ࡱ>  Root Entry@$"@MatOST%"%"MMMN03NDP0*311:111=/d132T Family of Elkenny MCKAY 1. Elkenny1 MCKAY , born abt 1700/06 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. He married Est 1727/30 in ,,Massachusetts unknown. Notes for Elkenny MCKAY BIRTH:  A search was made of the Old Parochial Records Index on microfiche which indexes all of the Church of Scotland Parish Records before 1854 giving both a surname and a given name index. We have searched every shire for the given name Elkenny and did not find it in any parish.  Elkenny McKAY has also had his birth information listed as born about 1705 of Woodstock,,CT  A survey of data from the International Genealogical Index shows only a hand full of entries with the given name of Elkenny but an abundance of the given name Elkanah in the early United States and the British Isles. It is very likely that Elkenny's real first name was Elkanah. We still need to verify this conclusion from this study. MARR:  The birth date we have for Alexander McKAY is in 1731 which suggest his parents were married in at least 1730.  Elkenny's daughter Abigal's death information suggests she was born in 1736. However, her marriage in 1749 to Jonathan Rich suggests that she was only age 13 when they married. This seems rather young for her marriage. If she was age 21 when married she would have been born in 1728, which would also suggest her parents married in 1727, which fits with the approximagte birth year of 1700 or 1706 that we have for Elkenny McKAY.  We have entered Elkenny's marriage date as Est. 1727/1730 based on these thoughts. DEATH:  Death place has been given as Lenox, Berkshire, MA but no record has been found for that locality to verify this place name. We have searched records of both Berkshire and Hampshire Counties and the early towns of both places and still can find no record of Elkenny in this place. We removed Lenox, Berkshire, MA from the death place. HISTORY: The foundation of most of the information we have on Elkenny McKAY is the book "Genealogy of the McKay Family Descendants of Elkenny McKay the founder of the family in America" written and published by Dr. James Adolphus McKay in 1896 at West Superior, WI (FHL Book 929.273 A1 #2884). It gives the following: "Elkenny McKAY was born in Edinborough, Scotland, date unknown. He emigrated to Americal some time about the year 1725. Nothing is known of his wife. He settled in Lenox Massachusetts. The following records are concerinng his descendants and some of their branches. His children consisted of one son and seven duaghters, and are as follows: Alexander McKAY, born 22 February 1732; died at Skaneateles, NY Bashabel, birth date unknown, married a Mr. Rich. Isabel, married Daniel OWEN; married second to Bazalell GURNEY. Elizabeth, married Ethan STONE of Mayfield, NY. Mary, married Mr. DAVIDSON of Boston, NY. Mahitable, married a man by the name of THORP. Tamar, married to a man by the name of BUCK The above is all that is now known of the family of Elkenny McKAY, except that of his son Alexander, a record of whose family and descendants and branches so far as they have been gathered, will apear in the following pages..." NOTES:  Elkenny (or Elkanah as it has appeared) is said to have come to America in about 1725 and then settled in Lenox, Berkshire, MA.  We have found the given name Elkenny also writen as Elkanah and Elkeney.  "History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts with Biographical Sketches of ifs Prominent Men" Vol. 2 (US/Can Book 974.41 Hwhb Vol. 2). Chapter 10 is about the Town of Lenox, by Prof. Harlan H. Ballard in which he gives the following two statements: "In a quiet corner of our village churchyard a plain white stone bears this inscription: In memory of Mr. Jonathan Hinsdale, who was born in Hartford, Conn 17 March 1724. He was the first inhabitant of Lenox in 1750, and died 31 Jan 1811 age 87." "The descendants of Jacob Bacom, and of Messrs. Hunt, McCoy, Glezen, ... will be pleased to know that these men were among the earliest here, and that most of them came from West Hartford and Wallingford, Conn." HERITAGE: A Letter dated 30 Sep 1998 from Terri Mulliken Allen gives the following: "Elkenney McKay, born about 1702 in Edinborough, Scotland. He married Rymerick Quick and they were parents of eight children: Alexander, Bashabel, Abigail, Isabel, Elizabeth, Mary, Mehitable, and Tamar. Elkenny came to America from Scotland in 1725, settling in Lennox,MA. The ancestral MacKay (or McKay) lands are in the most remote northern part of the Scottish mainland. They extend from Cape Wraith among the north coast to the Caithness border and vary between 16 and 20 miles in depth. The southern frontiers are defended by bleak uplands