Challenge-James Purdy (1759-1822)

For the "challenge" prompt I’m writing about an ancestor who faced some pretty serious challenges early in life. I’m fortunately to know quite a bit about him and his family thanks to a pamphlet written up for a family reunion in 1894, when one of his children and many of his grandchildren were still alive. I had found this pamphlet had been scanned and put online, then, a year or so later, I discovered an original copy with my grandfather’s papers, which was a fun find. James Purdy was born about 1759 in Ireland. In 1770, when James was 11, his parent’s decided to set out for America with James and his two sisters. However, while at sea tragedy struck. James’s father, mother, and both his sisters never saw America and died at sea and James arrived in Philadelphia alone.   In researching my family history I’ve found many ancestors who lost one or both parents at a young age, however I can’t think of any other ancestor who lost their entire family all at once. Not only that, but James had just arrived in a completely unfamiliar country.

Fortunately James was not completely alone. He apparently had an aunt living in Philadelphia, who took him in. From Philadelphia he moved to Lancaster, where he faced his next challenge, the war for independence. I need to research his service further, several sources claim he was at Valley Forge, but I haven’t found him on the muster rolls there. However he was certainly on the muster roll Oct 20^th 1781 serving under Capt. John Patton in the 6^th Pennsylvania Battalion.

After the war, on 15 Jan 1787, James married Mary Farmer, daughter of Gregory Farmer. Their marriage was recorded in the diary of John Cuthbertson, a covenanter minister who served as the pastor of a collection of “societies” in Pennsylvania. In those days there were few places where pastors could be trained in the “new world” so most Presbyterian pastors would receive their training in Scotland or Ireland before coming to America. As a result one pastor would have to serve a large number of people, often spread out over a large area, traveling between his congregants on horseback. Rev Cuthbertson managed to ride, sometimes as many as forty miles in one day, while administering baptisms, performing marriages, preaching, and dispensing communion. On the entry for the day Rev Cuthbertson married James and Mary he notes that her “rode 18 miles, preached 32: 5-9, lectured Romans 5:12 and baptized Thomas son to Henry Hanna [Interestingly Henry is an ancestor of mine on the other side of my family] and Elizabeth Hamilton (alias Lefarty)—Married James Purdy and Mary Farmer (from home).” Rev. Cuthbertson also records a baptism of James Purdy November of 1787, and notes that he was born 1847, either 1847 was a transcription error and this was a child of James’s born in 1787 or James was baptized as an adult. James and Mary’s second child, Andrew, was baptized Sep 20^th 1779.

Despite the challenges that James faced early in life his later life was much happier. He and Mary had ten children who all lived to adulthood. In 1808 he moved from Lancaster to Allegheny County where he lived the rest of his life until his death in 1822. His family was described as follows: “The children of JAMES PUDRY received such education as could be had at the district school house, which, in those days, was built of unhewn logs, a piece of oiled paper tacked over an opening in the wall serving as a window to admit light, the floor being made of "puncheons" and the seats of the same. Yet in the humble homes and these unpretentious school houses of that day men were trained who in their lives evinced a noble character and were the strength of Church and State. Many of the Church buildings of that day were small and humble. One aisle with seats on either side, a pulpit on posts about four feet high with a board on which the minister laid his Bible and books, fairly describes the interior of the log church where our father's and mother's met to worship God. Many of the congregation came long distances, even many miles to church. They walked if they had no horses. If they had horses they rode on horseback carrying the children before and behind. Often a mother was seen carrying an infant on her arm as she rode to church. They were faithful to meet and worship God and His blessings followed them.”

I still have a lot of research to do on James, given the state of Irish records I’m doubtful I can get farther back in his family tree, but I would like to look deeper into probate, land, and military records to learn more about his life.

Sources:

• History of the Descendants of Samuel Harper, James Purdy, and James Leeper: And Other Branches of the Leeper and Harper Families, with Addresses Delivered at the Reunion of Their Families on the Hookstown Fair Grounds, August 30, 1893
• Register of marriages and baptisms performed by Rev. John Cuthbertson. Covenanter minister. 1751-1791, with index to locations and persons visited, by S. Helen Fields.
• Photo of Grave
• Pennsylvania State archives, Revolutionary War muster rolls
• Families of Beaver County, Pennsylvania by J. Fraise Richard