James McCarrell, weaver from Ireland: conversations with cousins

1/17/22 Dwight talked to Margaret McCarrell---

A professor from University of Tennessee came to the house and found holes in the door that James McCarrell used for the loom. Margaret has also seen a diary that James kept which included the bills he had for yarn that he bought to use in the loom. "In his own hand", he states in that diary that he was born in Ireland. Being of Scottish descent, many mistakenly have him listed as being born in Scotland.

From Cousin Dwight, the grandson of Margaret Viola Graham-Blake..

 1/16/2022

I think the loom was integrated onto the fireplace mantle and walls, with a series of hooks. That is, if I remember correctly.

 

Actually, this was the time period when England was taking over India, and also the first beginings of mechanization that would lead to the Industrial Revolution. They were making weaving more efficient, and also had cheaper labor in India. This lead to a gradual and long decline in the weaving industry of Northern Ireland. Jobs became harder and harder to find, as the same out put required less workers. So, the McCarrells and McKibbens, and presumable the Caswell Grahams, migrated to find new economic opportunties.

 

James McCarrell was also a minister. But, he found his calling in choir and singing. He lead the church in singing and music.

 

James McCarrell’s first wife died when he was about 45. People usually did not live that long in the 1750s-1760s. He then bravely started a 2^nd family. He married the 19 year old daughter of his neighbor and fellow Irish Immigrant James McKibbens. I guessed that re-energized him, because he would live another 40years. He would go on at that age to move to the frontier of Fincastle, have another batch of many children, and then migrate them down to Knoxville. He worked hard until near his old age death. When he got older, the family made him the weaving ability in the house, so he could sit there and do something useful with his time. They did not have much space, so need to be creative to build it for him.

 

I think most genealogist would never have caught that it was James McCarrell Sr. (b. 1728) who was the father of all those young children. However, it was all recorded in the Bible [which Margaret McCarrell had at one time]. The only record that survived to prove this all.

 

There are alot of legends that I need to write down… There was another. He got the deed to his land in Knoxville in about 1800. He had to ride a horse all the way to Nashville to get it, as that was the only place where the deeds were issued. He then rode back by horse, and the very next day he took that original deed to the Knox County Court house and made sure that it was entered there also. There is a record of this special effort that he took. He must have been 75 years old when he made those journeys by himself… 

For more on the McCarrell Bible, click here

All these photos of the McCarroll/McKibbon Homestead: Somewhere when I put these all on Ancestry.com I told that they are all courtesy of Marcy Carter Lovick......

James McCarrell, Irish child immigrant

James McCarrell (my 5 great grandfather) was born in 1728, but travelled with his parents as a baby between 1728 and 1730 (when his sister was born in Pennsylvania) from Ireland to the British Colony of Pennsylvania as did many Protestant Irish at this time.

On Ancestry, people have him born in Scotland, others Ireland and still others in Letterkenny, Pennsylvania.  I am going to try to sort it out.

First, my DNA: If you look at  the map from 23andme, I am clearly more Irish than Scottish although my ancestors and I are Protestant. (Glasgow is the only Scottish blip)  What that really means is people TODAY who share my DNA live in those areas.  So, that doesn't really prove that they were Irish 500 years ago. Those from Scotland might have gone to Ireland with some staying behind and some moving on to America colonies.  Those would be the Scotch-Irish (which is one of my major ethnicities in DNA and on paper) or Scots-Irish.

And which Irish shading are the McCarrells?  Probably County Donegal in the northwest of Ireland where there is a town called Letterkenny (like in Pennsylvania).  I think some on Ancestry, for James birth place, might have hit save for the Pennsylvania town instead of the one in Ireland.  Another possibility is that the Irish from Letterkenny  who founded the Pennsylvania town in 1736 might have been friends or kin with the McCarrells urging them to settle there, too in1738.

So, I have Irish DNA, do I have any other proof James was born in Ireland?  Margaret McCarrell in Knox Co. TN  just told cousin Dwight in a telephone conversation January 2022 that she has seen James McCarrell's diary.  Margaret saw in that diary that James had written in his own hand that he was born in Ireland.  So, James McCarrell was born in Ireland, but was he Scotch-Irish?