and splendid mountains. In 1427 it was estimated that the Cheif of MacKay possessed 4,000 men with whom to defend this province. Called Strathnaver, after the larges river that flows through it, the name is neither Gaelic or Norse, but more likely from some earlier language. The Gaelic still spoken in Strathnaver has many affinities closer to the Munster Gaelic of sourhern Ireland than to any Scottis dialect. The patronymic Adoh for MacKay dates back to the earliest pre Christian Irish Folk tales and , in its genitive form MacAoidh, son of Adoh, is pronounced in Strathnaver in a way best represented by the modern Irish spelling, Magee. Until the 17th century, every known marriage of a Cheif of MacKay was with a member of the Scottish Gaelic aristocracy, including one with a sister of the Lord of the Isles who led his Highland host to Harlaw in 1411. A hundred years later, a norther Highlander wrote a vivid description of his society, by then labeled "Irish" in the Lowlands: "The great courtiers of Scotland repute the foresaid Irish lords as wild, rude and barbarous people, brought up (as they say) without learning and nurture; yet they pass them a great deal in faith, honesty, in policy and wit, in good order and civility." One of those great courtiers, Adam Gordon, seized the neighboring earldoms of utherland and Strathnaver. In 1588, by violence, fraud and the abouse of royal authority, the first MacKay Chief was reduced to the status of a feudal vassar to the earl of Gordon. His great body of clansmen was conscripted to assualt the next Gordon target  the Sinclair earldom of Caithness." Children of Elkenny MCKAY were as follows: + 2 i Abigal2 MCKAY. + 3 ii Alexander2 MCKAY. 4 iii Bashabel2 MCKAY , born Est 1733. She married Est 1754 Josiah CHURCHILL , born Est 1729. Notes: NOTE:  Initial investigations by Terry Flynn of Stockbridge, MA suggest that Bashabel's husband was Josiah CHURCHILL. This is only an educated guess at this point but it warrants further investigation.  Terry FLYNN notes there is an entry in the Stockbridge, Berkshire, MA Church records for the arrival fo Bathsheba CHURCHILL the wife of Josiah CHURCHILL from New Preston, CT. The Congretational Church Records were searched and the entry was found. We searched for other entries for this family, several CHURCHILL entries were found but none that we could identify as this family.  There is some suggestion that Bashabel's name was really Bathsheba. + 5 iv Isabel2 MCKAY. + 6 v Mary2 MCKAY. + 7 vi Mehitable2 MCKAY. 8 vii Elizabeth2 MCKAY , born Est 1742; died bef 17 Feb 1802 in Prob., Lenox, Berkshire, MA. She married on 5 Oct 1763 in Washington, Litchfield, CT Ethan STONE , born 7 Mar 1742 in Woodbury, Litchfield, CT, son of Elisha STONE and Lydia GILLETTE . Notes: BIRTH: Elizabeth McKAY has also had her surname listed as McCOY . Birth year has also been estimated as 1739. MARR:  "History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut from the First Indian Deed in 1659 to 1879 including the present Towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlehem, Roxbury, and part of Oxford and Middlebury" Volune III by William Cothren. (FHL Film #6181)  Marriages in Washington [Litchfield County, CT] page 367. Ethan STONE and Elizabeth MCCOY  5 Oct 1763.  A Land deed dated 8 Apr 1784 shows Elizabeth as the wife of Ethan STONE. DEATH: Land deed dated 17 Feb 1802 shows Ethan STONE with a wife named Abigail Maria STONE. From this we believe that Elizabeth MCKAY died before 17 Feb 1802. NOTE:  Many land deeds for Ethan STONE in Berkshire County, MA show that Ethan was back and forth between Berkshire County, MA and Montgomery County, NY (see Doc #28 AE). MARRIAGE: MARRIAGE: "Early Connecticut Marriages as found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800", edited by Frederick W. Bailey. Page 97  Washington, Litchfield, CT  First Congregational Church Ethan Stone & Elizabeth Macoy, 5 Oct 1763 + 9 viii Tamar2 MCKAY.  #*+,1ysmg`mgmZTZmg`mg0 0 P0$""####yslysyslysysysyslysyP#####&#/#0#1#6#A#J#K#L#Q#####**yrlylyrlylyrlylylylyP******xrlrP   Z=h iiiiUUUUUUUUUUUUh8!h8! YEucNfj kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkh8! S W D  ` O q  V Okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkh8!OJ~at_2dkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkh8!"8 7lTvakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkh8!N/ m XE/hjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkh8!j-Z (!!!Y""" #kQQQkkkkkkkkkkQh8!h8! ##:#9$$%n%%8&^&&'h''2((eeeQQQQQQQQQQQQh8!h8!((Y))"*****kkkkkkQQh8!h8!#**VWXY  Oj #(*Z[\]^_`abTimes New RomanTimes New Roman CETimes New Roman CyrTimes New Roman GreekTimes New Roman TurTimes New Roman (Hebrew)Times New Roman (Arabic)Times New Roman Baltic