Scotch-Irish-L Archives

Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2004-05 > 1085600061


From: "Virginia Beck" <>
Subject: Re: [Sc-Ir] Favorite: William James Warnock 1746, Tyrone
Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 12:34:39 -0700
References: <200405241212.AA795803960@mail.fea.net>


My favorite Scotch-Irish ancestor is William James Warnock b.1746, my
3-g-grandfather. Family records from many branches give his birthplace as
County Tyrone, and some add the exact place as "Chippah". There is not,
however, and apparently never was a place by that name. List members from
the area have told me it was most likely Cappagh. Oral history about him is
intriguing and contradictory, which is the No.1 reason he is my favorite.
No.2 is that I find it fascinating to realize that my own opinions, biases,
politics and religious leanings have been primarily formed from those passed
down to my father through his Warnock mother. This in spite of the fact that
no trace remained of language, music, food, etc. to indicate her ethnic
background.

What is documented is that William's wife was Elizabeth
Carlisle/Carlyle/Carlile. They had four sons, Samuel Laken, b. 1776, James
Jr. b. 1781, (George) Johnson b. 1782, William J. b. unk. (my ancestor).

Persistent legends from many branches of the family:
1. Some say that he was married before he immigrated, others that he married
after he arrived. My guess would be after, simply because the birthdate of
his first child in 1776 seems unlikely if he immigrated with his wife prior
to 1773.

2. He first lived in the same area of North Carolina as Daniel Boone, and
was with Daniel during his first, failed attempt to settle Kentucky in 1773.
The party was attacked by Indians and one of Boone's sons was killed. These
facts about Boone are true, and William James was one of the first to settle
in the area that became Greenup County, KY. There is a reference in Lewis
Collins "History of Kentucky" to an affadavit sworn to by "old Mr. Warnock",
that he had personally seen Daniel Boone make a dugout canoe on the banks of
the river in Greenup, then set out for Missouri in it.

3. He served with the British during the Revolutionary War. Some versions
state that he came as a British soldier, others that he was a Loyalist. A
letter written in 1906 to my great-grandfather, (John) Wesley Warnock,
grandson, from cousin, Taylor, great-grandson (who was writing a genealogy)
states that he "came here as a Revolutionary soldier and was surrendered by
Cornwallis at Yorktown. [He] would not return to the old country because he
had killed his brother in a hunting accident in Ireland, mistaking him for a
deer in the red brush." Except for this letter and the oral histories,
nothing has been found that supports any version of this story. The lapse of
five years between the birth of his first child in 1776 and the second in
1781 might indicate that he was away from home during the war.

4. He was a sergeant in the Virginia State Artillery, and was given a land
grant of two hundred acres. (I was able to follow this one up myself, and
found the grant was to a William Warrick.)

Three cousins, two still living, and one from the last generation, went -
separately, and at different times - to Ireland for research. The first
located a William Warnock, b. 1745 in County Down, said "close enough", and
adopted him, plus three hundred years of his ancestry, back to Scotland ,
for our very own. The second looked more closely, and located the grave of
the County Down William, who had never left Ireland. Neither the second nor
third cousin was able to locate any information about our County Tyrone
William. (Convincing some family members that we can't claim that wonderful
three-hundred year ancestry has not been entirely successful.)

Virginia





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.688 / Virus Database: 449 - Release Date: 5/23/2004

This thread: