The Farrells of Donegal: And Associated Families

The Farrells of Donegal: And Associated Families, by Sam Hanna is a great book, with a lot of DNA detective work by Sam and Dr. Maurice Gleeson. If you're interested in such things, or think you might be related, I would encourage you to check out their DNA project at Farrell DNA, and the FamilyTreeDNA "BigY" testing.

Publication date:     2018
Topics:                      genealogy
Author:                      Hanna, Sam
Language:                English

And please, if these are your people, reward Sam's hard work by buying a copy of his book, that's how we continue to get excellent research like this published. Below are the relevant details from Chapter 14, "The Virginia Dynasty" relevant to my Ferrell clan.

CHAPTER 14 THE VIRGINIA DYNASTY

CHAPTER 14 THE VIRGINIA DYNASTY

Background
The link between the Virginia dynasty and the Donegal Tirhugh Farrells has been established by DNA testing. Currently, there is no documentary evidence linking the Virginia Ferrells to Donegal ancestry; but the DNA matches between this dynasty and the Donegal dynasties prove beyond reasonable doubt that they belong to the Tirhugh Donegal Farrells. These matches are between three Virginia dynasty males: ‘V1’, ‘V2’, and ‘V3’, and four Donegal dynasty males based on Y-DNA results at the 67-marker level. The genetic distances range from two to six, and this translates to an estimated birth year of a MRCA between c.1690 and c.1740 (Table 6.2).847 In addition, two Virginia dynasty females have atDNA tested and they match Donegal Farrells at around five to greater than eight generations, with the highest match being 22.8cM,848 however, non-Farrell ancestral matches must be considered.

The information summarised in Table 8.2 and Fig. 8.1 has been collated to investigate and propose a possible pedigree for the Rossnowlagh dynasty. However, this information may also prove exceptionally useful to explore the ancestry of the Virginia and other dynasties, particularly at the early stages of their pedigrees.

The different spelling of the surname – Ferrell and Farrell – is not significant, as during the eighteenth century in Donegal many variants were used, and ‘Ferrell’ was preferred in many records.

Virginia beginnings
The progenitor of the Virginia dynasty was John Farrell. John had at least two children, a son, William Farrell (c.1740-78) – whose birthplace was recorded as Virginia, and a daughter, Barbara Farrell. Both children were described as orphans by 21 March 1759 in Augusta County.849

In addition, another Virginian, Margaret Farrell of Augusta County, servant of Andrew Greer, complained on 20 August 1762 of ill-usage by her master, but the court ordered her twenty-five lashes.850

John Farrell may have been born in the parish of Drumhome, Donegal, between c.1690 and c.1720. The marriage of a William Farrell to a Mary Bl{} was recorded at Drumhome in 1694 and this couple was possibly John’s parents;851 and William may have been the individual [or a very close relative?] attainted by” “the Irish Parliament in 1689 for supporting the Prince of Orange. Later in 1689 a William Farrald [Farrell?] of Baugherbegg [Ogherbeg, north of Donegal Town?], fled for protection to Derry/Londonderry, the city that was subsequently besieged by James II. William presumably returned to Drumhome and married following the Prince of Orange’s victory in 1690.

John’s son, William, married Martha ‘Mattie’ Thompson (c.1749-1830) – possibly the daughter of General William Thompson.852 Martha may have been born in America or had immigrated along with her parent(s). The couple migrated to Russell County, southwest Virginia c.1770 and there are extensive records of William’s activities there during the period until his death in 1778.853

William fought in what many regard as the first battle of the American War of Independence at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1774. He also served with the twenty men defending the Glade Hollow Fort during 1774 when four were killed and two were captured by native Americans. William, Martha and family had taken a tract of 142 acres at New Garden on a branch of Thompson’s Creek in 1772. He served frequently in the militia services from 1774 to 1778 and was one of the appraisers of the estate of his neighbor, Richard Lynam, who was killed by native Americans in 1777. William was eventually killed and scalped himself by Shawnee native Americans at his home in 1778. His wife and children; Martha, Thomas, George, Richard born c.1774, John born c.1775, Elizabeth, and William survived, as they had been evacuated to New Garden Fort. They continued to live at New Garden and Martha later married William Evans and had further children.854

