As October comes to a close, so my Caldwell/Porter research is also winding down. It’s time to regroup and develop some strategies for researching in Northern Ireland.

Robert Caldwell consistently shows a birth year of c1790 in Ireland, while his wife, Sarah Porter, appears to have been perhaps one year older than her husband, with her birth year reported as c1789, also in Ireland.

I am comfortable with Porter being her maiden name, given that two of her daughters, Mary Jane and Susan, died a decade apart, one in Maine and the other in New Brunswick, Canada and both of their death certificates gave their parents’ names as Robert Caldwell and Sarah Porter.

Their first two children were born in Ireland, before the family emigrated to Canada between 1819-1821. However, records pertaining to those sons – Joseph and James – only state Ireland as their birthplace.

Hoping that the Caldwell FAN club might yield additional clues, I looked for details that might indicate Irish origins for their friends, associates and neighbors. Aside from James Caldwell, who died c1852 and who was probably Robert’s brother, and who appears in land grant records dated 1828 and 1829, the only other Irish connection I could find was Robert’s son-in-law, Robert Elkin, born in County Donegal in 1819.

From that, some have decided that is proof that Robert Caldwell was also from County Donegal. In reality, all it proves is that Robert Elkin was from County Donegal!

In addition, the family tree of another son-in-law, David Phillips, is a bit of a mess online, but it looks like his family might have been from County Londonderry.

The final loose end to chase was any Porter connections to the Caldwell family. Unfortunately, while there are a number of Porters found in Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada, none have been placed in Queens County in the 1820s.

I did find a Joseph Porter applying for a land grant in Charlotte County in that time frame, which is a bit interesting, given that Robert’s and Sarah’s eldest child was named Joseph. Charlotte County shares a border with Queens County. However, Waterborough is a fair distance from that shared counties border and Porter isn’t exactly an uncommon surname.

So, to wrap up the loose end concerning any Porter connections, I haven’t found a single mention of a Porter in any Caldwell records. It’s possible that the emigrant FAN club consisted of Robert and James Caldwell and their young families.

There it ends, for now!

This is a good stopping point, for now, with my research into the family of Robert and Sarah (Porter) Caldwell, who appear to be Scots-Irish, both born c1789/90 in Ireland, but Protestant settlers in Waterborough, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada by 1821.

I’m very pleased with all the clean up I’ve accomplished while piecing together their story and their family.

I commented several posts ago that it was too soon to try to jump the pond. At this point, though, no further clues as to their origins have been discovered in Canadian records.

I have no Scots-Irish ancestry myself, but my husband does, so a couple of years ago, I compiled a list of resources for Scots-Irish research. While most of my suggestions on that list were geared towards American records, one of the books, Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors by William J. Roulston, is a true gem for understanding and researching the Ulster Scots in Ireland from 1600-1800.

While perusing the book, hoping to find some online resources for Northern Ireland records relevant to the late 1700s, I discovered AncestryIreland with it page on The Scots In Ulster. There I learned of the 1796 Premiums for Growing Flax database. This particular database is useful for determining the counties where a surname was prevalent. It’s not really a census, unless one is lucky enough to have a flax grower as an ancestor in that time period.

I decided to check entries for Caldwell, Porter and Elkin surnames, given that Robert was a Caldwell, Sarah was a Porter and their son-in-law was Robert Elkin, son of Edward Elkin, born in County Donegal.

The results are inconclusive, but interesting and offer several parishes that might be worth further research.

Elkin – There were only two entries, one for Edward Elkin in Clonmany, Co. Donegal and George Elkin in Upper Movill, also in Co. Donegal. Since Edward was Robert’s father’s name and he had a brother George Elkin, there might be some family ties here. These are the only two Elkins that are in the database.

Colwell/Caldwell – There were a handful of entries. James Colwell in Loughgilly, Co. Armagh, Robert and William Caldwell in Killevy, Co. Armagh, Robert Caldwell in Ryelands, Co. Donegal, Robert Caldwell in Lower Fahan, Co. Donegal, Robert Caldwell in Dramachose, Londonderry and Robert Caldwell in Drumragh, Co. Tyrone.

Those are just the Robert Caldwells listed! There are quite a few other men listed, too, and they cover all six of the Northern Ireland counties in addition to County Donegal, but are in the same parish as the Elkins.

I also checked the Porter surname, but there are a ton of them! However, there were two Porters in Loughgilly, Co. Armagh where James Colwell was living and there were five Porters living in Lower Fahan, Co. Donegal where Robert Caldwell lived.

It’s a long shot, but my next approach might be to check for church/vital records for Loughgilly and Lower Fahan. If I was really lucky, a marriage record would pop up for Robert Caldwell and Sarah Porter, c1815. That would make my day!

Elizabeth Caldwell was the daughter of Robert Caldwell and Sarah Porter, born June 1835, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada. She married David Phillips on 12 November 1864, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Although I have seen death dates for both David and Elizabeth, I have found no sources for those dates. David is last found in the Waterborough 1901 census, so died sometime after that. Elizabeth is living with her son Rufus and his family in 1911 in Waterborough, so died between 1911 and 1921.

David and Elizabeth were the parents of four children, all born in Queens County:

1. Mary Jane, born 25 September 1865; died 6 January 1959, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada; married Wallace R. Ferris, 28 June 1890, Youngs Cove, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada
2. Howard George, born 22 December 1866; died 16 March 1946, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada; married Grace Elizabeth Barton, date and place unknown
3. Rufus Benjamin, born 22 March 1870; died 6 November 1956, Fredericton, York, New Brunswick, Canada; married Etta M. Stuart, 2 April 1902, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada
4. Robert Riley, born 6 June 1873; died 28 April 1956, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada; married Lillian McMarr, 7 November 1896, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

The youngest child of Robert and Sarah (Porter) Caldwell was daughter Susan. She was born 15 November 1832 and died on 15 September 1925, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. She married William Reid on 2 November 1875, but they had no children so she has no living descendants today.

This concludes the family sketches for the children of Robert and Sarah (Porter) Caldwell of Waterborough, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada.