| 8. | Alexander* Breckenridge, (Immigrant) (son?) was born in 1686 in Co Derry, Ulster, Ireland (son of John* Breckenridge and Mrs. Barbara* (..) Breckenridge); died before 23 Sep 1743 in Fishersville, Tinkling Spring, Augusta Co, Virginia; was buried in Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church Cem, Fisherville, Augusta Co, Virginia. Other Events and Attributes:
- Emigration: 1728, Co Derry, Ulster, Ireland
- Immigration: 1728, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Religion: 1740, Tinkling Spring Church, Augusta Co, Virginia
- Residence: Bef 1740, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Other-Begin: 22 May 1740, Orange Co, Virginia
- Property: 24 Mar 1741, Beverley Manor, Augusta Co, Virginia
- Will: 24 May 1744, Orange Co, Virginia; Intestate
- Property: 16 May 1749, Beverley Manor, Augusta Co, Virginia
- Research Notes: 5 Aug 2013
Notes:
After several of the children were born they moved to Raloo, Antrim Co., Ireland (not that far apart).
http://genforum.genealogy.com/breckenridge/messages/1306.html
http://www.cruithni.org.uk/overview/over_9.html
Between about 1717 and 1775, large numbers of people, mostly Protestants, left Ulster to settle in America. Bad harvests in 1726-29 led to a famine, and there was another terrible famine in 1741. Harvest failures, high rents and payment of tithes were some of the factors which convinced many Presbyterians to risk the hazardous sea crossing to America. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin estimated that the Scotch-Irish formed one third of Pennsylvania's 350,000 inhabitants. Many fought against the British in the American War of Independence.
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Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 By Joseph Addison Waddell
John Preston came to America with his brother-in-law, James Patton, a brother of Mrs. Preston. It is believed that he lived on the farm a mile N. E. of Staunton, recently known as the Mosby-Taylor farm, and now, (1892), owned by M. E. Miller.
Mrs. Lititia Floyd, daughter of Col. William Preston, granddaughter of John Preston, and wife of the first Governor Floyd, in 1843 wrote an account of the Preston family, from which we take most of the following statements:
Colonel James Patton had four sisters, two of whom married "men of quality" in the old country. The youngest sister, Elizabeth, while crossing the river Shannon in a boat, had as a fellow-passenger a young man of striking appearance, who proved to be a ship carpenter named John Preston. This casual interview led to acquaintance and a runaway marriage. The young lady thus placed herself ''out of the pale of her family." Her brother, James Patton, having afterwards retired from the sea and settled in America, induced Mr. and Mrs. Preston to emigrate also. Mrs. Floyd puts the date of their arrival in the Valley at 1735, and says John Preston died seven years afterwards at "Gibson's old place, eight miles below Staunton." But it appears from the records of Augusta County Court that his death occurred in 1747, and if he lived only seven years after coming, he must have arrived in 1740 with ALEXANDER BRECKINRIDGE and many others, as is generally supposed to have been the fact. While living in Augusta, remote from the seaboard, John Preston employed himself as a cabinetmaker, constructing household furniture for himself and neighbors.
William, only son of John Preston, was born in the town of Newton, Ireland, November 25, 1729. He received most of his education in America, from the Rev. John Craig. Mrs. Patton was a haughty woman, says Mrs. Floyd, and kept aloof from the Prestons. A silly prediction of an Irish woman that William Preston would get his uncle's fortune, so impressed her with dread of a marriage between the nephew and one of her daughters, that she allowed no intercourse between the young people. She died soon after the marriage of her daughters,?one to a kinsman of hers named Thompson, and the other to John Buchanan. Colonel Patton then induced his widowed sister to remove to Spring Farm, in the vicinity of Staunton, and went to live with her.
John Preston and other Presbyterian people of Staunton and vicinity of his day, worshiped at Tinkling Spring, and his body was interred at that place. His eldest daughter married Robert Breckinridge, the ancestor of several distinguished men. The second daughter married the Rev. John Brown, pastor of New Providence church, and from them descended John Brown, of Kentucky, and James Brown, of Louisiana, both of them United States Senators, and the latter minister to France. William Preston was the father of a numerous family, male and female, and many of his descendants have been eminent in various walks of life. John Preston, the ancestor, appears to have been a quiet man, and without the bustling energy which characterized other pioneer settlers; but the traits which he and 'his wife Elizabeth," transmitted to their posterity is a noble testimony that the pair possessed more than common merit. He died in 1747, leaving a very small estate, as far as appears. His wife qualified as administratrix, February 6, 1747, and executed a bond, with John Maxwell and Robert McClanahan as her securities, in the penalty of ,£100, indicating a personal estate of only ,£50.
