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Ephraim McDowell (1673 - 1763)

Ephraim McDowell
Born in Raloo Parish, County Antrim, Irelandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 89 in Rockbridge County, Virginiamap
Profile last modified | Created 18 Mar 2011
This page has been accessed 10,473 times.

Contents

Biography

Flag of Ireland
Ephraim McDowell migrated from Ireland to Virginia.
Flag of Virginia
Ephraim McDowell is a member of Clan MacDowall.

Birth

Ephraim McDowell, son of Thomas McDowell and Anne Locke, was born on 3 Mar 1673 in County Londonderry, Ireland.[1][2]

Young adult

At 16, he was learning to be a blacksmith with his father when he and two brothers, John and Charles, were pressed into the seige of Londonderry. They were among the apprentice boys who shut the gates to Londonderry on December 9, 1688

He also went with King William to the Battle of the Boyne on 12 Jul 1690 and shod the King's white horse the night before the battle. One genealogist wrote: In this defense young McDowell bore himself with conspicuous gallantry in a band where all were heroic as any Greek who fell at Thermopylae.

Young Ephraim became a blacksmith in Glenoe, near Larne in Antrim. The house where he lived and the shop where he wrought are still to be seen in the lovely village of Glenoe, Antrim, Ireland.

Marriage and family life

In 1702, he married Margaret Irvine[3][4][5][6] in Longford, Londonderry, Ireland. She was the daughter of Christopher and Margaret Wylie Irvin, the great granddaughter of the 10th Laird of Drum Castle in Scotland, and Ephraim's first cousin.

Their children included:

  1. Thomas, the eldest son, who remined in Glenoe
  2. John, the eldest son to emigrate with his father was a surveyor, and also received a military commission from Governor Gooch, and was killed with eight of his men in a fight with the Indians on Christmas day, 1742. The common grave in which all were buried may still be seen enclosed by a brick way, a short distance from Lexington, Va. He was married to Magdalene Woods, daughter of Michael Woods and Margaret Campbell. She subsequently married Borden, and after his death, Col. Boyer. She died at the age of one hundred and four years, leaving two sons and a daughter. Judge Samuel McDowell, the eldest son of Capt. John McDowell and Magdalene Wood, was the progenitor of the Kentucky branch of the family; he married, when little over eighteen years old, Mary McClung, and with his family in 1784 moved to Mercer County, Ky.
  3. Samuel: The third son, Samuel, was a Revolutionary soldier, came with his father and was appointed by Washington Marshal of the State of Virginia. He married Anna Irvine, a distant relative, and reared a large family, living within a few miles of Harrodsburg, Ky. His oldest child, Polly, in 1805 married William Starling, who had with his father and many sisters and brothers emigrated from Mecklenburg County, Va., in 1797.
  4. Mary Elizabeth, who married James Greenlee

Margaret Irvine died circa 1728, and is buried in a church yard in Raloo, Ireland.

Some sources incorrectly say Ephraim married secondly to Margaret Adams in 1736 in Mt. Bethel, Northampton, Pennsylvania. She was married to another Ephraim McDowell who remained in Somerset County, New Jersey.

Emigration

After his first wife died, Ephraim left Glenoe with two of his sons, two daughters and three brothers-in-law for America. They may have sailed from Larne in a sailing ship called the "George & Anne" on May 29, 1731, however the passenger list for that ship, although it lists a number of McDowells, does not include Ephraim and his family. It is possible that they came on the "John of Dublin" at about the same time (1729), but that has not yet been verified.

  • The story passed down in tells of an extraordinary 118 day arduous voyage (May 29 to September 4), during which 10 McDowells died.
  • They landed in the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and joined Ephraim's brother, Andrew, who had migrated in 1725.

Ephraim first settled near Carlisle or in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he married for a second time; his daughter, Mary Elizabeth married James Greenlee; and his son grandson Samuel McDowell, son of John, son of Ephraim, was born.

In 1737, Ephraim, with his son John, and son-in-law James Greenlee, left Pennsylvania to go to John Lewis, a relative who had left Ireland some years before and about 1732 had settled on the Middle River in the Shenandoah Valley, in what was known as Beverly Manor, near the present town of Staunton. It was their intention to locate near him. While on their way, when in camp on Lewis' Creek (Sewell's Creek in another version of the story), a tributary of the South River, they were joined by Benjamin Borden, who had obtained from Gov. Gorch, in exchange for a buffalo calf, the papers for 500,000 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley, provided he would settle thereon 100 families.

