STEWART T EWING <ewingent@bellsouth.net>
Wednesday, February 8 at 12:36 PM
To
Mike/Beth Toscos
'Karen Avery'
CC
'Ewing, John & Denise (Editors)'
Message body
Beth,
It is good to know Margaret's work is in Ft. Wayne still in the safe hands of EFA. However as my father and I worked very closely with her when she was still living we have a pretty good handle on the information she has. Plus, years ago when there was an EFA event in Cecil County, I spent time with her materials, though more in the line that she asserted was hers than the Cecil County bunch.
There may yet be some value in coming to Ft. Wayne, but because her own book seems to simply cite Col. Wm. A. Ewing's statement that William son of Patrick "went west" (Chapter 25 page 208), it would appear that in her mind the trail on that William ends with Patrick and the good Colonel's speculation. Here are my thoughts on that:
The "went west" passage was actually the Colonel quoting a passage in Elbert William R. Ewing's 1867 book "Clan Ewing of Scotland, early history and contribution to America", written 30 years earlier.
It could be that this "went west" reference came from a family Bible or some other hand-written note in a family artifact of the day, and perhaps that artifact might have other clues what "west" meant.
In that period, particularly as far east as Cecil County was, west meant west... it didn't matter if it was southwest, northwest, etc. They only knew that people were moving because Native American land was being opened up to settlers. Most folks back east would not have had an understanding of the kind of land or geography beyond stories, but would follow known trails. Georgia would certainly have been west from their perspective. But I'm not getting ahead of myself. I could make up a good story if I wanted to, but that's not what this is all about.
One thing that is keen in my mind is who William was in Cecil County. William in Jackson County Georgia was a farmer. Was William in Cecil County a farmer? He married a Whaley. Whaley's were also from Maryland... coincidence? Did any of his neighbors in Jackson County GA come from Maryland? There are lots of things like this I can work on that may lead to an answer. It's just going to take time.
Therefore I have to hope that there are still some original sources still lurking out there that haven't been found, a daunting task given Margaret's overwhelming thoroughness.
With that in mind, because I can't wait for Cecil County records to be digitized I'm planning a road trip. I would very much welcome any information on someone who knows the sources at Cecil County MD and the best way to approach them for the period of 1770 until about 1802 when William (m. Hannah) bought land in Jackson Co. GA.
I'm also expecting that William's journey from Cecil County might have been to specifically go to Georgia, or it may have been a process of moving to other parts of Virginia, NC, and SC, before ending up in Georgia. I'm inclined to think that at 32 years old, he probably would not have had the means to do a lot of land trading, settling, and resettling before ending up in Georgia, but I'm not giong to assume anything. My strategy then would be to follow the path of the great migration down the Shenandoah, the Great Wagon Rd, the Catawba Rd, the Peedee Rd, and the Kings Hwy, into SC and see if I can find him along the way.
Thanks for the tip. I'd appreciate any comments or ideas on my thinking.
Stewart Ewing
From: Mike/Beth Toscos <mbtoscos@comcast.net> To: 'STEWART T EWING' <ewingent@bellsouth.net>; 'Karen Avery' <bkavery2@comcast.net> Cc: "'Ewing, John & Denise (Editors)'" <johnewing2003@msn.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 11:29 AM Subject: RE: Genealogy Query - Stewart T. Ewing
Stewart.
I’ve been following your discussion with Karen Avery. I wanted you to know that all the records originally stored at the Cecil County (Maryland) Historical Society are now archived at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. If you’re travelling to Cecil County, this may save you at least one trip!
Over time, all the Cecil County records will be digitized and made available on-line at www.genealogycenter.org/
Please keep Karen posted on your progress.
Regards,
Beth Ewing Toscos