleston
retained their old world moniker of Scotch-Irish and had a reputation
for bringing significant financial resources with them as well, but also
being a poor judge of farmland compared with earlier arriving
"Penn-Irish" brothers. They would often select land at the head of a
creek or river which could not be easily irrigated. Entrepeneurs entered
this picture when experienced Indian traders, John Rea and George Galpin
of Ulster, persuaded the Governor of Georgia to lay out townships
between their 50,000 acre holdings and the Cree Indians to be peopled by
Ulster emigrants. Feverish land promotions followed, Savannah's port
flourished and the settlement of Queensborough followed near present day
Louisville, aided by the expiration of the South Carolina Bounty Act in
1765.

Ballymoney, among several others, was a favorite point of embarkation.
Leaving Ireland with official blessing was not uncomplicated, so the
fees and bureaucratic maze were often bypassed by simply pretending
destination  for or actually going to a normal ferrying point and
boarding passage for the new world. Captains weren't required and often
didn't maintain a passenger manifest. Needless to say, morbidity and
death secondary to malnutrition, filth, disease, storms, or violence
from the seven to 12 week passage aboard a vessel with uncertain
navigational skills plus the three week wagon trip to the final
destination were not uncommon and have been extensively documented in
the literature. Having arrived, it was then necessary to learn how to
cope with the Indians. In William Allen's case, he along with other
young Irishmen were subjected to hazing by British soldiers to the point
that many left Georgia to reside in South Carolina, eventually returning
in mass to engage the British during the Revolutionary War. Thus, L.P.
Allen's assertion that William and his three brothers, MNU, were from
Ireland, debarked at Savannah, and settled near Augusta, may be correct,
but should be viewed in the above context. Efforts to confirm their
presence at Queensborough showed no evidence of settlement. The efforts
to confirm their debarkation at Savannah continue, but have proved
fruitless thus far. Finally, even if one knows the place of origin in
Ireland, it may be difficult to do on-site confirmation because of the
poor/absent/destroyed status of the records and the cemetery
destruction. A professional researcher, writing in AAA magazine a few
years ago, said that he had been to Ireland seven times in the quest to
find his great grandfather's grave without success and his appraisal of
the situation made no distinction between one jurisdiction and another.
A fellow collaborator in research on another line has looked at my
William Allen data and insists that his origin is England. My rejoinder
to him is that once in the new world, these immigrants would have valued
their safety more than anything else and would have felt "more secure"
married totheir own kind and that his marriage to Elizabeth
Barclay, whom I believe to be Scotch-Irish,  proves that he was
Scotch-Irish. Only Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret Barclay
Montgomery(2/8/1768 Lancaster District, South Carolina- 7/28/1848
Chattooga County, Georgia), spelled their surnames, Barclay. Her father
and other eight siblings used the spelling of Barkley. As we shall
discuss later, Barclay is the Scottish spelling. Finally, with regard to
Elizabeth's origin, her father, Major John, known as "JOHN of ANTRIM",
allegedly wrote in the family bible that he came from Ballymoney, County
Antrim, Ireland. John is apparently mentioned several times in "Howe's
History of the Presbyterian Church of South Carolina." He was also
instrumental in the establishment of the town of Lancaster, South
Carolina(more later). Elizabeth and her husbands attended the Thytiria
Presbyterian Church, Jackson County, Georgia. All of what I know
suggests that she is/was Scotch-Irish.

Gary Carl Aden 5/12/01