  • Borden offered a thousand acres of land to anyone who would conduct him to his grant of land. This offer was promptly accepted by John Mc Dowell. The three men conveyed their families to the home of John Lewis and then piloted Borden to what has since been known as "Borden's Grant." In consideration of a liberal share of the claim, the two McDowells and James Greenlee then undertook to assist in carrying out Borden's contract for him, and before the close of the year removed their own families to the grant, where they permanently settled - the first three settlers in that part of the Valley.
  • Ephraim McDowell by his son John McDowell proved his headrights for land 9 Feb 1739, Orange County, Virginia, Court, for transporting himself, James, and Margaret McDowell into the Colony of Virginia after leaving Pennsylvania in order to obtain a Virginia Land Grant.[7]
  • In another version of the story Borden convinced McDowell to survey the land of his Grant for him for the price of 1,000 acres. They worked with Burden in settling an area now known as Rockbridge county near Lexington.
  • The sources note: their efforts resulted in soon bringing to this section other Scotch and Scotch-Irish families - McClungs, McCues, McCouns, McElroys, McCampbells, Campbells, McKees, Caruthers, Paxtons, Lyles, Irvins, Caldwells, Calhouns, Stuarts - names : which have since illustrated every page of Southern and Western history.

Later in life

Ephraim, although already an old man in his sixties, is credited with building the first road through the Blue Ridge Mountains to connect the Shenandoah valley with the tidewater country.

Ephraim served in the Augusta County militia until 1743, when he was exempted from further service due to his age (70 years). He lived in Augusta County until his death, having accumulated an estate which was regarded as very large in those days.

Death

Ephraim died in Timber Ridge on the Borden Tract, Rockbridge County, Virginia, and is buried at the site of Maryland Tavern owned by his son, Capt. John. A McDowell[8]

His date of death is not clear:

  • Some sources state he died on 02 Mar 1763. This seems to be linked to a man with the same name who died on that date in Bedminster, Somerset, New Jersey. All the other information clearly indicates he died in Virginia.
  • Family tradition has his death around 1770 at age 98. They add that Ephraim died NOT until the break of the American Revolution and NOT until he had heard the praises bestowed on his grandchildren for their bravery, at the Battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774.
  • The Findagrave memorial noted here indicates he died in 1774
  • A monument erected in the mid 1800's by the children of his great grandson, Governor James Mc Dowell of Virginia shows that he died "about 1780"

Personal qualities

  • Ephraim was religious, moral, intelligent, and shrewd. He used the opportunities offered to reap and store a fortune considered very large in those days.
  • Ephraim was a remarkably intelligent man and was believed by the ignorant to possess supernatural powers. He was nearly 7 feet tall and of stalwart frame, and it is said, of a terrible countenance. Even in his old age, he busied himself in shrewd business dealings accumulating great land wealth and establishing schools and churches.
  • He was esteemed by all for his intelligence, usefulness and probity, wielding a singular and beneficent influence among the intrepid and independent spirits by whom he was surrounded, and retaining the possession of his faculties to the last.

Other Family Notes

All the McDowells of Raloo are descended from Ephraim through his eldest son Thomas who remained in Glenoe.

His grandson James McDowell was the 26th Governor of Virginia. His portrait hangs with the other past Governor's portraits in the Old State House in Richmond, Virginia. The County of McDowell in the southwest corner of West Virginia is named after him and in the City of Richmond one of the most common names is that of McDowell. Came to America in 1727-28, settled first in PA, settled on Burdens Grant, VA

One Abraham McDowal [1648] left Scotland with his father, Joseph "the Calvinist" and with his family during the period of the English Civil Wars (c.1650). Some records show he was Ephraim's father.

Alexander McDowell was a Presbyterian minister. He was licensed July 30, 1740. He was ordained to go as an Evangelist to Virginia and to itinerate in New Castle Presbytery. The Synod's school was entrusted to him, and was finally removed to Newark, Delaware. In 1767, the school was chartered as an academy by the Proprietary, John Penn. Dr. Ewing and Hugh Williamson visited Great Britain to solicit funds for its endowment; they were successful and Ewing brought back six or seven thousand dollars, a large sum for those times. In 1771, Newark Academy had 71 students. Alexander died 12 January 1782, having never married. Alexander had visited Virginia in the 1740's as recorded in records from Orange County and probably visited his relatives there.

McDowell family history

The name Mc Dowell is a modification of the Gaelic: Mac Dhu ghall, or MacDougal, meaning son or descendant of the dark stranger or Dane. The name was given over ten centuries ago to Norse settlers in Galloway, Scotland and the descendants of a son of Prince Fergus and Princess Elizabeth de Galloway, daughter of King Henry I of England.

Ephraim McDowell was from the historic race of Dowall, sprung from Dougall and from intermarriage with the Campbells, Irvines, and Douglasses, was reckoned among the most powerful of the warlike septs that fought in the Presbyterian wars under the leadership of the Campbells, Earls of Argyll.

They were allied with the Campbells by blood and marriage under the standard of McCallum More, in the series of struggles which led to the expulsion of the right line of the Stuarts from the British throne, were the sons of Dowell, Presbyterians of the strictest sect, and deeply imbued with the love of civil and religious liberty, which has ever characterized the followers of John Knox. One of these was one of the most respectable of the colonists from Scotland and England who settled in the north of Ireland during the Protectorate of Cromwell.

The McDowells and Irvines (of Castle Irvine and of Bonshaw Castle, nine miles from Lockerbie, Dumfrieshire, Galloway, Scotland) often intermarried and manufactured linen in a linen mill along the Ballywallog river in Glenoe, near Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland from 1584 until declining business forced their emigration to America.... by the years 1724 and 1729.

