I am currently tracking down an ancestor and I've reached a bit of a dead end, so I'm looking for clues on where to look next. I was wondering if the occupation of "gentleman" would have had different significance in the US at that time, or if he might be referring to the life he left behind. I don't want to make any assumptions.
Here is what I know:
Name: Alexander Crawford
Born: 1786 in Ireland (don't know where)
Immigrated: Dec 6, 1826 (age 40) on Ship Lima. Liverpool to New York.
Lived: All US addresses are in Maryland.
Wealth: In 1850, his total holdings amounted to $25,000 at the time. I also have silver spoons that were his and were made in Maryland (I tracked down the silversmith).
Family: He married an American woman in the six years after he arrived.
Other possible clues: he named his daughter Mary Lindsay Crawford. My grandmother also told me a very vague family story about an ancestor from Ireland who gave up some sort of title to immigrate, but I take that with a truckload of salt.
Any clues would be helpful! I'd love to find out his parents' names and exactly where he was born eventually. I'm also interested in any info about why he might have immigrated at that time, since it was after the surges prior to the American revolution and before the huge potato famine.
Thank you for reading. I apologize if this question is too specific.
Hi, just a recommendation that, if you don't get help here (or even if you do), consider x-posting to /r/genealogy: family history research is their thing so they may have some good info and tips for you.
The title of 'gentleman' in Irish and British terms usually would refer to someone who had independent means and did not work for a living. It was in common usage on census forms. It would likely refer to a landowner but someone who did not actually work the land.
I looked up the name Crawford in Edward MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland. MacLysaght is considered to be a leading authority on Irish names and served as the Chief Herald and Genealogical Officer of the Irish Office of Arms.
According to his reference the name Crawford is of Scottish or English origin [he lists it within a group] and first shows in the census of 1659. The name is listed in County Antrim which is in Ulster.
This most likely is a name which originates as part of the Plantation of Ulster which began in 1609. These were Protestant families who were brought to Ireland as part of a design to oust the indigenous Catholic population from land ownership. The 'planters' were originally from Scotland and northern England.
I must add that Antrim would suggest Scotland to me as origin of the name. Antrim was done as separate from the main plantation and usually the planters there were exclusively of Scottish origin.
As for the year you mention, 1826, all I can add to that is that there was a General Election that year. All of Ireland was part of the UK at that time. In Ireland the election was fought on the issue of Catholic Emancipation i.e the right of Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament. Catholics had been excluded from parliament since the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. There was some Protestant Irish support for Catholic rights and many Irish Protestants voted in support of this. But the issue failed in Parliament and did not become law at that time. I have no idea if that would have been part of your ancestor's decision or not, but the year 1826 caught my attention.