On the day that John Preston "proved his importation," the court ordered that ''Edward Boyle, for damning the court and swearing four oaths in their presence, be put in the stocks for two hours, and be fined twelve shillings," ($2).
At November term, 1746, the court made an allowance to provide small beer, [for the Justices, it is presumed) , and for stabling the horses of justices, attorneys and officers. Persons were licensed to sell liquor in booths and stalls on the court-house lot; and at March term, 1750, commissioners were appointed to inspect the beer sold at every court, "and if it appear that the same is not at least one month old and well hop'd then they presume not to ask more than one penny a quart."
Till the year 1746, no vestrymen had been elected, as provided in the act of 1738. In that year, however, an election was held, and twelve persons were chosen to constitute the vestry of the parish, viz: James Patton, (Col.) John Buchanan, John Madison, Patrick Hays, John Christian, (Mr.) John Buchanan, Robert Alexander, Thomas Gorden, James Lockhart, John Archer, John Matthews, and John Smith.
From the first settlement of Virginia the Church of England had been established in the colony. The inhabited parts were laid off into parishes, in each of which was a minister, who had a fixed salary in tobacco, together with a farm (called glebe) and a parsonage. There was a general assessment on all the inhabitants to meet the expenses.
http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Mrs+Patton+was+a+haughty+woman,+says+Mrs.+Floyd&sig=M_smhTZyznyyEemOQ9XmET_n5gI&ei=zsvYUNq4HISA2wXP-IHgBg&id=rZbEC1kEdpcC&ots=ogDVEf-0mO&output=text
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According to the biography of John Breckenridge, the Kentucky senator of the Civil War period, his family came to this country in about 1728 from Ulster, Ireland. The family originated in Ashire, Scotland, migrated to the highlands of Scotland to Breadalbane, Scotland, later to the North of Ireland. As Protestants, the Breckenridges took part in some of the wars in Ireland in which Alexander's father was a leader. The Protestants being again defeated, Alexander and his brother fled to America into Philadelphia. They remained for some years in Pennsylvania. Alexander moved on to Virginia by way of Staunton, then east again to Albemarle County and was living in Augusta Co, Virginia in 1738. His brother remained in Pennsylvania and retained the original spelling of Brackenridge.
(source unk)
Subj: Re: Breckenridge
Date: 12/11/00 3:59:28 PM Central Standard Time
From: Genealogy4999
To: Lumoto
Hi Sherry,
Here is what Bill Putman wrote:
SOURCE-BACKGROUND-BROTHERS-IMMIGRATION-SON:
PAT-003: The Patterson Family History by William B. Putman, jr.; 288
Scudder Avenue; Hyannis Port, Massachusetts 02647; Updated through
February 1993"; 'The Breckenridge Family History' p 69.
"Other mentions, specifically in Knott's 1900 letters, refer to three brothers, but I can only figure out two. This Robert Breckenridge is my lineage. He arrived in Philadelphia, probably with his brother(s), and then remained in Pennsylvaa.
The two brothers probably landed in Philadelphia and then moved west to Lancaster and Cumberland counties like most other Scotch-Irish families. Alexander went south to Virginia, another favored path of these peoples, while Robert remainedn Cumberland County.
I know nothing more about the elder Robert other than that he had a son, also named Robert. There had to be two Roberts as the younger one was born in 1735 about the same time the two older men came to America."
On May 24, 1744, his widow (Jane Preston) relinquished administration of his estate to her eldest son George Breckenridge.
__________________
Alexander Breckinridge
Location: Augusta Co., VA
Record ID: 34839
Description: Deceased landowner
Book-Page: 21-538
Remarks: Property conveyed by Beverley to Alexander Breckinridge, recorded in Orange, and by Alexander's decease intestate became vested in his eldest son and heir, George Breckinridge, who conveyed the same to Robert Breckinridge, 17 May 1749, and by Robert and Lettice, his wife, to Stephen Loy, 21 Oct 1765.
This land record was originally published in "Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County" by Lyman Chalkley
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Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckinridge_family
Alexander Breckenridge (1686?1743), First Breckenridge in New World, emigrated to Philadelphia PA c. 1728. Married to Jane Preston in 1695 in County Londonderry, Ireland. She was sister of Robert Preston, first Speaker of Kentucky State House of Representatives.
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"George?s parents, Alexander and Jane Preston Breckenridge, brought the family to the New World from Irish Ulster around 1728. Part of a second wave of a drought-induced Scot-Irish migration, they passed through Pennsylvania on their way to Virginia. In keeping with the observation that ?no Scot-Irish family would feel comfortable until it had moved twice,? the Breckenridges settled only after a decade in the New World, finally arriving in Virginia?s Orange County, predecessor to Augusta County, by February 1738. Alexander, said to have been born in Ayrshire in Scotland, married the Preston girl in the north of Ireland and worked plantations in County Cavan before deciding that his family?s fortunes would be better suited in the New World."
