Descendants of William Rea

Notes


1. William Rea

According to "Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants," by Henry Oliver Rea (1960, Tyrone Printing Co., Ltd., Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland), an American descendant who lived in Pittsburgh, "the first record of William in Drumskee Townland is contained in a 'Memorial of Indenture of Lease,' registered in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, April 28, 1757. In this document, it says that William Rea of Drumskee Cottage leased about 26 Irish acres (equivalent to almost 50 English acres) from Thomas Collyer on March 18, 1733. These lands were formerly owned by the O'Dymond clan and were previously leased by William from Art, Bryan, Henry and Murtagh O'Dymond from at least 1731. The book speculates that William was born here and had been farming this land for "many years, for he was 53" in 1733.

"Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants" also says that "the Reas were buried" at Dromore Cathedral, which it goes on to say was a burial ground for Protestants and was originally an Episcopalian church. My own research has confirmed there are also Rea graves at Dundonald Graveyard in County Down, Knockbreda Graveyard and Boardsmills First Presbyterian Graveyard. The book states that the Reas were all Presbyterians as far back as anyone can remember.

Supposedly, there was a family coat of arms applied for in County Down. Here is a heraldic description:
the arms of Rea: Vert, on a chevron or, between three roebucks in full course, as many thistles slipped all proper; impaling [for McCaw] argent two lions rampant combattant guies supporting a dexter hand couped at the wrist of the last; in chief three mullets azure and in base in waves of the sea a salmon naiant also proper]. This differs a bit from the coat of arms shown on the front page of "Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants," written by Henry Oliver Rea in 1959 and published in 1960, which shows a chevron containing three deer and a deer on top of the chevron, but no "lions rampant," or thistles.

In the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) website, I found William had registered as a freeholder (one who either owned his lands outright or leased from another) on May 22 at some point during the 1700s. According to PRONI, From 1727 to 1793 only Protestants with a freehold worth at least 40 shillings a year were legally permitted to vote. It appears William was leasing his lands from the Hamilton estate, which coincides with above mentioned Hamilton rent rolls that I found a Hugh Rea listed on during 1681-1688. Given this coincidence, it isn't difficult to conclude that perhaps William's father was, indeed, this Hugh Rea.

Until recently, I believed that William was the William MacRea shown in the LDS' IGI files. After being alerted to a mention of William MacRea in "History of the Clan MacRae," I can now see, quite plainly, that they were two different men. I am confident, still, that William Rea of Drumskee is my ancestor, but he was not from Kintail, Wester Ross, Scotland. More likely, William's father was from the Scottish lowlands. As I've said before, when confronted with new data that contradicts what I have, I change my thinking to incorporate the new data. This is, afterall, a work in progress and won't be finished until I drop dead. Meanwhile, my apologies to any Rea researchers I've lead astray over the last two years or so.

A search of the Old Parish Records contained in the General Register Office for Scotland (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) revealed the births of only three Williams, in all of Scotland's civil parishes, that were born close to 1680:

William Rea, born to John Rea and Bessie Paton at Newbattle Parish (East Edinburghshire) on July 31, 1684

William Rae, born to Thomas Rae and Jonnet _______ at Cardross Parish (Dumbartonshire) on August 22, 1681

William Rae, born to William Rae & __________ at Carstairs Parish (Lanarkshire) on October 2, 1681

Based on this search, I can only conclude that IF the 1680 birthdate for William Rea of Drumskee is correct, then William most likely was born, not in Scotland, but in Northern Ireland, probably in Drumskee, where he seems to have lived his entire life. If, on the other hand, this date is only an approximation made by somone some time ago, then it's still possible that either of these three Williams was William Rea of Drumskee. Given the scarcity of records, it is impossible to draw a conclusion of any certainty from this. My best guess is that William Rea of Drumskee was born in County Down in 1680. I believe that is the safest assumption I can make. It is one that is supported by other evidence (the 1984 headstone of Dame Isabella Rea, mentioned above) and there is no reason to conclude that either of these three Williams found in the GROS are William Rea of Drumskee. Only a search of the records held by PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland) will yield any further data on this.

It is possible William's father may have been named William and that he was "planted" in Ulster earlier than I had thought. There was a William Rea (also, a James and a Gilbert Rea) listed on the Muster Roll of the County Down for 1631, held at Bangor, which listed the names of all the men between sixteen and sixty years of age and "fit to bear arms." The document does not give their residences, but says that they all lived somewhere in the Ards Peninsula of Northeast Down. This would be in the area of Bangor and Newtownards.

According to Henry Oliver Rea's book "Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants," William had "at least" five sons. He later states, in the same biographical sketch of Samuel Rea, that there was "much circumstantial evidence" that an Isaac Rea and a James Rea who also lived in Franklin County, Pennsylvania may have been brothers of Samuel's. If this is so, then William had seven sons, provided the evidence of Robert Rea being a son of William's also stands. Henry also says that Joseph and William remained in Ireland, while he speculates the other sons probably all emmigrated to Pennsylvania.


3. Joseph Rea

Joseph and his brother William are the only sons of William Rea who never left Ireland.


5. William Rea

William and his brother Joseph are the only sons of William Rea who never left Ireland.

A wedding announcement, published in The Freeman's Journal, County Down, November 4,1808:

"At Dromore, Mr Wm REA of Edenruty, at the advanced age of 73, to Miss Lucinda LEE of Drumskee, aged 24 — The circumstance attended this marriage is something singular, as he has lived to this period without ever thinking of entering such a situation, though possessed of a vast property; but supposing his friends might have disputes in consequence thereof he thought proper to make an engagement with this young woman, she being his house keeper."

William was buried at Dromore Cathedral Graveyard. Dromore Cathedral was built in 1661 and was, early in its history, an Episcopalian church with many Presbyterian burials, of which William's was one.


6. Robert Rea

This is the Robert Rea listed in the 1790 census of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. He is shown with a wife, a daughter 16 and up and three sons 16 and up.

The evidence for Robert being a son of William Rea of Drumskee comes from Henry Oliver Rea's book, "Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants," in which Henry states that William had at least five sons. He names Joseph (1727) and William (1735) as two of them, then of course, there was Samuel, and my own research, plus the research of others in my line, has confirmed that Matthew was also a son of William Rea of Drumskee. te common to name a child after a beloved sibling.

Another Rea researcher has pointed out that she believes Robert to be from a line of Reas that descends from John Rea of Lancaster County. The evidence for this is not conclusive, however. It is also important to note that Mifflin County was only founded in 1789, one year before the census in which both Robert and Matthew Sutherland Rea appear. It was formed, partially, from Cumberland County, which, in turn, was formed, in part, from Franklin County.


7. Isaac Rea

According to Henry Oliver Rea's book "Samuel Rea, 1725-1811, Heritage and Descendants," William had "at least" five sons. He later states, in the same biographical sketch of Samuel Rea, that there was "much circumstantial evidence" that an Isaac Rea and a James Rea who also lived in Franklin County, Pennsylvania may have been brothers of Samuel's. If this is so, then William had seven sons, provided the evidence of Robert Rea being a son of William's also stands. Henry also says that Joseph and William remained in Ireland, while he speculates the other sons probably all emmigrated to Pennsylvania.

Isaac's presence in the Amberson Valley is corroborated by Harry Foreman in "Conocoheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley," which contains Rea data from genealogist Stanley B. Rea, of Sun Pairie, Wisconsin.


8. James Rea