PACAMBRI-L Archives

Archiver > PACAMBRI > 1998-01 > 0883698005


From: "Brian L. Cartwright" <>
Subject: Re: SKELLY and McGOUGH
Date: Thu, 01 Jan 98 15:40:05 PST


ALEXANDER J. SKELLY is a son of John and
Elizabeth (MCGOUGH) Skelly, and was born near Wilmore, in Summerhill
township, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1833. His paternal
grandfather, John Skelly, Sr., was a Scotch-Irishman, and with six brothers
came from County Antrim to Maryland, settling on Antietam Creek, where the
great battle of Antietam was fought in 1862. They afterward made their home
in Tuckahoe Valley, Blair county, where five of them were killed by Indians.

[here we have mention of the seven brothers. John Sr, immediately below, is mentioned as one of the two who survived. They then go into John Jr and Elizabeth McGough's family]

John Skelly, Sr., was one of the two that escaped, and in 1809 he came to
Cambria county, where he died fifty-three years later. His son, John Skelly,
was born in the Tuckahoe Valley, February 23, 1792, and died December 12, 1867.
In 1819 he married Elizabeth McGough, and their children were: James, who died
in Texas aged seventy years; John, died in this county at sixty-two years of
age; Sarah, widow of John Wolf and a resident of Oklahoma; Elizabeth, widow
of Frank Christy; Mary; Alexander J.; and Philip, a farmer of near Wilmore.
Mrs. Skelly, who died in 1872, aged seventy-three years, was a daughter of
James McGough, who was a slave-holder of Baltimore Maryland, and came at
thirty-five years of age to Cambria county, where he manumitted his slaves
and afterwards accumulated quite a large amount of property. James McGough
married and his children were: Thomas, James, Jr., Elizabeth, wife of John
Skelly; and Sarah, all of whom are dead.

> Here's two more bios on Skelly's that look like they're form completely
> different family origins???

I don't think there different, they go back to the seven brothers, two of which (Felix and John Sr, above) survived. Immediately below they name Patrick and Huey as two of those who were killed. Felix is an uncle, the grandfather remains unnamed, but must be John Sr by default, making James A below first cousin to Alexander J above. It would appear that Michael, below, is the brother of John Jr, above. They both married McGough women.

Bobbi Robert - could you list some data for the Skelly/McGough marriages. In Barbara O'Keeffe's 'Souvenir of Loretto' extracts, I have been able to ID most of Philip (Felix) 's descendants, including two of my six Skelly marriages. Still hard to figure out the rest.
>
> James A. SKELLY
> The subject of this brief sketch was born in Cambria County, Pa. in 1825 and
> was a son of Michael and Rachel (McGOUGH) Skelly, dec. His great-uncles,
> Patrick Skelly and Huey Skelly were killed by the Indians during the
> Revolutionary war. His great uncle, Felix Skelly, was held prisoner for a
> short time during that war.

Joseph a below is the son of Hugh, grandson of David, who is mentioned as serving in the Revolution. We've had no mention of a David so far, but we still have three brothers unnamed who were killed during the period of the war. Can't rule out that David is one of the brothers Skelly (who might have had son Hugh before his death), maybe another historical reference would name all seven of them.
But Hugh would have to be in his late 50's by the time he married Ameila Todd if he was born before the end of the Revolution, which would lean against father David having died that early.

> Joseph A. SKELLY
> Was born in Ebensburg, Pa., Nov 4, 1836, and was a son of Hugh and Amelia
> (TODD) Skelly, dec. The lady whom he chose for a helpmate through life was
> Susan LONG, the nuptial knot being tied Oct 15, 1868. She was born in this
> county, Feb 22, 1841, a daughter of Anthony and Mary A. (COONSE) Long, dec.
> Four children have blessed this marriage, mary E., Elizabeth M., Aloysius,
> and Joseph A. His brothers, John, James, David and Michael,
> served in the late was as did his wife’s brother John. His grandfather,
> David Skelly, served in the Revolutionary War.

At least we got another Coons marriage! (and how many different ways do they have of spelling Coons?)

In recap, from what we have on this page, it looks pretty safe that James and Alexander are cousins, Joseph hasn't been ruled out as a relative but hasn't been proven. We could look for the names of all seven brothers, and see if one of the remaining three is David.

Dave Monahan's descendant list yesterday for Philip (Felix) Skelly listed daughter Catherine m Patrick Skelly, their daughter Mary (1848-1875). According to 'Souvenir of Loretto', Philip's daughter Catherine b 17 Feb 1807, d 17 Apr 1879, making her 41 when Mary was born. Possible, but casting doubts on whether this is the correct Catherine (could seem more likely if other previos children were listed, but Mary's the only one right now) Dave, how sure are you on this connection?

One other discrepancy - Dave's descedants of Philip (Felix) has the family of Daniel Skelly m Elizabeth Coons. Daughter Lucy is listed b 14 Mar 1845, bapt 20 Apr 1845, St Bartholomew's, Wilmore. All their children are listed as baptized at this church. I have another source that lists Luke Skelly with the same birthdate as the child instead of Lucy, but Luke is listed in 'Souvenir' in the St Michael's records. I feel the different parishes indicate these are two different people, just a coincidence that Luke and Lucy Skelly are born on exactly the same date. A search of Ledoux (which I don't have - yet) might confirm this.

The bios Dave posted this morning mentioned seven brothers, five killed, Felix and John surviving. 'Souvenir' p83 lists Philip (Felix), and Michael d 27 Nov 1831 aged 76y (1745), not mentioned in the bios. 'Catholic Trails West' p640 in the intro for St Michael's, says "Some of the Catholics...referred to by Prince Gallitzin...were probably...Michael, John and Philip Skelly...in Cambria Twp, Somerset County, just to the west of Allegheny Twp, Huntingdon Co [present day Ebensburg, Cambria Co area]. The Skellys had moved to Cambria Township from the Tuckahoe Valley in Huntingdon County where five Skelly brothers had been killed by Indians". This would indicate eight brothers, instead of seven, and now includes Michael. I can't locate any of the descendants of John mentioned in the bios in the 'Souvenir' records of St Michaels. Perhaps Ledoux's 'Catholic Vital Records' would show John's family, probably at another parish.

Next I'll do some family group sheets from the bios to easier compare with the St Michael's records. Anybody who can help out, please jump on in!

Thanks, this is fun!

Brian Cartwrig

This thread: