I have in front of me a family tree that covers about half of a twin-sized bed and it focuses just on the offspring of:
Matthew McElhiney b. 1738 Donegal, IRL
He, of Scottish descent, immigrated to Maryland in 1760. He moved to Ohio Valley,
West VA in 1744, married
Margaret Cope in 1778, moved to Muskingham Co. OH in 1806, Margaret died in
1812, and Matthew died in 1822 in Morgan Co., OH.
Children:
James b. 1779 d. 1882 No children
Eleanore b. 1781 d. 1858 No Children
Patrick b. 1783 d. 1833 No Children
Richard b. 1786 d. 1852
Matthew II b. 1788 d. 1857Matthew III
George D.
Richard
James
Sarah
Rachael
Catherine
Catherine b. 1791Margaret M.
Cynthia
Samuel H.
Benjamin
Catherine E.
James R.
All of these McElhiney family members were here before 1830.
There is another "landing" of McElhiney from Ireland during the "Potato
Famine", which is very well documented at the
Immigration and Naturalization Service site www.ins.gov. The immigration of
the family of Thomas McElhiney
is documented quite well. Links between these two groups have not been well
established.
And one other piece of interesting information for those of you descending
from Matthew--there is currently a
17-year-old Matthew McElhiney who has been winning racquetball competitions
since he was 5.
Lance McElhiney, one of the US Army's top helicopter pilots (over 30 years) is a member of the family.
We have much to be proud of as members of the McElhiney family, including the spelling of our name.
Questions and comments are welcome.