JOHN AND ISABELLA MACKEY

About a year ago, I found the book  "The Mackey Family of Horse Valley, Franklin County, Pennsylvania" by Myra J. Fields ([posthumously), Nellie Mackey Ziemba and Wayne D. Mackey, Jr., revealing the Mackey emigrants from Inverness, Scotland to Pennsylvania in 1729. It was a thrill for me to think that I had perhaps discovered our Mackey emigrants after reading the story of these Mackeys. It's an interesting story and I will share it with you  tonight. I am not completely convinced that John and Isabella are our ancestors yet. But, there are many  reasons to remain hopeful about them. Perhaps you readers will feel the same way about them.

John Mackey was born in County Down, Ireland in 1682. At the young age of seven in 1689, he witnessed first hand, the "Defense of Derry". (The photo above shows the canon behind the updated walls of Derry, Ireland.) The decisive battles involving the Jacobites' cause were fought in  Ireland which was accessible to French naval power, troops and supplies.  In March 1689, James II left France for Ireland in an attempt to regain his throne.  His armies won most of the country but a prolonged resistance was put up by the people of Derry, who were eventually relieved by an English fleet in July 1689...a day still to be celebrated in Northern Ireland. The people of Derry were crammed in behind their city walls for those three months needing food, rest, water, and probably a bath or two. What courage and fortitude they had!

When John was 30, he made his way to Inverness, Scotland where he met and married Isabella (maiden name unknown). They started their family in Inverness but in the latter part of the 1720s they left Scotland from Edinburgh, with a group of Scotch Presbyterians, and landed in Philadelphia, PA. They brought one daughter and some of their sons with them to America.

Many of these immigrants settled along the Octorara Creek, which now forms the southwest boundary of Chester County, separating it from the county of Lancaster County. For many years there was a dispute between Maryland and PA as to the extent of the Calvert and Penn grants by the King of England.  These early settlers never really knew which colony they lived in. One of John's sons, Robert,  permanently settled in Chester County after 1729. Other sons settled near Upper Strasburg on 300 acres. John and son, William, settled in what eventually became the "Horse Valley" of Franklin County, PA.

 William's son, Robert, our ancestor, was born in Franklin County. One of the problems here, however, is that our  Robert's bible says that his father's name was James Mackey! This book about the Mackeys of Horse Valley say that our ancestor, Robert, of Welsh Run, was William's son. The book also lists many details about the Welsh Run Mackeys that match my facts and records. So, you now know my dilemma and confusion and why I am not totally convinced. Perhaps my new DNA test will prove this connection, wish me luck!