The Widney / Udny Family of Scotland and Ireland
Copyright 2014,
2020 ________________________________________
Note: The lineage from Generation 1 to Generation 4 is believed but not absolutely proven to be a direct lineage, but they are doubtless of the same family. Generations 4-5 are proven by original documentation of the period to be a direct paternal relationship. Generations 5-7 almost certainly represent a direct lineage given that the man in Generation 7 sold the property owned and passed down by Generation 4. ________________________________________ Generation 7b
Hugh and Sarah (Widney) Linn SARAH WIDNEY, daughter of John Widney and Mary (Wilson) Widney, was born in 1757 in Killymurry, County Monaghan, Ireland and died on 18 February 1810 in Concord, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It appears the Widney family moved from Killymurry to Emyvale in Sarah's generation while still holding the Killymurry lease. The likely scenario is that Killymurry was conveyed to Sarah's brother James at his marriage in 1775, just as it had been conveyed to his grandfather at his marriage, and the rest of the family moved to Emyvale at the same time. They were in Emyvale in 1779, when Sarah's sister Margaret was married1/, and Sarah's brother sold Killymurry in 1784.2/ Sarah Widney married Hugh Linn in 1776. He was born in 1753 in Ireland and died on 1 January 1815 in Concord, Pennsylvania. All efforts to find his parents have failed, but there is evidence that he was born in County Monaghan and not in County Down as popularly believed. There were Linns living in County Monaghan in 1736, when one Samuel Lynn of the Monaghan Presbytery was licensed to preach, as appears in the records of the General Synod of Ulster.3/ The family into which Hugh married lived in the far north of County Monaghan for several generations up to and including the time that he and Sarah met. Once married, the couple lived in or near Glaslough, County Monaghan for at least four years, as evidenced by the army discharge of their son William, and it was only in the last five years or so in Ireland that they lived in the Newry area.4/ Glaslough is less than three miles from Emyvale, and William is the only child of Hugh and Sarah for whom documentation of a precise place of birth exists. The question is whether Hugh and Sarah then moved to the town of Newry or merely to Newry Parish, in which the town lies. While the town and parish of Newry both are situated primarily in County Down, both also lie partly in County Armagh. No less than twelve townlands of Newry Parish are in Armagh, and six of those lie due west or southwest of the town of Newry. In the town, the steeple of St. Patrick's Church stands high on a hill on Church Street and is visible for miles around in each direction, drawing a picture that is reminiscent of the old story of the family's journey to a ship in the port of Londonderry : "The church spires of Newry, Emyvale and Aughnacloy, one by one, disappear in the distance, and the stone fences, and white thorn hedges, which line the highway, close in behind them, shutting out forever the loved ones left behind."5/ But what had induced Hugh and Sarah to move from Glaslough to the Newry area? Generally, such moves are made for better economic opportunities; and often, such opportunities are provided by family connections. As recently learned, two of Sarah's great-grandfathers ~ James Widney I and William Carlisle ~ were ruling elders in the Presbyterian Church of Ireland; and both men attended the General Synod of Ulster, Widney representing Monaghan Presbytery and Carlisle, notably, representing Armagh.6/,7/ Ministers and elders attending Synod were thrown into close company, and many a bond thus was forged. In about 1724, Widney's son James Widney II married Carlisle's daughter Ann Carlisle; and Widney's son Alexander married Carlisle's daughter Elizabeth.8/ Thus, the woman Hugh Linn married was a granddaughter of Ann Carlisle, whose family lived in County Armagh. While Ann's father owned the mansion of Ashgrove in the County Down side of the town of Newry, representing Armagh Presbytery means that he must have lived in Armagh and suggests that Ashgrove was a second residence. There has been a Presbyterian church in the Down side of Newry since 1642, and County Down has its own Presbytery, which of course is called Down Presbytery. If Ashgrove were the Carlisles' primary residence, surely they would have attended the church there. Having married in 1776, having started their family in Glaslough, County Monaghan, and having later lived in the Armagh side of Newry, Hugh, Sarah, and three of their four eldest children left for America in 1788. Their son William was left in the care of an aunt by the name of Rebecca Lee, and the rest of the family joined Sarah's brother James in northern Franklin County, Pennsylvania. There, Hugh helped to build the village of Concord and contributed greatly to its spiritual life. Since at first there were no established churches, he opened his home to neighbors far and near for Bible reading and prayer. The community came to call the modest log cabin in which Hugh and Sarah raised their family "Immanuel", meaning "God with us".5/
For a complete record of the Widney family of Ireland through the end of the 18th century, the evidence of their Scottish roots, and a discussion of Widney origins as told by Dr. George Wilds Linn, see : For more Linn/Lynn history of Scotland, Ulster, and America, see the following ...
For extensive collections of the history of Lynns, Linns,
and
Linds House of Lynn
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