Ben M. Angel
http://benmangel.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/the-cromwell-ancestry-of-the-only-pasco-police-officer-to-die-in-the-line-of-duty/
from "History of Early Settlers of Sangamon Co, Centennial Record)
Source: (Jerry Donly Papers; family group sheets on Preston Breckenridge and his children; "A History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois."
BRECKENRIDGE, PRESTON,
son of
Alexander and 2nd Mary Chadd Breckenridge
was born Aug. 5, 1807, near Paris, Bourbon county, Ky. The name of Breckenridge originated in a singular manner. In one of the wars in Scotland between the Protestants and Roman Catholics, a family by the name of McIlvain participated on the side of the Protestants, who were defeated. Some of the McIlvain brothers saved their lives by taking refuge under a low shrub, called brack, which grows on the ridges in the Highlands of Scotland. This circumstance so impressed them, that they determined to give themselves a new name, hence Brack-on-ridge. As Protestants, the Breckenridges took part in some of the wars in Ireland at a later period, in which the great, great grandfather of Preston was a leader. The Protestants being again defeated, two of the Breckenridge brothers fled to America. One of them settled in Pennsylvania, and the other in Virginia."
Residence:
1740, 22 May: Alexander BRECKENRIDGE made oath that he had imported himself and John, George, Robert, Smith and Letitia BRECKENRIDGE from Ireland to Philadelphia, and from thence to VA, at his own charges.
Other-Begin:
Orange Co Offspring: 1734 > Frederick 1743 > Augusta 1745 > Culpeper 1749 > Greene 1838
Headrights of Orange Co., Virginia
Headrights were grants of 50 acres of land per "head" - or
per white male over the age of 16 who transported himself to the colonies. They appear in the Court of Common Pleas in the county in which the land was granted. The attached file includes the headrights copied from the Orange Co., Va Court of Common Pleas in the 18th Century. These headrights function as the only real immigration record for English, Scot or Irish immigrants in that time period. The headright identifies the country of origin and generally the port of entry in the colonies.
May 1740
Alexander Brackenridge, Jane, John, George, Rober, James Smith, Jane & Letitia Brackenridge
(from Ireland)
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/orange/deeds/orangehe.txt
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HISTORIC FAMILIES OF KENTUCKY:
On the 22nd day of May in 1740, fourteen heads of families appeared in the Orange County, Virginia Court House (Augusta County, Virginia not having been then established, and the territory being embraced in that of Orange) to `prove their
importation.' The first of these was Alexander Breckenridge, who made oath that he had imported himself and John, George, Robert, Smith and Letitia Breckenridge, from Ireland to Philadelphia, and from thence to this colony (Virginia), at his own charges.
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Early in 1740, or shortly before, there was a great influx of population into the Valley. On the 22d of May, 1740, fourteen heads of families appeared at Orange Court to "prove their importation." The first order of the series is as follows:
"Alexander Breckenridge came into Court and made oath that he imported himself, and (blank), John, George, Robert, (blank), Smith, (blank), and Letitia Breckenridge from Ireland to Philadelphia, and from thence to this colony, at his own charges, and this is the first time of proving his and their rights in order to obtain land, which is ordered to be certified." He, however, acquired by purchase from Beverley 245 acres, on March 24, 1741.
The blanks above indicate names which are illegible in the record book. (these blanks would be Adam, Sarah, and James.)
http://archive.org/stream/annalsofaugusta00wadd/annalsofaugusta00wadd_djvu.txt
Property:
Alexander Breckenridge, (Beverley Manor SW, two tracts of 245 & 112 acres, 1742)
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Early_Settlers_of_Augusta_County,_Virginia_-_Surnames_A-E
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Acquisition of Land from Orange County, Virginia Records:
Pages 88-92. [Page 87 blank]. 24 March 1741 [1742]- 24 March 1742. William Beverley, Esq., of Essex County to Alexa. Breakinridge of Orange County. Lease and release; for [blank] current money. 245 acres... also 112 acres... in the Manner of Beverley on the west side of Blew Ridge of mountains. (signed) Wm. Beverley. Wit: Robt. Ramsay, James Cathey, Chas. Campbell. 25 March 1742. Acknowledged by William Beverley, Esq. [Orange County Deed Book 5, pg. 6].
Acquisition of Land from "History of Augusta County, Virginia", by John Lewis Peyton:
Deed granted from William Beverley to Alexander Breckenridge, bet. 29 February, 1739 and 1744, in "Beverley Manor" on the road from Staunton to Tinkling Spring.
