William Cathcart of Dublin
Possible clues to his identity
More research needs to be done to nail down the identity of the two sons of John Cathcart (William and John) in the chart above. This chart was created from Robert Spann Cathcart's research in the 1960s. If we are to accept Robert's assertion, these two Cathcart brothers are very closely related to those of us who descend from the "Big 4." Since the most compelling bits of evidence I've found to date for John and his sons William and John (top right of chart) involve the William Cathcart highlighted above, he is the subject of this page.
The earliest clues as to William's identity are found in two advertisements published the Belfast Newsletter in 1759 (click for popup transcription). The William Cathcart (who is said to be living in New Row, Dublin) mentioned in these articles is trying to lease 63 acres of land owned by the late John Cathcart of Cloughmills. We can guess that William is serving as executor of John's estate and that John is either William's father or brother. Although we can't be sure exactly what relationship William and John share, it's very unlikely that they were distant cousins! At the least, these newspaper announcements tie a William Cathcart, merchant of New-row, Dublin with a recently-deceased John Cathcart from Cloughmills in County Antrim, Ireland.[1]
Before moving to the next clue involving William, let's address which John Cathcart is likely to be the one deceased in 1759 and whose estate included property in Cloughmills. We supposed that John was either William's brother or father because he's probably not William's first cousin, John Cathcart (to the left of William in the chart above). I say this because of 1) the mismatch in locations -- that John Cathcart is from Lavin not Cloughmills, and 2) because a first cousin certainly could serve as an executor, it's far from a common occurence. We can also eliminate the John Cathcart, alive (vivens) in 1799 on the bottom row of the chart, because that John Cathcart was not yet born in 1759.
The next clue we have regarding William is a memorial extract (Deed) registered Dec. 9, 1775 involving a William Cathcart, merchant of Dublin City. William gives 300 pounds worth of property for the benefit of his niece, Mary Murray, who plans to marry Richard Dobson (of Capel St., Dublin). Mary's father, William Murray is deceased at the time of this deed, and his estate is being administered by his executrix and wife, Rose [Cathcart] Murray of Armoy, County Antrim. Page 1 -- Page 2 -- Extract -- Original (FamilySearch.org)
A
contemporary wedding announcement provides the additional detail about
William narrowing down his residence to "New-row" in Dublin. [2]
Occuring 16 years after the attempted leasing of land in County Antrim, it would appear safe to assume that the William Cathcart, merchant of New-Row in Dublin mentioned in both years are the same person.
Here are a few suppositions related to this transaction:
- If this is Mary's first marriage, then we might assume her to be between 15 and 25 years old. This equates to a birth year between 1745 and 1760 for Mary, and very roughly 1700-1740 for Mary's mother Rose.
- Given that Dublin's population would have been about 150,000 in 1775,[3] it's not unreasonable to expect that there would be only one merchant named William Cathcart in that city--i.e., that he's the same William Cathcart of Dublin listed in Robert Spann Cathcart's research on early Cathcarts (see pop-up at the top of this page).
- This is a stretch, but out 4465 Cathcarts in my database (as of 11/30/2021), I have only two Rose Cathcarts born before the 20th century. The other Rose Cathcart is the daughter of Joseph Cathcart (the spy), born about 1800. Descendants of my line of Cathcarts along with those of Joseph the spy, and William Cathcart (who married Mary, see William & Mary Cathcart below), are closely related genetically (through yDNA testing). See the pages in the "Cathcart yDNA Study" section of my website for details.
We may have to finally rely on DNA research to finally figure this all out! However, for the time being, I have two "prime suspects" as to the identity of the William highlighted above--and both of them married a woman named Mary.
William & Mary Cathcart 1
The connections are tenuous (at best), but many online trees suggest that there was a William Cathcart who had a wife named Mary (perhaps with a maiden name of Fulton), and that they had a son named John Cathcart. This John is the one who married Mary or Felicity Fisher, and who lived in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.-
Highlights
- born near Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Dates of birth vary between 1713 and 1740, but the best estimate is 1732.
- Married Mary
- Moved to County Antrim, Ireland about 1760 (from his great grandson, Simon Bolivar Cathcart)
- Had at least three sons who sailed to Charleston,
SC in about 1782-3. [William J Miller notes provided by Carole Cathcart
Chun].
- John settled in Kershaw County
- Joseph settled on the Catawba River in Lancaster County, SC
- Hugh settled in York County, SC
- View in Ancestry Tree
- Genealogy Report showing 3 generations (PDF: 7/15/2011)
- Reasons
- Geography
- In 1776 we have a William and a James Cathcart in Dublin AND Clogh Mills, Ireland.
- York and Kershaw Counties in South Carolina
- Branches moved to Indiana
- Related Surnames & Religion
- Donnelly
- William's son Hugh settled in York County, SC, is buried in Old Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery. William's grandson, William, is also buried there. William's great grand-daughter, Mary Cathcart (b. 1825, married Joseph Wilson, III, and also buried in Ebenezer) was baptized by "Rev. Donaly" [(sic), according to Mary's son -- see listing for Mary's son William J. Wilson] . This MUST be the same Rev. Thomas Donnelly who preached in Rock Creek, AND whose son (Thomas Donnelly, III) married Mary Ann Cathcart (the grand-daughter of James Cathcart, Sr. of Winnsboro). Clearly, these Cathcarts went to the same church, and had connections back to the same, small area in County Antrim (Clogh or Clough).
- Donnelly
- Geography
Footnotes
1. To see where Lavin and Cloughmills are located, click here.
2. From the Freeman's Journal; Dublin, Ireland; 9 Dec. 1775; page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/61101272/. A heartfelt shoutout to George Speer for bringing this article and the following deed to my attention. Thank you, George!
To see New-row street in a 1775 Dublin street map, click here, and scroll down to block Ee (highlighted in red).
3. Fagan, Patrick. “The Population of Dublin in the Eighteenth Century with Particular Reference to the Proportions of Protestants and Catholics.” Eighteenth-Century Ireland / Iris an Dá Chultúr 6 (1991): 121–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30070912.