Some have thought since the McCarrells were Protestant Irish, they must have been from Scotland originally, but I am leaning toward, they were Irish before the Scots settled there.  Several sites that discuss surname origins say it is an Irish name (I checked and the same sites said Graham was Scottish or Irish and Watson could be English, Scottish and Irish).  Those are clearly Scotch-Irish names, but that's not what is said about McCarrell

Recorded as MacCarroll, McCarroll, McCarrell, McCarle, Carroll, and others, this surname is Irish.

 

It is a developed form of the ancient name Mac Cearbhaill meaning 'The son of the warrior' from the personal name Cearbhall, a byname for a fierce warrior deriving from "cearbh", meaning to hack. There were two distinct clans, one in Leinster and the other in Ulster, where the name is often recorded as MacCarvill. The surname dates back to the early 14th Century (see below), and early examples of recordings include Donslevy Mac Carroll in 1357, described by the Four Masters as "a noble master of music and melody, the best of his time".  The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mulrory Mac Carroll, which was dated 1328. He was the Chief Minster of Ireland and Scotland, during the reign of King Edward 111rd of England, 1327 - 1377. 

© Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2012

I am suggesting they may not have been Scottish at all.  The name dates to the 1300's long before the Scots were re-settled in Ireland.  When the Catholic Irish migration occurred more than 100 years later, all Protestant Irish from the colonial period were labeled "Scotch-Irish" because most were that.  But, I don't think the McCarrells were.  I think they were just rebellious Irish who were Dissenters or Non-comformists.  Those with this label were Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, but also could have been Baptists.  From their beginnings in the American Colony, the McCarrells appear to have been Baptist.  Was it because there were no Presbyterian churches for them to attend or was it because they had been Baptist in Ireland?

The Daughters of James McCarrell and Margret McKibbon

We have been fortunate to have made contact with members of the McCarrell family who have sent us some documents which were gathered by Ray McCarrell several years ago.  Some of this information is from the James McCarrell family bible, and "loose papers found in McCarrell's Old Family Bible"

I assume the photos on the left and below were information on "undated loose papers". Combining the two sources, here: 

James McCarrell Sr (1728-1813) was born in Ireland, married twice Mary Bohanan and Margaret McKibbon in Fincastle Boutetourt Co., Va.  Margaret McKibbon (1758-1819) was born in Pennsylvania and died in Knox Co. TN.

The McKibbon and McCarrell 


marriage resulted in seven daughters (11 children):

Lettis McCarrell (8 Sept 1779-April 1863) who married William Prather in 1795 in Fincastle Va. Later lived in Indiana Jennings County

Mary (Polly) McCarrell(9 Nov. 1780) who might have married a Blake lived in Virginia.  But another note says she married Theopheus Gillaspia and lives in 1819 in Virginia six miles below the mouth of the Elk on the bank of the river[I cannot read the name of the county but it would be Kanawha County today].  Their older son is named Samuel Gillapsia.

Nancy McCarrell(8 Nov. 1782)who is listed as marrying John Blake living in Ohio (Galla County) But another document says she is Nancy Gillespy living in Jasper County Indiana.

Hannah McCarrell(18 Mar 1785) married first John Eddington and second Stephen Wells.  Hannah Wells is listed as living in Missouri and attended Mt. Olive Baptist Church until 1846 when they asked for dismission.

Margaret McCarrell (17 Aug 1787)married William Graham "lives in Missouri at or near the Old Mines.  Her oldest son is named Jefferson Graham."

Janey (Tancy) McCarrell(9 May 1795-20 Dec. 1838/9)married John B. Carter in 1811

Salley McCarrell(21 Oct. 1797- 24 Jan. 1884)married James Robertson 12-14 March 1824.

Although there are many William Grahams in the early 1800's, there shouldn't be that many Margaret McCarrells who are the daughters of James McCarrell and yet we found one who was married to William Williams.  We think the two Margarets were probably related. We think that James McCarrell is the son of our ancestor by the first wife.

We may not know much about William Graham and Margaret McCarrell but we do know they were married (although we can't find the records which might have been in a courthouse which burned) due to a Family Bible belonging to. . . .a 21st century Margaret McCarrell.

I have also seen documents stating that William Graham married Hannah McCarrell which family records don't corroborate.

