Surname Saturday ~ CRAIGHEAD, A family of Scots Irish Presbyterians

CRAIGHEAD

Reverend Robert Craighead received a Master’s degree from St. Andrews University on 15 February 1653.  He went to Northern Ireland for 30 years as the pastor of the Presbyterian church at Donoughmore.   He witnessed the siege of Londonderry, escaped and went to Glasgow, Scotland, but returned to die in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on 22 August 1711.

Robert Craighead married Agnes, the daughter of Reverend John Hart of Taughboyne, Northern Ireland.   Their daughter Katherine, my 9^th great grandmother, married the Reverend William Homes and came to Massachusetts.  They also had three sons.  Robert Craighead, Jr. also became a Presbyterian minister and studied at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leiden where he received a Master’s degree.  He was a longtime minister in Dublin.  Another son, Thomas, also studied in Edinburgh and became a Presbyterian minister.  He came with his sister to New England and became a minster at Freetown, Massachusetts.  In 1724 he became a pastor at White Clay Creek, Delaware, and later went to Pennsylvania.

The Craigheads were a very important family in the history of Presbyterianism in America.  Many descendants became ministers in the New World.

For more information on Robert Craighead:

 Craighead Family, A Genealogical Memoir by Rev. James Geddes Craighead, Philadelphia, 1876.  This book is available at the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston on the shelves and also on microfiche.  It is available online at the Hathi Trust Digital Library, too. 

A good book about the siege of Londonderry is Seige City: The Story of Derry and Londondery, by Brian Lacey, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1990. 

My Craighead Genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Craighead

Genreration 2: Thomas Craighead born in Scotland; married in 1620 in Aberdeen, Scotland to Janet Ferguson

Generation 3: Reverend Robert Craighead, born about 1630 in Scotland, died 22 August 1711 in Derry, Northern Ireland; married Agnes Hart, daughter of Reverend John Hart and Agnes Baxter.  She was born 17 December 1648 in Dunino, Fife, Scotland.

Generation 4: Katherine Craighead, born about 1678 and died 10 April 1754 in Chilmark, Massachusetts; married on 25 September 1693 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland to Reverend William Homes, born 1663 in Donaghmore, Tyrone, Northern Ireland and died 20 June 1746 in Chilmark. Nine children born in Straban, Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Generation 5: Margaret Homes m. John Allen

Generation 6: Rebecca Allen m. Wilmot Wass

Generation 7: Sarah Wass m. Samuel Osborn

Generation 8: Sarah Osborn m. Charles Skinner

Generation 9: Ann Skinner m. Thomas Ratchford Lyons

Generation 10: Isabella Lyons m. Rev. Ingraham Ebenezer Bill

Generation 11: Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman

Generation 12: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson

Generation 13: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

For the truly curious:

My HOMES Surname Saturday post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/surname-saturday-homes-of-northern.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ CRAIGHEAD, A family of Scots Irish Presbyterians", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 22, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/surname-saturday-craighead-family-of.html: accessed [access date]).