Stories

  • Long, long ago, a visitor to Glenoe, wrote, "Passing down the one long street of that village, bordered on each side by tall stone houses, once the property of the Irvines and the McDowells, we come on the blacksmith shop of Ephraim McDowell, which looks as if he had laid down his hammer but yesterday. I followed the narrow rocky street until I came to the linen mills, once belonging to the Irvines, Wylies, and McDowells. The Ballyvallog furnished the water power that turned these wheels of many mills, so sadly silent now. It is a narrow stream and runs across a beautiful brae, falling 75 feet into a well-shaped opening in sold rock into a pool. From this the water leaps over an immense stone that crosses the space at the bottom of the opening of this well, formed by nature and just opposite the waterfall.

DNA

Paternal relationship is confirmed with a MyHeritage triangulated test match on chromosome 1 for 14.3 cM between TAL, NWR, and Thom Anderson;TAL/NWR: 14c1r; Thom Anderson/NWR: 10c; Thom Anderson/TAL: 9c3r

Sources

  1. Moon, Anna Mary, compiler. Sketches of the Shelby, McDowell, Deaderick, Anderson Families. Chattanooga:, private, 1933, Archive.org, p. 41
  2. Please note that he is often confused with Ephraim McDowell McDowell-2662, who is thought to be son of Alexander McDowell and Margaret Loveridge.
  3. Green, Thomas Marshall, "Historic Families of Kentucky, With Special Reference to Stockes Immediately derived from the Valley of Virginia", Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1889, Archive.org, p. 2
  4. Boyd, Lucinda Joan Rogers , "The Irvines and Their Kin;", Chicago: R. B. Donnelley & Sons Company, 1908, Archive.org, p. 11
  5. Ridenbaugh, Mary Young, "The Biography of Ephraim McDowell, M.D., The Father of Ovariotamy", New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1890, Archive.org, p. 17
  6. McDowell, John Hugh, "History of the McDowells, Erwins, Irwins, and Connections", Memphis: C. R. Johnston & Co., 1918, Archive.org, p. 232
  7. FamilySearch Digital Collections. Orange, Virginia, Court Orders V. 1-2, Vol 2, p. 114, Image 358 of 557. 9 Feb 1739, Ephraim McDowell, proved rights for land, John McDowell son gave Oath, first time headrights were proved Familysearch.org Accessed 27 July 2021.
  8. Find A Grave Memorial #8999776 for Ephraim McDowell, 1673-1774

See also;

  • U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls;
  • U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.
  • www.mcdowellhouse.com
  • Broderbund Family Archive #354, Ed. 1, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, Date of Import: Dec 27, 1998, Internal Ref. #1.354.1.65421.12
  • http://www.justcallbob.com/Reports/WC01/WC01_413.htm
  • http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/christian/bios/starling300gbs.txt
  • http://www.tmason1.com/pafg62.htm#1099 Terry Mason's Family History Site: Information sent to T.Mason on 30 May 2004 by Norma Coon.
  • Americans of Gentle Birth and Their Ancestors, pp. 189, 299.
  • Adams, Margaret Bickel, "Family Connections Along the Blue Ridge."
  • Perdue, Lemuel Ford, "A History of the McDowell Family."
  • History of Augusta Co.
  • History of Rockbridge Co.
  • Crook,Jr., John A., (M.D.), McDowell and Related Families - A genealogy,Mc Kee Printing Company, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1975.
  • Greenlee, Ralph Stebbins and Greenlee, Robert Lemuel, Genealogy of the Greenlee Families in America, Scotland, Ireland and England, Chicago, Illinois, privately printed, 1908, p. 627."
  • The Descendancy of King Fergus of Scotland to the McDowells of Greenbrier, Virginia, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~jmbhome/1mcdowell.htm.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Ephraim by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Ephraim:

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Comments: 6

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There is a what seems to be a well-researched work by Frank McDowell on which McDowells were on the George and Anne - Ephraim was not. You can "borrow" the book from the Internet Archive for an hour and read all about it.

https://archive.org/details/mcdowellgenealog00mcdo/mode/2up?view=theater

posted by Lisa H
My 8th great grandfather.

<3

posted by Cynthia (Hicks) Curtis
I'm fairly certain that he is the ancestor of the famous pioneer Doctor Ephraim McDowell McDowell-162 of Boyle County Kentucky. MGM made a short movie on him in the 1940's. Ephraim McDowell Hospital in Danville Kentucky is named after him.
posted by Eddie Pike
You need to resolve the correct father first. These profiles for the merge have different fathers.
posted by [Living Foster]
McDowell-124 and McDowell-2538 appear to represent the same person because: These appear to be the same person, with same spouse and DPOB. Death date on McDowell-124 is much more likely, as the other would make him well over 100 years old.
posted by Bob Nichol
McDowell-1530 and McDowell-124 appear to represent the same person because: same name, birth date and father
posted by Patricia Roche

Rejected matches › Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830)

M  >  McDowell  >  Ephraim McDowell

Categories: Borden Tract, Augusta County, Virginia | Clan MacDowall