Nesbit, Ross, Porter, Taggart Families
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A GENEALOGY OF THE NESBIT, ROSS, PORTER, TAGGART FAMILIES OF PENNSYLVANIA BY BLANCHET. HARTMAN PITTSBURGH, PA. PRIVATELY PRINTED 1929 COPYRIGHT, 1929 BY BLANCHE T. HARTMAN THE LAKESIDE PRESS R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO MRS. GALEN C. HART:\iAN NESBIT,ROSS,PORTER TAGGART FAMILIES OF PENNSYLVANIA TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE UNDAUNTED PIONEERS WHO BRAVED THE WILDS AND DANGERS OF THE NEW COUNTRY RATHER THAN SUBMIT ·To THE RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL BONDAGE OF THE OLD ERRATA AND- ADDENDA PAGE 7, read Letterkenny for Litterkenny. PAGE 9, Addison Hemp Nesbit of Monmouth, Ill., born 1854, grandson in the fifth degree of Allen Nesbit, the emigrant. PAGE 10, read Kennett for Kennet. PAGE 11, read Hannah Wickersham,daughterof John Wickersham, married John Nesbitt of East Marlborough, Chester Co., Pa., at Old Swedes Church, Wilmington, Del., Oct. 31, 1752. Author ities: Records, New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester Co., Pa., Old Swedes Church, Wilming ton, Del. Foot of P. .\GE 11, read John Nesbit for John Nisbet. PAGE 12. No. 12, read Hannah, younger daughter of John and Hannah Nesbit, born 1756 for 1752. PAGE ~, read near Washington, D.C., for Northumberland Co.~ Pa. PAGE 26. No. 227, Edwin L. Nesbit died at Deland, Fla., April, 1929. PAGE 29. No. 140, read Elizabeth Nesbit mar ried William S. Rosborough, winter residence, Florida. PAGE 36. Russell H. Nesbit married Emma Siptroth and has one daughter, Marion Nesbit. PAGE 65. Omission under No. 629, William W. Ross, born atAllensville, Pa., in 1929, son of William A. and Mae Weigand Ross. PAGE 93, read at his former residence for "Penrose" his Penn Ave. residence. PAGE 99. No. 942, read Ida Maria McCormick for Ida May. PAGE 126. No. 695, read Joseph I. Porter, Esq., formerly of l\It. Flint, Ohio, died Nov. 27, 1929, at his residence, Long Beach, Calif. PAGE 126. No. 696, read Nelson Ambrose Shedd of Toledo, Ohio. PAGE 179. No. 1532, read Mabel Cynthia Taggart for Mable. PAGE 188. Chart No. 21, read William V Earl Ross, son of Hugh IV Earl, by Matilda or Maud Bruce. PAGE 201. No. 1483, Carrie Riggs Taggart, read No. 1484. PAGE 219. Index, omission, John Lupher Porter, page 115. GUARANTORS CHARLES D. ARMSTRONG GEORGE SMEDLEY BOLE D. JAMES BROWN JOHN L. CARSON NANNIE ARMSTRONG DIBERT ANDREW BOLE RABE ANDREW SWEENEY HARE GALEN C. HARTMAN DAVID P. HOPKINS SAMUEL H. MC KEE MARY .ARMSTRONG POOL JOHN LUPHEB PORTER WILLIAM H. ROBINSON PENN SYLIAN SPANGLER CAMPBELL C. TAGGART FOREWORD DMUND BURKE has said, ''People will not look forward to posterity who never looked backward to .__~ their ancestors.'' Tacitus said, '' Think of your ances- tors and your posterity.'' The chief objects in the study of a genealogy are the profit obtained by observing the failures of one's forebears and the inspiration received from the contemplation of their well earned successes. In the preparation of this history the compiler· has sought to give each stirps in relation to its individual environment, thus giving life and warmth to what would otherwise be a mere skeleton outline of facts and names. She has had access to the customary sources, weighing carefully the statements of those qualified to give information, consulting Bible entries, letters, monuments, church and court records, and the annals and archives of this and· other countries, more especially the files on record in the libraries of the British Museum, Dublin, and Edinburgh. She has sought the most trustworthy and critical authorities on old world lines of descent, retaining in a few instances some traditions that were prevalent in pre critical genealogies where the overtones gave a colorful set ting to the subject matter without in any way impairing the historical significance. The records of the O'Beollan famUy are of this nature: Compiled from ''The Annals of the Four Masters,'' they recite the traditional history of the fore bears of the Ross and Taggart families down to a period when the last O 'Beollan, said to be the Abbot of Applecrossen in Ross-shire, was iden tified with the son of the priest of that Abbey who appeared in the twelfth century of Scottish history as the mighty war rier, Makin-tagart hjmself. The compiler wishes to remind her readers that in judging the standing and importance of a person from the title or office held, that time, place and circumstances should always be considered. For example, the office of justice in eariy days was likely to mean something different from what it does today in our urban life. In prerevolutionary days, offices were held by appointment of the crown, thus insuring representa- . IX X FoBEwoBD tive and trustworthy men. Moreover, it is often only through the fact that an office