The Springfield herald., 1898-12-02
M'KINLEY'S ANCESTRY
THE IRISH AND SCOTCH ARE
WORKED UP.
Tho Weight of Evidence with Erin
Ancient History Shows That scotch
Are Irish DEFENDANTS and That Both
Nations Arc from Spain.

Nations Arc from Spain.
There is an interesting controversy
being waged in Washington on the
subject of President McKinley's ances-
try. Rev. Ralph E. MacDuff, of the
house of deputies of the Episcopal
convention, in a contribution to the
discussion, undertakes to controvert
the notion that President Mckinley
sprung from Irish stock. His conten-
tion Is that the presidents family is OF
Scottish origin. He takes no note
whatever of McKinley's congressional
biography written by the president. 1t
says Mr.. McKinley's great-grandfather
came from Antrim, Ireland where his
antecedents had lived for centuries. BY
way OF telling the president that he
knows nothing of his ancestry, Mr..
MacDuff tells the following amusing
story:
Beginning with Clan MacDuff, We
follow him through Clans Macintosh
and Farquharson by an unbroken evo-
luton into Clan MacKinlay. But one
ancestor was born in Ireland of the
family that passed from Scotland into
Ireland, and that one of Irish birth
came to America at the age of twelve
years.
John MacKinlay was born at The
Annie about 1915, had three sons.
namely, Donald, the eldest, born 1879;
James, the trooper, and John, born
1873. James went to Ireland and be-
came the ancestor of large portion
of the MacKnlay family in Ireland.
James Mckinley ley in the name lor
the first time and the abbrevation
Me-, son of James, the trooper. was
born in Ireland in 170S. He came to
America before the revolutionary war,
and lived in Pennsylvania. Maryland.
Kentucky and Ohio. He died at the
home of his great granddaughter, mrs.
Eleanor Wiles Goodwin, in Warren
county, Ohio. in 1872, having reached
the age of 104 years. His son, James
Mckinley born about 1890, came from
the north of Ireland at the age OF
twelve and settled in Pennsylvania. He
is supposed to have served in the rev.
olutionary war. His son, David McKin-
ley, was born May 16, 1855, in York
Chanceford, Pa, at the time of the rev.
olutionary war. He served in the com
panies of Capts. McCaskey, Ross,
Laird, Reed, Holderbaum, Sloymaker,
Robe and Harnahan. He is said to
have been one of the privates under
Maj. Henry Lee when he captured
Paulus Hook, an exploit which con-
gress characterized by vote Of thanks
for the remarkable prudence, address
and bravery displayed, and empha-
sized 1t by presenting gold medal to
Maj. Lee and $4,000 to be distributed
among the noncommissioned officers
and privates.
David Mckinley is also said to have
distinguished himself for bravery at
Brandywine, Germantown and Mon
mouth. He died Aug. 8. 1910. in Craw-
ford county. Ohio. On Dec. 9, 1880, he
was married in Westmoreland county.
Pennsylvania, to Sarah Gray, by whom
he had ten children, the second being
James Mckinley, born Sept. ~, 1888,
who married Polly Rose about 1905,
and resided on the farm in Pine town
ship, Mercer county, Pennsylvania.
Early in the thirties he became inter-
ested in the iron business, and ran
charcoal furnace for a number of
years at Lisbon, o. He was an elder
in the Lisbon Presbyterian church
from 1922 to 1886. His eldest son, Will
liam Mckinley, was born in Pine town
ship, Mercer county, Pennsylvania,
Nov. Is, 1907. Having been trained in
his fathers business, he. at an early
age, became manager of the old fur
nace which position he filled for twen-
ty-one years"
There is another point In the contro
versy that is often forgotten. That is
that Scotland was originally settled by
the Irish and that while the people OF
Scotland are called Scotch they are in
reality descendants of Irish immi-
grants. To go back further, Ireland
was settled by the Spaniards, it hav-
ing been given to his three sons
by King Milesius of Spain. These
three sons were Heremon, Harmon and
Ir. After the latter the island was
named. Except in a part of Connaught
all the inhabitants of Ireland and Scot
land are descendants of these three
Spanish princes. Mckinley comes
JuEOuBu tHe lliIS VI IlcIeLloH II 10
worthy Of notice that w. ]. Bryan is
also descendant Of the same line. Nc
Kinley's mother, Nancy Allison. was OF
Irish parentage. In the biographies OF
her published at her death she was
set down as of Scotch-Irish extraction,
Now there is no such thing as
Scotch-Irish. All the residents of the
United States that are officially called
of Scotch-Irish lineage are Of Irish lin
cage only. What historians probably
mean by Scotch-Irish is now Catholic
Irish. When Scotland Joined the Ref
ormation a large section of northern
Ireland also left the Catholic COM
munion. For long time the people
OF South Ireland called their North Ire
land brethren "Scotch-Irish" in deri-
sion.
Pathetic Scene.