The Ferrills/Ferrells were initially concentrated in areas such as Cabell, Logan, Mingo, and Lincoln counties – West Virginia, and Pike and Lawrence counties – in east Kentucky (Plate 13); but their descendants are now found throughout the USA. They have multiplied into many branches, sub-branches and family groups; some of which have been thoroughly documented. William and Martha’s children and grandchildren are detailed below to assist genealogists.855

 1.0	FAMILY OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA (THOMPSON) FERRILL/FERRELL
   1.1		Martha.
   1.2		Thomas (c.1767-95) m. Sarah Graham.
   1.3		George (c.1768-[]).
   1.4		Elizabeth (c.1770-1845).
   1.5		John (c.1774-1884) m. Nancy Jackson ([]-1808).
   1.6		William (c.1774-1842) m. Jane Jackson (c.1778-1850).
   1.7		Richard (c.1776-1867) m. Rebecca Romaines (c.1782-1850).

   1.5		JOHN AND NANCY (JACKSON) FERRELL
     1.5.1	William S. (c.1795-1875) m.1 Hannah B. Lowery, m.2 Francis C. Bailey (c.1802-53).
     1.5.2	Jane (c.1797-[]) m. John Murphey (c.1794-[]).
     1.5.3	Richard (c.1798-1862) m. Nancy Ferrell (c.1801-80).
     1.5.4	Levison F. (c.1804-[]) m. Ralph A. Steele (c.1801-[]).
     1.5.5	John B. (c.1806-80) m. Jane (Jennie) Taylor (c.1805-80).
     1.5.6	Andrew J. (c.1808-90) m.1 Mary (Polly) Slator, m.2 Mary R. Herndon.

   1.6		WILLIAM AND JANE (JACKSON) FERRELL
     1.6.1		John L. (c.1799-1872) m. Sarah E. Allison (c.1798-1858).
     1.6.2		Sarah (c.1805-56) m. David Samuel Allison (c.1805-88).
     1.6.3		James (c.1806-74) m. Elizabeth Fields (c.1806-[]).
     1.6.4		Richard P. F. (c.1809-82) m. Elizabeth Flecter (c.1812-71).
     1.6.5		Virginia Jane (c.1811-79) m. George Fields (c.1813-65).
     1.6.6		Mary Polly (c.1812-80) m. Stephen Hart (c.1812-[]).
     1.6.7		Emma (c.1815-85)
     1.6.8		Louisa Levisa (c.1816-96) m. Frederick Deel (c.1819-96).
     1.6.9		Martha (c.1818-70) m. Richard Compton (c.1810-60).

   1.7		RICHARD AND REBECCA (ROMAINES) FERRELL
     1.7.1		William (c.1804-73) m. Mahala Tiller (c.1820-80).
     1.7.2		John R. (c.1805-39) m. Elizabeth J. Coleman (c.1805-44).
     1.7.3		Elijah (c.1806-91) m. Barbara J. Neeley.
     1.7.4		Rachel (c.1813-[]) m. William Tiller.
     1.7.5		Richard (c.1816-88) m. Letitia Askew (c.1820-1923).
     1.7.6		Evans (c.1817-96) m. Martha Jane Duty (c.1829-[]).
     1.7.7		Rebecca L. (c.1821-1901) m. Greenville L. Justice (c.1825-65).
     1.7.8		Moses (c.1822-65) m. Matilda Jane Brewer.
     1.7.9		Nancy (c.1826-1919) m. William C. Musick (c.1806-65).
     1.7.10		Elizabeth (c.1828-99) m. Jacob Justice (c.1815-[]).

Summary
DNA testing has confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that the Virginia Farrells/Ferrells are a dynasty of the Tirhugh Donegal Farrells – although there is currently no documentary evidence linking the two. Genetic distances between the Virginia dynasty and the others range from two to six at the 67-marker level (from 2/67 to 6/67), which translates to an estimated birth year of a MRCA between c.1690 and c.1740.857

The dynasty’s progenitor was John Farrell – who was probably born in Tirhugh, Donegal. His son, William, was born in Virginia and has many descendants. Extensive research has been undertaken by various genealogists in the USA and is too detailed to be included in this current study.858