wa~ held that any record has reached us, so that these offices, however minor, are always given as showing the activity as well as the identity of the person mentioned. The compiler need hardly say that some errors have crept into the record in spite of every precaution and through lack of opportunity to examine all of the original sources. One of the most reliable sources of information is from monuments, which must- usually be considered as correct. They are, indeed, the very cornerstones of evidence, as all other facts must be put in correspondence with them, not al ways an easy task, for the conflict of dates seems at times irreconcilable nor can the compiler take his readers through the mazes of inconsistencies lest explanations become burden some. In tracing the early history of these families it might be interesting to know that at the British Museum, especially, a reader must be vouched for by a householder of London or by one's Consul, and is permitted to examine usually but one book at a time, thus making it necessary to take copious notes. At Somerset Honse, where old wills are kept, one examines the index for a name, and, finding from twenty to fifty identically the same, the most likely one is selected and upon payment of a shilling permission to read the will is given, only to :find after much effort in deciphering the ancient chirography that it is not the one required. Another shilling and another will, and so on, until perhaps the twelfth brings one the much de sired information. The compiler disclaim-a any credit for original research in the ancient lines of Ross, Hamilton, Cleland and Erskine, accepting at their true worth the tables as set forth in such well-known authorities as Burke's Peerage, the Peerage of Sir James Balfour Paul, Lion King at Arms published in 1910, the Cambridge Modern History published by the Mac Millan Company in 1911, Americans of Royal Descent, the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Burke's Landed Gentry, the Almanac de Gotha and other sources. For the later history of the Taggart family before its immi gration to America, the compiler is indebted to Dr. William John Taggart of Antrim, to the Rev. Thomas West and to Mrs. Coleman of Templepatrick, all of County Antrim, Ire land. FOREWORD Xl She is also under obligation to Miss Ross-Williamson, sister of the present heir of Pitcalne of the Balnagowan branch of the ancient f a:mily of Ross of Ross-shire, for material sup- ' plied from their private archives, to Miss Caroline Nesbit of Bristol, Pa., to Mr. William Nesbit of Lewisburg, Pa., to Mr. Charles F. Ross, the present owner of ''Tipperary,'' the original plantation of the Rosses of Y.ork Co., Pa., and to Mrs. F. A. Barrett of Wellsville, York Co., for access to their old f amjly records, to the private papers of the Bosses, and for a great wealth of information indispensable to this his tory. To all others who have lent their assistance in the prepara tion and publication of the work, the compiler wishes to ex press her deep appreciation and gratitude. Her sincere hope is that some one may find in these pages inspiration to carry on the work she now leaves. CONTENTS PART I PA.GE A SKETCH OF THE N ESB ITS OR N ISBETS OF NISBET • 1 · THE NEsBITs OF SPRINGTON MANoR, CHESTER Co., PA. 9 THE NESBITS OF HmERNIA PLANTATION, YoRK Co., PA. 10 THENESBITSOFNORTHUMBERLANDAND UmoNCo.'s . 15 PART II THE RossEs OF TIPPERARY PLANTATION, Rossv1L1,E, PA.. • 34 PART III THE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM AND JOHN PORTER OF YORK Co., PA. • • • • . • . • . • • • • . 74 PART IV THE TAGGARTS OF PITTSBURGH, PA. 135 INCLUDING THE ALLIED FAMILIES OF HAM:tLTON AND • • • . 137 KNEELAND OR CLELAND . 141 NISBET OR NESBIT FAMILY T IS now generally conceded by historians that the origi nal inhabitants of the British Isles were Gauls and Celts from the neighboring continent. Long before the time of Caesar the people of southeastern Britain had , devel oped a form of civil government and were engaged in agricul tural pursuits. Other portions of the island were occupied by wandering tribes who lived in huts, made their clothing from the skins of wild animals and sustained life by herding cattle which they drove from pasture to pasture. · In religion they were generally Druids, worshiping one Supreme Ruler of the Universe in whose honor they celebrated peculiar rites in sequestered woodlands, where, upon rough stone altars, they o:ff ered up human sacrifices. When Caesar conquered Britain he drove the Celts from their accustomed haunts into Wales and Cornwall and the Gaelic tribes far into the north within the bounds of Caledonia. These tribes, resentful of their treatment and secure in their northern fastnesses, sometimes came down upon the Roman invaders across the barriers erected by Agricola and visited upon the usurpers the most brutal chastisement.