I found this most interesting, as I am experiencing a similar problem with
my earliest Sinclair ancestor - so, playing a long shot - I'll ask.
My earliest Sinclair ancestor is one John Sinclair, born around 1774/75,
based on his age as noted on his tombstone. For most of his life he lived
in Hunterdon County, NJ, and was married to one Jemima Duckworth in 1798. I
have been able fix most of his descendents but as to his parents and
ancestors, it's a blank. And the strangest thing is, there are other
Sinclair living in the neighborhood but, as far as I can find, they are not
related to him.
By chance, does anyone have information relating to Sinclairs settling in
northwestern NJ?
Bruce D. Sinclair
----- Original Message -----
From: Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>
To: <sinclair@mids.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 1999 6:39 PM
Subject: Re: Sinclair's kidnapped or shipped as indentured servants
> At 09:29 01/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hello Cousins & Friends,
> > I am stuck on my earliest ancestor, William Sinclair, who first
appears
> >in Quaker records declaring his marriage intentions at Providence
preparative
> >meeting in 1708 (Concord, PA monthly meeting). After his marriage he and
his
> >wife, Phebe, became very active in the Quaker meetings they belonged to.
> >There is no record of William's removal from a Quaker meeting in Britain
or
> >ship's passage to PA. In 1693 a Robert Sinclair appears in Chester
county
> >court as an indentured servant, brought from Scotland. He adopted the
Quaker
> >faith and settled in Nottingham, PA, after the term of his indenture. In
> >1710 (the year after William & Phebe's marriage) a Margaret Sinclair
married
> >Joseph Brown (Quaker) only a few miles from William's Quaker meeting
house
> >and they settled in Nottingham, PA.
> > These 3 Sinclair's have the Quaker faith in common and all 3 are
first
> >recorded in roughly the same area (Chester county between Crum & Ridley
> >creeks). 2 of them first appear at their own marriages and 2 of them
settle
> >in the same meeting place. We know that Robert is from Scotland but don't
> >know the exact details of his arrival.
> > Can anyone shed some light on these "homeless" Sinclairs?
> >Lynn Sinclair
> >Delaware, USA
> >[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> >[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>
>
> The St Clairs of the Isles gives us the following information about
> Sinclairs arriving in
> Northumberland County, Pennsylvania:
>
> Duncan Sinclair, a weaver, had three brothers, Neale, John and
> Archibald. He also had
> one sister, Margaret. They were all born in Scotland. Their father
(whose
> name is not
> given) had one brother (whose name is also omitted). They fled from
> Scotland to
> Northern Ireland to escape religious or political persecution. They went
> there about
> 1762 (so already we see that they could not have ben related to your
> William Sinclair
> or Robert Sinclair who, you said, arrived in Pennsylvania as early as
1693)
> and lived
> in Northern Ireland for 12 years before Duncan and Neale left for America
> in 1772.
> John, archibald and Margaret (who it was thought was married to a Mr
Robert
> Johnson,
> a teacher, - joined them later.
>
> Mr Johnson is said to have settled in Washingtonville where he became a
> teacher and farmer.
> He had a son and two daughters of whom the younger married her cousin,
> Robert Templeton
> Sinclair.
>
> Duncan Sinclair, the weaver referred to above, served three years as a
> volunteer with General
> Green in the United States army. He married Hannah Templeton and died in
> Geneseo, N.Y.
> in 1833. He had issue:
>
> Robert Templeton Sinclair born Derry,
Pennsylvania
> 1797
>
> Neale Sinclair also had issue:
>
> John Sinclair who lived in Milton, Pennsylvania.
>
> Robert Templeton Sinclair went with his parents to New York in 1799 (when
> he was only 2 years
> old) which was his home until his death. He owned a homestead near
> Lakeville in Geneseo,
> overlooking Conesus Lake. He married his cousin, Margaret Johnson, on
10th
> May, 1821. They
> had the following children:
>
> James born 1822, married Emma Corwin in 1851. He was a clergyman and
died
> in 1882
> Nancy born 1824, married (1) James Haynes in 1843 and (2) Revilo Bigelow
in
> 1859.
> John Henry born 1826 married Fannie Corwin (presumably a sister of Emma
> Corwin) and died in
> 1883. He was also a clergyman.
> Robert Templeton (the second) born 1828 married Elizabeth Haynes
> (presumably a sister of
> James Haynes). He was a farmer in Geneseo -
> presumably inheriting
> his father's homestead.
> Mary born in 1830. Died in 1849.
> Elizabeth Finney born 1836. She married a Zerah Blakely in 1855. They
> became missionaries in
> South Dakota.
> Margaret Hannah born 1838 was a teacher in Geneseo and died there in 1866.
> Edward Payson born 1841 became a resident of New York City.
>
> Sorry, Lynn, if these Sinclairs do not marry up with your William and
> Robert but the information
> may of interest to other Sinclairs who may find a link with their own
families.
>
> Whilst on the subject of Sinclairs of Pennsylvania, we shouldn't forget
> that General Arthur St Clair
> settled in the Ligonier Valley in Western Pennsylvania where he had an
> Estate of 10,881 acres of
> which 8,270 acres lay in Westmoreland County. Later he moved to
Plattstown
> (also in Pennsylvania)
> and died at Chestnut Ridge, Pennsylvania on 31st August, 1818 in much
> reduced circumstances
> because of the enforced sale of his vast Estate to meet debts which he
> incurred in trying to keep
> Washington's army from 'melting away' . He was never reimbursed for this
> vast expenditure on
> behalf of his adopted country.
>
> He was born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland on 23rd March , 1736 so he must
> have lived to the ripe
> old age of 82 years. He was a man of action who was equally efficient in
> civil or military matters.
> The General was President for the Society of Cincinnati for Pennsylvania -
> a Society which has already
> been referred to in earlier contributions to the Sinclair List and which
> may be of interest to present day
> members.
>
> Niven Sinclair
>
> [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> [ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html