James McCarrell and family

James McCarrell (b. 1728, d. 1813) came to Knox County TN in about 1798, where he purchased

150acres of land along the Tennessee River (near where today the University of Tennessee lies) and built a log cabin. He had traveled a long ways from his native Northern Ireland and settling in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania as a young man. After the loss of his first wife in mid-life, he remarried to Margaret McKibbens (b. 1758, d. 1819) whom was a daughter of one of his friends and neighbors in Lurgan township. Together, they moved first to Fincastle-Virginia where 11 childern were born to this couple. The family finally moved to Knoxville-Tennessee, where descendants of James McCarrell have preserved his cabin and bible, and whom have taken care of the family cemetery where James and Margaret are laid to rest near the banks of the Tennessee River.

McCarrell Cabin at bottom

In Knoxville, the family would finally make a permanent home. This information is but a short compilation of the history of this family, and how it branched out across the entire Nation in subsequent generations. The information is compiled from many sources from original to internet ones. Please be aware to double check any information that you are interested in, as this small effort is meant to serve as a guide only.

What I know about the legacy of the McCarrell family comes through a sequence of Margarets that have blessed the family with richness and kindness. From my great grandmother Margaret Viola Graham-Blake (granddaughter of Margaret Ann McCarrell-Graham) whom was diagnosed with incurable cancer in 1909 and given but a few months to live, she had many young children and asked that everyone pray that she could live only but to see her young 2 year old son graduate from high school. Her cancer went dormant and she left this life 2 weeks after her youngest son graduated from College in 1932. Her son, my uncle Edgar Blake, went on to establish Missouri Baptist Children’s home, in honor of his mother. He stayed there the rest of his life as its director, until his passing in 1995. I know from learning about this McCarrell family that there have been many other Margarets whom have passed great things on to the family members, one only has to see how many of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of James McCarrell are named Margaret McCarrell to appreciate this.

I am grateful to Margaret Ann McCarrell whom still lives at McCarrell Drive in Knoxville and her brother the late Ray “Jack” McCarrell, whom have so carefully preserved the family bible and information. The bible turned out to be the only information linking our Margaret McCarrell and William Graham back to the family – all other sources were lost. I am equally grateful to my cousin Jaclyn Morgan whom has worked with me through the many years to reconstruct our McCarrell-Graham family history. Let us all remember a simpler time in American History, when our Nation was forming and the family clans were the back bone of our Country. To James McCarrell and Margaret McKibbens, and the legacy they created, we must be grateful. Let us all know that we can always go home again to the Banks of the Tennessee River to remember those simpler times.

Cousin Dwight

Newport, Rhode Island

March 25, 2014

William Graham's signatures

Cousin Dwight has been communicating with one of our McCarrell relatives who had a document with William Graham's signature as well as our ancestor James McCarrell (William's father-in-law).  "The document settles a lawsuit. On "our side" was James McCarrell, William Graham and B(arclay) McGee. On the other side was William McClellan. Our side won, and McClellan paid 250$ in settlement to end the dispute. If I remember correctly from Margaret McCarrell talking with me that this was a dispute over land.... Barclay McGee from what I had seen always signed his name B. McGee..."

Although it is very hard to read what this is about, it was Jan. 7, 1805 in Blount Co TN which pre-dates William Graham and Margaret McCarrell marriage but establishes a relationship of the Graham and McCarrell families. Those witnessing this document are James McCarrell, William Graham, B. McGhee and Enoch Parsons.

We know this is the same William Graham because we have his signature on a Jefferson County Missouri document (along with other relatives).  His is on the upper right side with Mothershead, Bakers and Browns.  Notice how similar the signature below is to the one above.  Samuel Graham (not sure how he is related) is shown as a comparison.


http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mojchs/Courts/PetitionList_1826.htm

William McClellan also sold property in Pennsylvania to a John Graham (whom we believe to be a relative).  It is also possible that a McClellan in St. Charles Co. married a Graham.  Not sure if all of these are of the same McClellan family.

Another name was B. McGhee which we believe to be Barclay McGhee who was an Indian agent.  Which is interesting since we believe the John Graham family was associated with Ft. Bellefontaine near the confluence of Missouri and Mississippi Rivers
http://wardepartmentpapers.org/searchresults.php?searchClass=fulltextSearch&fulltextQuery=Barclay+McGhee

Finally Enoch Parsons was one of the first lawyers in Tennessee and ran for governor in 1819.  So, although I can't read all of the details of the document, there is a lot of history in just the names.