Alexander Breckenridge also acquired nearby land (112 acres), which was undated on the Hildebrand Map.
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Alexander_Breckenridge_%284%29
Will:
Estate Settlement of Alexander Breckenridge
Alexander Breckenridge died intestate (without will). The date of his death can be estimated from the abatement of an attachment suit brought by Alexander Brakinridge as petitioner, against the estate of Thomas Renox, defendant, in the Court of Orange County, Virginia, caused dismissal of the proceeding September 23, 1743, "on account of the death of the petitioner." This is the nearest discoverable record fixing approximately the date of the death of Alexander Brakinridge.
Administration on his estate was not undertaken until May 24, 1744, on which day his widow, Jane Breckenridge, appeared in open court in Orange County and relinquished her right to administer in favor of her son, George Breckenridge. George, in turn, on the same date, gave a bond to his mother, obligating himself to carry out a dying wish of his father (who had died intestate), and bound himself to convey 400 acres of his father's lands to Adam, 300 acres to Smith, and 112 acres to James Breckenridge, his younger brothers "who are under age." The significance of this instrument was that George as the oldest son surviving, was the heir at law of his father and as such inherited all his lands, and by this he relinquished his rights to the measure undertaken, to these minor brothers. Final settlement of the estate of Alexander Breckenridge was made and approved in Orange County Court, May 24, 1750. (Source: "Alexander and Jane (Preston) Breckenridge, Emigrant Ancestors", http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~breckfamilytree/nti00233.html )
Pages 325-26. Bond of George Brackenridge unto Jane Brackenridge. for £500. 24 May 1744.
Whereas Alexr. Brackenridge dec. (father of the above bound George Brackenridge) on his death bed declared that he intended to give his sons Adam Smith and James Brackenrige each a pice [sic] of land to wit to Adam Brackenridge four hundred acres, to Smith three hundred acres and to James one hundred and twelve acres, then died without a will in writing and whereas the above bound George Brackenridge heir at law of the said deceased (to whom administration is granted on the relinquishment of the said Jane Brackenridge widow of the deceased and mother of the above bound George) is willing to comply with the declaration made by his said father, now he binds himself to Jane Brackenridge in behalf of her said sons Adam, Smith and James Brackenridge who are under age. (signed) George Brackenridge. Wit: Philip Clayton, James Porteus. 24 May 1744. Acknowledged. [Orange County Virginia Will Book 1, 1735-1743, Dorman, pg. 60].
Page 148. Alexander Brackenridge. Estate account.
Payments made to Col. Wm. Beverley, Henry Downs, Thomas McCullock, Andrew Moor, Dr. Lunn, Robert Bratton, Robert Brackenridge, John Pickens, James Miller, Moses Thompson, James Armstrong, John Doack, Joseph Teas, John Hollanshade, Saml. Gau, George Campbell, Leather Deale, Silas Hart, Geo. Hutchison, Robert McClenahan, Alexr. Maxwell, Thomas Shields, Andrew Lewis, Robt. Cristy, James Leeper, Thos. Gordon, Robt. Davis, Colo. John Lewis, John Lawny, Robert Arwin, Thomas Fitzpatrick, the Rev. Mr. Craig, Mrs. Lewis, Robert McClanahan, John Hawkins (on account of Leatherdale judgment).
Received from Jane Brackenridge widow, Robt. Brackenridge, Thos. McCullock, Robt. McClanahan, John Pickins.
Signed by Taverner Beale and William Taliaferro.
24 May 1750. Returned and settled.
[Orange County Virginia Will Book 2, 1744-1778, Dorman, pg. 32].
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Alexander_Breckenridge_%284%29
Property:
Disposition of Land from "Annals of Augusta County, Virginia", by Joseph Addington Waddell:
Alexander Breckenridge conveyed 245 acres of land in "Beverley Manor" to Robert Breckenridge, May 16, 1749.
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Alexander_Breckenridge_%284%29
(note: he died 1743. Another Alexander?)
Research Notes:
Some historians seem to have that John and Barbara are parents of Alexander. However, birth dates of John and Barbara are established by headstone inscriptions; and Alexander's birth date is recorded. There isn't enough time between parents and child to be logical. Breckenridges are said to be from Scotland.
Alexander* married Jane* Preston, (Immigrant) in 1695 in Newtown Limavady, Limavady, Co Londonderry, Ireland. Jane* (daughter of Phineas (Archibald)* (or John) Preston and Hon., "Mary of Montjoy" Mary* Stewart) was born about 1690 in Newtown Limavady, Limavady, Co Londonderry, Ireland; died after 12 Nov 1746 in Fishersville, Tinkling Spring, Augusta Co, Virginia; was buried in Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church Cem, Fisherville, Augusta Co, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1812 - 1872 (60 years)