Joseph Allison Sr. (1722 - 1795)

Born 1722 in Drumnaha, County Donegal, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 21 Nov 1795 at about age 73 in Grand Pré, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Biography

Joseph was born about 1720. Joseph Allison ... ^[1]

Joseph and his family came to NS Canada in 1769

The Allison Genealogy states: "He was born in Drumnaha, near Limavady, Ireland, about 1720, and when he reached manhood's estate, he rented a farm belonging to a London corporation, paying yearly rates, which were collected by an agent in Ireland. On one of these visits of the agent he was invited by Mr. Allison to dine with him. The best the house afforded was given to him as an honored guest. On that day silver spoons were used. Turning to Mr. Allison the agent said, " I see that you can afford to have silver on your table. If you can afford this, you can afford to pay more rent. Your next year's rent will be increased." " I will pay no more rent," said Allison. " I will go to America first."

The agent increased the rent, which Mr. Allison would not pay. He sold all his property, and, with his family and six children, in 1769 left the home of his fathers and the graves of his kindred, and embarked from Londonderry for the New World, intending to land at Philadelphia. He had relatives in Pennsylvania with whom he had corresponded, who had urged him to come to them in that state and bring his family. Their names were Pollock, the children of Mrs. Allison by her first marriage; they settled in Pennsylvania about 1760. Their passage was rough, and the vessel was wrecked on Nova Scotia. It was then difficult and expensive to journey from one section of the country to another. A few years previous to the arrival of Mr. Allison in Halifax, the French people had been most cruelly expelled from their Acadian homes, and their lands thrown open to settlement. Through the persuasion of Admiral Cochrane, then admiral on that coast and station, and by the liberal offers made to them by the authorities, these sturdy people of Scotch blood were induced to go in and occupy. Of those who came with the Allisons, the McHeffys settled in Falmouth, N. S., the Magees in Aylesford, the McCormicks in Annapolis, and Mr. Allison purchased a farm in Horton, Kings county, Nova Scotia, on the border of the historic Grand Pr*3, where he lived till his death in 1794. He was a Presbyterian, though many of his descendants have departed from the ancient faith, and belong to other denominations. He married in Limavady, county of Londonderry, Ireland, Mrs. Alice Polk (or Pollock) Caldwell, who survived him for several years. She gave the historic silver spoons to her youngest child, a daughter who lived to be ninety years old. They are now in the possession of her great-grandson, Hon. Leonard Shannon, of Halifax, N. S.

Children (All born in Limavady, county of Londonderry, Ireland):

1. Rebecca, b. in 1751, d. in 1842. She m. Col. Jonathan Crane; res. Horton, Kings Co., Nova Scotia.
2. William, b. in 1752; d. about 1815.
3. John, b. in 1753; d. March 1, 1821; res. Newport, Hants Co., N. S.
4. Joseph, m. Alice, dau. of Israel Harding, a Loyalist in the Revolution; res. Horton, N. S.
5. James, b. in 1765; d. in 1849; m. Margaret Hutchinson.
6. Nancy, b. 1768; d. in 1858. She was less than a year old when brought to Nova Scotia. She m. Major Samuel Leonard, but left no children. Her husband was a native of New Jersey, espoused the Loyalist side during the Revolutionary War, and was a captain in the New Jersey volunteers. He was a major of the militia in Nova Scotia, in 1807-1808, which garrisoned the forts at Halifax when the regulars were withdrawn to the aid of Wellington in the peninsula."

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Marie Chantigny, Friday, September 6, 2013.

https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=2&place=3050785&lifeEvent=102899&rmsId=TH-909-54310-152966-43&imageIndex=309&singleView=true Grand Pre Cemetery record give his age at his death in 1795 as 73

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 07 April 2017, 17:48), entry for Joseph Allison(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LDH8-MNF); contributed by various users.
• Allison Genealogy

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Marie Chantigny for creating Allison-1251 on 6 Sep 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Marie and others.

Great story

https://beyondthenamesfhr.blogspot.com/2014/